Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts PDF

RUNNING HEAD: Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 0
Leadership and cultures in organisational contexts

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Leadership, culture and organizational contexts.............................................................................2
Macro and micro challenges faced in the organization...................................................................3
The concept of the character, ethical, values and belief dimensions...............................................4
The range of relevant leadership theories relevant to the organization...........................................5
Motivation theories and employee engagement..............................................................................6
Talent management, training, development and its role in the leadership......................................6
Belbin team roles for the hard and soft management......................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 2
Introduction
The leaders set direction, build an inspiring vision and create something new. The leadership is
all about where the followers are required to go to win as a team. The leadership is a dynamic,
exciting and inspiring process. The leaders set the direction by using his management skills and
guides people. On the other side, organizational culture is a significant factor in the success of
the business organization. The organizational culture comprises an organization’s expectations,
experiences, philosophy, and values which guide human behavior. It represents the way things
are done around in the organization. The organizational culture influences the behavior of the
employees in the organization. This report defines the leadership and the challenges faced. These
challenges are classified into the macro and micro. The dimensions such as ethical, values and
beliefs are considered in the range of macro and micro perspectives. A range of relevant
leadership theories is introduced and analyzed. A range of practical examples is also illustrated
related to the leadership.
Leadership, culture and organizational contexts
The leaders have the ability to conduct the activity of leading a group and people in the
organization. They coordinate and balance the conflicting interest of all the members and
stakeholders. They have even able to think and act creatively in problematic situations. The
leaders conduct the activities in the diverse conditions through talent and skill. The leadership is
an ability through which leaders can attempt to do something. The people having strong
leadership skills often rise to the executive positions like CEO, COO, CFO, chairman, and
president. The leaders are capable enough to provide direction to the company. The employees
are also required to know the direction in which they should be headed and whom to follow in
order to reach the destination. It guides people the way they have to effectively perform the
responsibilities and handle the completion of the tasks. It is all about setting a positive example
for the staff and motivated them to learn new things. The effective leadership comprises strong
character. It exhibits morality, integrity, reliability, and ethics (Shamir and Eilam-Shamir, 2018).
The strong leadership comprises clear communication skills for successful accomplishment. The
true leadership visualizes the trends in the industry and takes risks to grow the businesses. The
productive leadership is truly concerned about the wellbeing of the staff. It provides positive

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 3
energy to the staff. The leaders find the best way for the staff to work together and attain
maximum results in an efficient manner (Sosik and Jung, 2018).
The leadership concept is allied with the organizational culture along with the national culture.
The organizational culture comprises the morals, beliefs, and rules which are followed in the
organization in the long run. The culture of the organization is basically made up of the
employees as it relies on the attitude and behavior of the staff. The organizational culture is
supposed to be user-friendly and should be enriched with the positive environment. The job
satisfaction of an organization is associated with its culture. The culture of the organization is
made up of its members (Ruch, Gander, Platt and Hofmann, 2018). The culture has a role in
understanding what is and what is not acceptable in society. It is considered that a positive
organization culture automatically enriches the work processes. The leadership practices reveal
the national culture in an organization. The national culture comprises different rules, beliefs,
language, and customs. The difference in the culture exists between national in terms of the
philosophy, beliefs, and practices. An individual can face difficulty due to the different cultural
practices and in communicating with other employees (Storey, 2016).
The concept of cross-cultural leadership should be utilized for resolving the above issues. The
employees should be imparted training to adopt different cultures in the business atmosphere.
The leaders are required to make the plan in order to eliminate cultural differences. It can be
made possible by offering training and programs. It also enables improved interaction between
employees. It is to be believed that the national culture of one country is completely different
from other. So the different leadership activities and theories should be implemented on the
global level. Therefore, it can be said that leadership practices play important role in the
organizational culture as well as national culture.
Macro and micro challenges faced in the organization
The leaders influence the activities of the followers towards goal achievement. They aim to
improve the effectiveness of the organization. On the other side, there are some challenges faced
by the organizations which are linked with the cultural differences. Some of the challenges faced
in an organization are distribution channel and suppliers, lack of communication, lack of
responsibility, lack of mission and vision. Some other challenges encountered in the organization
are adopting changes, removing discernment and discouragement in accomplishing success

