1. Assess Stan Shih’s abilities as a leader during the start-up phase of Acer. During Acer 's start-up phase, Stan Shih’s leadership abilities were based on a “fundamental state of leadership”. According to Quinn , the “fundamental state of leadership” (p.2) depends on practicing four principles: articulating results; being other focused; being internally directed; and being externally open. Stan Shih’s highly effective leadership abilities and his collaborative leadership style transformed Acer from a shoestring budget start-up to a $150 million enterprise within ten years. Stan Shih articulated his result as “promoting the application of the emerging microprocessor technology” (Acer , p. 1). Constrained by capital, Stan Shih also articulated …show more content…
How effective is Shih as a change leader when he resumes the CEO role? Stan Shih 's effectiveness as a change leader is supported by the fact that he turned around Acer 's from a net loss to $205 million net income in under three years (Acer, Exhibit 1). His high level of effectiveness is based on his own transformation from a collaborative leader towards a visionary leader. According to Goleman , visionary leadership is defined as “the ability to take charge and inspire with a compelling vision” (Goleman, p. 21). By accepting the CEO role again, despite his previous offer of resignation, Stan Shih expresses responsibility in front of demanding challenge. One aspect of a visionary leader is the ability to act as a change catalyst. In many ways, a change catalyst can only perform at highest level if the circumstances are right. Although Leonard Liu “failed” financially, his heritage of highly efficient business operations and a major financial loss prepared the right circumstances for Mr. Shih to act as change catalyst. Therefore, Stan Shih takes immediately charge by fundamentally altering Acer 's management, organizational structure and business model by deploying required changes in order strive towards a new vision. Despite facing a depressing reality, Mr. Shih articulates a new vision of a “Global Brand, Local Touch” supported by his “21 in 21” initiative of transforming Acer into a global federation of 21 public companies by the 21th
Leading Change was named the top management book of the year by Management General. There are three major sections in this book. The first section is ¡§the change of problem and its solution¡¨ ; which discusses why firms fail. The second one is ¡§the eight-stage process¡¨ that deals with methods of performing changes. Lastly, ¡§implications for the twenty-first century¡¨ is discussed as the conclusion. The eight stages of process are as followed: (1) Establishing a sense of urgency. (2) Creating the guiding coalition. (3) Developing a vision and a strategy. (4) Communicating the change of vision. (5) Empowering employees for broad-based action. (6) Generating short-term wins. (7) Consolidating gains and producing more changes. (8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.
Across the globe, there are CEO’s, managers, and several other individual’s in leadership-type roles that have the expectation of making their company successful in the eyes of the investors, the employees, and the customers that they serve. This may be measured by a company’s gross profitability, employee engagement or overall customer satisfaction. Most companies have leadership models and strategies in place that leaders are expected to use in order to drive the expectations of the company while maintaining consistency across the business. In an effort to examine various types of leadership styles, I have conducted interviews with two individuals that are or have been previously tasked with leading their teams and their company towards success.
There are many definitions of what makes a great leader. When US News chooses America’s Best Leaders each year, they judge based on the following criteria: Setting direction, cultivating a culture of growth, and achieving results. Sustainable leadership focuses on leaders who have helped create products and services with positive environmental or social impact; in others they have helped build a corporate culture that rewards and nourishes employees and stakeholders in new ways. According to Maxwell (2002), successful leadership is determined by a leader’s effectiveness and impact on their organization. However, to gain t...
Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. (2006). Are Great leaders in control of Their Companies?. In Hard Facts,
In his book, Leading Change, Dr. John P. Kotter communicates why organizations fail or succeed based on ten years of conducting research on more than 100 companies to see what contributed to their successful transformations and what hindered those transformations. “In October 2001 Business Week magazine reported a survey they conducted of 504 enterprises that rated Professor Kotter the number one “leading guru” in America.” The two significant aspects I took from this book were the reasons why change initiatives fail and an eight-stage process to lead the organization through a successful transformation.
Change is something that is necessary for the survival of a company, but can sometimes be difficult to instate. That is what is discussed in the book A Sense of Urgency by John Kotter. The central theme of this book is leadership, and how it is required to initiate change.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
This paper will be broken down into six sections profiling each critical part of implementing and managing change in an organization. The sections included are; outline for plan creating urgency, the approach to attracting a guiding team, a critique of the organizational profile, the components of change, and how to empower the organization.
Good to Great: Responding to Change. I think that Jim Collins' book is essential for future entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders in the Philippines. The tips given by the author are useful in the dynamic, ever-changing, and constantly fluctuating business environment of the Philippines. Jim Collins described the kind of leader who can address these changes as a Level 5 leader "a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will." The Level 5 leader is not the "corporate savior" or "turnaround expert". Most of the CEOs of the Good To Great companies as they made the transition were company insiders. They were more concerned about what they could "build, create and contribute" than what they could "get - fame, fortune, adulation, power, whatever". No Ken Lay of Enron or Carly Fiorina of HP, the larger-than-life CEO, led a Good To Great company. This kind of executive is "concerned more with their own reputation for personal greatness" than they are with "setting the company up for success in the next generation". Transformations from Good to Great start when a company finds a CEO who is humble but iron-willed, and who is ambitious for the company, not necessarily for himself or herself.
Kotter, JP 1995, Leading change: why transformation efforts fail. In Harvard Business Review on Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
The role of leadership can impact an organization performance in many ways. Excellent leadership can propel a company to the fortune five hundred list. For Example, Harpo Incorporated Oprah Winfrey’s company is a successful business that has made billions of dollars over the years. The business consists of several different entities such as the Oprah Show, Oprah Winfrey Network, and The Dr. Phil Show to name a few. This could not have been accomplished with a weak or uneducated leader. Many years ago I heard her give advice to the Williams Sisters. The a...
“Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail” is an article written by John P. Kotter in the Harvard Business Review, which outlines eight critical factors to help leaders successfully transform a business. Since leading requires the ability to influence other people to reach a goal, the leadership needs to take steps to cope with a new, more challenging global market environment. Kotter emphasizes the mistakes corporations make when implementing change and why those efforts create failure; therefore, it is essential that leaders learn to apply change effectively in order for it to be beneficial in the long-term (Kotter).
Faced with changing markets and higher competition, more and more firms are struggling to reestablish their dominance, keep market share, and in some cases, ensure their survival. Many have come to understand that the key to competitive success is to transform the way they function. They are reducing reliance on managerial authority, formal rules and procedures, and narrow divisions of work. In effect, companies are moving from the hierarchical and bureaucratic model of organization that has defined corporations since World War II to what can be called the task-driven organization where what has to be done governs who works with whom and who leads. But while senior managers understand the necessity of change to cope with new competitive realities, they often misunderstand what it takes to bring it about.
Although there are many outstanding, albeit necessary qualities of a good leader, it is the leader’s beliefs in which greatness is given its first breath, fostered by action, and spread throughout the institution. A great leader believes in encouraging, not destroying; in setting the precedence instead of yielding to prominence ; in collaboration, not division; in giving, not taking; and in having high standards and volunteering to be the first of many to be held to them. A great leader does not take advantage of the people being lead, but instead, creates an advantage for the people by giving them the opportunities to lead. Only when people take ownership of an institution will passion be cultivated, action be taken, and greatness be achieved.
Kotter, J. P. (2007). ‘Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail’. Harvard Business Review, January: 96-103.