Analyzing Leadership and Change Management: A Critical Review Report

This report critically reviews the article "Organizational Change and Characteristics of Leadership Effectiveness" by Gilley, McMillan, and Gilley. The report identifies the article's main message, which emphasizes the importance of specific leader behaviors, such as motivation, communication, and t...Read More

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Running head: MANAGEMENT
Leadership and Change Management
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note

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Introduction
The global environment requires leaders to be able to sustain and lead in a competitive
world. Leaders are expected to become more successful by being able to fast paced, complex and
dynamic world. Leaders should be able to make use of the resources which makes a leader
exceptional. This enables leaders to be able to ensure communication in an organization and
business setting more competent and effective. There have also been instances, when leaders
have been drivers or change even though some result in negative outcomes. Effective
management is one of the components which allow competitive advantage to a company in the
contemporary business conditions. In an organizational setting, leaders play great roles to
influence the actions and responses of the employees. The environment in the organization also
get affected by the leader as they are responsible to develop strategies, implement change as well
as monitor functions in the business (Hayes 2018). In the recent world, it is very important for a
company to have an effective leader to guide and show the vision towards common goals and
objectives.
The article which shall be reviewed in the paper focuses on effectiveness of leaders who
are driving factors, during change. The article which shall be reviewed in the paper is
Organizational Change and Characteristics of Leadership Effectiveness Ann Gilley. The article
will discuss the importance and effectiveness of leaders with respect to the current business
conditions which get subjected to the rapidly changing conditions in the market and the
world(Gilley, McMillan and Gilley, 2009). Some organizations which intend to bring change
might not be able to implement change, which might as well lead to ineffective results. It is
primarily due to the failure of the leader to understand the change, which is most needed and

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suitable to the company and its structure. The article discusses various aspects and how leaders
affect change by researching the interrelationship between, change, leaders and their behavior.
Body
The author has researched the roles and responsibilities of the leaders and how it affects
change in an organization. The success of an organization is very much related to change, which
has opened scope for researches and investigations. Organizational change is a complex matter,
which thus requires closer examination. At macro levels, the organizational change is attributed
with the business models, culture, technology, downsizing, acquisitions, expansion and strategies
which are followed at the macro levels (Gilley, McMillan and Gilley, 2009). Above all these, the
responsibility lies with the leaders to be able to manage change to be able to face and handle
complex and crucial situations, within the organization. The upper section of the management
should also be ensuring that the leaders are able to make the vision, goals and objectives clear to
the customers (Gilley, McMillanand Gilley, 2009). The middle and front line to managers to
ensure planning and steps which are operational and help in achieving better outcomes. The roles
of the frontline managers are even more crucial as they are closest to the strategies being
implemented to ensure progress in the daily work process.
Changes, in an organizational order suggest that there shall be alterations which may as
well lead to uncertainties (Al-Ali, Singh, Al-Nahyan and Sohal, 2017). If there are changes
which a company must undergo, it might as well lead to confusions and ambiguity in the minds
regarding the expected roles, and most effective responses which the employees or the followers
should have in the given situation. After the implementation of change, it also happen that the
behavior of the employee show a considerable degree of change(Gilley, McMillan and Gilley,
2009). The author has pointed out that changes can be understood and be categorized as

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transformational, transitional and developmental. Transformational change can be categorized to
be the change which involve radical shift along with other paradigms which include strategy,
culture and assumptions. The second type in which change can be understood and perceived in
an organization is transitional change in which, the implementation and actions of changes are
gradual and small. Sometimes change is also brought through incremental changes in several
aspects such as technology, policies, people, structure as well as culture. The change, in small
steps and procedures are orchestrated by the management and broken down into smaller units, by
the management (Gilley, McMillan and Gilley, 2009). The third way of categorizing change is
developmental change in which change of the organization is driven by the philosophy of
continuous goal, for which development of competitive advantage in the field of change is very
necessary.
The author has also underlined the importance of the individuals and their responses
during a change (Gilley, McMillan and Gilley, 2009). The abilities and skills of the leader is very
much important and influences the values goals and behavior of the members of the group or the
organization. Change management is very crucial for the enhancement and successful
organizational change (Tang 2019). The author has pointed out the possible barriers for change
in which poor communication, persuasion, inadequate reward facilities are the causes. The
research has found out that several times, change has not yielded to success. The article would be
of use, to be able to implement change by developing and adopting right kind of leadership. A
leader will be able to understand how responses, attitudes and skills of the leaders might affect
an organization at the time of change. When the leadership might be ineffective leading to
conflicts, the article might help in solving leadership issues while managing change.
Findings

