Essay Sample on Leadership in Hydro Generation

Introduction

The concept of excellent, efficient and acceptable leadership style is linked closely with the employees' culture and organizational values. Therefore, it becomes essential for each multicultural organization to take in various approaches regarding leadership in becoming more effective regarding a particular culture. Tanzania takes a very different leadership approach as opposed to the United States due to her culture which makes leadership comparison to be difficult and contradictive. The Hydro Generation is forced to consider and understand the cultural differences of Tanzania that outsourcing labor and work to the country requires an advanced and new approach of leadership (Minkov, 2018, p.237). Therefore, with the scenario, the group look on the Global study and Hofstede Theory in attempting to relate the similarities and differences of management regarding Tanzania's and America's leadership approach.

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Global leadership is considered as the key elements of an interdisciplinary study that future leaders of the personal experience in all realms are required to adequately familiarize themselves with the anthropological, geographical, physiological, sociological and psychological effects of globalization. The leadership (Global) takes place when one or more people navigate the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders via the complexity of the environment towards a vision and mission through leveraging a global mindset (Erdman, 2018 n.p).

However, with this study, numerous contradictions are raised as the Hydro Generation is to be managed by the Americans who have a different leadership approach that will benefit both the company and the employees. The case is seen in the approach of Steinberg and Jones who wish to run the Hydro Generation differently. Steinberg is worried that some of the actions of Jones might lead to unforeseen repercussions for the project of the company as Jones is against Global leadership (Holten et al. 2018, p.148). However, Jones, on the other hand, wanted to stay in the Hydro Generation as it would be hard-pressed in looking for someone else who had his combination of professional experience and training with the HG as well as familiarity with the host nation.

Thus, due to the misunderstanding between Steinberg and Jones, we opted to apply the Hofstede theory, which is a framework that is used in understanding the cultural differences across countries as well as discerning those different ways that business is conducted across various cultures (Erdman, 2018 n.p). Moreover, the differences between Tanzania and the USA regarding the preferred leadership management styles are numerous, and the conflict in the two leadership styles and management relates to Hofstede's study of power distance. The dimension of power distance describes the extent to which less powerful members in a society accept and expect the distribution of power to be unequal (Minkov, 2018, p.237). According to the theory, Tanzania is at the high score in power distance such that the citizens accept a hierarchical order in the company or organization where inequality and centralization are inherent and unacceptable for the subordinates who prefer and follow the autocratic style of leadership (Shamir, Arthur, and House, 2018, p.38). However, the USA does not consider the power distance, and hierarchy concept important as positions in organizations are created as required, and the roles given to people are highly adaptable and flexible to change.

Another dimension according to Hofstede theory that Tanzania applies is the masculinity versus femininity dimensions where masculinity implies the preference of society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for attaining success. However, on the contrary, femininity is represented by choice for cooperation, caring for the weak, modesty and quality of life (Minkov, 2018, p.238). Tanzanians are comfortable with this system, and to them, it is a known culture that contradicts the American style of leadership. The USA values gender equality, and work is distributed equally not considering the gender, social status, race, cultural background et cetera as long as the person is fit for the required job (Holten et al. 2018, p.150).

Also, in the Hydro Generation in Tanzania, Jones managed to rule over Steinberg. According to Steinberg, not only the lifestyle of Jones was inconsistent with the culture of HG but also his preferences for isolation from the expatriate community made him significant in assisting the colleagues in adapting to the culture. However, to Steinberg, although the business dealing in Tanzania were legal and reasonable, they were forced to border on the unethical in a USA organization ((Minkov, 2018, p.241). He could be worried about the long-term practical consequences, similar to the Hofstede's dimension of long-term versus short-term orientation. For instance, the story of HG paying extra for almost everything, if the word went viral, then the company would fall eventually as everyone would begin expecting bonuses for every little service (Grossmann, and Brienza, 2018, p.22).

Nevertheless, the research and literature on leadership depict the primary influence and effects of leadership styles on the performance of an organization. A leadership style that is established can be more or less effective regarding various cultural contexts. Additionally, the unique nature of national culture as well as its characteristics creates a style of leadership that is preferred and, in the end, increased satisfaction among various subordinates (Holten et al. 2018, p.151). The action leads to high effectiveness in goal achievement and building of trust among employees.

