Leadership issues in contemporary business management

LEADERSHIP ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Lecture Series 2012

by

C P Rijal, PhD in Leadership

February 9, 2013 1 [email protected]

SESSION I


Our link for the discussion today…

Nepalese corporate sector is in search of visionary leadership, more in numbers, for

more sustainable transformation of the country.


Your mission…is to win our wars…you are

the ones who are trained to fight. Yours is the

profession of arms, the will to win, the sure

knowledge that in war there is no substitute

for victory; That if you lose, the nation will be

destroyed…

General of the US Army Douglas Macarthur

4

Leadership

Influencing people by providing the purpose,

direction, and motivation while operating to

accomplish the mission and improving the

organization.

It is all about structuring others by trust onto your

roadmap.

5

Let’s talk about a few powerful leadership issues in management.


Please make sure each one of you have your say on each issue we discuss today…


Our higher education, medical science, hospitality, and financial institutions are going to face tough time in responding with globalization.


1

So many successful world leaders are time again charged for not being adequately accountable for what they are supposed to be.

How often do you act by shouldering the responsibility of your team failure? Many people love ‘passing the failure’ on to others.


2

Corporate leadership at BBC has been time again blamed for not working with responsiveness towards the society for what they are expected to do.

In any business, just earning is not the end; there starts your obligation to paying off to the society for what it allowed you to be there at that height; please be sincere of your responsibility for the society.


3


Mostly, the western management is blamed for not being able to take a balanced approach in managing workforce diversity.

What about the racial discrimination in the UK? Isn’t it true that the Nepalese leadership faces a tough time to empower people with equitable distribution of opportunities.


4

Even Steve Jobs, one of the world’s ever innovative entrepreneurs, was shacked from his position of CEO at Apple, which he created vesting his blood, toil, sweat and tears; He was charged for not being innovative; Responding to changing environment is always a daunting task.


5

Senior management normally takes it as a cost adding proposition to improve quality and productivity; in fact, it reduces the cost, if managed effectively.


6

Despite having the largest business networks throughout the country, Nepal Bank Limited and Rastriya Banijya Bank have been facing tough time for their survival.

Corporate leadership is more than managing; it is rather all about stimulating innovation and change.


7

Enron, the world’s one time largest power generator, and a UK based historic news agency collapsed for not being able to improve their ethical behavior.

Momento Garments headed by one of the former FNCCI presidents in Nepal collapsed whilst doing an excellent business. Why? What about Necon Air?


8

Do you know, why Rato Bangla School has been helping to transform all primary schools of Dailekh district? Whose ad theme is it – ‘Bhatta Khayau Sambidhan Deu’? Surya Nepal has supported in developing all school infrastructure in at least 10 VDCs around its cigarettes factory at Simara. These are a few examples of institutional social responsibilities…


9

Do you know, the patent rights of most of our natural medicinal herbs are already reserved by foreigners?

So, what’s the problem? They have won us in knowledge management for which we will have to pay them very big cost in the days to come.


10

You may be surprised to know that most of our ministers and high rank officers in public institutions do not know how to work in computer-added working environment.

How can you be sure about their likely contribution to come up with the proposition to managing with the world of ICTs, which is most essential today?


11

As a result of excessive work stress and productivity focus of the top management, there exists the highest rate of corporate suicides in Japan. The US based workplace violations are sometimes very much critical. Besides performance, leadership needs to help employees balance their work and life conflicts.


12

THANK YOU!


All entrepreneurs are bound to create positive tensions for innovation to happen, productivity to excel, and job satisfaction to prevail. Unfortunately, our NOC employees are put to be least bothered about operational innovation; it is a constantly loss making pubic entity that pays off with the highest rate of employee bonus every year!


13

Ncell has gone far ahead improving customer services compared to Nepal Telecom.

How long can NTC enjoy its market leadership this way?


