Analyzing Leadership Styles and Challenges at Woolworths

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Leadership practices
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Introduction
The main purpose of this report is to show the importance of leadership practices in the company
Woolworths. Woolworths is one of the biggest supermarket chains in Australia which provides
food to the people of Australia. There are lots of supermarket of Woolworths in the country UK
as well. Effective leadership is the most important aspect of the success of such companies. This
report shows the various challenges faced by the company in the context of leadership and the
development of leadership activities in the company. Role of leadership practices is discussed in
this study in order to overcome several issues faced by the Woolworths.
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A general overview of organization activities
Woolworths is one of the biggest supermarkets in Australia which deals with foods and
beverages. The main headquarter of the company is in New South Wales. Woolworths operates
in Australia as a retailer which provides foods, beverages, grocery, petroleum, and other products
through petrol stations, supermarkets, and other retail stores. The company mainly deals with
fresh food, therefore, it is necessary for the company to take care of the health of their customers
(Woolworth’s group, 2015). Company's main concern is to focus on the health of the customers
so that the company will be able to enhance its customer retention rate. In order to enhance the
customer retention rate and to take care of the health of the customers, effective leadership skills
are required. The company works in the retail sector, and there is already an immense amount of
competition in the market especially in the context of the supermarket, therefore, an effective
leader is required in the company in order to gain the competitive advantage in the market.
An effective leader will take appropriate decision in the organization in order to enhance the
customer retention rate and also to increase the market share of the organization. There is a need
of a good leader which will motivate the employees in order to accomplish the goals of the
association and also encourage other employees to put more efforts in order to provide best
services to the customers. As the organization's success mostly depends on the customers and it
is important for the employees of the company to provide quality services to their customers
(Iqbal, et. al., 2015).
From last few years, Woolworths is facing the various issues related to management. These
issues are lack of effective leadership skills, innovative thinking and the presence of an
appropriate leader who can take the right decision order to enhance the sales of the company and
to win the trust of the customers.
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A general overview of leadership practice in the Woolworths Company including
leadership styles, leadership challenges, and leadership development activities
Effective leadership practice is a process through which a leader can encourage its employees in
order to accomplish the goals of the company. Leadership style plays a vital role in order to
enhance the performance of their employees. A good leader will always maintain a good
relationship with their employees in order to achieve the objectives of the company and to
enhance the growth of the organization more (Ruggieri & Abbate, 2013). Woolworth's success
mainly depends on the productivity of the company, therefore employees need to perform well in
order to enhance the productivity of the organization. An appropriate leadership style assesses
the employees in order to recognize the goals of the association. With the help of a good
leadership style, the company will be able to develop many strategies in order to accomplish the
objectives of the association.
Woolworth deals in the supermarket and retail sector due to which the company requires a good
leadership style in order to enhance the growth of the company. There is three leadership style
which can be appropriate for the company in order to enhance the sales of the association and
also help the organization in increasing the market share. These leadership styles are explained
below:
Transactional leadership style- In this leadership style, leaders are more apprehension on
accomplishing the objectives of the company. In order to accomplish the objectives of the
organization, the leader rewarded the workers for their better performance (Strom, et. al., 2014).
This strategy assesses the leader in order to motivate the employees more and it also enhances
their performance. In this leadership style, a leader is more focus on completing the tasks on time
and also in enhancing the performance of the employees. The strategy of giving rewards is an
important aspect of the enhancement of the performance of the workers. This strategy not only
encourages the workers to perform well but also provide job satisfaction which is also a reason
behind the improve performance of the workers.
Transformational leadership style- In this leadership style, a leader encourages its employees
by providing a clear vision of the organization. The leader sets the high expectation which
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inspires the employees to put extra efforts in order to accomplish the goals of the organization.
This leadership assesses the leaders in order to maintain a good relationship with their team
members. With the help of transformational leadership styles, employees can easily adopt the
new changes in the organization and work according to the new structure of the company
without facing any issue (Holten, et. al., 2015). This leadership style also assesses the employees
in building trust with their leader and other team members.
Laissez-faire leadership style- This leadership style is the most important leadership style in
providing job satisfaction to the employees. This leadership style is taking place when the
employees are experienced and know their role in the organization. Many times, employees of
the company got frustrated because of the various orders possessed by their leaders. This thing
not only spoil their moods but also affect their performance in the company. In this leadership
style, leaders provide a little supervision to the workers and the workers are experienced enough
to do the work on their own. This leadership style assesses the employees to do the work on their
own in order to accomplish the goals of the company. The leader mainly focuses on the
completion of the task on time rather than managing the employees with their work.
Leadership challenges identified in the company
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References
 Woolworthsgroup.com.au (2015). Woolworths Supermarkets - Woolworths Group.
[online] Woolworthsgroup.com.au. Available at:
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/our-brands/supermarkets/
Woolworths
 Ruggieri, S., & Abbate, C. S. (2013). Leadership style, self-sacrifice, and team
identification. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 41(7), 1171-
1178.
 Strom, D. L., Sears, K. L., & Kelly, K. M. (2014). Work engagement: The roles of
organizational justice and leadership style in predicting engagement among
employees. Journal of leadership & organizational studies, 21(1), 71-82.
 Holten, A. L., & Brenner, S. O. (2015). Leadership style and the process of
organizational change. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(1), 2-16.
 Iqbal, N., Anwar, S., & Haider, N. (2015). Effect of leadership style on employee
performance. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(5), 1-6.
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