Introduction
An individual can construe the word organization in many ways. In this paper, two definitions will be provided. One of the meanings is related to human organization and the other is linked to material organization. An organization is defined within the context of business meaning that without commerce, an organization would not exit. Barclays is purely a commercial and financial organization.
The word business is defined as human economic action. It entails permanent and standard manufacture and allocation of goods and services with an aim of making a profit. Currency streaming in and acquisition of income through fulfilling the needs of customers are the two methods of assessing the strengths of Barclays Bank.
Furthermore, business organization is a procedure or an art of instituting effectual collaboration between the factors of production such as land, material, asset equipment and personnel for generating or obtaining capital with an aim of earning profit in a business venture.
The scope of business organization has significantly extended after the industrial revolution. The process of manufacturing is now intricate. An organization is required to establish what each individual will do and how much power each will have. At this level, an organization is mostly divided into three categories based on business ownership.
These categories are solitary proprietorship, joint venture and corporation. Barclays Bank is a Multinational Corporation trading in a number of states. The organization assists owners to use factors of production competently and hence condense the cost of production.
This facilitates realization of organizational ambitions and goals at a least cost. An excellent organization enables optimal utilization of scientific advancements to create support. Barclays Bank resolves all the advertising tasks such as buying, selling, shipping, warehousing, funding, and product regularity through setting up tasks to each person.
Organizational stakeholders in Barclays Bank include the management, employees, shareholders, clients, customers and the community. The top executive is supposed to coordinate the activities of the organization by ensuring that each person’s wishes and desires are identified and fulfilled (McCluskey, 2004). As leaders of the Bank, managers must treat employees courteously and involve them in decision- making processes.
This article addresses the issue of organization in a business environment and how it shapes other factors as well as how other factors shape it. The paper goes ahead to discuss the concept of leadership since it is established as one of the critical aspects. The paper uses the management system of Barclays as an example. An organization cannot excel without leaders who are full of visions.
Specifically, the paper identifies resistance to change as being one of the factors affecting leadership in Barclays Bank. Many factors make workers to resist change, which are discussed in this paper. Finally, the paper concludes after discussing some solutions to resistance to change.
Leadership
It is true that excellent leaders are made not born meaning that any person could become an effective leader provided he/she has the desire and willpower. High-quality leaders develop through a never-ending procedure of self-study, edification, schooling and familiarity. For a leader to achieve his or her dreams, there are three things that must be understood deeply.
The first one is developing some qualities implying that a manager must be someone who is reliable and effective. Again, an individual has to conduct some research to know exactly what he/she is required to do. Finally, a good manager must go ahead and executive the roles or responsibilities assigned to him/her. In short, the three things to be mastered in leadership are ‘be’,’ know’ and ‘do’.
These factors are not acquired logically but are obtain through regular work and research. Excellent leaders are ceaselessly working and learning to advance their management talents. This means that good leaders do not rest on their success.
In the modern managerial front, there are four factors of leadership, which include a leader him/herself, followers, communication and situation. As a leader, an individual must have an honest understanding as regards to who he/she is. This is determined through knowing one’s capacities and limitations. Stakeholders are to judge the success of a leader not otherwise.
Leaders with low self-esteem can negatively inspire employees leading to poor performance in the organization. Therefore, a leader can only be successful if he/she manages to convince workers. On the part of followers, a leader needs to identify the various techniques of supervision to be applied in guiding employees. For instance, new employees are not to be supervised in the same way as the experienced ones.
Some employees are highly motivated while others are not, hence the leader must consider this aspect. A good leader must know his/her people by understanding their nature such as feelings, desires and enthusiasm. In an organization, leaders need to embrace interpersonal communication, which should be in form of non-verbal. The way a leader addresses his/her junior employees affect production in the organization.
For this reason, a leader must set an example by embracing the most efficient communication model. Furthermore, leaders need to acknowledge diversity and appreciate the fact that not all situations are the same. In this case, a leader needs to possess tact and special skill to be able to differentiate problems.
Each problem has a unique feature meaning that solutions are also different. In this sense, a leader should be well placed and timely in order to identify the correct time of confronting an employee. Scholars of management suggest that leaders should utilize Process Theory to solve employee problems other than utilizing trait theory (Montana, & Bruce, 2008).
Bass’ Theory of Leadership
The theory elucidates that there are three major techniques of describing how individuals turn out to be leaders. The theory focuses more on the group implying that it analyzes relationships between small groups of people in the organization. The theory starts by postulating that people posses some special traits that may give them chances to be leaders.
This statement concurs with the findings of trait theory. In this regard, an individual can conclude that leaders are born because the characteristics are intrinsic. The theory posits further that a particular event may force an individual to rise up to an occasion and show leadership. Leadership qualities may crop up during hard times such as calamities, natural disasters or crises.
An event may force an individual to demonstrate extraordinary leadership qualities. These findings are in line with the postulations of Great Events Theory. Bass’ theory of leadership continues to emphasize that people can decide to be leaders, meaning that they can learn leadership skills (Spillane, & Diamond, 2004).
The recent theory referred to as Transformational or process theory supports these findings. Furthermore, it is the most treasured theory. In fact, this paper utilizes the findings of the theory in analyzing major leadership problems.
Problems Facing Leadership
In the previous chapter, change was identified as the major problem facing leadership in the organization. In this section, some reasons that make people to resist change will be explored. The risk of change is seen by some stakeholders as being superior to the danger of standing still. This means that initiating change calls for determination and faith.