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 4
(Shonia, Mushkudiani, Shalamberidze and Janelidze, 2018). There are several challenges which
are faced in a firm at macro and micro level. The macro level states the organizational vision by
planning future strategies so that conflicts can be resolute in advance. Whereas the micro level
undertakes the activities of an organization. The challenges at the macro level influence the
performance of an organization directly.
Challenges faced ta macro level
The leader’s role in forming a successful organization is fulfilled in two ways, pathfinding and
culture building. The macro challenges arise when the organization expands its functions in the
different geographical areas. These challenges affect the evolution of the organization. The
macro challenges arise due to the impact of the globalization on the world economy (Caza,
Zhang, Wang and Bai, 2015). It is linked with the trade activities undertaken within the
organization. The macro challenges faced by the organizations are explained below:
Managing competition: The major challenges faced by an organization in the market are the
competitors or industry in the market (Renko, El Tarabishy, Carsrud and Brännback, 2015). It is
significant to understand strategies adopted by the competing firms in order to attain viable
growth.
Managing change and improbability: The changes are uncertain when an organization is
operating in a dynamic background. So, it is significant to manage the changes in a competent
manner so that conflicts do not arise. The employees often become unsatisfied at the time of
change so the proper training should be imparted in order to adopt change effortlessly (Birasnav,
2014).
Challenges of innovation: In order to conduct operations automatically it is significant to adopt
an innovation. The training should be conducted before adapting innovation so that employees
can learn the way of using them. The organizations seeking to address effective leadership
should practice innovation in business activities. It makes survival easy in the marketplace by
introducing new products and services. The leadership can act as a substance which leads to
higher customer satisfaction.
Challenges faced at micro level

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 5
The micro level challenges are the results of the conflicts between the team members. Such
challenges are given below:
Affects harmony in the workplace: It is a challenging task to maintain peace at a workplace for
an organization. It is because employees belong to the various culture and backgrounds. Various
problems are encountered when team members work together in order to attain organizational
goals. The chances of conflict arise due to the discrepancies on the various items (Lehmann-
Willenbrock, Beck and Kauffeld, 2016). It disturbs harmony in the organization and creates a
challenging situation for the leaders.
Ineffective communication: The communication is another micro-level issue encountered in the
organization. The leaders make sure that effective communication is used so that goals and
objectives can be attained. It enables employees to share ideas and work in the cooperated effort.
Managing changes: The changes are necessary to implement for the success of the organization.
The changes have a role in enhancing productivity and helps in beating competitors. It also
creates challenges for the leaders as employees do not like to retain changes in a positive
manner. It takes time for them to adopt changes. The changes are necessary to be implemented in
order to enhance productivity (Ibidunni, et. al. 2018).
Training and development: The leaders are required to make sure that the training takes place
regularly. It helps in developing skills and conducts business activities in an effective manner
(Beer, Finnström, and Schrader, 2016). But conducting training at an organization is challenging
for the leaders.
The issue in managing concern: The leaders confront the issue in managing apprehension and
workflows. It is significant to resolve issues faced at the time of mobilizing and instigating
change.
Managing internal conflicts: There is a number of conflicts which take place between employees
at workplace due to discrimination. These issues can be resolute by implementing the same
policy for all the employees. The internal conflicts can also be managed by handling politics in
the workplace. It also comprises features of managing the relationship between higher authorities
and bottom line within the organization (Adebajo and Sriram, 2014).

