Introduction
In light with the developments of the 21st century, the business world has been in the heart of the revolutions. The key concepts of technology, liberalizations of markets and globalization have really transformed the world. As a result of these transformations, increased activity in the commercial and industrial sectors has been witnessed.
The world is presently operating as one village, whereby people are able to communicate efficiently and conveniently with one another. This has been facilitated by the growth of computer and internet technology. The growth of air transport has also been of significant influence to the enhancement of transport. With these developments, communication and transport have been heightened thus enhancing global relations in terms of business and other activities.
Nevertheless, the growth of globalization has not come singly, whereby it has been associated with various limitations. In this case, the issue of global recession is a factor of globalization, whereby nations directly depend on one another for business. This is unlike years, whereby nations operated independently.
With regards to the emergence of global recession, which refers to global economic slowdown, business organizations are obligated to undertake the most competitive leadership strategies so as to counter the situation. This is in response to the lost business and the diminishing market potentiality.
As noted by Northouse (2007: 101), business organizations have been significantly impacted by the issue of global recession. This refers to a period of global economic slowdown or down turn, whereby nations experience limited economic growth rates of 3% of less.
Combination of this situation with the overwhelming competition in the international markets, business organizations find it hard to survive. The situation can only be countered by adoption of the most efficient leadership styles. A good example is Nokia which has in the recent faced it rough in the technology and mobile phone industry.
The challenges facing the company are based on the issue of global recession and growth of competition in the industry it is operating in (Isaksen and Tidd 2006: 102). In reaction to the situation, the company is forced to adopt the most competitive and leadership techniques so as to overcome the challenges.
A study by Kotter (1996: 68) indicated that good leadership is the only solution to the challenges faced by business in the height of global recession among other challenges like increased competition. In this case, transformational leadership has been highlighted as the most appropriate leadership approach for organizations in recent days. Transformational leadership has been defined as a form of leadership style whereby leaders and their followers align themselves to higher moral and motivational levels (Fisher and Ury 1992: 29).
This is attained through impacting visions and personality among all individuals in the organizations. With regards to this leadership style, leaders have the obligation of inspiring their followers to change their perceptions and expectations.
With the challenges of global recession, this leadership style stands to be very efficient in the sense that it will bring every individual in the organization into focus and adjust to the prevailing situation. A point worth of consideration is that this leadership style demands leaders to motivate employees towards attaining a common goal (Weinstein et al 2004: 71). By so doing, the challenges facing the business will be countered.
Cherry (2011: 1) indicated that transformational leadership style is guided by various components which makes it efficient in countering business challenges. Firstly, the concept of intellectual stimulation is highly embraced in this leadership approach. In this case, the leaders do not only challenge the status quo, but also instill creativity among the employees.
Hacker and Roberts (2003: 45) depicted that leaders should encourage followers to be innovative and do things in new ways thus exploiting available opportunities. In the case of Nokia the company has in the recent been in its endeavors to intellectually stimulate its employees. This is an efficient approach in countering the economic slowdown, whereby new strategies of doing business as well as products will be attained.
The concept of individualized consideration is also addressed in this leadership style. In this case, leaders should offer encouragement and support to all individuals within the organizations. A point worth of consideration is that leaders should foster supportive relationships through open communication, where followers are free to share and seek ideas (Bass and Riggio 2006: 78). By undertaking these approaches, organizations will be able to acquire unique ideas and contributions from their followers.
Chase et al (2001: 49) depicted that leaders in the contemporary society should offer inspirational motivation to their employees. This is acquired through the provision of a clear vision which will help in guiding the followers. By inspiring the followers, leaders will help their followers to experience same motivation and passion which will help in realizing the common goal. Another core component of transformational leadership is the issue of idealized influence.
Yukl (2001: 93) argued that leaders should be a role model to their followers. This concept can not be exempted from leadership in the contemporary society based the numerous challenges faced by businesses. Schein (1992: 62) noted that followers respect and trust their leaders and they will simply emulate them.
With this in mind, business organizations will be able to overcome the challenges they are facing in the height of global recession. Global recession is leading to loss of business hence calling for the adoption of best leadership strategies.
Alongside the adoption of transformational leadership style, the concept of total quality management (TQM) can not be exempted from organizational management in recent days. As noted by Hakes (2001: 22) the issue of quality and product leadership has been identified as key aspects of success.
With this in mind, business organizations are obligated to ensure that their products and services are of the best quality in the market. Every business organization should keep a watch of the products and services of its competitors (Wilson 2005: 102). The concept of TQM basically refers to an approach of management which entails on managing entire organization so as to produce quality goods and services. In the case of mobile phone industry, quality of the products has been of great importance.
In this case, each company is seeking to improve its services and products. In the midst of global recession, Nokia is obligated to ensure optimum quality of its products (Bass and Riggio 2006: 78). Based on this scenario, the adoption of TQM is inevitable for the success of Nokia during this period of economic slow down.
Pekar (2005: 42) outlined that employee involvement in the running of an organizations in recent days is inevitable. Employee involvement is a key element of TQM, whereby they are able to prevent problems before they occur. Organizations are also obligated to focus on their customers so as to determine the actual wants and needs of the customers.
This will help an organization to offer quality products and services which meet the needs of customers. In the case of Nokia, the need for Smartphone has been an overwhelming market trend in recent days. In order for the company to realize its dreams and counter the market challenges it has no obligation of adopting the market demands. This is part of TQM, whereby the company’s operations and product specifications are dictated by the market demands (Pekar 2005: 42).
The concept of benchmarking is also a key leadership and business management approach that can not be down looked. As observed by Hakes (2001: 22) benchmarking is an element of TQM in which an organization seeks out other organizations it is operating with. An organization uses the products and services of other companies as its benchmark or standard, thus being able to judge its performance.
It is also worth noting that organizations are also required to adapt as well as improve processes adopted by other organizations. This will help an organization to attain the high quality and efficient products, thus being able to win the market. Presently, TQM has proved to be an efficient leadership and management approach which has helped many businesses to endure market excellence (Hakes 2001: 22).
Conclusion
In consideration with the discussion and analysis of the business environment in the 21st century, it has been clearly evident that business organizations are faced with numerous challenges. The issues of global recession and increased competition in the corporate world have been overwhelming in recent days. In response to these challenges, business organizations are obligated to adopt the most efficient leadership styles.
In this case, the concepts f transformational leadership and TQM have been highlighted as the most suitable for business organizations in recent days. This will help business organization to be efficient and steadfast in offering the best products and services. For instance, the case of Nokia has been overwhelming, whereby it is facing numerous challenges following the issue of global recession and competition in the mobile industry. In response to this scenarios, the company is obligated to adopting the above highlighted leadership approaches.
Reference List
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