Analysis of Leadership Theories, Styles and Models: Unilever Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of leadership theories and styles, with a specific focus on Unilever. It explores various leadership theories such as behavioral, transactional, and transformational leadership, and examines different leadership styles including autocratic, authoritative, democratic, laissez-faire, and affiliative. The report also discusses Vroom's expectancy theory and its application in motivating employees. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of leadership in shaping organizational culture and managing diversity within Unilever, highlighting how ethical leadership fosters a culture of integrity and fairness. The analysis considers Unilever's performance-focused culture and the role of leadership in driving quality, efficiency, and innovation. Ultimately, the report concludes that effective leadership is crucial for achieving organizational goals, promoting a positive work environment, and maintaining a competitive edge in the market.

Leadership Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Leadership theories.....................................................................................................................4
Leadership styles and Models.....................................................................................................5
Vroom expectancy theory...........................................................................................................6
Importance of leadership for organisation culture and diversity................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Leadership refers to the process of social influence which maximises the efforts of others
towards the achievement of a goal. It is basically the ability of an individual or group of
individuals to guide and influence followers or other members of an organisation. Leadership is
very important at organisational level as they help in terms of directing an organisation's
resources in order to improve the efficiency and achievement of goals as well. In the present
report, Unilever is taken into consideration(Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy, 1996). Unilever is
basically the British multinational consumer goods company which is headquartered in London,
England. Their products are majorly available in around 190 countries. Unilever products
basically include food, condiments, well being vitamins, ice cream, mineral and supplements etc.
The present report will cover discussion about leadership styles and models and also about
impact of leadership on organisational performance and business practice as well. In addition to
this, the report will cover analysis about the impact of leadership on organisational culture and
diversity management. Moreover the report will cover discussion about evaluation on leadership
theories, styles and models and their application to different situations.
MAIN BODY
Leadership theories
There are six main leadership theories and they can be applied on organisational level
into successful manner and some of them are explained into the following manner:
Behavioural theory: This theory of leadership basically focuses on this factor that in
which manner person's environment forms an individual a leader. The key concept of this theory
is conditioning(Alghazo and Al-Anazi., 2016). Conditioning is that situation where an
individual will be more likely to act or lead in a certain style as a result of environmental
responses to behaviour. In context to Unilever, they have to create such an environment where
leader can take effective decisions with support of their team members.
Transactional theory or management theory: This theory of leadership also known as
the management theory(Leithwood and Seashore-Louis, 2011). This theory studies leadership in
the form of rewards and penalties. The leadership is viewed in the form of result oriented manner
and hierarchical way as well.

These kind of leaders mostly prioritise order and structure over creativity. In context to
Unilever, for achieving targets and objectives into result oriented manner within a period of time
it is important that leader should prioritise work according to realistic requirements rather than
mostly focusing on creativity.
Transformational leadership: This theory is also known as relationship theory and it
studies effective leadership as the result of positive relationship between team members and
leaders. These kind of leaders motivate employees through passion and enthusiastic nature(Lord,
Foti and De Vader, 1984) .In context to Unilever company, leader have to inspire their team
member with their enthusiastic nature so that employees also feel motivated towards their work.
Through this kind of motivation employees can work with their full potential and can achieve
their daily tasks within a set period of time. So this kind of leadership is very effective in terms
of nature and at organisational level as well. This leadership theory act as support system in
terms of understanding their team members into result oriented manner.
Leadership styles and Models
Autocratic: Autocratic leadership style which is mainly characterised by individual
control over all decisions and there is very little input from group members. These type of
leaders makes typical choices on the basis of ideas and judgements and rarely accept ideas from
followers(Alonderiene and Majauskaite., 2016).In context to Unilever, the leader has to take
individual and strong decision in terms of introducing any kind of new marketing strategy and
changes in terms of pricing strategy as well.
Authoritative: An authoritative is that leader who sets the goals, oversees all steps and
determines the processes it takes to reach those goals with no input from other team members. In
context to Unilever, they have planned to help the people of around one billion in order to
improve their health and well being. This kind of leadership can be applied on organisational
level so that they can improve the livelihoods of thousands of people in the supply chain.
Democratic: It is that kind of leadership style where members of the group take more
participative role in the decision making process (Antonacopoulou and Bento., 2018). In context
to Unilever, leader has to take initiative in such a manner that any change which leader has to
implement at organisational level then they leader has to consider point of views of each and
every team member so that change can be implemented without any conflict at organisational
level.

Laissez-Faire: It is that kind of leadership style where attitude of trust and reliance on
their employees. Leader do not get too involved and also they don't give too much instruction
and guidance as well (Cope and Murray., 2017). Leaders give guidance and also take
responsibility wherever is required and this kind of leadership means that subordinates and team
members have the real lead. In context to Unilever, whenever leader wants to introduce anything
new or idea at organisational level then leader has to trust on ideas given by their team members
and employees as well. If marketing of the company needs to be increased then best ideas can be
received from the team members who are creative in terms of nature.
Affiliative: An affiliative is that kind of leadership style where people has been put on
first preference and concentrates on creating such kind of working environment and also build
emotional bonds as well. This kind of leadership majorly requires lots of style and the ability to
build relationship by the range of communication styles (Courtney., 2015).In context to Unilever,
this kind of leadership style can be implemented at organisational level through use of balanced
approach and also train the team on conflict resolution. Unilever can also pay attention to
internal and external issues and maintain the performance track on organisational level.
Vroom expectancy theory
Vroom's expectancy theory is that kind of theory which assumes that behaviour basically
results from conscious choices of alternatives. The main purpose of theory is that to maximise
pleasure and to minimise the pain as well. Vroom also realised that an employee's performance is
also based on individual factors such as skills, knowledge, experience and abilities. Under this
theory, employees feel motivated within an organisation when they believe that when efforts has
been made on large scale then it will yield to better performance and better job performance also
lead towards the organisational rewards(Kanat-Maymon and et.al., 2020). Employees also feel
motivated within an organisation when they believe that predicted organisational rewards are
valued by the employees in question.

