Leadership and organizational change are inevitable in any dynamic business enterprise. It is, therefore, necessary for individuals in the management position to have adequate know-how on the way to execute these changes to meet their expected goals as well as retain their productive employees. Lack of knowledge on the important issues that ought to be addressed makes the organization fail no matter the amount of effort employed.
The organization has to check into the values, basic assumptions, and artifacts that exist for them to have a positive social change (Clement, 1994). Any leader who wants to execute change has to put into consideration that he has to seriously consider what the employees think is the right way of performing a certain task effectively, he has to get the right way of removing monotony that certain things ought to be done in a certain way and finally has to put into consideration the normal procedures, technology and the ways of communication. Failure of putting these factors into consideration leads to negative attitudes by the employees and hence poor performance. Carter et al (2005) assert that to have proper social change, the management has to understand the competitive environment, customer requirements, and societal expectations. Organizations such as the U.S, automakers who experience high competition have to be flexible to discover a positive change.
Leadership and organizational change can result in negative social change if the management employs the wrong leadership style as they emphasize for a particular change. Leaders have to portray the competencies of a good leader which are integrity, emotional intelligence, self-confidence, drive, intelligence, leadership motivation, and knowledge of the business (Kriel, 2010). He has to use these competencies and employ the right leadership styles in the execution of different changes in operation to ensure that he does not provoke his subordinates. Good examples of organizations that have failed in making successful changes include Sears, IBM, and general motors. This is because they do not understand the issues that have to be considered to ensure quality in their transition from one way of operating to a new way of carrying out activities.
Globalization and flexibility are the two leaders and organizational change tends to be put into consideration in this paper (Buono, 2001). The two trends have a great impact on the performance of McDonald’s Corporation. This is an international fast-food restaurants organization. Its headquarters are in the United States but have set up other fast-food restaurants in international countries. Globalization of this corporation is faced by differing values, cultural beliefs, norms, and collective preferences of the residents in the country of operation. They face a great challenge in establishing their operations in Muslim countries since Muslims are not good consumers of fast foods. According to Espanola (2002), the corporation can fight its competitors through the establishment of over 6598 restaurants in the US and over 1706 restaurants in 34 international countries. Its strong capital base has enabled it to operate in less developed countries. This is because they can sell their products at a price equal to or less than their competitors thus gaining more customers.
Successful operation in these countries has been met due to the presence of flexibility in the company (Storey, 2004). The company has considered employing a large number of Muslims in these restaurants to attract customers. They have also changed some of their products such as those made using pork and replaced them with new ones that are consumed by the locals. Although Mcdonalds is an independent company, they are at times forced to collaborate with the already established beverage fast-food restaurants when they are strategizing on how to start operating in other new countries.
The flexibility trend is of benefit to McDonald’s since they will be able to fight their competitors such as burger king, Wendy, and Harvey. It has further enabled them to cope with the changing food preferences since their quality control departments keep on coming up with new ingredients which are fit for individuals of all age groups and cultures (Espanola, 2002).
In conclusion, managers advocating for change in leadership and organizational activities need to put into consideration all the social changes that might arise to avoid controversy. One should employ good leadership skills for positive results to be obtained. It is also important to identify the emerging business trends for the effective survival of an organization.
References
Buono, A. (2001). Current trends in management consulting. New York: Informational Age Publishing Inc.
Carter, L. Ulrich, D. & Goldsmith, M. (2005). Best practices in leadership development and organization change: How the best companies ensure meaningful change and sustainable leadership. New York: Wiley Publishing.
Clement, R. (1994). Culture, leadership, and power: the keys to organizational change. Web.
Espanola, P. (2002). McDonald’s Corporation. Quezon: University of the Philippines.
Kriel, G. (2010). Leadership and Social Change. Mandaue: Xlibris Corporation
Storey, J. (2004). Leadership in organizations: current issues and key trends. New York: Routledge Publishers.