Benefits of Groupwork

Nonetheless, the reason why it is essential to work well as a group to achieve the best results is that group work increases performance and productivity. A broader range of skills can be applied in the practical activities as well as discussing and sharing ideas which play a major role in deepening one's understanding in a specific subject area (Nardi, 2018, n.p). Also, teamwork motivates unity in any workplace which fosters loyalty and friendship. The close-knit relationships always motivate the workers in parallel and align them to work harder, be supportive and cooperate of one another (Ginnett, 2019, p.85).

Additionally, teamwork offers differing feedbacks and perspectives as organizations are provided with a diversity of thoughts, opportunities, perspectives and problem-solving approaches. An individual can be allowed to brainstorm activities collectively, which in turn increases their success in solving a problem and arrive at solutions more effectively and efficiently (Forsyth, 2018 n.p) Moreover, workplace synergy is promoted by teamwork with support shared goals that are mutual, cooperation and encouragement. Through the action, the members can feel a greater accomplishment sense and become responsible collectively for the outcomes that are achieved.

Leadership Problems

In an organization, many leaders often encounter problems regarding their way of ruling. Over-control is among the problems as many leaders cannot often indeed delegate duties effectively. The action creates a micromanagement culture which stifles thinking independently, crushes diverse creativities of employees and leaves them to be too focused on the short-term. Thus, to curb the action, before a leader starts in any new role, he should share some high-level information with those he is supposed to lead on the top traits of a manager (Nardi, 2018, n.p). For instance, through sessions of questions and answers, a cheat sheet or even a mentoring scheme. Also, there is a lack of communication, and as newly recruited managers, people might find it hard to communicate openly with their groups on the expectations or bringing up issues that one is encountering (Webb, 2019, n.p). Thus, in this case, both employers and employees should look at their internal programs of recognition and what they are contributing to encourage the mindset (Northouse, 2018, n.p).

Recommendation

My recommendation is that the Hydro Generation, together with Spielberg and Jones, should focus on the similarities between the USA and Tanzanian attributes and behaviors of a leader as revealed in the Globe study. Both nations highly value free and humane leadership style which refers to strong, supportive and individual attributes of the leader. Moreover, in my opinion, Jones needs to change his current style of leadership to a more decisive and consensual one, that focuses on the similarities in organizational behavior and adapting to the cultural needs of Tanzania. The action should result in creating a more effective performance in leadership and management styles securing the further success of the project.

References

Erdman, K., 2018. Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutes, and Organizations across Nations. Macat Library.

Forsyth, D.R., 2018. Group dynamics. Cengage Learning.

Ginnett, R.C., 2019. Crews as groups: Their formation and their leadership. In Crew resource management (pp. 73-102). Academic Press.

Grossmann, I. and Brienza, J., 2018. The strengths of wisdom provide unique contributions to improved leadership, sustainability, inequality, gross national happiness, and civic discourse in the face of contemporary world problems - Journal of Intelligence, 6(2), p.22.

Holten, A.L., Bollingtoft, A., Carneiro, I.G. and Borg, V., 2018. A within-country study of leadership perceptions and outcomes across native and immigrant employees: Questioning the universality of transformational leadership. Journal of Management & Organization, 24(1), pp.145-162.

Minkov, M., 2018. A revision of Hofstede's model of national culture: old evidence and new data from 56 countries. Cross-Cultural & Strategic Management, 25(2), pp.231-256.

Nardi, P.M., 2018. Doing survey research: A guide to quantitative methods. Routledge.

Northouse, P.G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Shamir, B., Arthur, M.B. and House, R.J., 2018. The rhetoric of charismatic leadership: A theoretical extension, a case study, and implications for research. In Leadership Now: Reflections on the Legacy of Boas Shamir (pp. 31-49). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Webb, K.E., 2019. The coaching model for Christian leaders: Powerful leadership skills for solving problems, reaching goals, and developing others. Morgan James Publishing.