Business Leadership: What makes a great Company?

1. Business Leadership: What makes a great Company? hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

2. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

3. Today in an business environment that is highly competitive, and driven by the considerations of • technology, • innovation, • quality, • cost effectiveness, • timeliness and • excellence in service delivery,

4. Leadership • Leadership can be viewed as a dynamic process, which involves a number of combined factors and phenomena, and the outcomes of effective leadership are behaviours and achievements that are in line with the vision and strategies of the organisation

5. Definition: Leadership • “ The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals” Robbins & Coulter(1999)

6. Leadership variables • There are five main variables that can influence leadership behaviour: • The tasks and goal of the organisation • The leader’s knowledge, skills & attitudes • The followers skills, attitudes & motivation • The context or situation • The resources available

7. Leaders & Managers • Leadership is a function above management • A good manager is well organized and works efficiently • Leaders agitate for change and new approaches, managers advocate stability and the status quo

8. Cont. • But a good leader together with the above, is someone who encourages others to do better • Leadership is one of the most important issues and is quite scarce in the organisation.

9. Vision & Mission: A Company has to create a noble vision & missionwhich elevates the energy, enthusiasm and self-esteem of everyone in the business while ensuring that everybody sees a benefit in following them. A vision statement focuses on the future of the business andtells what the company wants to become. The mission statement outlines the purpose and the nature of the business and reinforces the reason for its existence. For example: In Unilever Bangladesh, vision is to create and sustain growing value for the Bangladesh economy and superior value for the company's shareholders through world class competitive performance. And our mission is to add vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

10. Meaning of Leadership Leadership is both a process and a property. As a process, leadership involves the use of no-coercive influence. As a property, leadership is the set of characteristics attributed to someone who is perceived to use influence successfully. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

11. Leadershipis a process used by an individual to influence group members towards the achievement of goals in which the group members view the influence is legitimate. The core characteristics of this definition are: First: Leadership is a process or a reasonably systematic and continuous series of actions directed toward group goals. Leadership is not usually a single act or event a few acts performed only in certain situations. It as the properties or qualities of individuals who carry out this series of actions effectively. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

12. Second: the actions of leaders are designed to influence people to modify their behavior. Those being influenced are often referred to as followers. Followers play an important role in the leadership process for at two reasons: • Without followers, no one can be a leader; • All leaders are follower at times. Most leader today do not have total control (absolute power) over followers’ behavior. Instead, leaders typically use various behaviors to influence followers. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

13. Third: although at times the series of actions may be carried out by more than one person, a single individual will usually be expected to fulfill the leadership role for a given group. The individual may be appointed to the role someone outside the group (such as with most managers), he or she may be elected by the group members to serve as leader for a fixed priod of time (such as the president of a sorority), or the leader may emerge informally from interacting of the members (such as the leader of a street gang). hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

14. ; Fourth: follower view the leader’s influence as legitimate ; that is, the influence is reasonable and justifiable under the circumstances. This usually means the leader utilizes noncorrosive methods to convince followers to comply with requests. In modern societies, leaders often achieve compliance by rewarding or recognizing; displaying the expertise, superior knowledge, or moral rightness; emphasizing formal authority; or threatening punishment for noncompliance. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

15. Fifth: the leader’s influence is directed toward group goals. The goal may be a desired level of performance. The leader is often involved in setting the goals for or with the group, or the leader may inherit established group goals. Leaders immediate task is to develop group strategies and commitment to achieve these goals. Once achievement is assured , the leader focuses efforts on future goal setting for the group. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

16. Good Leadership; Great leadersraise the aspirations of the followers and make them more confident and energetic. Being the boss is not the same as being a leader. Bosses inherit subordinates, leaders earn followers. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