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The survey was conducted on a population of 470 people out which the respondents who
were female were 53.5%, while male members who participated in the study are 46.3%. Some of
the members were not eager to specify their gender, which accounted to a total of 0.2%. The
study which was conducted reveals that the leader in the contemporary world, which necessitates
change, still continue to struggle, in order to initiate and implement change(Gilley, McMillan
and Gilley, 2009). The primary questions of the research were about effectiveness of leaders
during a change and the behaviors of the leaders which are crucial for change initiatives and their
success (Gilley, McMillan and Gilley, 2009). It has also been found that the behavior and skills
of the leader influences the implementation process of the change in the organization
Arguments
The key argument of the article is leadership and how crucial it is with respect to
development and change, are part of the process of organizational success. It helps to attain
sustainability and growth of the company and gain competitive advantage. If a company intends
to assess its external and internal environments in which the company functions, and finds out
that there is a need to change the system or change, it has to be implemented. It is here that the
roles of the leaders become crucial as they ensure development of strategies, implementation and
even influence the way change is perceived and responded to, by the employees in the
organization (Gilley, McMillan and Gilley, 2009). The author has conducted research to find out
the relationship between change and the leaders. Several theories and comparisons have been
made in the article, to offer an analysis of the relationship and draw the conclusion of the article
which include behavioral theory, Laissez faire, McGregor’s Theory X and Y and so on, precisely
to understand leadership and its influence (Gilley, McMillan and Gilley, 2009). These serve as
the strength of the article as they have been assessed with respect to exemplary theories. In the

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article, it has been presented that team building necessitates a few aspects which include roles
and responsibilities, communication, trusting the direction set by the leader(s), resolving
conflicts and issues and motivate members towards positive outcomes. However, the negative
impacts and their outcomes have been not discussed explicitly, which serves as the weakness,
which could have been perfected with a contrasting outcomes. Thus, it has been asserted that, for
team building, communication and motivation are very crucial which makes leadership
development and relationship between change and leadership so significant (Feldman 2018).
Thus, successful leaders have multidimensional interpersonal skills.
Application and Evaluation
The findings which can be applied for the evaluation process further and made use of, for
increasing the effectiveness of leaders that inter personal skills are of great importance. These
skills determine the abilities of a leader and determine the success of the employees. The work
environment in a company gets significantly impacted by the leader and his/her interpersonal
skills which include the way of interaction and ability to motivate and develop a sense of
belongingness among the employees in the company, to work as a team towards the common
goal. It is very essential for the leaders to effectively communicate and motivate the employees,
which creates a positive environment for the employees to work in(Gilley, McMillan and Gilley,
2009). This ensures that there is effective leadership in a business organization which leads to
successful outcomes. Until the contemporary times, leadership was not considered to be that
important or essential for the success of an organization. The article betters the scope for further
research in the field. Leaders and business organizations can make use of the article to
understand the importance of leadership and the various aspects it is related to, to ensure change
and its success.

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Conclusion
It can thus be concluded by saying that change and leadership are interrelated. For an
organization to be successful, it is very important for leaders to be competent and understanding
of the necessary elements, for change. The effectiveness of the leaders are very crucial to
determine the success of the organization and positive change, in the fast contemporary world.
Leadership in the contemporary business conditions, play a very crucial role, for which
importance and attention should be given to adopt correct leadership to help the organization
grow and attain sustainability in the industry. The leaders and managers should be able to
motivate employees and direct them towards the path in which common goals and objectives can
be fulfilled for the growth and development of the company.

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Reference
Al-Ali, A.A., Singh, S.K., Al-Nahyan, M. and Sohal, A.S., 2017. Change management through
leadership: the mediating role of organizational culture. International Journal of Organizational
Analysis.
Feldman, H.R., 2018. Identifying, building, and sustaining your leadership team. Journal of
Professional Nursing, 34(2), pp.87-91.
Gilley, A., McMillan, H.S. and Gilley, J.W., 2009. Organizational change and characteristics of
leadership effectiveness. Journal of leadership & organizational studies, 16(1), pp.38-47.
Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Tang, K.N., 2019. Change management. In Leadership and Change Management (pp. 47-55).
Springer, Singapore.