Leadership Studies
Introduction
Organizations across all industries are in a constant state of change (Breslow, 2002). This dynamic has been caused by various factors known as drivers of change. The mobile device manufacturing industry has experienced radical changes because many of the drivers of change influences the way the industry operates. The main drivers of change affecting this industry include technological innovations, changes in demographics, competition, globalization and organizational cultures.
Technological Innovations
Changes in technology represent the most influential factor of change in the mobile device manufacturing industry. The industry’s growth relies on innovations and new inventions in technology. As competition among various players in the industry intensify, firms invest their resources to create new innovations that will provide differentiation from competitors. The rate of innovation has had both positive and negative consequences. On the positive side, technological innovations have improved organizations’ market position and provided them with a competitive advantage. Users of mobile devices have benefited from new technologies that make their lives easy and interesting. The quest for innovation has increased to disruptive levels. Companies that manufacture mobile devices are constantly improving their technology to remain relevant to the market. As a result, the rate of innovation has been so fast that product cycles have become shorter. Devices manufactured during the current technology do not have enough time in the market to fetch the required profits and revenues before another innovation erupts and render them almost obsolete. Customers’ expectations have also increased because the technological innovations. Customers expect companies to provide them with up to date technological devices that depict the rate of innovation. Such expectations fuel organizations’ quest for innovation so that they can meet their customers’ expectations.
Changes in Demographics
Demographic characteristics such as income levels and educations in different parts of the world have affected the demand for mobile devices. In developing economies in Africa and Asia, access to education has increased literacy levels, which have increased the availability of disposable income. The increasing population of young, educated peoples has expanded the market for the mobile device manufacturing firms. In addition, the rise in the number of educated young people has provided mobile device manufacturers with a ready source of skills that drive innovation and creativity. Moreover, the rise in education levels around the world has enabled companies in developing economies to venture into the mobile device industry. As a result, the available market has continued to decrease, making differentiation and manufacturing of superior products more crucial than before. Therefore, organizations in the mobile device industry are in continuous search for methods to change from their current state and become better than their competitors. The changes in income and education levels has, therefore, played an essential role in influencing the changes taking place in the mobile device industry (Doppelt, 2003).
Competition
The increase and performance of companies in the mobile device industry have taken change to another higher level. The big companies in this industry such as Google, Apple and Samsung are very competitive with each other. As a result, there have been changes that have resulted from the competition. Each of the big players in this industry has been involved in either an acquisition or merger. The acquisitions and mergers have consolidated the strength of the big players, prompting competitors to look for ways to perform better than the other. In addition, competing firms are constantly trying to implement new strategies to retain their current customers and attract new ones. This task requires constant studies to understand consumers, whose behavior is difficult to predict because of its changing nature (Mosier, 2010). Therefore, competition has influenced companies in the mobile device industry to change their strategies constantly to cope with the dynamics of the industry.
Globalization
Globalization has opened boundaries for companies to operate outside their countries of origin. This chance is both an opportunity and a challenge because values in in different countries are varied. The differences in cultures between countries require a change in strategies to ensure that the special needs of the market are met (Christiansen, 2013). The nature and needs of various markets around the world also differ. This means that mobile device companies must change the strategies they use in their home countries to make them fit the local contexts in foreign markets. The opportunities presented by globalization in terms of untapped markets have made the companies to change their manufacturing strategies (Rao, 2007). Many of the mobile device manufacturers have relocated their manufacturing units to developing countries to take advantage of cheap labor. Therefore, the availability of cheap labor in developing countries has influenced companies to change their decisions and operating strategies. In the foreign countries where the mobile device companies have set up manufacturing units, issues of exploitation and poor working conditions have affected the reputation of these companies. For instance, Apple has been accused of poor working conditions in its warehouses in China. Such accusations present a public relations problem that can affect the reputation of the company. When companies are faced with such scandals, they are forced to change their operations to improve their public image and retain their reputation.
Organizational Cultures
One of the most crucial driving forces in any organization is its organizational culture. Most of the mobile device manufacturers have created organization cultures that encourage creativity and innovation. Talents in creating new technologies and strategies are highly rewarded in these firms. Therefore, their organizational cultures have become a source of change (Fritsch, 2011). When employees within these organizations are encouraged and rewarded for their contribution in creating innovations, they become more productive. As a result, they constantly produce innovations and technologies that enable their organizations to move to the next level of production. Employees in these firms are made to feel part of their organization through rewards and support by the management. Therefore, organizational cultures have had a great effect on how organizations change.
