Introduction The relationship between firm leaders’ features and firms’ performance has drawn increasing attention in recent years. The intuition behind can mostly be explained by upper echelons theory (Hambrick and Mason 1984). The main idea of upper echelons theory is that a firm can be seen as the reflection of its upper echelon (defined as key decision-making groups). This paper aims to investigate the relationships between the educational backgrounds of board of directors (BOD) and firm performance in China. More specifically, the paper is expected to have two significant contributions to understanding firm performance and behaviour on which many studies have not focused. It will examine the relationship between BOD’s background of law and firm’s tax avoidance. It will also emphasise on the relationship between BOD’s experience studying abroad and firm’s foreign investment expenses. All sample firms in this paper are publicly listed in Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) in China. Literature Review Upper echelons theory was firstly proposed by Hambrick and Mason in 1984. As suggested by its name, it argues that executives make strategic decisions based on their personalised construal of the situations faced by the firms and their personalised interpretations are greatly affected by their experiences, values and personalities (Hambrick 2007). Many studies have focused on firm leaders’ features which can be roughly categorised into two perspectives: observable and
There is a great importance put on business leadership, this is directly due to how a business not only functions but in how fruitful the company can become. A great leader essentially can take a business plan that is weak yet turn it into a success, whereas a poor leader stands a higher chance of ruining the best of business plans. That is why it is essential to develop effective leadership throughout a companies entire management program at all levels. How does one develop or retain strong leadership? Companies must be focused on hiring strategies that encompass very specific parameters, building from within whilst creating a strong foundation for employee development and succession planning. Leadership is essential in any organization. The style and theory embraced determines whether the company will or will not achieve their goals. in all cases theory must be embraced, as a companies theory, style, and strategy is greatly dependent on the industry the company is in (Sadler, 2014). “The behavioral theory is one of the widely used theories of management. It suggests that leaders are made and not born. It gives room for training to install leadership traits in leaders at the expense of denying them a chance. There are various leadership styles embraced by companies (Cyert, & March, 2005).” This paper takes a look at the management styles of two specific
Recommendations for managers who demand to be leaders are to appearance compassion. To be a leader a person needs to see the world as an opportunity to change. They need to accept the employees ' dilemmas. Respect the assessment of the advisers and accomplish decisions that will be acceptable not only for them but the
Change is a basic part of life. Leaders, whether it be the CEO of the company or you, must anticipate forces that will cause changes, identify opportunities that will require changes, react to unforeseen events that make changes imperative, and work with others to overcome the predictable reactions to change, which almost always include some amount of resistance, often to a significant degree.
The timing of an occurrence forms the significance of an occurrence (Staudenmayer, Tyre, & Perlow, 2002). Organizations have hired CEOs that
The two real examples will demonstrate the significance of leaders how to support their employees and establish the trust and morale between of them to build people skill in companies to make higher profits. According to Bauza (2016), “Out of 100 executives surveyed at the Society for Human Resource Management in Washington, D.C., in June, 73% of them blamed low employee morale on poor leadership”. John Challenger who works in Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. He shows that morale is essential for the leaders to enhance the employees in the workplace to more efficiency. This exemplifies that successful leaders can increase the morale in the workplaces to enhance the employees’ unity in the leadership to build the good connection with people
Conventional wisdom teaches us that decisive leadership drives great business. An elite group of people must come together to make tough decisions that the majority must follow. Fortunately, it appears that some are challenging this centuries old notion. In an article entitled “Management Leaders Turn Attention to Followers”, George Anders examines how and why many companies are looking to their low-ranking employees on how to better their businesses. The article focuses on three forward thinking companies: Best Buy, UPS, and Hewlett-Packard. Each company challenged its low-ranking employees to come up with solutions to better business. The result: employees who are more invested in the company’s success because they actually feel
A variety of leadership characteristics, traits, and behaviors of the chosen leaders are examined especially as designed during the reign of the two CEOs. An analysis of the reign of both Jack Welch Period (1981–2001) and Jeff Immelt (2001-2008) and their sweeping radical changes into the organizational culture and leadership provide an over view in relation to the management of the change process. The changes were at the heart of a magnificent transformation of the strategy of GE. The strategies employed triggered enhanced and more efficient performance on the managerial level as well as internal operations, (Aghion, & Durlauf, 2005).
