innovative technologies Assignment

SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY
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Introduction
As opined by Wang et al. (2014), the extensive usage of different kinds of
innovative technologies had drastically changed the nature of the business and to a
great extent had made it more competitive than the earlier times. Banks et al. (2016)
are of the viewpoint that the different organizations thus take the help of diverse kinds
of strategies as well as measures so to gain competitive advantage within the
contemporary business world. It is precisely here that the notion of leadership
becomes important within the framework of the contemporary business world.
As argued by Hirst et al. (2016), one of the major trends, which is being
noticed within the spectrum of the contemporary business world is the fact that the
focus of the organizations has shifted from profitability and other aspects of their
business to the notion of employee performance. This can be justified on the basis of
the fact that it is the employees who perform the majority of work within the fold of
an organization and thus can be seen as the backbone of any organization. Gu, Tang
and Jiang (2015) are of the viewpoint that prominence which the process of leadership
has gained within the cannon of business world can be explained on the basis of the
contribution that this machinery makes towards the enhancement of the employee
performance. This paper will undertake a literature review of the notion of leadership
and its association with Psychological Capital.
Leadership and its significance within the contemporary business world
Anderson et al. (2017) have stated that leadership can be defined as the ability
of an individual to effective influence the behavior of the followers who are
associated with them so as to achieve the goals that have been outlined for them.
According to Karam et al. (2017), the leaders for the attainment of this end are
required to take the help of different measures or strategies like motivating the

followers in an effective manner, creating effective job designs, delegating the right
kind of tasks to the followers on the basis of their capabilities and others. This is
important since they are directly correlated with the performance of the followers. For
example, if the right kinds of tasks are not delegated to the followers on the basis of
their abilities or capabilities then it is more likely that those tasks will not be
completed in an effective manner and this in turn is likely to affect the performance
level of the concerned followers or employees (Černe et al. 2014).
As argued by Hoch et al. (2018), the contemporary business leaders can also
be seen as the stewards of the business enterprises for which they work. More
importantly, in this capacity they are required to work both as the leaders of the
organization and also as a managers. The net result of this is the fact that the
contemporary leaders in addition to different leadership abilities or traits are also
required to have effective managerial skills which are likely to help them manage the
different followers or the employees of the organization in an effective manner (Gill
and Caza 2018). This change in the job role of the leaders is not only a reflection of
the changing nature of the contemporary business world but also of the increasing
focus of the organizations on the machinery of employee performance.
More importantly, it can be said that if the leaders are being able to perform
their job roles in an effective manner then it is more likely that the employees will be
able to perform their job roles in an ardent manner. This in turn is likely to enhance
the job satisfaction level of the followers which in turn will reduce the attrition rate of
the organizations (Carasco-Saul, Kim and Kim 2015). Reb, Narayanan and
Chaturvedi (2014) are of the viewpoint that high attrition rate of the employees is one
of the major problems that the majority of the business organizations are facing
currently and its resolution is of paramount importance for the organizations. Thus, it

can be said that the process of leadership by offering the above mentioned benefits to
the organizations has become an important part of their overall business process itself.
Psychological Capital
Bouckenooghe, Zafar and Raja (2015) have stated that the notion of
psychological capital can be defined as the core construct within the framework of
various organizations which is aimed at improving the wellbeing of the employees.
More importantly, recent researches have revealed that there are four pillars of the
notion of psychological capital, namely, hope, resilience, efficacy and optimism,
which are often called by the acronym of “HERO” (Landy and Conte 2016). It is
pertinent to note that these attributes are primarily related to the core psychology of
the employees and helps them to perform not only in a better manner but at the same
time as per the expectations of an organization. Moreover, the leaders as well as the
organizations to which they are related, are required to not only identify the
psychological capital of the different employees of their organization but also take
various kinds of initiatives for the development and also the implementation of the
policies which are likely to improve these attributes (Chughtai, Byrne and Flood
2015). This is important since the psychology of the individuals is directly related to
the performance or the job productivity of the employees. As opined by Braun and
Nieberle (2017), individuals with better psychological capital are likely to perform in
a much better manner than the ones with inadequate psychological capital. It is
precisely here that the role of the leaders becomes important within the framework of
the contemporary organizations since they are not only required to motivate the
employees but also to develop their psychological capital as well.