14

It is heard that Janga Bahadur Rana used to take the packaged lunch supplied by Rambhandar; Chaudhary Group was formed quite lately; So came in existence Khetan and Panchakanya groups. Ranas disappeared from the power, Rambhandar has been somehow surviving, and the later ones are on top of national corporate sector. Why such a disparity? May be because of difference in their capability to promote entrepreneurship…


15

Normally, the corporate leadership tends to take success as a permanent proposition, as a result they fail to survive in long run.

For example, lack of leadership vision to cope with temporariness might have resulted the demise of Hattichhap Chappal in Nepal despite its very strong market holding.


16

Corporate managers are meant to be responsible for managing with multiple responsibilities to lead their institutions more successfully. Anil Keshari Shah has not reached to today’s position by just focusing on only banking; he acts with scores of responsibilities, everyday to sustain himself up there.


17

At IBM, improving people skills is regarded as one of the strongest corporate cultures. As a result, a penny invested on employee training and development today, goes on bringing in many dollars till upto 30 years down the road.

Any cost incurred in employee training and development may serve as a safer source of sustainable returns forever. Unfortunately, not all leaders realize this fact.


18

This is the age of working with business partnership, virtual organization systems and business process outsourcing.

All corporate leaders may not feel comfortable working in networked organizations. As a result, they fail in their missions.


19

Despite his tremendous successful career graph for more than two decades as a VC of Kathmandu University, Prof. Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma was finally blamed for not developing the generation next to lead the institution in the similar way that he visioned; Now, the institution is at a cross-road.


20

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership

Model Defines Relationship

Between Maturity and

Four Leadership

Styles

High

relationship

Low task

High task

High

relationship

Low

relationship

Low task

High task

Low

relationship

M1

M2 M3

M4

High

Low High Task Behavior

Rel

atio

nsh

ip B

ehav

ior

Style of

Leader

Immature Maturity

Ability

Willingness

M1 M2 M3 M4

High Moderate Low

This person is able

(has the necessary

knowledge and skill)

This person is willing

(has the necessary

confidence and

commitment)

Maturity of Followers

Psychological maturity

Job maturity

A great deal

4

Quite a bit

3

Some

2

Little

1

Usually

4

Often

3

On occasion

2

Seldom

1

30

Finally, dear graduates, if you are really concerned to transform yourself into more successful corporate leaders, start counting on these twenty tips that I have given you by now.

Please follow the next slide for a quick recap.


1. Responding to globalization 2. Managing with accountability 3. Action with responsiveness 4. Managing workforce diversity 5. Responding to changing environment 6. Improving quality and productivity 7. Stimulating innovation and change 8. Improving ethical behavior 9. Managing institutional social responsibility 10. Knowledge management 11. Managing with the world of ICTs 12. Helping employees balance work and life conflicts 13. Creating positive tensions 14. Improving customer services 15. Promoting entrepreneurship 16. Coping with temporariness 17. Managing with multiple responsibilities 18. Improving people skills 19. Working in networked organizations 20. Developing the generation next


Inculcate your VISION on

these elements

Now, the question may arise in you… How can I act with all this?

Yes, you can… sincere study of PU BBA and/or MBA is enough…


SESSION II


Can you guess why most of the people fail in their professional endeavors, whereas only a few of them succeed?


Test of ‘fitness’ serves as the connecting ‘dot’ to success…

Person-career fitness, person-job fitness, person group fitness, and/or person-organization fitness

are some of the tests of ‘fitness’. As you proceed in your future career, you will feel the gravity of importance of ‘people fitness’ at workplaces.


1

Do you think—

a. we have right leading the nation?,

b. what about the quality and competence of the people leading different political parties?,

c. is the private sector leadership ready to go beyond kinship?, and what else?

d. do we really love the work?


38

Centrality of work to human existence In the any country today, you are what you do. Your choice

of a job/occupation determines as much about what you will be, the status and prestige you will be afforded, what your children will do and who they will do it with, where they go to school, as do your choice of a spouse/partner and your own values.