Resistors to change
Although change in an organization may be beneficial to employees, they may resist it for various reasons. These reasons are the resistors to change and include poor communication, lack of employee involvement, feeling inadequate for the change, when change threatens their security of tenure, fear of the unknown and exhaustion.
Poor Communication
Decision makers in an organization decide when change is required. They create the strategy for effecting change and understands the reason for the change. On the other hand, the other members of the organization are not aware of the change unless they are informed by the organization’s management. In organizations with rigid organizational structures, information is passed on from one level to the next. In the process, information is distorted and may not reach the frontline employees as it was intended. Since the change has an enormous effect on every employee and their work, accurate information is required so that all the details about the change are fully understood. When employees receive inadequate or inaccurate information, they are likely to resist change because they fail to understand its benefits or reasons for implementing it (Thames and Webster, 2009).
Lack of Employee Involvement
Employees are directly or indirectly affected by changes that take place in their organization and need to be involved when change is to be implemented. Employees need to know the reasons why it is necessary to accept and support change in their organization. The management needs to consider the employees’ input on the proposed changes and involve them in the implementation process. When employees hear of a sudden change, they feel excluded from the decision making and may be offended. However, when they are involved in implementing the change, they own it and are likely to support it.
Feeling Inadequate for the Change
Sometimes, when changes are required in a firm, they need a specific set of skills. When this happens, and the employees do not have the required skills, they panic. They feel like they are no longer qualified to work for the organization. The fear that they may not be able to fit in when the change become effective. Such fear may motivate them to resist the proposed change. In organizations across the industries, employees create working relationships and become used to certain ways of carrying out their duties. When these relationships and work processes are threatened, there is instability. The instability created make employees paranoid of the proposed changes and may resist them if they perceive them to threaten the status quo and power relations.
Fear of the Unknown
When people are confronted with uncertainty, they like remaining in a familiar situation. When there is need for change, people have an unjustified fear of the unknown and do not wish to take steps towards the unknown. At such times, employees only accept to take the step when they feel that it is less risky to accept change than to remain in the accustomed situation. This means that employees will always resist change unless they are convinced that accepting it will make life better for them and the entire organization.
Exhaustion
The mobile device industry is characterized by constant changes that are caused by market dynamics and internal forces. In this industry, employees may get used to changes such that when a change is introduced, they get along with it not because they support it, but because it is a way of life in the industry. Such acceptance is not based on their commitment to support its implementation, but on the fact that they are overwhelmed by the numerous changes that take place. Such employees have little motivation and their hearts are not part of the change.
Actions to Reduce Resistance
Establish Open Channels of Communication
When the top management of an organization decides that there is need for change, open communication channels should be established. Poor communication is one of the factors that have led to resistance to change. The communication process is often broken because of the existence of rigid organization structures through which information is distorted before reaching the end users (Cushman and King, 2009). The first step to reduce the effects of poor communication on the change process is to dismantle the existing channels of communication. The top managers should create an open door policy where employees from all levels within the organization can access the top management and express their views on the proposed change. Through such an open communication channel, the employees can seek clarification on ambiguous issues and provide the management with their views regarding the change. When the management engages employees face to face, it is easy to dispel fears and rumors about the effects of the proposed change.
Employee Involvement
Before implementing any form of change, organizations’ managements need to understand that employees have personal needs to be fulfilled. In addition, various people are affected by the process of change differently. Therefore, it is essential to take care of employees’ needs on a personal level before implementing any change. To understand the effects of change on employees, an organization needs to involve them in the entire process. Through open communication strategies, the management of an organization can involve employees in implementing change through various tactics. Since the employees will be involved in implementing the change strategy, their input is crucial. The management should involve them in creating policies to be used in the implementation of change (Smith, 2003). Through employee involvement, the management will reduce chances of resistance because it is difficult for employees to resist changes they were involved in creating. Involving employees help them have a deep understanding of the change process and its benefits to them.
Training to Impart the Required Skills
Feeling inadequate for the change is usually caused by lack of the required skills to fit in the change process. In the mobile device industry, change may involve new skills that the current employees do not have. As a result, the employees feel unable to carry out their duties due to lack of skills. The best way to deal with lack of skills is to train employees prior to implementing the change (London, 2012). During the planning process, the top management should evaluate the skills required by the change and screen the organization for purposes of establishing its capability to cope with the change. Once the management identifies a gap between the required skills and the available ones, resources should be set aside to cater for employee training. Trained employees feel confident about their abilities to cope with change and are less likely to resist it.
