Leadership Theories - Coursework Example

LEADERSHIP THEORIES of the organization Royal Philips Electronic was the organization that was brought under scrutiny in the present assignment. It would be noted that Philips has very historic background when it comes to the production of electronics all around the world. Present statistics show that with sales of $28.8 billion a year, General Philips Electronics is Europe’s largest electronic outfit (Wylie, 2012). The production of incandescent bulds happens to be one of the organization’s biggest strengths as the company produces as many of 2.4 billion pieces of incandescent lamps a year (Wylie, 2012). Some other areas of production include the production of compact discs, television sets and fridges. As until 2002, Royal Philps Electronic was not one organization that could be said to have been on an upsurge rise in terms of growth or downward decline in terms of growth (Gardener, 2001. This because the growth pattern of the company kept fluctuating by the years. Summary of the organizational change that occurred in the organization Due to the need to arrest the growth rate of the company and ensure that there was stability in terms of growth, a number of organizational changes were recommended in the company. Most of these organizational changes were given birth to by the coming of Gerard Kleisterlee, who took over as the company’s president in the year 2001. The summary of the organizational change could be given as that, Gerard Kleisterlee saw the need for there to be integration in the operations and functioning of the organization (Koduah, 2001). This is because prior to his coming, “he found a company that was rigidly divided into six business divisions, with little or no communication among them” (Wyle, 2012). The result of this was that the organization could not have a common focus and so its programs and policies could not be closely monitored and evaluated under the same model. Profile of the leader involved in the change Much of the organizational change that took place at Royal Philips Electronics could be attributed to the personal background and personality of Gerard Kleisterlee, who took over as the president of the company and thus the global leader, responsible for controlling the fortunes and visions orientation of the company (Moynihan and Henry, 2006). This is because the leader was born in the very country of origin of the company and so had very insightful idea about the formal and informal operations of the company. Moreover, the leader received university education in electronics, which gave him an excellent understanding of the core duties and operations of Royal Philips, which was of course, an electronic company. Specifically, the leader attended Eindhoven University of Technology. What is more, this leader rose through the ranks at Philips and therefore had a vivid idea about the internal affairs of the company, including the leadership styles and various leadership theories that had been practiced in the company before and which of them worked best in addressing the needs of the company. Some of the positions that Gerard Kleisterlee occupied before rising to the position of President included General Manager of Philips Professional Audio Product Group and General Manager of Philips Display Components for Europe (Parkes, 2006). Description of organizational change theories that account for the organizational change Researchers have said that the organizational change that took place in Royal Philips Electronic upon the assumption of office by Gerard Kleisterlee is one that follows the Lewin’s Force-Field Theory of Change (Robson, 2002). Basically, the Lewin’s Force-Field Theory of Change stipulates that there will be the occurrence of a "wide variety of forces arise from the way an organization operates, from its structure, culture and control systems that make it resistant to change” (Consador, 2012). In effect, this is an organizational change theory that ensurs that there is absolute change in the entire systems and structures of the organization. Others have said that the commonest instances in which this kind of change is needed is when there is an acquisition, where a new organizational culture needs to be created (Saunders et al, 2003). So since there was no acquisition in the case of Royal Philips Electronic, one may be quick to ask why such organizational change theory that changes the entire systems and structures of an organization was employed by the organization. The answer to the question is in the state in which the company found itself at the time that Gerard Kleisterlee assumed office as the President of the company. This is because as of the year 2001, Royal Philip Electronic had started experiencing the a downward growth trend, that had brought the company close to the woes bankruptcy before. Wyle (2012) had actually stated that as at the time, “Philips was close to bankruptcy after a series of strategic blunders and operational mishaps.” This means that there was the need for a rapid and massive change that was characterized by having nothing that existed before that contributed to be the poor performance to continue to exist (Gray-Toft and Anderson, 2008). Leadership theory that account for the actions of the leader Judging from the fact that the commonest tag that was given to the organizational change that was embarked by Royal Philips Electronic by pundits at the time of the implementation of the change was ‘ambitious’, the best leadership theory that could be said to have backed the organizational change of Gerard Kleisterlee was a charismatic leadership theory. This is because charismatic leaders have been generally tagged as ones who take up bold and ambitious changes that are often not short lived but come with medium and long term results. Charismatic leaders would also want to take up the change process from a personalized view point by employing the contribution of other leaders not specifically to take up control of the change but to serve or act as monitors (Hussey and Hussey, 1997). All of these are characteristics that Gerard Kleisterlee exhibited in his quest to see change in his company and so he certainly used a charismatic leadership theory. There could be only reason assigned to why Gerard Kleisterlee needed a charismatic leadership theory. This is because analysts argue that the application of Lewin’s Force-Field Theory of Change is often monumental in the sense that it comes with an unusual change that cannot be easily accommodated in the absence of charisma (Consador, 2012). Again, Royal Philips Electronics was at a crossroad in its centuries of operation and needed a one-time leadership theory that could ensure that the change that was to come was built on the principles of consolidation and unshaken positive change. It is not for nothing that the conclusion of the story of Gerard Kleisterlee was that “Philips range of DVD recorders (including a sub-$1,000 model) now claims 60% of the U.S. market” (Wyle, 2012). REFERENCE LIST Consador K (2012). Organisational Change Theory. Accessed September 15, 2012 from http://www.ehow.com/about_5389727_organizational-change-theory.html Gardener, R. A, 2001, Financial Complexities in Global Market. London: Zion Press Limited Gray-Toft, P. and Anderson, J.G. (2008). Stress among hospital nursing staff: its causes and effects. Social Science & Medicine 14: 639-647. Hussey, J. and Hussey, R. 1997, Business Research: A Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students. Basingstoke: Macmillan Business. Koduah A. W. R, 2001, Global Financial Act. Accra: Ultimate Printing Press Moynihan R and Henry D (2006) The Fight against Disease Mongering: Generating Knowledge for Action. PLoS Med 3(4): e191. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030191 Parkes, K.R. (2006). Agents of Stress Control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51 (6):1277-1292. Robson, C. Real World Research. Oxford: Blackwell. 2002, Print Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. Research Methods for Business Students. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. 2003,Print Wylie, (2012). Can Philips Learn to Walk the Talk? Accessed September 14, 2012 from http://www.fastcompany.com/46055/can-philips-learn-walk-talk Read More