Change means that an organization decides to move in a different direction, which is highly unpredictable. Organizational leaders only anticipate for success but there is no surety. In an organization, people will only accept to abandon their traditional ways of doing things if the conditions prevailing are unbearable. This is usually viewed as one way of managing risk.
Policy makers in an organization are therefore requested to be truthful and prove that change will improve the working conditions in the organization. Furthermore, change agents in the organization are urged to be rational and avoid unrealistic and concealed promises of rewards. Upon evaluation of risk, the power of human flight reaction is stimulated to fight for change.
In the organization, people seem to be connected to some individuals who are identified with old techniques. Because human beings are social species, they have a liking of remaining where they are for a long time. Employees have a tendency of following those who taught them how to carry out duties in the organization. Loyalty therefore becomes one of the reasons why people resist change.
Suggesting some new ways of executing duties means going against the wishes of the old guard, who have a large following in the organization. People would not consider the rationality of the idea mainly because of emotional connection to those who taught them (Hewlett, 2006). Change agent should honor the achievements of the old guard before introducing anything new.
On a different note, people tend to resist new techniques because they do not have role models. For that reason, change agents should never underestimate the power of observational learning. Individuals advocating for change in the organization are likened to a dreamer, who employ the power of imagination to formulate new possibilities that are currently non-existent.
It reaches an extent where communication alone would not solve the problem. This implies that change advocates must get some individuals on board and explain to them how new techniques or methods work. Such people will in turn come in handy when it comes to explaining the new idea to others.
This would require the advocates to conduct a pilot study, whereby the new knowledge is tested using a small sample of employees in the bank. Closely related to the above point is the issue of competence. People fear that they possess little knowledge as regards to the new idea or technique.
To such individuals, change means loss of jobs. In this situation, change agents should motivate individuals effectively. Even more, a victorious change crusade consists of successful new training plans, characteristically staged from extensive objectives to more specific.
By this, it implies that preliminary measures should present the validity and preparation for change, state next stages, demarcate future interaction channels and state how people will learn the particulars of what they will be required to do. Afterward, training plans must be executed and assessed ultimately.
Thus, change agent can reduce the initial fear of lack of individual capability for change by demonstrating how individuals will be brought to fitness all through the change process.
People expect a loss of status or value of life because of introducing new ideas. Actual change reallocates duties to individuals. Reorganization of the human resources can bring victors and losers. Some individuals would probably be promoted while others may lose their jobs. Change is not necessarily a zero sum game meaning that it can bring more benefits to individuals than expected.
Some individuals would be aligned against change since they will obviously, and in some incidences appropriately, perceive change as opposing their desires and wishes. There are several tactics for reducing this and for tackling persistent barriers to change in the form of individuals and their safety. This would include helping individuals to adjust accordingly.
Change must not favor one person in the organization. Others will of course benefit while others will loss terribly. Irrespective of what happens, organizational objectives and goals are more important. Leaders should understand this and move on with their plans of introducing change. The aim of leaders is to stabilize the financial base of the organization, not fulfilling individual interests.
Solutions to Resistance to Change
Before proposing any project, change agents must explain to stakeholders how the new knowledge will be executed and what could be the possible advantages and disadvantages. This implies that workers and relevant stakeholders should be taken through training sessions to sharpen their wits as regards to new ideas. Leaders need to come up with ways of influencing the attitudes of stakeholders.
Change will only be accepted in the organization if the interests of all individuals are taken care of. On the other hand, change should not be transferred from one place to another without considering environmental and cultural factors. Ideas generated in Europe could not suit the African environment. Techniques and methods imported from other parts need to be reviewed and modified to suit local expectations.
Finally, change should be introduced in stages in order to allow individuals to adjust accordingly (Tittemore, 2003). New methods can be mastered with time instead of rushing people to learn them quickly. Therefore, Barclays must not force its subsidiaries in the developing world to copy western organizational cultures. Each country has its own laws, which vary from one country to another.
Conclusion
Leadership plays a critical role in organizational management. The organization cannot do without good leaders. The success of Barclays bank is attributed to its excellent managers who have superior leadership qualities. Managers in the bank have frequently utilized process theory of leadership to solve managerial problems. The theory suggests that leaders are both born and made.
This implies that an individual can become a competent leader through education. The bank experiences one major problem that is related to adjustment to change. The old guard is against introduction of new managerial techniques. They fear that new methods could render them jobless. Leadership is an important aspect in the organization implying that each manager must strive to achieve it.
Implementation of new policies needs careful review. Rushing workers through changes would cause more problems in the organization. Consultation and proper communication of ideas enables effective implementation of new ideas and techniques.
It is the role of managers to learn the mood of workers and other stakeholders and come up with sufficient techniques of solving their concerns. Self-interest is one of the factors that demoralize change agents in the organization. Other theories that talk about leadership can be used jointly with the process theory to explain leadership in the organization effectively.
References
Hewlett, R. (2006). The Cognitive leader. New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield.
McCluskey, M. (2004). How Mature is Your Service Operation?” Supply Chain Management Review, 8(5).
Montana, J., & Bruce, H. (2008). Management Hauppauge. New York, NY: Barron’s Educational Series.
Spillane, J., & Diamond, J. (2004). Towards a theory of leadership practice. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 36(1).
Tittemore, J.A. (2003), Leadership at all Levels. Toronto: Boskwa Publishing.