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 6
The concept of the character, ethical, values and belief dimensions
The ethics in the leadership is respected by the values and beliefs. It is concerned with the kinds
of values and morals in an organization. The choice of leaders is prejudiced by moral
development. The ethics are logically related to the philosophical principles. It is all about trust,
respect, honesty, openness, and compassion. When it comes to ethics then the leaders take
responsibility for both good and bad results. The leaders who apply ethics are role models for the
followers. They are liable to design environment in which other employees work and live
(Hugman and Carter, 2016). On the other side, value-based leadership communicates
organizational values to help employees in fulfilling the organization’s mission. Such leaders
concentrate on the core values which captures the organization’s strengths and characters. The
core values represent the ambiance of the organization. The values are the natural motivators and
are referred in creating a vision or making decisions efficiently. The values have a role behind
the successful leaders and in the attainment of the goals (Dawson and Andriopoulos, 2014).
On the other side, beliefs are significant traits practiced by good leaders. The leaders give shape
to the organization as per their beliefs in order to attain future goals. A leader achieves his goals
simply if he believes that the team is capable of achieving the goals. The good thing about belief
is that it can be forged and sharpened. The leader follows the values in which he believes that
can work in achieving goals. The qualities like ethics, beliefs, and values are required to develop
positivity at the workplace. The leaders are required to be dedicated for achieving organizational
objectives and goals. They are even required to encourage employees to take effective decisions
for the advancement of the organization.
The range of relevant leadership theories relevant to the organization
The culture of the organization is linked to the leadership theories undertaken by the leaders.
Trait leadership: The trait leadership emphases on identifying various personality traits and the
characteristics which are linked to successful leadership. The traits linked with the great leaders
are a willingness to accept responsibility, action-oriented judgment, task competence, the
capability of motivating people, trustworthiness, decisiveness, and assertiveness. Such leaders
are capable of controlling their emotions and avoid overreactions (Tannenbaum and Schmidt,
2017). This leadership is based on both successful and unsuccessful leaders. The outcomes of the

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 7
traits are compared to the potential leaders in order to evaluate the possibility of success or
failure. It is a natural fair theory.
Situational leadership: The situational leadership is considered an adaptive leadership style. This
leadership style adapts to the existing working environment and the needs of the organization. It
is not based on the specific skills of the leaders but the management style is modified to suit the
organization requirements. Adaptability is considered one of the keys of the situational
leadership. The leaders who match their style to the need of the organization raise morale,
increase commitment, engagement, and retention. The employees also tend to perform better
when they feel that the managers have the best interest for employees.
Transactional leadership: The transactional leader values both order and structure. This
leadership depends on the self-motivated people who are tending to work well in the structured
and directed environment. Such leaders measure success as per the organization’s reward and
penalties system. The transactional leaders have a kind of formal authority and responsible
positions in the organization. Such leaders are accountable for managing routine by maintaining
individual performance and enabling group performance. The transactional leaders set the
criteria for the followers as per the previously distinct requirements. The performance reviews
are the common tools used by the leaders to judge the performance of the employees (Thompson
and Glasø, 2015).
Transformational leadership: The transformational leadership seeks to motivate and inspire
followers in order to create high performance. The transformational leaders keep a charismatic
appeal and are visionary, motivating, audacious, risk takers and thoughtful. These leaders have
high expectation and set a clear goal (Donohoe and Kelloway, 2016). These are also team
oriented and expect followers to work together in order to generate possible results. They act as a
coach and offers training to the employees to reach goals. They are equally responsible for the
teams. It should also be considered that the transformational leadership does not work well in the
organizations which require changes the time on time. Such leaders are good at balancing short-
term vision long with the long-term goals (Dust, Resick and Mawritz, 2014).
Followers as leaders: Every person in life learns some important skills which make them better
leaders. The leaders have a role in the performance of the followers they accomplish the daily
tasks assigned to meet organizational mission, vision, and goals. Enthusiasm is one of the

