LDR 531 - Leadership, Structure, Culture in Real-World Scenario Report

This report analyzes leadership, structure, and culture through the examination of real-world scenarios, focusing on case incidents related to shared leadership and the United Airlines incidents. The analysis explores various leadership styles, including authoritarian, democratic, transformational, and bureaucratic approaches. The report evaluates the effectiveness of these styles in different contexts, considering factors such as organizational structure, culture, and the need for adaptability. The analysis includes a discussion of the pros and cons of bureaucratic structures, the handling of crisis situations, and recommendations for improvements in organizational leadership and management. The report emphasizes the importance of communication, ethics, and customer-centric approaches in achieving organizational success. The report also contrasts different leadership styles and explains why they should be adapted to suit the specific circumstances of each case.

Running head: LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE IN REAL-WORLD
SCENARIO
Leadership, Structure and Culture in Real-World Scenario
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

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LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE IN REAL-WORLD SCENARIO
Introduction
Leaders and their values provide vision and direction towards which people, community
or an entire society plan to propagate. In an organization, a leader or a leadership style governs
the operation and the structure. The vision helps to conceptualize the strategies which are to be
opted to ensure success and growth. There are four different types of Leadership dominantly
which include Authoritarian, Democratic, Transformational and Laissez-Faire styles of
Leadership. An authoritarian or autocratic leader chooses to handle situations by giving
commands and orders which the subordinates are supposed to carry out without any discussion
and consultations. A democratic leader encourage participation of people before using legitimate
power. It seeks acceptance of the people it serves and take their opinions into account before
enforcing policies. Laissez-Faire leadership is of a non-authoritarian style which allows the
leaders to make decisions. This allows freedom which reduces the team productivity and
performance as it is often taken for granted. The transformational leadership is more adaptable as
it acknowledges the changing needs of the situation, organization and society and makes
amendments accordingly.

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LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE IN REAL-WORLD SCENARIO
Case Incident 1: Sharing is performing
What kind of obstacles can you foresee in taking a shared leadership approach? How
might they (or can they) be solved?
Shared leadership has proved to be more effective in the recent years as it enhances the
performance of a team. Whereas the execution of the same can be more strenuous, as it requires
the participation of more than one leader in the process of decision making, in order to
implement an idea. The approach can pose obstacles as a process requires equal participation of
everyone involved and cooperation of all members. The executive leaders should implement the
democratic leadership style so as to be able to ensure equal and active participation.
As shared leadership negative the very idea of vertical leadership and hierarchy, it widens
the scope for negotiation and accommodation of all the members involved. This can easily be
resolved with cooperation, dedication, mutual respect and honesty among the leaders. The
leaders should be able to exhibit traits of transformational leadership within the team so that
members of all layers of hierarchy can be incorporated in the actions, involved. Competition
among leaders who is opinions our values equally can lead to negativity (Bauer & Ege, 2016).
Hence it should be regulated and monitored to avoid conflicts and disputes. It also provides
better scope of evaluation and cross examination of strategies because it rules out the traditional
way of one person being at the helm. Shared leadership rules out the chances of centralization of
power with figurehead. It provides opportunities of servant leadership, where the seniors and
experienced members of the team would be able to take up an active role.

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LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE IN REAL-WORLD SCENARIO
How would you implement a shared leadership initiative in a company where you were
the CEO? What elements of job design and redesign might you draw on to increase the
effectiveness of the shared leadership initiative?
The implementation of a shared leadership in a company requires equal effort of people
which would contribute the performance of the team and the company. As a CEO, it is important
to instill a common belief and a sense of belongingness. This would motivate and help the
members involved to aim for the common objective and focus on achieving it with integrity and
collective orientation. If there was more than one leaders involved, the primary task should be to
diminish the competition spirit (Islam, 2016). This also promotes participation of employees and
a united sense of responsibility. In order to achieve this, the elements of authoritative and
autocratic leadership are also required. However, maintaining transparency and communication
would help the leaders avoid conflicts and disputes in order to maintain a healthy environment to
strive towards the collective goal.
Can you think of any instances in which non-shared, traditional approaches to
leadership which would be preferable to a shared leadership approach? What are they, how
are they preferable? What sort of situational or individual factors lead to the traditional
approach being more effective in these instances?
Leadership techniques prove its effectiveness in varying situations and environment.
There can be many instances where traditional leader shapes and its implementation can be
more effective the involvement of multiple leaders collaboratively making decisions. In an
organization, a visionary CEO, opts for a leadership which is transformative in nature can yield
to better results essay on more receptive to critical thinking, innovative ideas and adaptability.
Transformative leaders often do better in the business world, as the executives, managers

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LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE IN REAL-WORLD SCENARIO
employees have someone to look up to who sets bigger objective for everyone (Yahaya &
Ebrahim, 2016). These leaders are more charismatic and motivating in nature as compared to the
aggressive autocratic leaders. In multinational and bigger companies, it is difficult to implement
shared leadership as there is little or no scope for the accommodation of conflicting ideas.
Therefore, in such situations a visionary and transformative leader is more inspiring and
effective. A transformative leader is more approachable and liked by the subordinates. He is
more likely to acknowledge the needs of the employees or everyone involved in the system.
Leaders help in strategizing and motivating the subordinates to achieve a common goal while
working collectively. This gives way to new opportunities for the implementation of innovative
ideas and reaching newer heights, together.
Case Study 2: Turbulence on United States
How do you think United Airlines should have handled the recent string of incidents?
Do you think that United Airlines was within its power to have removed these people from the
flights? Why or Why not?
United airlines have shown rigidity and aggression while dealing with their passengers. A
company who deals with the customers directly should make it a priority to show respect
towards them and prioritize their concerns. It is very evident from their attitude that there is
inadequacy in the level of their understanding of customers. It is needless to say that they
mishandled the passengers on various occasions (Banks et al., 2016). The instances show a lack
of morality and sensibility and thus it is also manifested in the attitudes of the employees who
directly deals with the passengers travelling with the Airline. Researchers have identified that the

