MyCommuniCo ADVICE PAPER

MyCommuniCo ADVICE PAPER

(A paper advising on effective leadership practices at MyCommuniCo Company)

To be presented to:

The CEO, MyCommuniCo

Name of student

Name of instructor

Course name and code

Name of institution

Date

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This paper purposes at discussing the Bass theory of transformational leadership, and the Wallace and Halls mode of teamworking, in relation to their application to a company by name, MyCommuniCo. The theories are explored, and a review of the literature explored to gather views of other researches about the two models of leadership. A total of eleven studies have been reviewed. The results show that adoption of the two theories and applying them at different levels, in the organization, is the best method to promote effective leadership. The paper thus recommends teamworking in the organization and transformational leadership in the teams.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page……………………………………………………………………………………….…1

Executive summary…………………………………………………………….………………….2

Table of contents…………………………………………………………….……………….……3

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….4

Exploration of the theories……………………………………………….………………………..4

Application of the theories…………………………………………………….…………………..6

Evaluation and recommendations………………………………………………………………….7

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………9

References……………………………………………………………………………………..…10

INTRODUCTION

Effective leadership is very essential part of organizational performance in the realization of goals. Application of effective principles of leadership has been found to produce good results for organizations, in the long term and in the short term. However, this is not to say that, application of effective leadership does not experience challenges. It experiences challenges, but the leaders identify the problem and counter it before adverse effects are realized. The case of MyCommuniCo is not different. Having operated for over 10 years, this is a period long enough for a big organization like this to experience challenges. The departmentalization of the organization to almost independent units can also pose a challenge. The lucky side about MyCommuniCo is that the problem has been identified. This points to the possibility of applying the principles of effective leadership; and the theories of leadership, to realize success, in the organization. This paper discusses the application of models of leadership to correct the situation in the organization, MyCommuniCo. The paper is divided into sections to the Bass theory of transformational leadership, as well as, the Wallace and Hall’s leadership model in teamworking. The essay will compare these theories, and critically analyze their application and effectiveness in the situation like the one being experienced by MyCommuniCo. The paper will finally make recommendations for leadership improvements based on these theories. The following section is aimed at exploring the two theories, as well as, supporting them from various other studies.

EXPLORATION OF THE BASS THEORY OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP; AND THE WALLACE AND HALL’S MODEL OF LEADERSHIP IN TEAMWORKING.

For a deeper understanding of these two models of leadership, they are introduced separately, and then discussed together. The model of leadership through teamwork proposed by Wallace and Halls focused on distribution of leadership and shared responsibility (Wallace and Hall 1994 P. 191). The two authors of the model advocate for the application of the school of thought on teams in the leadership and management in the organization. The work of Igen and Kozlowski (2006), and the work of Gronn (2002) support the school of thought on teamwork leadership, in organizations. In his support and recommendation of the shared leadership, as proposed by Wallace and Halls, Gronn (2002), advocates for distribution of the power, and authority into units. These units are the ones that the authors of the original model, Wallace and Hall called teams. Leadership through units can be practiced through a departmentalization, like the case of MyCommuniCo. The model advocates for devolution of authority to make sure that the units, or departments, enjoy a healthy autonomy in order to be productive. However, through a productive culture of organizational behavior of check-ups and controls, as proposed by Judge and Robbins (2011), the units should be checked and controlled, so that the autonomy and independence do not become unhealthy. The practice of excess autonomy and independence in an organization, like in the case of MyCommuniCo, can lead to underperformance, resulting to poor realization of organizational goals.

