Leadership Practices at Woolworths Supermarkets

This report evaluates the leadership practices at Woolworths Supermarkets, one of the biggest supermarket chains in Australia. It discusses the concept of leadership, the difference between leadership and management, and provides an overview of the company's activities. The report also examines the leadership styles, challenges, and development activities within the organization. Additionally, it critically evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the leadership practices and offers recommendations for improvement.

LEADERSHIP
PAPER

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT..........................................................................................1
Concept of Leadership................................................................................................................1
Difference Between Leadership and Management.....................................................................1
ORGANISATIONAL OVERVIEW................................................................................................2
LEADERSHIP PRACTICES..........................................................................................................3
Leadership Styles........................................................................................................................3
Leadership Challenges................................................................................................................4
Leadership Development Activities............................................................................................4
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES.........................................5
Strengths......................................................................................................................................5
Weaknesses.................................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Leadership refers to an act of people within superior positions within the company to
appropriately lead the whole organisation towards an easy and effective attaining of their
organisational objectives. In relation to this, there are several approaches which are adopted by
the leaders which assist them in carrying out their tasks towards handling operations of the firm
in a prominent manner (Rosenbach, 2018). In this perspective, leadership Woolworths
Supermarkets has been into consideration, which is one of the biggest and most successful
supermarket chains in Australia. The report covers insight into leadership , along with overview
of company's activities and leadership practices. In addition to this, all the practices defined
above are critically evaluated and recommendations are given on the basis of the evaluation.
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Concept of Leadership
Leadership is a prominent concept that has seen its emergence almost along with that of
humankind. It has evolved since ages with different theorists and practitioners researching and
developing the concepts through researching the humanitarian and management contexts of
business practices. However, in terms of historic trends, Peter Drucker was one of the most
prominent theorists which developed certain principles related to leadership, that included setting
up of goals, organisation, motivation, measurement of performance and development of people.
Hence, motivation has been one of the most effective historic trends which has been evidently
and conveniently shaped up the leadership in the past.
However, leadership development is a contemporary trend, which requires leaders to
regularly adapt towards changing organisational situations and hence, functioning appropriately
by ensuring self development along with that of the organisation (Western, 2019).
Difference Between Leadership and Management
Leadership is often misinterpreted as an interchangeable term with management, which
refers to planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling all the activities, resources and
strategies of the company. However, there is a significant difference between both these terms
that are explained through several pointers below:
 In terms of management, the aim of individuals is to manage each and every resource for
a smooth working of the company and easy achievement of organisation's objectives.
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However, leadership focuses on developing the motivational level of the human resources
for achieving the same task rather than emphasising on management.
 A rather machine-like approach is carried out by management in context of getting the
job done. However, in relation to leadership, it functions on the humanitarian basis of
performing business, which is highly effective if the performance of the business is to be
enhanced (Shamir and Eilam-Shamir, 2018).
Hence, both the aspects of business is important to be there within the organisation as
somehow, both are dependent on one another to facilitate the working and functioning. However,
an organisation and its senior personnels must realise the difference between leadership and
management and apply both these functions separately within their working.
ORGANISATIONAL OVERVIEW
Woolworths is one of the finest supermarket chains within the Australia, which deals in
retailing of groceries and other effective items such as magazines, DVDs, household products
and so forth. Located in New South Wales, Australia, this company has been in operations fr
almost a century and has a prominent customer market within the country. Moreover, the
products and services of the company are very much desirable and preferred by the customers.
In terms of certain activities, there are several operations that are carried out by the
company in relation to run their businesses efficiently. Some of these activities are explained as
follows: Supply Chain Management: One of the most prominent activities within the company is
related to acquisition of raw material and delivery of finished products. This activity is
highly essential for the organisation, as it has to acquire fresh groceries daily from the
suppliers. Moreover, since the supermarket also works towards delivering the company's
products to customers, the supply chain also works effectively towards achieving the
same. Administration: The company has to maintain records of several aspects, such as
customers, suppliers, employees, daily operations, sales, customer services and so forth.
Hence, this activity assists the company in an effective records and information
management within the organisation. Retail Management: A major activity which the firm is required to accomplish is the
managing its retail operations. This include storing, segregating and displaying the items,
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along with management of equipments and human resources which supports the
organisation in context of carrying out these activities in an effective manner.
 Marketing: One of the most essential activity which is implemented by the organisation.
The firm is appropriately marketing its products and services through use of diverse
methods of improvement, which are required to familiarise the offerings of the firm with
the market. Furthermore, this also includes choosing and implementing methods of
advertisements and sales promotions, which further enhances the prospects of marketing
within the business (Glatthorn. and et. al., 2018).
LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
Leadership Styles
Leadership styles are the approaches which the leaders appropriately and effectively
follow when it comes to providing perform their duties and activities within the organisation.