In order to enhance performance at organisational level, managers should use such kind
of systems that tie rewards to performance in a very closure manner. The manager of Unilever
needs to ensure that rewards which needs to be provided should be well deserving and also
wanted by the recipients as well. For improving the performance tie, the managers of Unilever
should engage themselves in training in order to improve their capabilities. They also have to
improve their belief which adds effort that lead towards the better performance(McLeskey and
Waldron., 2015).According to this theory, leader also has to take responsibility of their team
members and people associated with their organisation so that they can feel motivated towards
their tasks on the daily basis. When they feel motivated towards their tasks then they can give
their full potential towards achieving goals and objectives of an organisation.
Importance of leadership for organisation culture and diversity
In this competitive world, leadership plays a very important role into the context of
culture and diversity of an organisation. Leaders show that how employees embody values which
contribute in terms of organisational culture. The main duty of leader is to communicate the
company's goals, mission and core values as well. Leaders are majorly responsible for
measuring, defining and rewarding the culture they want to foster. Ethical leadership supports
the business in terms of growth and success. Leaders of ethical style create the culture of
integrity, honesty, trust and fairness as well (Podsakoff and Podsakoff., 2019). If leader has to
adopt a particular kind of leadership where they treat every employee into equal manner and
gives equal opportunity to each and every team member then they can easily handle the diverse
people working at organisational level.
In context to Unilever, it is a very big organisation where people comes from different
backgrounds and diversity is on a very large scale. The culture of Unilever is based on the
performance culture so they majorly focused on this parameter that tasks can be achieved within
a time frame. Unilever is basically an integrated firm at global level so the organisational
leadership, culture and human resources are all inter-related. Unilever's major emphasis is on the
significance of employees output and this kind of corporate culture also focuses on this factor
that the importance of criteria or measures used to determine required output and adequacy of
output as well. There are certain characteristics of Unilever's culture which includes focus on
performance, focus on quality and efficiency as well. These kind of characteristics can only be
fulfilled at organisational level through strong leadership. The performance and quality

parameter of Unilever can be improved through strong and quick decision of leader which
should be result oriented at organisational level(Wakabi., 2016). The efficiency of Unilever also
depends on this factor that how a leader handles their team member and in which way tasks has
been achieved within a specific period if time.
The efficiency of an organisation also depends on this parameter that how much
technology is innovative and effective in terms of achieving objectives of an organisation. As
company's culture is majorly focused towards performance and in this competitive world
technology also plays a very significant role in terms of uplifting the performance of
Unilever(Zhu and et.al., 2015). The more Unilever has used updated technology and innovation
in their working process then it will definitely affect the culture of organisation due to which
certain changes has also implemented at organisational level in terms of leadership. The leader of
Unilever also influences culture of an organisation by setting the agenda, prioritising the work,
managing and leading the team into effective manner.
The success of organisation and importance of leadership is also partly based on this
factor that ability of leaders to support a culture of performance and quality as well. The firms
leader also uses market-based and result based approaches in order to manage the business and
derive the performance into higher spectrum.
CONCLUSION
The above stated report concludes that leadership plays a very important role at
organisational level. An effective leader is that person who is capable in terms of directing and
guiding their team members into effective manner. It has been determined that there are different
kinds of leadership styles, models and theories which act as support system in terms of achieving
goals and objectives of an organisation. It has been analysed that there are certain theories which
is helpful in terms of motivating employees and also act as support system in terms of achieving
targets into positive manner. It has been concluded that importance of leadership plays a
significant role in terms of influencing culture and diversification of an organisation. So
leadership style is very important for a particular organisation so that they can perform into out
of box manner and can stand competitively into the market. That's why leadership is very
important.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alghazo, A. M. and Al-Anazi, M., 2016. The impact of leadership style on employee’s
motivation. International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 2(5),
pp.37-44.
Alonderiene, R. and Majauskaite, M., 2016. Leadership style and job satisfaction in higher
education institutions. International Journal of Educational Management.
Antonacopoulou, E. and Bento, R. F., 2018. From laurels to learners: Leadership with virtue.
Journal of Management Development.
Cope, V. and Murray, M., 2017. Leadership styles in nursing. Nursing Standard, 31(43).
Courtney, S. J., 2015. Corporatised leadership in English schools. Journal of Educational
Administration and History, 47(3), pp.214-231.
Kanat-Maymon and et.al., 2020. Work motivations as antecedents and outcomes of leadership:
Integrating self-determination theory and the full range leadership theory. European
Management Journal, 38(4), pp.555-564.
McLeskey, J. and Waldron, N. L., 2015. Effective leadership makes schools truly inclusive. Phi
Delta Kappan, 96(5), pp.68-73.
Podsakoff, P. M. and Podsakoff, N. P., 2019. Experimental designs in management and
leadership research: Strengths, limitations, and recommendations for improving
publishability. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), pp.11-33.
Wakabi, B. M., 2016. Leadership style and staff retention in organizations. International Journal
of Science and Research, 5(1), pp.412-416.
Zhu and et.al., 2015. A critical review of theories and measures of ethics‐related leadership. New
directions for student leadership, 2015(146), pp.81-96.