Go to a mall, your favorite bar, a construction site, etc., and ask anybody who will talk to you, “What are you?” How many define themselves in terms of their job or occupation?

How does one know when one is “successful?” What is our cultural measuring-stick?

February 9, 2013 OB teaching notes by Dr Rijal

39

Centrality of work to human existence…

Success = money Success = happy Happy = what you want What you want requires $$$ or accomplishing goal. Goal usually is professional.

One of the first questions you ask someone: what’s

your major? Or what do you do? Or perhaps identify

by religion or spouse, not as likely.


40

Work is a source of… 1. Identity: last name ‘Smith’ ‘Cooper’

2. Relationships: outside the family.

3. Obligatory activity: Provides structure to our days and deadlines.

4. Autonomy: Independence.

5. Values: in terms of money, products, and associated dignity (women).

6. Opportunity: for developing skill competence.

7. Self-esteem: i. What would you do if you didn’t have college or a job, ii. You can afford to be lazy for a break, what about when no end in sight.

Can you think of a life in absence of these fragrance? February 9, 2013 OB teaching notes by Dr Rijal

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Implicit Themes of Work

When work is discussed, people mention—

Good Provider: Heavily influenced by social constructions of gender and gender identity.

Independence: “Stand on one’s own two feet.”

–Being separate from your parents

Success: “Hard work pays off.”

Self Respect: Hard work of any type has dignity; a person’s worth is reflected in work.


42

You got to be ‘fit’ enough for work; that’s it; simple one! But how?

Best way is to assess yourself and find what

you are more comfortable at…


On top of shaping for personality fitness, there is another issue that the corporate leadership needs to really focus on, i.e., balancing between seriousness and sincerity to lead the institution.


2

Seriousness and sincerity may be considered as the greatest tools for success.


Which one do you think, SERIOUSNESS or SINCERITY, is more important for success?



Another ‘issue’ in corporate leadership is to connecting self with what they ‘value’.

Value sensitivity is one of the key determinants of any leadership success.


3

As a management graduate, you must make your ‘priority’ on these values over time:

1. Your work

2. Your family

3. Your health

4. Your friends

5. Your spirit

So, what would you ‘value’ more over rest of the things? And why?


Value = f(work + life)

THANK YOU!


Do you know, why most of our corporate leaders are unable to deliver what they are broadly expected to?


For performance with highest productivity, human beings need be treated as humans; but not like the machines!


Moreover, they should be motivated for what they are supposed to do.

The problem here is that not all corporate leaders place employee motivation as the single most important determinant for institutional success!


4


Need satisfaction is the greatest motivation

Needs give

raise to wants

which cause

tensions which give

raise to

that result in

satisfaction

actions

Motivation is a ‘dotted line’ to connect with Satisfaction

Motivation Results

Satisfaction

February 9, 2013 54 EMBA Class Notes for WHGSM

In fact, there is nothing more important than connecting the dots (…) for a successful life!


5

We cannot connect the ‘dots’ by looking forward; rather, we need to go backward, find the origin where lie the dots and start connecting them right from there on.


Let’s listen to a great person who believed on connecting the ‘dots’ and finally became highly successful by connecting them, always…

How to live a life before you die…


So,

What are your dots that could not be connected, can you re-do them? Better go back, start connecting them right from where they are disconnected…


What competencies do you think are the ‘dotted lines’ that connect you towards the success by means of an academic or professional discourse?


6

Simply THREE ‘dots’ –


Dot 1: Leadership Skills

Dot 2: Communication Skills Dot 3: Analytical Skills

Here stands

your MBA

So, our life is full of numerous dots…


Let’s find, measure and improve them for more successful life.

For example,

1. You may not have interest in university teaching career!

2. All people may not entrust themselves that they can do things differently.

3. What else??


Finally, nothing is worth learning unless you could figure out its application in real life; no matter how well you connect your ‘dots’…


Your MBA degree, if accomplished with a zeal to learn and excel, will help you explore a new person in each one of you.


Thank you!


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Leadership issues in contemporary business management