Reassurance Through Visionary Leadership
Employees who resist change because they fear the unknown need a sense of safety. This sense of safety can be achieved through visionary leadership. Different people view change in a variety of ways. Some perceive change as a complex process whose outcomes cannot be predicted. A visionary leader can create a simple perception by articulating the vision guiding the change. In addition, the complexity can be simplified by assigning definite timelines to tasks. To ensure that people gain trust of the organization’s ability to implement change, objectives that are achievable over a short period of time should be set. When some of the goals are achieved, employees’ morale is boosted, which motivates them to continue to support the change process.
Provide Incentives
In the mobile device industry where change has become part of the daily processes in organizations, people get exhausted of change. They implement it because their management has deemed it necessary for the organization. Taking part in many change processes has made employees indifferent of change. Being indifferent of the change process is a passive way of resisting change because employees in such a condition have no motivation to actively support the change process. The best way to reduce exhaustion is to provide the employees with incentives along the change process. At every milestone, employees should be given incentives to boost their morale. These incentives could be monetary or non-monetary and can motivate employees to actively take part in the change process. Once the employees are motivated, their tendency to resist change is reduced.
The Most Appropriate Leadership Styles
There are various leadership styles used by various organizations, which depend on their operations. Among organizations operating in the mobile device industry, several leadership styles are appropriate. The most appropriate leadership styles for organizations in the mobile device industry include participative leadership style, delegative leadership style and transformational leadership style.
Participative Leadership Style
In participative leadership style, the organizational management guides the entire organization in the desired direction, but allows employees to give their input. In the mobile device industry, the participative leadership style is essential because it allows employees to give their opinion regarding changes occurring in their organizations. Listening to employee contribution and views about change is crucial because it makes them feel appreciated and are likely to support the process of change (Snabe, 2007). In this leadership style, organizational leaders are the final decision makers, despite having given employees a chance to provide their views. Sometimes, this aspect of participative leadership is essential to the mobile device industry. In this industry, the changes that take place may lead to some employees losing their jobs and other benefits they may have enjoyed before. In essence, no employee would be willing to endorse a change that will lead to any kind of loss. Therefore, the chance given to the leaders to be the final decision makers in participative leadership style ensures that the organizational goals, which are beneficial to the majority of employees are met, despite the losses to some employees. The benefit of using this leadership style is that there are reduced chances of resistance because employees feel appreciated when they are given a chance to participate.
Another leadership style that is appropriate to reduce resistance to change in the mobile device industry is delegative leadership. This leadership style is useful in organizations whose employees are highly skilled and conversant with organizational requirements. The most important part of this leadership style in the process of change is allowing middle and lower level managers to use their discretion on the means of implementing organizational policies. Delegation to these managers empower them to make decisions at the implementation levels (Thomas, 2012). When a strategy is formulated at the corporate level of an organization, it is only in theory form. However, the plans created by management may be difficult to implement because of unforeseen circumstances. When such situations occur during implementation, the managers in charge of implementation should be empowered to use contingency plans depending on the nature of the situation. Failure to use this leadership style when implementing change may delay the implementation because any obstacle met would have to be reported back to the top managers for new policies. As such, the results would be elusive and employees may lose trust in the ability of an organization to implement change. The use of this leadership style should be selective because delegating to all employees can be an obstacle to strategy implementation. Giving employees the power to make decisions based on contingencies can lead to chaos in organizations because everyone would only be willing to implement the strategies based on their discretion. That is why delegation should only be allowed to the managers in charge of implementation.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership refers to a process that transforms and changes individuals. A transformational leader can influence people to want to change, be led and improve. To become a successful transformational leader, one must assess the motives of those to be led, value them and satisfy their needs. The most crucial aspect of transformational leadership is to value employees. The mobile device industry is filled with changes and transformations. Therefore, organizations need transformational leaders who can set the mood for transformation within an organization through motivation. Transformational leadership is characterized by four factors. These factors are inspirational motivation, individual consideration, idealized influence and intellectual stimulation. Inspirational motivation aspect refers to a leader with the ability to positively influence members of an organization to be committed to the vision of an organization (Nedelko and Potočan, 2012). Leaders with inspirational motivation creates a team spirit to achieve the goals of the organization. The mobile device industry requires inspirational motivation because the employees go through constant change and may become overwhelmed by it. To ensure that their morale is ever high, a transformational leader can provide inspirational motivation.
