Richard Branson Leadership Style and Business Philosophy - Essay Example

CRITICALLY EVALUATE RICHARD BRANSON LEADERSHIP STYLE AND PHILOSOPHY Contents Contents 1 1.Introduction 2 2.Richard Branson’s business philosophy 2 2.1Organisational Theory 2 2.2Organisational Structure 3 2.3Postmodern Organisation 3 3.Richard Branson’s leadership 4 3.1Trait theory 4 3.2Behavioural theory 4 3.3Situational theory 5 4.Comparison with other business leaders 5 5.Conclusion 6 6.Bibliography 7 Critically evaluate Richard Branson leadership style and philosophy 1. Introduction Richard Branson is a businessman who is the founder of the Virgin Group, which consists of 400 companies. Richard Branson has written six books regarding business leadership and management. Richard Branson is popular for his leadership style and philosophies that have seen him being one of the most popular writers on business leadership philosophies and theories. According to Richard Branson, his leadership philosophy revolves around putting and organization’s employees first, the customers second, and the investors third. According to him, through this policy a business organization can make sure hat in the end all their stakeholders are pleased with the manner in which things are being done in the organization and the ultimate outcomes. This paper aims at critically evaluating Richard Branson leadership style and philosophy by understanding leadership theories and organisational theory and post-modern organisation. 2. Richard Branson’s business philosophy 2.1 Organisational Theory Over the years the Virgin Group has always been famous for their focus on customer service. However, Branson’s theory asserts that their highest priority is in making their employees as comfortable as possible. The reasoning behind this theory is that when a company have happy and satisfied employees, the employees will be able to give their best in the production process. As a result the products and services that are produced by such companies will be in accordance with the expectation of the customers. As a result, customers will be satisfied and will remain loyal to the brand. This implies that there will be higher profits, which simply mean that investors will also be highly rewarded for their investment. 2.2 Organisational Structure Despite the fact that the Virgin Group has businesses in various parts of the world, it is improper to refer to the Virgin Group as a multinational. This is because all their businesses operate separately with Branson serving as a major shareholder in all cases. He also acts as the chairman and public relations supremo in all cases. Branson believes in product departmentalization, which refers to dividing an organization into various departments depending on the kind of product or service that they produce. For the sake of flexibility and the highly changing business environment, Branson believes that business organizations can highly benefit from using organic structures (Scouller 2011, p. 211). Their companies use various types of departmentalization such as geographic and customer departmentalization because of the independent nature of their companies. 2.3 Postmodern Organisation Richard Branson should consider more post modern organizations. This is because globalization has led to a business environment where factors that affect the functioning of a business are more than just those that are dominant in the geographical area in which they operate. It gets to a moment that even the individual organizations will have to expand past their comfort zone for the sake of growth and competitiveness. However, it should also be noted that globalization leads to a situation where cultures are crossing borders. This is an implication that business organization needs to be more flexible so that they can be able to adapt to the changes hat are brought about by the growth in globalization. The sooner business managers adopt a post modern organization the sooner they will be able to cope with the various changes that have been experienced in the business environment as a result of globalization. 3. Richard Branson’s leadership 3.1 Trait theory Richard Branson is popular for his informal style and unconventional attitude. Richard Branson is also known to be a strong believer in being able to present the picture of a cool alternative to leadership. With Richard Branson money is not always the motivation. However, he believes that the excitement that comes from consumption of a product or service is what should act as the main motivator. In the end a leader can definitely get the best results by simply making sure that the employees that they lead are motivated enough (Bel 2010, p. 56). Despite the fact that employees under the Virgin Group are paid a little less in accordance to what other companies pay, the Virgin Group is able to get the best from their employees by making sure that they create an exciting working environment and having employees highly motivated on their potential. This line of thinking regarding leadership might fail to work, especially during tough economic times in a labour market that is highly competitive. 3.2 Behavioural theory Richard Branson has made sure that he maintains a good jovial relationship with his employees. He does not only view his employees as assets that are used to reach certain goals, but members of the organizations whose contributions are vital to the success of the companies. To Branson good ideas do not just come from boardrooms, but also from people who are actively and directly involved in the production processes.Branson rarely holds formal board meetings and does not even have a formal headquarter (Dearlove, D 2007, p. 187). These are factors that help him in exploiting his curious and adventurous nature in the management of his business. He is a strong believer that having both formal and informal interaction with employees, both on formal and informal settings regularly can be more effective in maximizing their productivity instead of sitting behind a desk and depending on human resource theories and technology in getting the best from an organization’s employees. 3.3 Situational theory Over the years there have always been certain ways in which business leadership was done. However, some business leaders such as Branson dared to be different. Branson’s charisma and focus on the emotional aspects of human beings. This is a sustainable way of leadership because it focuses on the people who are being led and their characteristics. Business leadership is always about the management at the disposal of an organization so that they can be able to produce the but products and services. Human resource and the nature of management might create a very big difference between business organizations with the access to the same resources (Ladkin 2008, p. 38). His style of leadership makes sure that he is able to enhance creativity and commitment through showing the he believe in the ability of his employees. 4. Comparison with other business leaders Richard Branson has had completely different approaches to business leadership as compared to other business leaders. Branson’s democratic style of leadership has distinguished him fro other great leaders such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. He focuses emotional quotient in the workplace. He is a strong believer that showing genuine care to employees can be of a positive effect on their performance. Steve Jobs, on the other hand focused on enhancing an important relationship with employees and customer. Unlike Branson who believe that employees are of more importance to an organization than customers, Jobs believed that customers and employees are equally important to a business organization. Bill Gates believes that the best way through which an organization can get the most from their employees is by coming up with internal employee training and development programs (Boje& Smith 2010, p. 322). Of the three leaders Branson seems to be the most charismatic leader. 5. Conclusion It is clearly evident that Richard Branson has a completely different approach to organizational leadership. His charisma and respect to human emotions has enabled him to have highly motivated without having to spend highly on compensation. This implies that his style of leadership has been successful in making employees in his company feel that they are appreciated and valued by the company. They might loss a number of employees who are more interested in monetary compensation. However, his charisma is one way through which he can make the whole company seem like a team instead of making it look like a setting where the employees have to implement orders given to them by the management. 6. Bibliography Bel, R 2010, “Leadership and innovation: Learning from the best” Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 29(2), 47-60. Boje, D & Smith, R 2010, “Re‐storying and visualizing the changing entrepreneurial identities of Bill Gates and Richard Branson.”Culture and Organization, 16(4), 307-331. Dearlove, D 2007, Business the Richard Branson way: 10 secrets of the world's greatest brand builder (Vol. 24), John Wiley & Sons. Ladkin, D 2008, “Leading beautifully: How mastery, congruence and purpose create the aesthetic of embodied leadership practice” The Leadership Quarterly, 19(1), 31-41. Scouller, J. 2011, The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, Management Books 2000. Read More