17. What's the advantage of having good leaders? • Leaders serve as a repository for peoples fears • Leaders absorb uncertainty • Leaders can act as a mirror reflecting group's anger, grief, resolve or joy. • Leaders say in effect "I hear you". • Leader is a porter of a group's emotional baggage • A leader is an agent of change, and progress is about change • A leader creates a worthy dream and helps people achieve it • A leader raises the confidence of his followers. • A leader creates hope and trust in people • Leaders live the values of the company and set the culture of the organization hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

18. There is a famous saying " People are persuaded by reason but moved by emotion. A good leader must both persuade them and move them". hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

19. Builds Leaders: It is not 'sufficient to have great leaders, it needs a mechanism to identify, train, empower and mentor successive generations of leaders. So, to compete and succeed firm should seek to build leaders of the business as well as leaders of the people. A leader of the business knows what to do and a leader of the people knows how to get it done. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

20. Value System: Great companies practice an enduring value system and follow the finest system of corporate governance. Great companies are not in business solely for money. Money is a by-product of doing the right things. These companies have a broader notion of why they are in business. They have values and a strong culture. Compliance to a value system creates the environment for people to have • high aspirations, • self-esteem, • belief in fundamental values, • confidence in the future and • the enthusiasm to take up difficult tasks. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

21. Organizational Culture Deal and Kennedy define a firm’s culture as ‘the way we do thing around here.’ This very broad definition presumably could include the way a firm • manufactures its products, • pays its bill, • threat its employees, and • performs any other organizational operation. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

22. More specific definitions include those of ‘the pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has • invented , • discovered, or • developed in learning to cope with its problems of • external adaptation and • internal integration.’ hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

23. Peters and Waterman defines ‘a dominant and coherent set of shared valuesconveyed by such symbolic means as • stories, • myths, • legends, • slogans, • anecdotes, and • fairy tales. W. G Ouchi says A set of • symbols, • ceremonies, and • myths thatcommunicatesthe underlying values and beliefs of the organization to its employees.’ hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

24. J. Van Maanen and SR Barley ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IS ‘ collective understandings.’ Organization culture is the set of shard values, often taken for granted, that help people in an organization understand • which actions are considered acceptable and • which are considered unacceptable. Often these values are communicated through • stories and • other symbolic means. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

25. Despite the apparent diversity of these definitions, a few common attributes emerge. First, all the definitions referees to some set of values held by individuals in a firm. These value defines • what is good or acceptable behaviour and • what is unacceptable behaviour. Exmp. Some organization say it is unacceptable to blame customers when problem arise. Here the value is‘the customer is always right’. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

26. Second attribute The value that make up an organization's culture are often taken for granted; that is, they are basic assumptions made by the firm’s employees, rather than being written in a book or made explicit in a training program. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

27. Finalattribute shared An emphasis on the symbolic means through which the values in an organization’s culture are communicated. Companies sometimes can directly describe these values, their meaning is perhaps best communicated to employee through the use of stories and even what some authors call ‘myths’ or fairy tales’. Hewlett-Packard’s value derives from organization’s culture ‘We avoid bank debt.’ ‘Employees are our most important asset’ hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

28. Sanjiv Mehta,Chairman and Managing Director,Unilever Bangladesh Ltd; says ‘Values are deeply ingrained principles that guide our action and behavior.’ Values are fundamental and strategically sound beliefs, which we impose on our people. Our core values include both the • "permission to play values" as well as our • "aspirational" values. The "permission to play" values are • sacrosanct and • a clear source of distinctiveness. These are enshrined in our written down "code of business principles". For cases involving breach of these values we follow the principle of zero tolerance. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

29. Our "aspirational" values that we believe are the right things to do and appropriate for the organization. We seek to embed the values and seed them from orientation onwards through "walking the talk", constant reminders and evaluating performance against these values. We have realized that culture to us isn't just one aspect of the game-it is the game and our endeavor therefore is to build our values in the very DNA of Unilever Bangladesh. Good governance is about • maximizing shareholder value on a sustainable basis while • ensuring fairness to all stakeholders. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

