EMBA IIBMS CASE STUDY SOLUTIONS What cultural factors do y

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Art of Leadership

Q.5 Case study

Being a new leader is quite difficult because organizations often face tough problems and challenges that need quick responses. For a new leader, this is challenging since the atmosphere of crisis provides no time or patience for learning. Secondly, most organizations are rigid and sticks to the old belief that old is gold . They do not allow room for raw talent, training, making mistakes and experimentation. Most organizations believe that an effective leader is that who has long years of service.

A leader as defined by some scholars refers to someone with commanding authority and influence. Others define it as a person s ability to influence people and groups within the organization and hence helping them set up their goals and guide them towards achieving those goals set by the organization (Afsenah, 2012).

Jack Hartnett s leadership skills encompasses all the above. Though he appears bossy and autocratic, he puts into consideration the welfare of his employees and listens to them. He adopts the no-nonsense attitude and develops it into a culture in the organization. An organization can develop a culture where the employees share common values and beliefs on work related issues. This is what jack does and it indeed produces results and leads to the success of the company.

He allows his employees to balance their family life with work and when they face problems he acts as their counselor and helps them resolve their issues. His autocratic and intolerance enabled him to succeed. He sets the rules which his employees must follow. He ensures that his employees are happy because he believes that unhappy people do not produce results. As a result, he has managed to create an organization that is dynamic and successful.

In choosing the person to represent them, a leader needs to understand the cultural context of the host country. Discrimination is one of the factors influencing the leader s choice of the person to go to Saudi Arabia. In countries like Saudi Arabia, defined by Edward Hall s model as high context countries (Hall, 1976), cultural nuances communicate more and determines the kind of response received and if not handled well, this can lead to the loss of a business deal. It determines whether a business deal will succeed or not.

Women in the country are the most discriminated and disadvantaged and this is not based on their abilities or actions, but based on cultural factors. Women face obstacles and barriers of becoming leaders and men prevent them from moving to the highest levels of organizations. In Saudi Arabia, women experience gender segregation and are barred from participating in public life including work places. Choosing a woman to go on this mission would seem disrespectful for the culture adopted by the Saudi Arabian government and automatically lead to the failure of this enterprise. Thus, leaders are to know the culture of the people in question to enable them to make the necessary decisions.

In an organization, what determines high compensation packages usually is the place that one holds. Top executives in any organization, both public and private, wield large amount of power. The legitimacy of their positions enables them to get high compensation packages. Compared to other employees, they enjoy many privileges because of their power. This is because they are usually the ones responsible for allocation of resources to themselves and to those in lower positions. Furthermore, these executives are usually in high demand and organizations compete with each other to acquire them.

Understanding the impact of culture is important to a leader since leadership is a social and an interpersonal process. The leader needs to research and understand the different cultures so that he can make more informed decisions. As a leader, choosing this man to represent his company would be the most favorable thing to do as it will enable him to attain his set goals and succeed in closing profitable deals. Since the man in question does not have experience, this can offer a perfect opportunity for him to develop his skills and experience hence benefiting the organization.

For the woman who is more experienced and more qualified, the leader can explain to her the cultural obstacles involved hence not hurting her feelings. The leader can send her to go on missions in other countries that are low contexts and that encourages women taking leadership roles. Training and education can help people be aware of their biases, understand their own and others cultural point of view and accept their differences. By having diverse people in leadership positions, an organization walks and walk and can prove its commitment to diversity.

Question:
(4 5 = 20)
1. What are the challenges you are likely to face as the new leader?

2. What are some of the actions you would take to help smooth the transition?

3. What cultural factors do you need to consider?

4. What are the implications of your decision for your business and the message you send as a leader?

Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets
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ARAVIND 09901366442 09902787224