Running head: LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 1

Transcription

1 Running head: LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 1 Leadership Evaluation and Leadership Philosophy Devin W. Collins Grand Canyon University: MGT-605 October 19, 2016

2 LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 2 Leadership Evaluation and Leadership Philosophy Through analysis and evaluation, the company Samsung will be judged on its response to the unexpected explosion and melting of many Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. Different aspects of its strategy will be considered, including power bases, influence tactics and leadership style. These will be compared against the tenets of conscious capitalism in order to assess if the way Samsung responded was ethical and in-line with conscious capitalism. The author will then add his own commentary and discuss his actions had he been in a place of leadership at Samsung during this crisis. Finally, a leadership philosophy will be included to communicate the author s own beliefs and values. Samsung s Exploding Note 7 Shortly after releasing its new smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung issued a recall with the offer of a replacement (Harding, 2016). Not long after, even the recalls were recalled, and production of the Note 7 stopped completely. Unexpectedly, Note 7 smartphones caught fire, creating dangerous and occasionally painful situations for many people across the globe. Samsung then had to respond to a global fiasco that threatened their customers and trust in the company (Bruno, 2016). By analyzing power bases, influence tactics, leadership style and the predicted outcome, Samsung will establish itself as a company built on conscious capitalism. Power Bases Samsung utilized legitimate and reward powers, in a way, to lead their customers. It utilized legitimate power because as the maker of Note 7 smartphones, it already had a large amount of authority to begin with. This was not used in a negative way, but instead this power was used to highly encourage customers to stop using their Note 7 phones in order to protect them from potential harm. To help its cause, Samsung utilized reward powers by offering

3 LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 3 financial incentives to exchange or return Note 7 phones (Samsung, 2016) to further encourage customers to stop using Note 7 phones. This is consistent with the stakeholder orientation tenet of conscious capitalism, which states that followers of this tenet [create] and [optimize] value for all stakeholders, understanding that strong and engaged stakeholders lead to a healthy, sustainable, resilient business ( Stakeholder, n.d.). Influence Tactics and Leadership Style In order to further encourage customers to return their phones, Samsung focused on two influence tactics: ingratiation and exchange (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2013). For the ingratiation tactic, and coupled with the tenet of stakeholder orientation, Samsung focused on how concerned they are with the customer in the statement on their website (Samsung, 2016). The statement emphasized that customers should power down and not use their phones, because your safety is important to us (Samsung, 2016). To help customers become motivated to return and exchange their phones, Samsung began issuing bill credits to customers. Even those customers who wanted to return their phones and move to a different smartphone company were offered bill credit. By doing so, Samsung demonstrates its commitment to higher purpose (the safety and well-being of customers over profit) to show its dedication to conscious capitalism. Coupled with these incentives, Samsung made a case for conscious leadership. Instead of trying to deflect blame, Samsung took responsibility and the financial hit for the mistake (Moon, 2016). It also focused on transformational leadership (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2013) by empowering customers to act and receive they help they are offered from Samsung. Outcome and Author s Changes

4 LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 4 In coming months, Samsung is likely to experience a drop in their stock and their customer base. However, though its efforts and focus on conscious capitalism tenets, Samsung will regain that stock, increase its forward momentum, and grow its customer base. Had I been in this situation as leader of Samsung (see Appendix A for the author s leadership philosophy statement), I would have done things very close to the same way. I would have utilized reward powers to motivate customers, but also would have set a date that the phones would no longer be usable. By setting a date to deactivate all Note 7 phones, I would implement coercive power. Doing so would dramatically decrease the probability of injury or death from a Note 7, and would be necessary to prevent more injuries. I would use ingratiation and exchange as influence tactics, and focus on transformational leadership to build up customers. Still, despite my best efforts, I assume the situation would turn out much the same. No one can predict the future, and I agree with the majority of the way Samsung has handled the situation. Together, Samsung s actions create a culture of trust by knowing Samsung is focused on the well being of its customers. Servant Leadership and Conscious Capitalism Samsung has presented itself as a servant leader and a defender of conscious capitalism. Instead of choosing profit, Samsung instead chose to take a $26 billion hit (Moon, 2016). It focused on the safety of its customers instead of itself, showing higher purpose. Through the exercise of conscious leadership, it encouraged people to make exchanges to help protect their safety. All of these are from Samsung s orientation toward stakeholders, and contributes to its culture of trust and forward motion, no matter the setbacks. Through research conducted, Samsung has proven itself to be guided by servant leadership and governed by principles of conscious capitalism.

5 LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 5 References Bruno, A. (October 15, 2016). Online. Retrieved October 17, 2016 from Harding, X. (October 11, 2016). Online. Retrieved October 19, 2016 from Kinicki, A. & Kreitner, R. (2013). Organizational Behavior (10 th ed). New York, NY: The McGraw-hill Companies, Inc. Moon, M. (September 13, 2016). Online. Retrieved October 19, 2016 from Samsung. (October 13, 2016). On Samsung.com. Retrieved October 17, 2016 from Stakeholder. (n.d.). Online. Retrieved from

6 LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 6 Appendix A Personal Leadership Philosophy Leadership is a difficult beast to tame. It seems that no matter what, leaders take heat for making the best decision they could with the knowledge they had. They are almost expected to be fortunetellers, planning and executing their business to fit the trends of the market that will happen in the future. For me, this is something difficult. I like to be with people I get along with easily, and leadership can put a damper on that. However, by looking at my areas of strength from self-assessments, I know that my emotional intelligence and mild personality help in my leadership ability. These two attributes, especially, help me to keep a level head when leading. I try to analyze how people are feeling about situations and provide the best option for the greatest number of people. My mild personality usually helps me to be humble, accepting suggestions and advice from those around me, including subordinates. Others see me as quiet, yet focused on getting the job done. They ve found that they can talk with me about issues they have, and that I ll work with them to find the best solution that works for them and for the organization. In the end, a leader must be decisive. A leader can t stew over ideas for hours or days or weeks on end. Leadership means making decisions, and taking responsibility for those decisions. Examples of people like Jeff Scherck, one of my youth leaders, show me the strength found in humble leadership. People like my parents show me how decisive decision making can be difficult, but is necessary to survival. Still others such as my good friend Brad demonstrate to me that leaders need to be outward-focused, and that is when they become most effective. I expect myself to be held to these values. In turn, I expect others to do the same. Focus needs to be placed on getting things done well, but in the best way that can be found. In all

7 LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 7 things, work needs to be done honestly and diligently. At the end of the day, we all need to be able to go to sleep and think, Yes, that was a difficult decision. But I have no regrets, because I know it was the right one. I will lead through transformational methods, striving to empower employees to achieve greatness. People are more capable than we often think. When we give them the environment that s perfect for them to learn and grow, they thrive. By also using positive influence tactics such as consultation, employees will be more empowered to not only excel at the job they currently do, but to do those things that they also desire to accomplish. Carrying out this leadership philosophy will lead to successful organizations because it focuses on creating and encouraging success in individuals.