Role of Ted as a Leader to Motivate, Empower, Communicate and Develop Teams - Case Study Example

PESTEL analysis for Embraer Case Study Introduction (Thesis ment) The eternal question of whether leaders born or made results in different answers considering the various approaches one might assume. However, according to Winkler, leadership involves the mastery of the various roles ascribed to it (2010). Great leaders excel in roles such as communicator, strategist, and team builder among others in their organizations. Discuss the role of Ted as a leader to motivate, empower, communicate and develop teams ( 4 Paragraphs MINIMUM) Leaders are individuals who are burdened with a variety of tasks in an organization (Law & Fox, 2011). In organizations, leaders wear many hats as is required by their job description and Ted is no exception. Being the president of Southern Cross Enterprise, Ted’s work involves making the company profitable and reputable in its industry. With today’s ever-changing business environment, leaders have numerous roles that they are expected to perform exceptionally (Meindl & Shamir, 2007). Their effectiveness in fulfilling these roles translates to the success of their organizations. The roles are universal as every leader is expected to fulfill them despite the nature or size of their organization (Hiller, Day & Vance, 2006). The most fundamental role a leader has is that of effectively communicating to their subordinates. Effective communication, from the top, ensures that the organization runs smoothly (Arkebauer & Miller, 1999). Ted, as the president of Southern Cross Enterprise, fails in his role as the communicator of his firm. According to the article, Ted gets along with his subordinates but rarely spends time with them. For the most part, Ted is in his office researching about the company’s market and its competitors. His failure to actively interact is apparent by the tendency of unrests occurring in the organization. A leader, as a communicator, should be able to reach out to his staff and other stakeholders (Firestone, 1996). Ted should encourage his employees to exchange information for efficient running of operations. To resolve this issue, Ted should adopt an open, honest and appropriate means of communicating with his subordinates (Eagly & Johnson, 1990). He should schedule meet-ups, other than the company’s annual picnic, to interact with his employees. By adopting open communication, Ted might be able to resolve the tension among his workers. Leaders, in their organizations, adopt the role of strategic thinkers in order to guide the company to profitability. Ted as the leader of his company is doing a fairly good job given his company is profitable at the moment. He researches about the trends in the wine making industry to gain a perspective of how to align his company’s operations. He realizes the effects caused by China’s exhaustive products. In his research, he realizes the need to connect with strategic partners in order to make his company profitable. Despite looking out for the company, he fails in arranging the internal environment of the company. He fails in finding gender and cultural balance in the upper management. The effects of his poor decision making are apparent in the social tension among his subordinates. Discuss how Ted should address cultural diversity within the organization ( 3 Paragraphs MINIMUM) America is a country known as the melting point of the world’s cultures for its cultural diversity. Companies in the United States of America are therefore tasked with integrating various cultures in their workforce (Maltbia & Power, 2009). By embracing diversity, companies are able to become the best due to the array of talent brought to the table. By embracing diversity, a company is able to capitalize on its employees’ strengths (Connerley & Pedersen, 2005). There are regulations set by the government on the integration of different local cultures in a company’s workforce. Companies should not embrace diversity as a compliance mechanism rather they should adopt it for its strategic advantages. Ted embraces cultural diversity in his company by employing from the various American cultures. He also integrates gender equality among middle management positions. An interesting observation from his company is the fact the females form a majority of the company. In Maltbia and Power’s opinion, Ted’s adoption and integration of different cultures in his workforce is impressive but he fails in capitalizing on their strengths (2009). To capitalize on cultural diversity, Ted should group his employees into teams. As group theory states, to get the maximum out of a group, groups should be based from a diverse group of people. Diversity assures the company will be able to have a variety of ingenious solutions to their problems (Harris, Moran & Moran, 2004). For example the current disrupt among the workers would be resolved if Ted integrated Asians into upper and middle management. Integrating cultural diversity in a family-owned institution is difficult to say the least (Derr, Roussillon & Bournois, 2002). However, Ted needs to keep the needs of the company above those of tradition. Ted should root out the bias and prejudice he has for other cultures and integrate them not only in the workforce but also in management positions. For example, in the case of the unrest, if he had a senior Asian employee he would delegate the solving of the unrest to him or her. Students are expected to be creative but realistic in applying the concepts from the course to expand Ted’s environment and leadership role. (5 Paragraphs MINIMUM) Environmental analysis is a tool at the disposal of leaders in assessing their companies. By analyzing the organization’s environment, a leader is able to assess the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities available to the organization (Hill & Westbrook, 1997). This analysis assists leaders, in our case Ted, to minimize internal weaknesses and external threats. Furthermore, environmental analysis assists leaders in planning, organizing and controlling the organization’s operations. A SWOT analysis is an example of an environment analysis tool (Pahl & Ritcher, 2007). A SWOT analysis is vital for the Southern Cross Enterprise given its rapidly evolving industry (Houben, Lenie & Vanhoof, 1999). The threat posed by the Chinese imports is significant due to the cheap nature of the imports. Ted attempts to be competitive despite the existence of the imports in the market. To curb the threat, he figures out that he should establish strategic partnerships with large customers such as Chataqua winery. In addition, Southern Cross Enterprise needs to produce higher quality products that capture the attention of winemakers. According to Bohm, Ted’s external environment analysis is extensive and accurate in finding the solutions to the threats his company faces (2009). An analysis of the internal environment is poor as Ted fails to realize the raging internal conflict among his subordinates (Bono & Judge, 2004). He delegates internal operations to his brother Jacob who fails at presenting a clear picture of the conflict. The cause of this conflict, from the article, is the fact that there leadership structure is not culturally diverse. Ted implements gender balance among middle management but fails at implementing racial balance across all managerial levels in the company. Ted’s leadership role in his organization is not as influential as it ought to be. Influence is as a result of communication between the various departments in the organization. By communicating with only the middle and upper management levels, he restricts his vision of the company’s operations and politics. His poor communication skills are highlighted by his failure to delegate the various leadership tasks. Tasks such as analyzing the competition should be delegated to someone in upper management. This gives him time to interact with his employees and resolve minor issues among them. By understanding how his company’s internal operation, in detail, he is able to guide it successfully amid the threats it faces (Cameron & Green, 2008). Conclusion In conclusion, great leaders are made through excelling in the various roles ascribed to them. A great leader is a great communicator, strategist, team builder and so forth. By mastery of these roles, one can lead any organization despite its size (Nohria & Khurana, 2010). The case study on Ted and his company, Southern Cross Enterprise, highlights a leader who fails to focus on all the roles leaders should fulfill in their organizations. Ted was groomed into being a leader by his father but the grooming did not prepare him to the rapidly evolving nature of the modern business. References Arkebauer, J., & Miller, J. (1999). Leading edge business planning for entrepreneurs (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: Dearborn Financial Pub. Böhm, A. (2009). The SWOT Analysis (1st ed.). München: GRIN Verlag. Bono, J., & Judge, T. (2004). Personality and transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analysis. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 901. Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2008). Making sense of leadership (1st ed.). London: Kogan Page. Connerley, M., & Pedersen, P. (2005). Leadership in a diverse and multicultural environment (1st ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Derr, C., Roussillon, S., & Bournois, F. 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