Human Capital Assignment - Differences in Leadership Styles, Pros and Cons, Management Strategies, and Global Trends

This assignment discusses the differences in leadership styles between Shawn and John, their pros and cons, personal leadership style, human capital management strategies, and global trends in human capital management. It also provides examples of organizations that have harnessed their human capital.

Human Capital Assignment
1. What are the differences between the leadership styles of Shawn and John?
Shown Williams exhibits a democratic style of leadership because he welcomes responses or
feedback from the organization employees. Shawn leadership allows open communication and a
listening culture between the management team and the organization AGC staff (Kane, &
Patapan, 2012). John Dawson, the CEO of AGC uses autocratic leadership style. For him, the
staff is not part of the decision making and they should adhere to the set-out rules. The result of
this leadership is that employees get isolated and hence fail to work to achieve the organizational
objectives. The two styles of leadership cause conflict because the Shawn supports staff
motivation but the John believes that the staff requires to be threatened for them to comply
(Currie & Almond, 2011).
2. What are the pros and cons of each style?
The democratic leadership style is highly regarded due to its ability to create consensus and
commitment among the staff as well as appraising the staff inputs by recognizing team efforts.
Democratic leadership style is also advantageous in the sense that it a style that can be used by
everyone. Even those leaders who are involved in coercive situations, they can still invite
perspectives or opinions to assess to the probable outcomes of a situation (Kane & Patapan,
2012).
The con with democratic style is that the staff team has to be managed and it is not suitable
during crises. The style can also bleed disharmony among the organization team especially when
the opinion of one person is chosen over the other members for a couple of times. The advantage
associated with autocratic style is its practicality during the times of crises. It is however
criticized because it creates micromanagement and uses threats to make employees comply.
(Kane & Patapan, 2012).
3. What is your own leadership style? During the briefing, how will you use your leadership
style to illustrate the intrinsic value of human capital?
In my personal view, I would prefer the democratic leadership style like the one being practiced
by John, the VP of AGC. I chose this style since it gives every person in the workplace to fell as

part and parcel of the organization. By applying this democratic leadership style, I will be able to
take into consideration the concerns of the groups and people which form the human capital of
an organization.
4. What human capital management strategies will you recommend to John and the board
of directors?
In the business market today, the biggest challenge that the human resources face is the
recruiting and retention of talents in the organization. The labor force has become very wise
such that they know and clearly understand the professionalism needed in the wide aspect. The
management team of the organization like the AGC should work toward the elimination of the
barriers and hence reap from the retention of the talents in the organization.
5. What examples from other organizations can you provide to strengthen the board’s
knowledge of global human capital trends and problems?
In the current world, individuals have become more mobile and open-minded in regards to how
they should be managed. Organizations have recognized these developments in human capital.
A good example is the APM group in Bangkok where James Engel, the senior director of
recognizes that the competencies are improved with training the company human capital.
Another example of a company that has upholds human capital resources are Alpha, a
multinational corporate operating in Asia, America, Europe, and in Africa. In a 2012 study
showed that, the IT service company has been recognized by the best employer in the US by the
American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) (Thite, 2012). Other examples of
organizations that have harnessed their human capital include Eastman Chemical Company,
Wegmans Food Market Inc, Bain and Company, LinkedIN among others.

References
Currie, J., & Almond, D. (2011). Human capital development before age five. In Handbook of
labor economics (Vol. 4, pp. 1315-1486). Elsevier.
https://www.humanresourcesmba.net/worlds-30-innovative-corporate-human-resources-
departments/
Kane, J., & Patapan, H. (2012). The democratic leader: How democracy defines, empowers and
limits its leaders. Oxford University Press.
Thite, M. (2012). Strategic global human resource management: Case study of an emerging
Indian multinational. Human Resource Development International, 15(2), 239-247.