Intech Mini Case
Effective leadership involves the process of developing motivated and satisfied followers (Hughes H. R., 2012). Motivation provides direction, power and determination to behavior. It makes a person put more effort when undertaking any activity and to persist with the effort for a certain period. Performance involves how individual behaviors affect the missions and goals. Satisfaction deals with how one feels about the work activity, promotion and pay (Hughes H. R., 2012). Best leaders are those who motivate workers to perform at a higher level but at the same time, they maintain a higher level of job satisfaction. Motivational theories and approaches such as the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, achievement orientation, goal setting and operant approach help leaders to solve motivational problems among their followers.
Initech Corporation and The Coffee Bean are distinct in terms of job satisfaction (Hughes H. R., 2012). At Initech, success is determined by how busy one looks. An employee has no place in the decision-making process. One cannot question the leadership of the company (Hughes H. R., 2012). Peter Gibbons, an employee of the Initech, has a negative attitude towards work and feels demotivated. Peter has less achievement orientation. He has a low need to achieve and feels unsatisfied by the work activities. Peter’s only source of motivation comes from the fact that he does not want to lose his job. He, therefore, has low levels of achievement motivation (Hughes H. R., 2012). The Intech Company does not meet some of Peter’s needs according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. The company needs to meet his security needs. Peter works extra hard but is not paid for the extra effort. The company does not meet his job security needs. By putting more effort into the work activities, Peter expects to earn extra money, and this is not the case. Moreover, the company does not meet his belongingness needs. Peter cannot question the leadership and is therefore never involved in the decision-making process (Hughes H. R., 2012). This aspect makes Peter feel out of place since he cannot socialize with his bosses. Furthermore, the company has not met his self-esteem needs. He feels demotivated to work and has a carefree attitude. Those in authority need to treat Peter with dignity and respect.
The leadership at Intech Company is more likely to invoke the Golem effect since it does not communicate high expectations for their employees. The performance of the employees does not disappoint those in authority. The efficiency experts keen to learn why he performs poorly. On the other hand, The Coffee Bean, a chain of coffee shops, is inclined towards promoting employee morale and increasing output. The Coffee Bean is more likely to invoke the Pygmalion effect, where the leadership states high expectations for the employees and are likely to have high performing employees. The company believes in fun within workplace and; therefore, workers feel motivated to produce better results. The turnover rate at The Coffee Bean has reduced significantly because the employees felt satisfied, motivated and committed to their work activities (Hughes H. R., 2012). The company treats its workers fairly with dignity and respect. The company employs the FISH philosophy that emphasizes on fun within the place of work. There are theme days where workers dress up for the themes and give discounts to customers who dress in the same way.
Hernandez Mini Case
The group behavior greatly affects the leadership role. Different groups and teams have different characteristics according to their skills, motives, beliefs and abilities. A group is the interaction of two or more people in a way that each of them influences the other people. Teams have a clear mission, high standards of performance and high communication levels. Both members of groups and teams have a mutual contact and reciprocal influence. In contrast, members of the team have a stronger sense of identification than those of a group. Moreover, teams have common goals and tasks unlike groups where members have different goals. Furthermore, task interdependence is more common with teams than groups (Hughes H. R., 2012). Additionally, members of the team have specialized roles compared to group members. The group perspective explains why group members behave in a particular way. The Team Leadership Model or TLM is a model that helps teams to achieve their objectives. The model identifies what the team needs to do and then points the leader towards the challenges or towards ways that will improve the effectiveness of the team. The theory has three stages that include the input, process and output.
The Hernandez & Associates Inc. is set to undergo changes in their service delivery. The leader, Marco Hernandez has a big task to make the team members understand that how they serve clients in the transition period will determine the growth of the company. The process stage of TLM model helps to identify the problem at hand (Hughes H. R., 2012). The team works hard enough, has enough knowledge and skills, has positive group dynamics but does not have appropriate ways to approach the current tasks. The leadership lacks suitable strategies of accomplishing the work activities. Marco therefore needs to come up with advantage points to solve the diagnosed problem.
Marco can use the team design to solve the problem. The major functions of the TLM model include the output, input and process. The outputs are the products of a team. A team is effective if the output meets the standards of the quality, quantity and timelessness of the customers. Moreover, the group experience promotes individual growth and enhances the ability of the team members to work as one team. Process outlines how the team works to achieve desired results. The process stage diagnoses the problem and gives advantage points. Inputs are what are available for teams as they work. The inputs include the psychological and environmental factors. Leaders influence some of these factors to create suitable settings for effective teamwork (Hughes H. R., 2012). Most of the challenges facing The Hernandez & Associates Inc. fall under the process stage. Marco created a suitable environment for the team, and they have enough resources. However, the team lacks strategies that will help in producing desired results. The goals of the team for output include promoting the growth and individual wellbeing of the members, enhancing their ability to work as a team and to produce standardized services that satisfy the customers. Marco and his team need to employ the strategy factors. These factors help the team to identify what they are supposed to do and how to do it. The team may have coaching sessions to improve performance (Hughes H. R., 2012).
Both motivation and team perspective influence the leadership. Motivation encourages a person to put in more effort when working and to persist with the effort. The team leadership model suggests that inputs, outputs and processes affect the effectiveness of a team. Leaders can use the model to identify problems and come up with the leverage points for action.
Obama’s Leadership towards Ebola Outbreak
Notwithstanding the fact that situational factors play a vital role in shaping behavior and actions of leaders, it is needless to mention that President Obama has not shown competent leadership throughout the Ebola outbreak. While the virus continues to claim thousands of lives, the response from the Obama administration is not adequate. It is all over in the news that the deadly virus continues to spread and kill people while the world icon, President Barak Obama, is not doing enough to provide a solution. In his recent speech in a United Nations’ conference, President Obama admits that the world is not doing enough to contain the situation in West Africa. He admits that Ebola is a health crisis that continues to threaten the regional and global security and requires watertight measures. It is worth noting that the Obama administration has failed to demonstrate his full capacity to deal with the global crisis. In fact, the response has been very sluggish and unplanned.
The fact that situations are dynamic and fast changing, leaders need to be aware of the emerging situations and be able to show exceptional capabilities (Hughes H. R., 2012). In fact, researches on leadership theories indicate that different tasks, organizational, and environmental factors affect both the behaviors of the leaders and the followers’ behaviors. Accordingly, this paper underscores that the Obama administration is insensitive to situational factors. The pace of his actions does not measure up to the solemnity of the situation. It is noteworthy that crises require immediate actions than promises. Instead of acting, President Obama keeps making promises instead of taking actions in solving the problem. In his recent speech at the UN General Assembly meeting, Obama promises to deploy at least three thousand military personnel to Liberia to establish a coordination center in Liberia. Notably, the promise comes at a time that requires an urgent response from the leaders.
If I were in the shoes of President Obama, I would ensure that right from the beginning there are measures in place in response to Ebola outbreak. In other words, I would ensure that the situation does not hit like a bombshell. It is worth mentioning that since the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, substantial and extensive medical research ought to be in place to address the situation. The administration, however, waited until American doctors contracted in order to initiate actions. In regards, this paper critics Obama’s leadership as insensitive to situations of urgent social needs. The response has been quiet slow and less planned
References
Hughes H. R., G. R. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience (8th Ed.) . New York: Mc Graw Hill Education .