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inadequacy of employee empowerment is the primary reason leading to this reluctance. As an
outcome, executives need to demonstrate traits of servant leadership. They do not cater to the
needs of the customers. This inconsiderate approach is only a manifestation of the leadership
which governs the company (Hoch et al., 2018). A company with an effective leader will always
understand the value of communication, ethics and respect which seems to be missing in all the
instances.
An effective leader motivates the subordinates to address the right choices. A company
which provides services to people regularly must understand the value of their respected
customers rather than belittling them. United Airlines exercised power and control to benefit
their interests rather than prioritizing their customers.
There are more effective ways to deal with customers when there is crisis all conflict. In
case of both, the best way to solve the problem is by opting clear means of communication.
United airlines showed indifference to the customers in all the instances instead of being
cooperative and considerate (Anderson & Sun, 2017). This would leave lasting impression on
their company policies if they do not address the issues and take help of corrective measures to
provide better services to their valued passengers. A leader with a better vision, sensitivity,
morals and contemporary understanding of the world help them rectify the mistakes.
What are the pros and cons of having a bureaucratic organizational structure for an
airline? Do you think the pros and cons are justified for United Airlines and that they should
keep the structure they have? Why or why not?

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LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE IN REAL-WORLD SCENARIO
The leadership style which is followed by an organization is based on the requirements of
its functionality. Bureaucratic leadership style has its own merits and demerits. This leadership
style preface maintaining its own laws and regulations in order to optimize its operations. In an
Airlines company, when it offers services to customers directly, bureaucratic structure can a
hamper the company policies and the services it has to offer to their passengers (Hawkins, 2017).
The practices which are by a company which follows the bureaucratic leadership style, fails to
address the needs and concerns of the customers essay on not flexible and transformational. It
also limits the scope for opportunities because of the visibility that it follows.
Bureaucratic structure tends to centralize the power as well as the duties and roles of their
employees. Therefore any diversion from the defined rules often leads to fateful consequences.
United Airlines chooses to abide by the rules and regulations set by bureaucratic hierarchy, due
to which it becomes difficult to adapt to the changes according to the contemporary needs. On
the other hand, bureaucratic organizational structure ensures the erasure of favoritism in an
organization which creates more scopes for their employees to put the best efforts in contributing
to the growth of the company. The implementation of such a structure can also amount to better
environment for work.
What do you think United Airlines should do in the future? Do you have any
suggestions for enhancements or improvements to the United Airlines organizational
structure? Would you consider restructuring? Why or why not?
United Airlines could enhance their services by adapting to the needs of the customers
and the changing societal scenarios. In all the instances, it shows traits of rigidity, offensive

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LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE IN REAL-WORLD SCENARIO
attitude towards the customers, poor management and lack of moral and ethical considerations.
The also monitor behavior and attitudes of the employees who directly deal with the passengers.
These employees who provide services to the passengers to travel regularly, have no freedom to
exercise their own judgment while addressing the issues.
They can enhance the services they provide by corrective measures. The leadership
which givens the company and their policies requires an amendment to suit the needs of their
passengers. These pose limitations, with no ethical and moral considerations of the concerns of
the people who are purchasing the services (Hawkins, 2017). The airlines can adapt to the
changing needs of the society by adhering to a transformational leadership style. This will enable
them with better judgment and Management while catering to the needs of the customers.
Transformational leadership style will also help them promote better values among the
employees. The passengers travelling with United Airlines will also feel safer while on the
journey. The disputes can easily be resolved with communication and considered actions rather
than subscribing to ways which are offensive in nature. This tarnishes the image of the company
and repels customers who considers travelling with the airline. Such instances can easily be
avoided by being receptive to changes according to the contemporary needs of the society.
United Airlines should also be able to respect the passengers rather than just providing them with
the services. An organizational structure which is open to make these changes will help the
organization grow rather than seeing new lows.
Conclusion
Deriving from the arguments drawn in favor or against the two leadership strategies, it
can be concluded that shared leadership is more appropriate in the modern organizational
contexts. Whereas, it can be difficult to execute in bigger companies and multinational

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organizations. In a shared leadership structure, as in case study 1, there is enough scope to work
collaboratively and aim for the common objective. It is important to exhibit traits of competency
and harmonious efforts in order to meet fruitful results otherwise this also might lead to disputes
for the varying opinions of people involved. On the other hand, Bureaucratic Leadership shows
similar traits of the Autocratic style which often create a sense of indifference in employees
towards the organization due to rigidity and restriction on codes of conduct. Here, the employees
do not have freedom to exercise their own conscience and morals even in crucial situations. They
are rather constrained by the company policies, which, if not abided, can lead to grievous
consequences. Therefore, an organization should be adaptable to the growing and changing
conditions of the society in order to acknowledge the flaws and limitations.

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References
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Quarterly, 27(4), 634-652.
Bauer, M. W., & Ege, J. (2016). Bureaucratic autonomy of international organizations’
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Hawkins, P. (2017). Leadership team coaching: Developing collective transformational
leadership. Kogan Page Publishers.
Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and
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