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 8
leadership qualities attained by the followers. It is contagious and offers motivation in others.
The followers set the example by representing values of the organization (Tourish, 2014). Such
followers are also proactive in guiding and teaching other team members. They are aware of
forming strong personal and working relations with the team members.
Distributive leadership: The distributed leadership is mainly concerned with leadership practices
than precise leadership responsibilities. It builds up the capacity for change and improvement. It
activates leadership expertise at each level in the organization to create more opportunities for
change. Such leadership is cautiously planned and consciously coordinated. The focus is given
on the interdependent interaction and practice than the independent actions. It is an important
component in the organization improvement. This leadership enhances leadership capacity in
order to improve in a reliable manner. Autonomy, capacity, and responsibility are the three
principles of the distributed leadership (Fahlman, 2017).
Motivation theories and employee engagement
It is the success of an organization to keep its employees motivated and engaged. The motivation
theories force a person to work in a certain way. It pushes a person to work hard and accomplish
the goals of an organization. The motivational theory commonly used in an organization is
Maslow’s theory. This theory has a role in describing the needs of an organization step by step.
This theory works in a direction so that organizational objectives can be attained. Maslow’s
theory is based on human needs. It classifies human needs into a hierarchical manner represents
lower to the highest order. This theory satisfies customers and fulfills the needs (Shepard,
Penuel, and Pellegrino, 2018).
The motivation theory is associated with the leadership theory and works in a way to improve the
performance of employees. It contributes to better organizational performance and resolves
conflicts and problems. The employees can perform well by their engagement as it drives
performance. It also leads to better decision making.
Talent management, training, development and its role in the leadership
Talent management is the process to appeal, develop, motivate and retain high performing
employees. It uses human resource planning to improve business value. The talent management
strategy should be linked with the business strategy to function appropriately. The talent

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 9
management comprises the three areas of structure, responsibilities, and implementation. The
resolution of talent management is to enhance performance. The talent management in the
leadership influence decisions of the people. It even discusses the performance and people’s
potential for deciding action plans. It helps in strengthening the talent pool (Zhu, Treviño and
Zheng, 2016).
The training is an organized activity aimed at imparting instructions in order to improve the
performance of individuals or groups. It qualifies and upgrades a person. The training should be
imparted on the regular basis to improve communication and leadership skills. The leaders act as
a mentor to the employees in an organization to attain organizational objectives (Chawla, 2017).
It creates a basic concept in human resource development. It focuses on the particular skills to
the desired standard. It is the act of enhancing knowledge and skills of the employees for doing a
specific job. The training in leadership increases productivity and helps in retaining people. It
equally helps in nurturing future leaders. It results in increasing employee engagement and
making better decisions.
Belbin team roles for the hard and soft management
Belbin is an analytical tool for the teams and individuals aiming for better teamwork. It is helpful
in discovering behavioral strengths and weaknesses of the team members. This tool is used in
building high performing teams, maximize working relationships and enable team members to
learn (De Vries, et. al. 2016). It has nine team roles which support higher success for the
organization. Belbin team role comprises of coordinator, resource investigator, plants, monitor
evaluators, shapers, implementers, completer-finishers, team workers and specialists. These roles
can be categorized into three diverse main roles like action-oriented, social roles and thinking
roles (Ruch, Gander, Platt, and Hofmann, 2018). The Belbin can be better used to analyses the
current team to identify roles talents.
Conclusion
The leaders have the capability to conduct the activity of prominent a group and people in the
organization. They coordinate and balance the contradictory interest of all the members and
stakeholders. The macro and micro challenges faced in the leadership creates competencies in an

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 10
organization. The ethics in the leadership is appreciated by the values and beliefs. It is
apprehensive with the kinds of values and morals in an organization. The choice of leaders is
bigoted by moral development. The relevant theories of leadership identify various personality
traits and the characteristics which are associated with the successful leadership. The
motivational theories have a role in the employee engagement. Whereas, the training and talent
management has a role in the development of leadership.

Leadership and cultures in organizational contexts 11
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