Leading Business Organisations Student Guidelines

This document provides comprehensive guidelines on leading business organisations for students. It covers topics such as leadership theories, styles, mission and vision, leadership strategies, motivation theories, and more. The document also includes a critical evaluation of Kevin Johnson's leadership style and its impact on Starbucks' financial performance and ethical challenges.

Leading Business
Organisations Student
Guidelines

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
PART 1............................................................................................................................................4
1.a) Fundamental questions that leaders need to ask themselves................................................4
b. Key aspects of leadership.........................................................................................................4
c) What is a leadership theory/ style............................................................................................5
d) Leadership styles appropriate for VUCA business environment............................................5
e. Why do aspiring leaders need an in-depth understanding of a range of leadership styles.......5
2. a) Organisational mission and vision.......................................................................................5
b) Contribution of an individual to execute the mission and vision............................................5
c) Contribution of leaders to executing the mission and vision...................................................6
d) Contribution of stakeholders to executing the mission and vision..........................................6
e. Why do aspiring leaders need to be able to evaluate the contributions of the above?.............6
3. a) What is a leadership strategy...............................................................................................6
b. What is change leadership.......................................................................................................6
c. What is organisational potential...............................................................................................6
d. What is a business context.......................................................................................................7
e. Why do aspiring leaders need to understand a broad range of leadership strategies that can
be applied in in a variety of different business contexts?............................................................7
4. a. What is a motivation theory.................................................................................................7
b. What are the two categories of motivational theories..............................................................7
c. What is the contemporary term for employee motivation.......................................................7
d. What is the ‘appreciative inquiry technique’...........................................................................7
e. Why do aspiring leaders need to be able to critically evaluate a range of motivational
theories within a specific organisational context?.......................................................................8
5. Covered in ppt..........................................................................................................................8
PART 2............................................................................................................................................8
Introduction..................................................................................................................................8
Why does Johnson have such a strong personal brand as an effective global leader?..............11

Provide two recommendations as to what you believe Johnson could do to build on his current
success and maintain Starbuck’s sustainability and competitive advantage.............................11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCE.................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Leading business is one of the most significant part that direct the right path to the
manpower and help to accomplish goals effectively. This even significantly addresses the
specific issues of an organisation and help to enhance the ability to take the necessary steps and
carry out smooth internal processes. Almost all successful organisations leads their personnel in
such a manner that possibly enrich their existing skill as well as capability (Abdelkafi and
Täuscher, 2016). This is the profitable situation for both individual and an organisation because
manpower gets better future opportunity and which further helps to enhance firm's productivity.
For better understanding the report is divided into two parts where first part include reflective
statement and for second part Starbucks company has been selected. This is the top most coffee
company that has strong distribution chains and deliver enrich beverages to customer. The core
strategy of company is to gain global dominance with coffee house sector due to which it has
diversified its services and continuously focuses to upgrade the services. Within first part
discussion is made on the aspiring leader that have foresight vision and accomplished feasible
targets. In second part discussion is made on diverse leadership style that leads to sustainability
and help to gain the competitive advantage by carry out roles and responsibility effectively.
PART 1
1.a) Fundamental questions that leaders need to ask themselves
Leaders plays the progressive role in terms to motivate the personnel and build efficient
image in terms to carry out business processes suitably (Abdurrahman and Langi, 2016). For that
I believe that being a leader I need to ask myself whether I am able to formulate effective
relationship with other members to sustain the trust. Along with that I need ask whether I have
relevant information to deliver the same to team member that helps to attain collective goals.
b. Key aspects of leadership
Adequate knowledge: As per my opinion it is the responsibility of leader to update their
existing knowledge in terms to tackle the external situation and leads to critical thinking ability.
Effective communication: It is the other key aspect of leadership, based on which I can
deliver the relevant information based on fasts and figure which leads to more clarity.

