BUS102 Management and Leadership

Running Head: BUS102 Management and Leadership
BUS102 MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

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BUS102 Management and Leadership
Executive summary
This study has focused on the case study of Ricardo Semler, the owner of Semco.
From the case study, it has been found that this person is following the Laissez-faire
leadership style and this company provides full freedom to its employees. Based on this case
study, four questions have been answered. The answer to the first question has mentioned that
Ricardo has chosen the Laissez-faire leadership approach for his business and it has helped
him to achieve business goals within the minimum time and budget. This answer includes
both the benefits and drawbacks of this leadership approach. On the other hand, this answer
has included a total of 3 leadership styles, their benefits, and drawbacks.
The answer to the second question has included proof of Laissez-faire leadership from
the case study. It has mentioned all the qualities of a good leader that can motivate
employees. Through answering the third question of this assignment, the meaning of
efficiency and effectiveness and their importance within an organization have been discussed.
Besides, the way of achieving goals by Semco has been included. The answer to the fourth
question has mentioned about what other leaders can learn from the case study of Ricardo
Semler and the impact of this learning in business.

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BUS102 Management and Leadership
Table of Contents
1. Advantages and disadvantages of the leadership style of Ricardo Semler............................4
2. Influencing team to achieve organizational goals..................................................................5
3. Extend of gearing up of the work-practice at the organization of Ricardo Semler towards
efficiency....................................................................................................................................6
4. Learning from the leadership approach of Ricardo Semler...................................................8
Reference list............................................................................................................................10

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BUS102 Management and Leadership
1. Advantages and disadvantages of the leadership style of Ricardo Semler
Leadership can be defined as the art of motivating a group of people for acting
towards obtaining a common objective. As stated by Paoletti, Reyes & Salas (2019), in a
business setting, leadership means guiding colleagues and workers with a proper strategy for
achieving organizational requirements. There are three main types of leadership, which
include autocratic, participative and laissez-faire leadership. The autocratic leadership style
has become a relic in the current business environment. This is because most of the
employees perform better without the presence of their supervisors all the time. This
leadership style creates extreme pressure on employees, which can impact their performance.
A participative leadership style is a good approach that allows managers to give proper
space to employees to show their creativity independently. However, still, managers maintain
enough control by guiding the overall vision of the team and providing them feedback.
Laissez-faire leadership style is a delegative approach, where leaders are hands-off. As
stated by Wong & Giessner (2018), in laissez-faire leadership, managers of a firm allow
members of a group to make their own decisions freely. Leaders provide very little guidance
and followers often achieve complete freedom. However, leaders provide the required
assistance and resources to the team members. The advantages of this leadership style include
highly motivated teams with good skills and high expertise who can work freely. On the other
hand, creative teams can give value to the independence that they achieve. Moreover, this
leadership style works well, if the leader provides necessary resources at the start of any
project. Among the disadvantages, confusion regarding roles in a group is essential. Besides,
leaders can get uninvolved and this can result in poor performance.
In the case study, it can be seen that Semler believes that the organization thrives well
by entrusting staff. The employees of this company decide their working hours and pay
levels. Moreover, they decide who will be their boss and their performance. The workers of