Moreover, each and every leadership approaches serve as an appropriate guide to leaders as to
how they could approach different functions that are required to be adopted by them.
In perspective of Woolworths Supermarket, there are several leadership styles which
leaders within the company adopt and implement within their practices. Some of the prominent
approaches are explained below:
 Participative Leadership:
This type of leadership style refers the one where employee participation is highly valued
and invited within the organisation's decisions. In addition to this, the strategies and business
plans within the company are formulated by keeping the personal interests of employees into
consideration. Within Woolworths, this is one of the most used leadership styles which could be
reflected by several leadership programmes which the company formulates for its employees.
For example, in 2013, the firm developed several programmes for the female staff of the
organisation, which would have enabled them in development of the competence which is
required to lead several departments themselves (Woolworths Limited: Annual Report, 2013).
Moreover, to enhance the participation of female employees Personal Leadership programme has
been developed by the company to ensure effectiveness within the same.
 Situational Leadership Style: Another effective leadership style which is being followed
by the organisation is situational leadership style, which reflects that the leaders would be
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choosing the leadership approach depending on the situation of the company. In case of
Woolworths, the firm works effectively towards enhancing employee experience.
Moreover, since each and every employee is different, the firm has been adopting diverse
leadership, which is according to the situation so that the employee experience could
flourish (Taylor, 2018).
Leadership Challenges
There are several challenges which are currently being faced by the company, despite
adopting effective leadership styles. This could be reflected by the fact that Woolworths has
undergone restructuring recently, However, the change management has been very much
ineffective due to several redundancies and Fair Work Commission (Woolworths management
restructure faces challenge, 2019). The challenge which this reflects within the same is that the
company is not adopting appropriate leadership while leading the firm with towards the change.
This also embarks an effective leadership of both the leadership styles mentioned above, due to
the fact that the Fair Work Commission has shown concerns over the laying off of employees
due to this restructuring. It is a clear indicator that democratic viewpoints are not considered by
the company. In addition to this, the situation demands the company to adopt transformational
leadership style for better change management, which is not being followed by the firm, as the
employees are very much unhappy with the whole restructuring idea. Hence, the biggest
challenge in here for the company is that leadership is being chosen by the organisation with the
view of coercion, i.e., imposing of decisions on the employees, rather than influencing the
workforce about what decision the company is taking. This has caused a severe effect on the
corporate strategies and harmony within the organisation as the expectation level of employees
has always been prominently high from the company (Wildavsky, 2018).
Leadership Development Activities
However, there are certain effective leadership development activities within the
organisation. For instance, as mentioned above, there are certain schemes and leadership
programmes that are being effectively developed which would assist them in determining their
capabilities and competence in relation to highlighting the scope of improvement towards
development of their performance as a leader. In addition to this, social development is a prime
agenda of the organisation, which is focusing on providing education, training and performance
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appraisals to the organisations, which are very much effective in building up the desire skills,
experience and competence in employees of the organisation.
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
It is a highly crucial activity which is required to be performed in order to evaluate as to
what extent does the organisation's leadership practices satisfy the strategies adopted by the
company. Moreover, evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of these practices would also
help in identifying the areas of improvement within the overall organisation, which would be
assisting the firm in development of these practices in ways which facilitates leadership within
the company and effective contribution to its strategies. The prime strategy of the organisation is
related to being customer focused for a long period of time which would help the company in
regaining their trust and enhancing the customer market (Woolworths announces new strategies
to win over grocery shoppers, 2019). Moreover, innovation and value creation are very
prominent parts of this strategy.
With respect to the Woolworths Supermarket and the strategy above, its critical
evaluation of the leadership practices of the company are discussed below:
Strengths Adaptation: One of the most prominent strengths of the organisation's leadership
practices is that it paves for the company to adapt to the current market conditions.
Moreover, within Australia, being customer centric is the only way through which the
company could attract and retain more customers. Therefore, situational leadership style
is very much effective for the firm in relation to adapting to changes within the
marketplace and adhere to the current norms and preferences of customers. This would
further have a positive impact on the company in relation to its strategy adopted by the
firm recently, as customers' demands change constantly, which needs the company to be
flexible enough to adapt with the same (Hoch and et. al., 2018).
 Empowerment: Another strength of the leadership practices of Woolworths is that it
empowers the people within the company by providing them several opportunities to
furnish their competencies and enhance their skills and competence. In addition to this,
limited, but evident decision making power is being given to the employees within the
company in terms of choosing the best manner in which they would like to perform their
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duties with maximum capabilities. Moreover, flexible structure and functioning of the
company also contributes in easy adaptation by employees towards different methods and
strategies adopted by the firm to accomplish their organisational objectives.