c) What is a leadership theory/ style
Leadership theory or style systematically focuses on the trait as well as behaviour of the
particular leader. For instance, if a leaders is relationship oriented then they are more likely to
follow participative style. It judicially help to encourage manpower to put best possible effort via
application of significant leadership style (Becker and et. al., 2016).
d) Leadership styles appropriate for VUCA business environment
Transformation style: As per my opinion this leadership style helps to tackle uncertain
and unpredictable situation as here efforts are put in to bring the continuous changes in order to
accommodate the need of external stakeholder within dynamic environment to attain shared
vision.
Democratic style: At times leader need to changes the policies and working patter within
short span to tackle VUCA business environment. So the employees are forced to adopt the
changes in order to flourish business.
e. Why do aspiring leaders need an in-depth understanding of a range of leadership styles
Aspiring leader focuses on the deep insight of leadership style as they gain the relevant
information on the basis of functioning. Along with that it maintain the long term commitment of
an employee because it determine them the opportunity to function and gain sustainable
direction. Thus, it guide better responsibility in terms to carry out functioning and perform
responsibility effectively.
2. a) Organisational mission and vision
Mission defines the procedure as well as structure on the basis of which employee carry
out their performance to reach out particular objective (Christopher, Mena and van Hoek, 2018).
Vision refers to the future position that an organisation need to attain for which the performance
are carried out.
b) Contribution of an individual to execute the mission and vision
Individual or employees are the main asset of company that actually transform vision and
mission into reality for organisational success. They significantly contribute to enhances the
revenue and long term profitability of firm.

c) Contribution of leaders to executing the mission and vision
Leaders are more prone to build the strategy in order to accomplish the mission and
vision. This is further communicated to an employees as it leads to guidance and gauge the
effective success strategy.
d) Contribution of stakeholders to executing the mission and vision
Stakeholders include the involvement of diverse parties like employees, customer,
investor, creditor, government and so on which are the driving factors and help to influence the
performance of firm (Doppelt, 2017). Their involvement is the valuable source like investment
of funds by investor and loyalty of customer helps to attain long term vision and mission.
e. Why do aspiring leaders need to be able to evaluate the contributions of the above?
Aspiring leaders exhibit the contribution of diverse parties such as leaders, employees
and stakeholders because it leads to core advantage that help in better accomplishment of
opportunity. Favourable contribution of different authorities leads to innovative thinking and
carry out performance in significant manner.
3. a) What is a leadership strategy
Leadership strategy is to map out functioning and align the contribution by directing the
efforts of manpower in appropriate direction. With the help of extrinsic motivation such as
promotion and recognition they get the work done and supervise to constantly enhance the
current performance.
b. What is change leadership
As an organisation function in dynamic environment so the Change leadership is the
ability of leader to carry out communication in such a manner the staff understand the essence to
change their prevailing working pattern.
c. What is organisational potential
Organisational potential depict the capacity to organise work in order to expand the
productivity of firm (Galbraith, 2017). This possibly improve the working processes, system as
well as procedure which empower the workforce to perform their roles and responsibility
suitably.

d. What is a business context
Business context comprises of the role of factors that can affect the functioning and
directly impact the performance. It involve the decision based on which strategic initiatives are
taken to attain the goal accordingly.
e. Why do aspiring leaders need to understand a broad range of leadership strategies that can be
applied in in a variety of different business contexts?
Based on my opinion aspiring leaders prepare the vital strategy in favours of business
context. They basically work on the skills of manpower and make a competitive team that can
carry out diverse activities and overcome the hurdles. Along with that employment relation are
maintained for sustainable performance.
4. a. What is a motivation theory
Motivation theory includes both intrinsic as well as extrinsic factors that are the essential
drivers to produce the desirable outcome (Gassmann, Frankenberger and Sauer, 2016). This
possible maximises the potential and generate the interest of staff to carry out work willingly
within stipulated time frame.
b. What are the two categories of motivational theories
Content and Process are the two category of motivation theory that comprises of theories
like Maslow's hierarchical need, Vroom's Expectancy theory and so on. Content theory focuses
to motivate the human behaviour and process theory represent how manpower gets motivated.
c. What is the contemporary term for employee motivation
Contemporary within motivation defines how fairly each and every employees are treated
within an organization. As per Equity theory the contemporary word is used for justice or
fairness where employees are treated and gets remunerated on unbiased basis.
d. What is the ‘appreciative inquiry technique’
Appreciative inquiry (AI) techniques is used for change management that defines how the
work is being carrying out where focus is given to direct the performance of firm. This leads to
the long term growth opportunity where organisation pay attention to strength its capability.