30. Steely-eyed Strategies: A successful company develops a deep understanding of its • customer's needs, • its competitive environment and • its economic realities. This comprehensive analysis then forms the basis for specific strategiesthat are translated into day to day execution. A good strategy is steeped in tough-minded analysis done in a truly objective manner, insightful and actionable. A vision statement is not the same as a strategy. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

31. Vision statements are for the most part aspirational and do not help in pointing out as to how an aspirational goal can be turned into a reality. Whatever be your strategy, whether it is low prices or innovative (differentiated) products, it will work if it is • sharply defined, • clearly communicated and • well understood by employees and other stakeholders. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

32. Focus: Few people and fewer institutions would admit to lack of focus, even in an exercise of honest self-evaluation. Lack of focus is one of the most common that causes of corporate mediocrity. Many companies when the going gets tough in their base business try their luck in totally unrelated and new industries and often with disastrous consequences. Age-old common sense says " Stick to your knitting and dance with your partner who brought you". hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

33. Core competencies: Linked to focus is the aspect of core competencies. Great companies realize that they cannot be the best in everything they have to do. Therefore, they define what their core competencies are and outsource other activities. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

34. Execution: Execution is all about translating strategies into action and measuring their results. Proper execution involvesbuilding measurable targets and holding people accountable for them. It is tough, difficult, daily grind of making sure the machine moves forward meter by meter, kilometer by kilometer, milestone by milestone. Getting it done, getting it done right, getting it done better than the competitionis often the differentiating factor. Experience tells that it is very hard to develop a unique strategy and even harder should you develop one to keep it proprietary. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

35. Effective execution is built on these attributes: — World class processes. In every industry it is possible to identify a few processes that drive leadership performance. These processes allow companies to out perform their competitors. — Strategic Clarity. Companies that out execute their competitors communicate crystal clear messages to all their employees. "This is our mission and this is our strategy“ — High Performance Culture. High performance culture is harder to define then to recognize. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

36. In the truly great companiesexecutives are true leaders and self-starters. Employees are committed to the • Success of the organization, • products are first rate, • everyone cares about quality, and • losing to competition hurts people, • mediocrity is not tolerated and • excellence in any business process is • praised, • cherished and • rewarded. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

37. Excellence: Create an obsession with 'excellence' which is intrinsically satisfying. We should think of excellence not only with our mind but also with our heart and soul. We should look at the global standards of excellence in terms of quality, cost and delivery. Humility;Excellence requires humility. We need an open mind to look at things in a different way and allow new inputs to come in. The great companies do not suffer from arrogance, which comes to many with success. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

38. "Self Confidence':Excellence also requires tremendous faith in our ability to do more and in a better way. Speed: • Should we aim for speed ? or • should we aim for excellence? This may seem like a paradox. These concepts are not opposed to each other. Excellence is about doing the best and speed lies in doing it quickly. If mistakes are made let them be because we are too fast rather than too slow. The great companies master the skill of running full speed on several tracks at once and without a single misstep. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

39. Consumer and Customer centric: Know your consumers and customers. Great companies do not havea vague idea of what goes on in the minds of consumers—they intimately understand their --- needs, aspirations and behaviors. They do not place their trust in market surveys alone... they create new markets by discovering hidden, perhaps even unrecognized needs. Marketplace dictates everything they do. The great companies have a market maker mind set. This allows them to identify and enter attractive markets, build and manage powerful portfolios, exploit their position in the value chain and achieve optimal scale. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

40. Learning Organization: A learning organization is skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. Going ahead knowledge will be one of the greatest differentiators. New ideas are essential if learning has to take place and the acquired knowledge has to be applied. A great company is adept at continuously improving itself. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

41. Compassionate capitalism: Embellish the spirit of capitalism with fairness, decency, transparency and honesty and the result iscompassionate capitalism. A great company makes a difference to the context in which it operates. hello_mehedi@yahoo.co.uk Khulna University

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