References Doyle, M., & Smith, M. (2001). Classical models if managerial leadership; traits, behavioral, contingency of transformational theory. Dyer, J., Gregersen, H., & Christensen, C.M. (2011). The Innovator's DNA: mastering the five skills of disruptive innovators. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press Hitt, M. A., Haynes, K. T., & Serpa, R. (2010). Strategic Leadership for the 21st century. Hoffman A. (2012). Intuitive Surgical Inc.: How Long Can Their Monopoly Last.
While effective leaders should draw on all elements of all four frames, different sectors adopt slightly different certain frame preferences. Corporate sectors primarily prefer the structural frame with the primarily goal of profit. From the readings, both McNerney and Nardelli sought to make the company “number one or two in their markets.” Both CEO’s acted aggressively, which involved cutting costs and simplifying the organizational structure. However, only McNerney was successful due to Nardelli’s ego and poor application of the human resource and political frames in his relationships with employees and share-holders. Governments, on the other hand, do not have the flexibility of changing their organizing structure. The example of Giuliani
The Leadership Archetype Questionnaire (Kets de Vries, 2006b), identifies eight individual leadership archetypes. Among the eight archetypes is the strategist, who sees leadership, per Northouse, as a game of chess (2016). Envisioning an organizational future and responding to change is what makes enlisting the vision of the strategist the first step in aligning the two approaches. The strategist is not only one of the model archetypes defined by the Leadership Archetype Questionnaire; it is also one of the characteristics of a psychodynamic approach to leadership. In aligning the psychodynamic approach and the situational approach to leadership, it is important to remember, as suggested by O’Reilly, et. al. in a study published in the Leadership Quarterly, “it is clear, that leaders at all levels influence strategic initiatives and their implementation” (2010). Exactly “how aggregate leadership influences organizational performance” cannot be readily defined (O’Reilly, et. al., 2010). To clarify step one, step one is to clarify the vision.
According to Beer, Eisenstat, Foote, Fredberg and Norrgren a higher ambition leader is defined as those individuals who are able to see the organization in its totality, its possibilities and potential, and are able to communicate to all employees so that their efforts are maximized to create an organization that will equally value financial and social value. After studying thirty-six highly successful leaders from around the world, it was determined that there are certain characteristics that are traditionally possessed by higher ambition leaders. After the completion of the study, it was determined that high ambition leaders possessed the ability to see the entire organization, see the future of what the company could become, set key goals and communicate them to the organization, and higher ambition leaders were found to be very steadfast on impact financial and social values. (Eisenstat, Foote, Fredberg & Norrgren, 2011)
Leadership is one of the most useful skills one can obtain. It was believed that leadership couldn’t be taught, but that one is born with the appropriate skills to lead. Leaders come in a wide range of different personalities and styles. There have been many great leaders since the beginning of human existence. The great question of what makes an effective leader continues to be one that can be debated. Many theories have been formed about how leaders have been either made or born with the trait. Sergio Marchionne, Chief Executive Officer of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is an example of a great leader. His leadership style and traits contributed to the success of the multi-billion dollar company after suffering a major financial crisis in 2009.
Nowadays, it is impractical to think of an organization without an effective leader, as well as an active manager. The two are much in common as they are essential in the organizational hierarchy, and they are crucial elements in running any business enterprise. However, there are several differences between the two terms.
Boal, K. B. & Whitehead, C. J. (1992). A critique and extension of stratified systems perspective. In R. L. Phillips & J. G. Hunt (Eds.), Strategic leadership: A multiorganizational-level perspective (pp. 237–255). Westport, CT: Quorum.
1. What do you think Bill and Melinda Gate’s personality traits are for each of the Big Five dimensions? Compare the two.