e. Why do aspiring leaders need to be able to critically evaluate a range of motivational theories
within a specific organisational context?
Leader on the basis of motivation theory can establish the creative team that work for the
organisational success (Harkiolakis, 2016). This generate the ability to reduce the chances of
employee turnover rate where everyone function to enhance the performance of firm with the
significant effort of inspirational leadership.
5. Covered in ppt
PART 2
Introduction
Starbucks is the well known coffee house chains which was founded in Seattle and has
become the largest coffee selling company. Currently the company operate over thirty thousands
areas and constantly upgrade the flavours in order to serve the people with diverse taste as well
as preference (Lesser and Ban, 2016). It even upgrade the technology like vending machine to
deliver the significant experience to the customer and retain their trust. Various advertisement
techniques such as use of social media, website, magazines and so on are used to attract the
customer where the constructive feedback as well as review of people are considered. Being
premium brand successfully encourages the high as well as middle income people to become the
part of company and enhances the revenue of company.
An overview on servant leadership style and challenges associated while practising it
Servant leadership style primarily focuses on the growth as well as development of an
employee by ensuring affirmative interaction with one other and perform the task by enriching
person development. Unlike other traditional approaches here the power is shared with different
team member that collectively work in order to promote the offerings of company. This may
involve the methods like brainstorming as well as group discussion processes which widen up
the arena to think and incorporate the suitable strategy for the welfare of an organisation. It
significant involve the traits like communication, empathy, listening in order to develop the vital
capabilities. This term was coined by Robert Greenleaf in 20th century, being researcher he
identifies the demerits associated with autocratic leadership style such as restricted thinking and
less employer employee involvement. So with the assistance of Servant leadership develop the
perspective to be the part of an organisation that limit the chances of turnover as well as

engagement rate. Certain external challenges that can be faced by companies like Starbucks in
the 21st century are discussed below:
Volatile: It refer to the sudden or rapid changes that directly affect the functioning of
firm. Along with that the constant change in the prices of the commodities affect the strategy as
well as demand of commodity (Miranda and Allen, 2017). This term refers to the material
quality which identifies that how a firm can develop better things in order to get long
sustainability at marketplace. So application of Servant leadership within Starbucks is the
challenging situation because here the firm need to make the quick decision on the basis of
fluctuation.
Uncertain: It is the unforeseen situation that can arises either due to human or natural
calamity. So to deal with uncertain situation the firm need to carry out pre planning which can
mitigate the negative effect of external environment. It even involve the changing preferences of
customer which is challenge for servant leadership. So Starbucks company with the help of
competitive team need to evaluate the changes in advance and make appropriate decision.
Complex: The objective of the Starbucks company is to deliver suitable customer
experience by enhancing the footfall of company. But at times firm faces difficulty for which
with the assistance of shared power and growth efforts effective processes are identify that leads
to stable condition. Along with that it helps to gain the advantage of being first mover and bring
innovation in coffee houses.
Ambiguous: It refers to the unclear situation for an organisation either due to the lack of
data or information which makes it difficult for them to reach out to a solution (Smith and
Cockburn, 2016). So based on the cultural different and liking of people leads to the ambiguous
situation due to which the staff may find difficult to reach out to a particular solution. Starbucks
company have the centralised database that leads to the unambiguous result and help the team
member to attain shared vision within stipulated duration.
A critical evaluation of Kevin Johnson’s leadership style focusing on Starbucks improved
financial performance, its ethical challenges and the views being expressed by some of its
current and former employees
Kevin Johnson joined Starbucks in year 2009 as a board member and since then he is
contributing in the development of the organisation with his effective leadership style. He has
taken initiatives to improve the financial performance and respond to the ethical challenges