Individualized consideration aspect refers to the ability of a leader to act as an advisor to members of an organization. This leader encourages the members of an organization to achieve both personal and organizational goals. A transformational leader with individualized consideration recognizes the need to meet employees’ personal needs to encourage them to pursue organizational goals. Meeting personal needs of employees show that an organization cares about the welfare of its employees. Consequently, employees trust the leadership of their organizational and support the decisions they make. Therefore, such employees are not likely to resist any change efforts initiated by the organization leaders.
Idealized influence aspect refers to the ability of a leader to be an exemplary role model to members of an organization. Transformational leaders who are role models lead by example. They behave the way they would wish their followers to behave. Leaders who are role models to their followers are respected and adored. In the mobile device industry, leaders who lead by example are needed because the numerous changes that take place within the industry may disorient employees. Having a leader who leads by example provides a sense of direction to employees.
Intellectual stimulation aspect refers to the ability of a leader to encourage innovation and creativity. A transformational leader with intellectual stimulation abilities challenges employees to question existing beliefs and come up with creative problem solving strategies (Grantham, Ware and Williamson, 2007). This factor is crucial to the mobile device industry because it is driven by innovation and creativity.
The Least Appropriate Leadership Styles
As mentioned earlier, the leadership used in an organization depends on the nature of its work processes. However, there are leadership styles that have the least application in modern organizations. One of these leadership styles is autocratic leadership.
Autocratic Leadership
In this leadership style, the leader has a strict control over employees using very rigid vertical organizational structure. The leader uses regulations and policies and demands that followers adhere to them strictly. As a sign of power and authority to their followers, autocratic leaders encourage only professional relationships within the organization. They directly supervise their followers because they believe such supervision is the only way to ensure that followers remain committed to their work and leaders. Autocratic leaders treat followers with paranoia and believe that they cannot complete their tasks without strict supervision and rigid policies and procedures. The procedures used in autocratic leadership have become obsolete with time because the changes that characterize modern organizations require flexibility and employee empowerment. In addition, the rigid organizational structures used in autocratic leadership style are barriers to effective communication (Grantham, Ware and Williamson, 2007). Since effective communication is crucial to the process of change, any barrier to communication is a factor that may cause resistance to the process of change. Informal relationship within organizations have become as essential as formal relationships. The informal relationships take care of employees’ social needs and enable them to feel a sense of belonging within the organization. The informal relationships boost morale and motivate employees to achieve both personal and organizational goals. In autocratic leadership, leaders do not consult or involve employees in decision making. The work of employees is to implement strategies created by the organizational leadership. The characteristics of autocratic leadership style indicate that employee morale is low and poor communication exists within an organization run using this style (Tassiu, 2009). These characteristics are undesirable for changes that take place in the mobile device industry, which relies on employees’ creativity and innovation and on open communication channels. Using autocratic leadership in the mobile device industry would be undesirable because it would be a barrier to effecting change.
Conclusion
The drivers of change in the mobile device industry include technological innovations, changing demographics, competition, globalization and organizational cultures. These factors have contributed immensely to the changes that have taken place in the mobile device industry.
On the other hand, the resistors to change in the mobile device industry include poor communication, lack of employee involvement, inadequacy in terms of skills, fear of the unknown and exhaustion. These resistors have hindered the change process in the mobile device industry.
The actions needed to reduce resistance include establishing open communication channels, involve employees in decision making and train employees to gain the required skills. In addition, visionary leadership is required to dispel fears and instill confidence. Finally, organizations should provide incentives to employees. The incentive can be both monetary and non-monetary, depending on the various motivating factors for individual employees.
All processes in an organization require leadership for their success. In the mobile device industry, participative, delegative and transformational leadership styles are the most appropriate. These leadership styles fit well with other requirements for change. Autocratic leadership style is the least appropriate leadership style because it hinders the change process.
References
Breslow, L. 2002. Encyclopedia of management theories. New York: Macmillan Reference.
Cushman, D. P., & King, S. S. 2009. Communicating organizational change a management perspective. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Rao, C. P. 2007. Globalization and its managerial implications. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books.
Thomas, K. M. 2012. Diversity Resistance in Organizations. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|
Are you looking for a similar paper or any other quality academic essay? Then look no further. Our research paper writing service is what you require. Our team of experienced writers is on standby to deliver to you an original paper as per your specified instructions with zero plagiarism guaranteed. This is the perfect way you can prepare your own unique academic paper and score the grades you deserve.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]