Describe the transactional and transformational leadership characteristics that Don Green and Michael Budman possess.
According to the available literature, some assumptions are held regarding the transactional leadership. Transactional leadership style believes that leaders are motivated by the reward and punishment the satisfaction of such leaders is on seeing the company excelling (Kurland, Peretz and Hertz-Lazarowitz 8). They also believe that social network works best with a clear and defined chains of command from the top. Again, they believe that the primary purpose of the subordinates in the organization is doing what they are instructed to do. Transactional leadership involves a situation where leader works by creating a clear structure of what should be done by junior employees, and hat should be the punishment and rewards for the same.
The early stage of the transactional leadership is when the leader enters into a contract with an employee, agreeing on a certain salary and benefits, and the company gains authority. To summarize, transactional leaders work as per the contingency that reward of punishment is contingent upon performance. They believe in the outcomes of the enterprise.
List ways in which Michael and Don practice ethical leadership.
Transactional leadership remains a favorite leadership style, and Don Green exhibits many of these characteristics according to the case study given. We have seen that Don focuses all his energies on working out an achievable and feasible strategy for the company. He is always on the frontline to ensuring that strategic plans are converted into reality. He is detailed oriented, and by the fact that he is putting his energy on day to day running of the partnership by directly commanding the employees to do specific things. Again, he also works hard following the advice of his father to achieve different things.
On the other hand, the transformational leadership extends beyond the management of day to day activities of organizations. They are not contingent, and they craft strategies that involve taking the company, employees and a given a team to the next level. It is a kind of leadership that focuses on team building and motivation of the individuals (Kurland, Peretz, and Hertz-Lazarowitz). They are the type of the leaders come up with the goals to raise the subordinate and the junior employees to a higher level.
Michael Budman possesses characteristics of a transformational leader. He is not always limited to the day-to-day running of the company. Michael is referred to as the front runner of the company because he ensures the welfare of various stakeholder is upheld. He was born an inspiring leader and is always motivating the people to become the exciting part of the Roots. Besides running the company activities, he is always promoting and marketing the company to the public. These are some of the transformation leadership characteristics in Michael.
There are various ways in which Michael and Don practice ethical leadership in Roots organization. Different characteristics are associated with ethical leadership in any organization. The leaders respect other and subordinate in the organization (Schaubroeck 1060). With the character of Don, the employees will be paid as much as they perform. From the case study, it was clear that Michael is so humane in nature. He comes up with strategies in the organization that favors the subordinates (1066). He is always motivating and encouraging the employees to improve their standards. Again, the leaders focus on team building Michael develops structures that ensure the growth of the team, department or the entire company. Both leaders make value-driven decision making. The subordinates are involved in decision making through different initiatives. Before any decision is made, it is checked to ensure that they are in agreement with the organizational values.
Why might the partnership of Michael Budman and Don Green be envied?
The partnership between the two is to be envied because it makes the organization very efficient. Both the leadership skills are needed in Roots Company to make the corporation succeed. For instance, Don will provide the company with a pivotal role because he has the capabilities of running small operational in the enterprise quickly. Transactional leaders are known for keeping the employees in the frontline and coming up with strategies that will build a strong reputation in the market. On the other hand, Michael will be key to the strategic growth of the business. Many companies with transformational leaders reap big profits because the leader is at the helm shoot for big goals (Kurland, Peretz, and Hertz-Lazarowitz). Sales manager are very useful if they are transformational. In the same note, Michael is concerned with marketing and promotion of the services by the company. These are some of the motives why the partnership between Michael and Don can be envied.
Research
Identify another productive leadership team and compare the similarities and differences between that team and the Roots team.
The comparison between the leadership of the Roots Company and Walmart is different. The main difference emanates from the different sizes of the companies. Walmart is the leading retail business in the world, and hence differences in the management are expected. The leadership of the Walmart is more of transactional. On the other hand, the team managing Roots is a partnership between a transactional leader and transformational leader. However, some similarities are notable in the two companies. In Walmart, making I centralized. The commands come from one direction indicating that the leadership is transactional. The payment of the employees is by contingency. The more effort put by a particular member, the more rewards, and the benefits will be more. The transactional leader will be able to command a large organization by imposing rules and regulations to complete objectives.
On the other hand, in Roots, the management is different since it is a combination of transformation and transactional in one place. In Roots, both leadership styles are crucial to guiding the success of the Company. Don gives Roots advantage because he can cater for the management and running of the organization. Michael concentrates on marketing and promoting of products. Roots involve the subordinates in decision making. The combination of the two leadership styles in Roots gives the company compared to Walmart which mainly relies on transactional leadership.
Research past marketing campaigns created by Roots. Identify three celebrities involved in endorsing any of the Roots products, and explain the cultural significance of these individuals to Roots.
Roots have in the past funded many marketing campaigns. Celebrities are involved in the endorsement of various products of the company. Roots Company can get celebrities to endorse its products. The first example is Singer Sarah McLachlan at Jumos. Sarah’s endorsement was beneficial to the enterprise because it became the symbol of Canada. The endorsement by said celebrity was important to Roots retail success story. The company also took national myth and targeted athletics personalities to wear their clothes, in which most of them have accepted. The celebrities who were visiting Camp in Algonquin agreed to wear a new shoe called “negative heel shoe.” In weeks’ time after endorsement young hippies from Detroit, it was trending recording massive sales for the company. Finally, the celebrity Bruce did advertising for Roots. The advertisement helped the company to revamp that the brand for two years. It had a significant influence on the brand of the enterprise.
Works Cited
Kurland, Hanna, Hilla Peretz, and Rachel Hertz-Lazarowitz. "Leadership style and organizational learning: The mediate effect of school vision." Journal of Educational Administration 2010, pp. 7-30.
Schaubroeck, John M. "Embedding ethical leadership within and across organization levels." Academy of Management Journal 2012, pp. 1053-1078.
The Canadian Encyclopedia. Roots Canada. 2017. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/roots-canada/ Accessed 16 Jan. 2017.
