Role of leaders at Skyline Company - Essay Example

SKYLINE COMPANY Skyline Company is a diverse organisation. It has different employees, as well as several investors. The company is headed by a manager and his assistant who is the deputy and chief supervisor. The company gives diverse services to the local community and also works at an international level. The manager is responsible for implementing changes and ensuring that the company time plan flows as expected. There are various internal and external factors that influence the overall culture of this organisation. One of the internal factors that affect the overall culture of the organization is leadership. The manager being the chief executive officer and the deputy manager play a very important role in influencing culture in the company. For instance, the changes that come about by the beginning of the year were much influenced by the leaders of the company. Some of the employees were not involved in this and, as a result, required to quit. Communication is the other factor that influences culture in the Skyline Company. The communication between the workers and the management has a major role in keeping the culture of the company. For example, the recent changes effected in the corporation were rejected by part of the workforce. Most of their ideas and grievances were ignored and, as a result, some of the workers ended up quitting. The third internal factor that affects culture in any organization is the structure of the organization. The division of labour in any organization is important in determining culture in any organization (Hodder, 2001). To understand some of the external factors that influence culture in an organization, Pest analysis is necessary. Politics is a major external influence of culture in any organisation. This is because politicians are responsible for making laws and these laws come down to affect the management and working conditions of an organisation. Technological factors are also important in affecting culture. For example, the introduction of computers into the corporate world has greatly affected the approach companies use to manage their daily business activities. This will automatically lead to change in culture. Economy is also a major determinant of any culture. For example, an affluent economy can be able to support technological advancements and other important gears that a poor economy cannot be able to afford. It is also evident that economy will affect the environment of the organization, especially the infrastructure of the organisation which is very vital to the organisation culture. Role of leaders at Skyline Company The above factors have a major impact on the culture of the organization as a result; there needs to be a person or people to monitor and control this influence. Leaders at Skyline Company play a major role in mediating the impact of different factors in the business. First, the manager of the company is responsible for ensuring that every member of staff performs his/her duty as expected. This ensures that every employee knows the roles they play in the company and what is expected of them. The manager also has the responsibility of allocating leadership roles to different workers and, as a result, influence the way jobs are done in the organisation. The leaders are also responsible for ensuring that there is effective communication in the company (Schein, 2007). For example, the deputy manager makes sure that suggestion boxes are emptied every week and read by the manager. With this, the manager is able to know all the issues affecting the company and how they can be corrected. Organization structure is also influenced by the leadership of the company. For example, in the recent changes in the company, a huge section of the structure of the former system was changed. This was done by the company management and is evident through the way pioneer members of staff are discontented with the changes. However, the deputy manager is confident about the new structure showing that she was part of decision making of changes. This shows that the leaders of Skyline Company have a major responsibility in ensuring that all the internal factors affecting the culture of the organisation are verified. In the external environment, the leaders are responsible for ensuring that political factors do not influence the culture of the company negatively. They have to do this by completely excluding negative influences of politics in the company and speaking out against laws that negatively affect the corporate world. However, it is important to note that the manager does not do this individually, rather, by the organization managers in the same line of business who can selectively determine the negative political influence in companies and write reports against them as well as publicly deny these policies (Preddy et al, 2011). The managers are also responsible in ensuring that companies do not take part in any political campaign. This, therefore, excludes political influence in the company as well. Technological advancements in the company are also influenced a lot by the management of the company. First, the manager is part of the board that has power over the company funds. He is responsible for ensuring that the company has the latest technological tools that can be used to assist the employees as they work. The management is also responsible for rejecting use of some of the technological devices such as phones in the offices during working hours. This influences the way that technology affects the workforce in companies. There are also devices that are not accepted in the company due to their effect on others and the owners. For example, guns are prohibited, therefore, preventing gunfights in the company compound, a common phenomena and culture in other countries (Cini, 2000, pg 89). The company leadership also has a responsibility of protecting the entire company fraternity from technological attacks by having detectors in the company that are able to detect prohibited materials into the compound. Economically, the corporate board is responsible for all the transactions that the company is involved with. For example, before any purchases are made, the manager has to pass through the board that have to look at the proposed items and approve their purchase before any money is released. This ensures that there are no faulty projects passed. The leaders are also responsible in ensuring that devices and infrastructure are constructed appropriately to ensure that the company is fully equipped for their usual activities (Meyer, 2000, pg. 45). Leadership discourses There are various leadership discourses presented by Simon Western. Discourse number one is a leader as a controller: the leader is responsible for controlling most of the things in the organisation and this includes financial controls, and so on. This discourse puts the leader at the top of any organization since the employee is able to control everything that is below them. An example is the roles that the manager has at Skyline Company. The leaders are responsible for controlling all the finances of the company, as well as the programs of the business. This proves that the leaders are absolute directors of an organisation. It is, however, important to note that these responsibilities do not make the leaders have overall authority, rather, responsibilities are divided all the way from the top the only difference being on the level of responsibility. The second discourse is leaders as therapist: this discourse gives the leader the responsibility of ensuring that all the needs of the other members of the organisation are met. The leader, therefore, acts as the human resource of the organisation. In so doing, they also have to ensure that their own needs are also met and this includes respect from the lower members of the organisation. For example, it is the responsibility of the manager at Skyline Company to ensure that the company assets are in a perfect condition. If any complain from a staff member or subordinate arises, then it is directed to the deputy manager to ensure that all complaints are dealt with. This also shows that they are the major people involved in the needs of the employees in the organisation. This discourse also puts the leader at the top of the organisation. The third discourse leader as a messiah: this discourse puts the leader as a person that the other members of the organisation look up to. In this case, the leader acts as the role model in an organisation. The leader is, therefore, expected to act in a professional manner that reflects the image of the position they have in the corporation. It also shows that the leaders have to portray how to lead and act as a leader (Preedy et al, 2011). This will ensure that the other members of the organisation also follow the chosen direction. For example, it would be appalling for the organisation if the leader came late to work and expected other members of the staff to come in early. This discourse is very evident in Skyline Company. Following the changes implemented in the company, there were several employees who were against the changes. However, the deputy manager was the first person to support the changes. This shows that she is acting positively to allow the whole workforce to also follow this direction. This discourse also puts the leader at the top of the organisation. Bibliography Cini, M. (2000). The European Commission: leadership, organisation, and culture in the EU administration. Manchester, Manchester University Press. Hodder, I. (2001). The Spatial organisation of culture. Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press. Meyer, M. (2000). Organisation culture. Randburg, Knowledge Resources. Preedy, M., Bennett, N., & Wise, C. (2011). Educational leadership: context, strategy and collaboration. Milton Keynes, U.K., Open University. Schein, E. H. (2007). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers. Schein, E. H. (2008). Organizational culture and leadership. 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