Weaknesses Consistency: Apart from certain positives, there are weak points within the leadership
practices as well, which have a negative impact towards the organisation's strategy. For
instance, the company is not very much consistent when it comes to adhering to the
leadership approaches used by the firm. This could be reflected by the fact that not every
decision within the company has employees' say within its consideration. Moreover, the
company's leadership practices have several loopholes when it comes to application
within every department, as it is reflective above, that it has a very negative impact on the
strategy. This is because keeping customer at the centre requires the firm in enhancing
the consistent performance of employees towards satisfaction of customers. However,
ineffective leadership practices and inappropriate distribution of power demotivate
individuals to work effectively and consistently, which would be having a direct impact
on the strategy being adopted by the company (Shamir, Arthur and House, 2018).
 Rigidity: As analysed in the previous section, the organisation has a very inconsistent in
being dynamic and adopting leadership styles which suit the change. Moreover, in terms
of power distribution, it took decisions which were definitely against the employees and
their individual needs for betterment of the company. This highlights that the application
and implementation of the organisation's leadership practices is quite ineffective and
rigid, which impacts the company's strategy negatively. Reason for the same is that it is
rigidity might lead to losses due to different in perceptions of employees and
management of the company. in addition to this, ineffective implementation of the
leadership approaches could lead to high resistance and redundancies within the
company, which might give rise to conflicts and inefficiencies, but would be
disadvantageous for the strategy of Woolworths
RECOMMENDATIONS
As per the above analysis, it could be claimed that the organisation has an effective need
to reform its leadership practices in ways which satisfies the organisation, its strategies and the
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employees themselves. Moreover, the problem of rigidity and inconsistency is required to be
improvised which would help the company in accelerating the scope of improvement in terms of
the performance of the company and towards its strategy (Sheninger, 2019). Hence, in relation to
Woolworhts Supermarket, there are several recommendations that are provided as under:
 The company is required to test the leadership practices on the basis of satisfaction levels
of employees, customers and frameworks performed by the company. In relation to this,
the firm could acquire feedbacks within the same from all the stakeholders in context of
monitoring the effectiveness of the leadership practices. This would provide the company
with identification of areas within their leadership which requires improvement.
 Another recommendation for the organisation is that it could appropriately ensure better
training and development activities within the organisation in relation to inhabiting the
new culture with higher transparency and consistency of the employees. This would
allow the company in adhering to effectiveness in performance of leaders on both
managerial and ethical frameworks, which would also provide benefits to the
stakeholders and organisation's strategies (Ginnett, 2019).
CONCLUSION
Hence, it is concluded from the report above that leadership is a very important practice
which must be adhered to and implemented within an organisation to achieve higher competence
and effectiveness in leading the company towards success. Moreover, leadership must be
understood well by reflecting the historian and contemporary trends associated with this concept,
along with determining the different between leadership and management. In addition to this, an
organisation's current activities helps in realising the areas where the company is requiring and
implementing its leadership. Furthermore, it is highly essential to analyse the strengths and
weaknesses which are related to the leadership approaches within the company. In addition to
this, the issues identified must be appropriately resolved by providing and adhering to several
recommendations for the betterment of leadership implementation within the company.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ginnett, R. C., 2019. Crews as groups: Their formation and their leadership. In Crew resource
management (pp. 73-102). Academic Press.
Glatthorn, A. A. and et. al., 2018. Curriculum leadership: Strategies for development and
implementation. SAGE publications.
Hoch, J. E. and et. al., 2018. Do ethical, authentic, and servant leadership explain variance above
and beyond transformational leadership? A meta-analysis. Journal of
Management. 44(2). pp.501-529.
Rosenbach, W. E., 2018. Contemporary issues in leadership. Routledge.
Shamir, B. and Eilam-Shamir, G., 2018. “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to
authentic leadership development. In Leadership Now: Reflections on the Legacy of
Boas Shamir(pp. 51-76). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Shamir, B., Arthur, M. B. and House, R. J., 2018. The rhetoric of charismatic leadership: A
theoretical extension, a case study, and implications for research. In Leadership Now:
Reflections on the Legacy of Boas Shamir (pp. 31-49). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Sheninger, E., 2019. Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times. Corwin Press.
Taylor, R. L., 2018. Military leadership: In pursuit of excellence. Routledge.
Western, S., 2019. Leadership: A critical text. SAGE Publications Limited.
Wildavsky, A., 2018. A cultural theory of leadership. In Cultural Analysis (pp. 253-282).
Routledge.
Online
Woolworths announces new strategies to win over grocery shoppers. 2019. [Online] Available
Through: <https://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2015/05/06/woolworths-announces-new-
strategies-to-win-over-grocery-shoppers-afn-reveals-full-detail.html>
Woolworths Limited: Annual Report. 2013. [Online] Available Through:
<http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/W/ASX_WOW_20
13.pdf>
Woolworths management restructure faces challenge. 2019. [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/woolworths-management-restructure-
faces-challenge-20190612-p51www.html>
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