which are faced by the organisation. The main objective of him is to improve the market position
of the company and expand the business in different locations for which he has used situational
leadership and modified his behaviour according to the situation faced by the enterprise (Pruzan
and et. al., 2017). In this mode of supervision he changed his style according to the work pattern
of all the staff members rather than forcing them to work according to him. Due to this Johnson
have achieved higher support of all the subordinates which was beneficial for the attainment of
long term business goal. He directed and supported all the staff members to be delegated
towards their work which has lead the organisation towards success. He trained the employees to
be perfect in their jobs so that they can contribute in the attainment of long term business goals.
Different initiatives for opening new cafes were also taken by him as he was willing to grow the
business so that profitability and market share could be increased. The situational leadership
helped him to make changes in his behaviour according to the employee's attitude and market
situations so that effective decisions could be taken for betterment of business. He said that six to
ten reserve stores of Starbucks will be opened which will help to bring financial discipline for the
organisation. With the help of it the enterprise will be able to offer higher monetary resources to
the shareholders in term of dividend which will be beneficial for the enhancement of operational
efficiency. His discipline and commitment towards the entity has extended the growth of the
organisation in USA. For the purpose of making improvement in the customer service of the
company he is planning to launch new and innovative beverages in China. This decision of him
resulted in development of business at global level. In order to be in touch of large number of
customers the entity launched mobile order application in the market which lead the company
towards growth due to increased market share.
There were various negative implications of his leadership which were increased
workload of all the employees, continuous changes in their jobs etc. Due to this their engagement
level in the work was decreased and affected the overall performance of the company. In opinion
of Andrew Charles the plans which were formed by Johnson will work surely or not it is not
confirmed because the future cannot be predicted. By paying attention towards this he can
formulate effective strategies for future and find ways to deal with all the negative situations
which may take place in future.

Why does Johnson have such a strong personal brand as an effective global leader?
Kevin Johnson being the transformation leader participate in significant growth of the
successful Starbucks company due to which he is recognised as the global leader. Currently, the
leader is responsible to manage the international functioning that include marketing, human
resource, technology by building strong presence in the digital platform. Being a foresight
visionary leads led him to appeal the interest of customers by working on the online platform and
establishing strong position of company amongst customer (Schiller, 2018). This enhances the
customer base of company and helped Johnson's to leverage the advantage of strong position.
He mainly focuses on the data analytics based on which changes needs of the customer are
accommodated which leads to the constant growth of the sales of company (Ward, 2016). For
instance, due to the changing trend the focus is given to anticipate the chances such as people are
becoming more fitness freak so accordingly variety of beverages like low sugar are served to
cater diverse need. So the CEO was also able to maintain the relationship with internal and
external stakeholders by maintaining ethical considerations that widen the overall revenue. This
demonstrate that the leader fundamentally focuses on each and every parameters with respect to
maintain the image of company and enhance the brand image within global platform. Based on
market research effective strategies are prepared to invite the customer and transform the first
time customer to the loyal ones. Thus, most of the company support determine Johnson's is a
global leader because their effectively managed the nutritious value and widen the scope for
customer. Therefore, pre decision making ability help to establish the unique image and retain
the existing customer.
Provide two recommendations as to what you believe Johnson could do to build on his current
success and maintain Starbuck’s sustainability and competitive advantage.
The encouraging role of Johnson's company has desirably maintain the image of
company and gain sustainable growth as well as development. It has enhanced the image of
Starbucks worldwide so it should on the continuous basis analyse the external environment as
well as situation so that favourable decision acne be made as well as implemented by company.
Although it is one of the most well-known organisation but there is a huge competition within
coffee house (Young and Ghoshal, 2016). Due to which Johnson who is the global leaders need
to take precaution in order to retain top most position. Furthermore, to gain core competency
Starbucks company should constantly work on the digital media in order to significantly enhance

the market size by generating traffic rate. Optimising the online tools helps the firm to gain result
at real time based on which necessary actions can be carried out and modifications rae made
immediately.
Conclusion
From the above discussion it has been analysed that Johnson is the aspiring global leader
of Starbucks. On his journey he faced various complexities in order to build the image of
company and sustain in the competitive market. Once he became the CEO of company he
constantly focuses to bring the vital changes so whether it is in related to satisfy the taste or use
of advance technology help company to satisfy existing customer and reach out potential
consumer. Therefore, with the help of situational leadership style and increase promotion helped
company to gain significant competitive advantage over competitors.

REFERENCE
Book and Journal
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Schiller, B., 2018. Leading a dialysis organization: role and responsibilities of the chief medical
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