On his part Bass (1998), on his theory of transformational leadership, advocates for a style of leadership that is based on influencing people. He advocates a method of transforming the organization, through inspiring the employees and the juniors, to sing the song of the management at whatever costs. The theory focuses and directs concern to the degree into which a manager, or a leader, influences people in an organization. Bass outlines the qualities of a leader that will enable them influence employees as honesty, trust, and reliability. These, according to Bass, attract loyalty and obedience from the workers. The loyal and obedient workers are then highly likely to be influenced by the management or the leadership. Bass argues that the leader can only influence the followers, if only they possess these characteristics. The leader in this case is the role model. In supporting his model, Bass proposed the aspects that a leader who aims at influencing followers should consider. Firstly, consideration of individual needs and aspirations is very effective in influencing people. The argument of the model is that the leader should be quick to identify the needs of the specific members of their organization or teams, and act quickly to address them. In this case, the leader needs to act as both a facilitator and a mentor.

The second aspect proposed by Bass (1998); and Bass and Riggio (2006), and Bass and Ruth (2008), is stimulating and challenging the members intellectually, towards discovery and innovation, in solving of organizational challenges. This aspect aims at ensuring that, all the members are involved in decision making. Another way of looking at the aspect, is whereby a leader seeks the opinions and suggestions of group members, and challenges the members to make a move in implementing them. This empowers the members and gives the morale needed to cooperate with the management. At such a level, it is easy for the leadership to influence the followers.

The third aspect of transformational leadership proposed by Bass (1998) is providing a vision to the organization, team or group. Research shows that a leadership that is visionary, impacts a group to a large extent (Judge & Robbins, 2011). Providing a vision for the group, is giving the group purpose and a reason to work on the task they are supposed to work on. A group that knows the reason for carrying out a particular task is likely to perform better than one that has no vision.

The last aspect given by Bass concerning transformational leadership is a leader who is fully fledged to the course of change and transformation. A leader, who has the true sense of what the transformation they are preaching, means. Such a leader will practice the principles of honesty while working with their followers. The leader will also be concerned about the personal needs of the individuals, and not only the interests of the organization (Gronn 2002).

A degree of criticism is applicable in the two models of leadership discussed in this paper. For example, the model of shared leadership by Wallace and Halls (1994), has been widely applied and emphasized in the school setting. However, a research done by Louise et al. (2006) on learning communities, suggests that, the success of learners depend on the efforts of individual teachers and not group work. The researchers argue that building the capacity of individual learners is what matters, and not grouping the students or the teachers. These results are not in agreement with the propositions of Wallace and Hall. In spite of this, the results cannot discredit the contribution of teamwork in promoting effective leadership. The study by Igen and Kozlowski (2006), recommend highly, the application of teamwork in enhancing organizational performance. According to the authors, teamwork enhances encouragement of group members and promotes innovation in the group. It sets an environment where members of the group can empower one another, thus promoting organizational performance.

On the part or transformational leadership, critics have argued that there is a problem with the test effect, in the multifactor test questionnaire.The argument is that, the tests that are used to justify the theory are deficient to a greater extent, and cannot tell to what degree transformation is needed in a particular situation. Another problem with the theory is failure to address the extent to which a leader of a multinational organization can reach all the employees in order to empower and motivate them. The question is well applicable in a big organization like MycommuniCo. The morality of the values that the leaders should influence the followers with, is also a question of discussion. Muenjohn (n.d) argues that,sometimes, or in some scenarios, it may not be possible to determine which values are good to emulate, or to teach others. An example is a situation where religious values contradict. A particular religion may regard a value as being ethical, while it is considered unethical by another religion. Cultural values also contradict. It can be, therefore, pose some difficulty applying transformational theory in a global organization. Having discussed these theories and reviewed some literature supporting them, the following section looks at how they can be applied in the case of MyCommuniCo.

APPLICATION OF THE THEORIES

The situation of MyCommunico is manageable and can be corrected to achieve the desired organizational goals. The proposition mad by Bass (1998), and Wallace and Hall (1994), can be combined and applied simultaneously to achieve the desired organizational performance. The combination of the two models will involve the application of transformational leadership into small groups. The shared leadership style proposed by Wallace and Hall, for example, can do very well considering the fact that an individual cannot possess all the skills of leadership. Distributing this leadership will see many talents combined to produce the best results. In his support of the teamwork leadership theory, Kocolowski (2010) presupposes that, the.............