英国代写coursework经典范例：商业管理中领导人的影响

作为一篇英国coursework，本文将讨论领导力对企业的影响。领导的概念可分为三个主要理论。交易型领导,主要应用在一个相对稳定的情况下,变革型领导可以使用在一个发生了巨大的变化的环境中,整个商业环境动荡，领导不断变化，管理相对混乱。因此这三种领导概念的主要区别在于不同环境中的作用和产生的效力。良好的和有效的领导力，可以通过适当的学术理论阐述相关的细节。领导力包含许多方面，如对公司目标、公司运作或者公司代表的态度。所有这些方面联系在一起以凸显出竞争优势。在这些因素中，可能最重要的因素是企业领导对其他成员的影响,尤其对追随者的影响。这篇文章的主题将调查领导人如何引导公司，控制员工行为和态度。
 

有许多领导的意见很大程度上描述了一种行为模式,一些个人特征或在组织运作过程中的作用。
 

This essay will discuss the impact of leadership on businesses. Leadership concepts can be categorised into three main theories. Transactional leadership which is mainly applied in a relatively stable situation, Transformational leadership which can be well used in an atmosphere where big changes have happened and contextual leadership which is used in a constantly changing and chaotic situation. Therefore the main difference is the environment within they function. Good and effective leadership has many details which are going to be described trough appropriate academic theories. Leadership has many aspects such as attitude towards objectives and operations or representation of the company. All of these aspects link together in order to achieve competitive advantage. Probably the most important factor is the influence of leadership on other members of the business, particularly on the followers. The main body of the essay will investigate how leaders’ behaviour and attitude navigates the company trough controlling employees.
 

There are many opinions about which extent leadership describes a pattern of behaviour, a bundle of personal characteristics or its role fulfilled in a group.
 

This part of the essay will give a better understanding of these criteria, however it must be pointed out that there is not a perfect answer for that, because of the waste number of academic arguments on this topic. “In its essence, leadership in an organizational role involves (1) establishing a clear vision, (2) sharing (communicating) that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, (3) providing the information, knowledge, and methods to realize that vision, and (4) coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members or stakeholders. A leader comes to the forefront in case of crisis, and is able to think and act in creative ways in difficult situations. Unlike management, leadership flows from the core of a personality and cannot be taught, although it may be learnt and may be enhanced through coaching or mentoring.” (www.businessdictionary.com) The popular view is that it does matter who is in charge, leadership quality determines the performance of the group and poor group performance can be overcome by leadership.


A group of people is capable of working on their on, but only in a limited extent. Sooner or later one or more individuals will arise from the team because they think differently or imagine the solution in other ways. External factors will also cause the team to change in structure, for example someone has to represent the group and it is also necessary to monitor the tasks, consequently a member has to take responsibility. Without an appointed leader the management would be extremely difficult in an organisation. Living examples are all around us, the parliament, educational institutions, and successful businesses – all with appointed leaders.


There are some; however who believe in contrary view and argue that it does not matter who is in charge because there is no real power (Chester Bernard) and that there are few differences between leaders and followers. (Skogdill 1949, Mann 1961) The contingency theory explains that the effectiveness of leadership depends on situation and Pfeffer (1978) argues that the group performance is determined by factors beyond the power of the leader. However the belief in the importance of leadership gives us comforting illusion of control. The theory further explains that there is not a best way to lead and in certain new situations the well developed leadership style may not be successful. This may result in certain very successful leaders become ineffective when they are “transplanted into another situation or when the factors around them change.” (www.snc.edu) This statement refers to how great leaders who were very successful made wrong decision when the business changed.


A good example is Jurgen Schrempp and Robert Eaton, the CEOs of the Daimler-Chrysler merger. Both of them were very effective leaders in their own companies. These organisations are famous worldwide so naturally the leaders enjoy a prestigious position which assumes that they are people who really are the best and do not make mistakes. However, when the merger began and the cultural differences occurred, the lack of adaptation of leaders led to failure. Contingency theory does not differ much from situational theory because both assume that there are more options about the right way to do things. Situational leadership assumes that „The best action of the leader depends on a range of situational factors. Contingency theory involves a wider view which includes contingent factors about the individuals’ capability and situational theory focuses on the behaviour of the leader in different situations.” (www.changingminds.org) For example in a given situation the good leader will not act in a single style i.e. transactional method but will be able to adjust his behavioural pattern so he makes the most out of the situation.


A clear example is the army where leadership is highly situational complemented by transformational effects. Soldiers without motivation are performing totally differently and just a little lack of performance can lead to total failure, meanwhile the general or whoever is in command needs to adapt to the current situation quickly and reasonably as possible. There are many aspects which will influence the decisions such as the capability and motivation of followers and their relationship with the leader. External factors such as stress and mood will also affect the leader’s behaviour. Yukl (1989) distinguishes between six main variables: “Subordinate effort: the motivation and actual effort expended. Subordinate ability and role clarity: followers knowing what to do and how to do it.


Organization of the work: the structure of the work and utilization of resources. Cooperation and cohesiveness: of the group in working together. Resources and support: the availability of tools, materials, people, etc. External coordination: the need to collaborate with other groups.” (www.changingmins.org) According to Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1958) there are three main forces which influence the leaders’ decisions and actions. These forces are present in both the leader, followers and in the situations which causes the leaders behaviour variable. Liputt and White’s (1943) research on “after school club” shows that leaders adopted one of three leadership styles which affects the performance of the members of the group. These are: Autocratic, whereas followers are just told what to do and good performance is only achieved when the leader is present. This style involves low morale. Laissez faire style can be described with the phrase “just let people get on with it”, meaning there are no strict instructions. In this case there is a moderate moral and the performance is generally low and only rises when the leader is absent. The Democratic style provides the best results –high morale and performance and it is achieved by involving people in the decisions and encouraging discussions. There are radical examples for these styles out there. One of the simplest is politics. Parliaments in most of the countries operate in a democratic style. People work together and they are equal but a formal leader is present. Whereas in autocratic societies it is inevitable to notice low moral in certain groups and opposition towards autocratic parties.
 

Zaccaro, Fotit and Kenny carried out a research questioning what kinds of people occupy leadership positions: (Four Tasks Model) Do the same people emerge as leaders irrespective of the task, or does it depend on the task? (This leads back to contingency theory.) Participants completed Snyders self monitoring scale and the results show that only individuals who are able to be flexible can emerge as leaders across different tasks. Lord and Alliger’s meta analysis shows, (1986) (A meta analysis treats all evidence as if it came from a single study using statistical techniques) that same people will not always make good leaders and they will not be always preferred in different groups, same kinds of people will not become leaders in real organisations -but it depends on situation and factors influence perception of leadership. (Contingency theory) Leadership is positively associated with quality of speech, quality of ideas and friendliness (Malloy and Ianowsky 1992)
 

Leaders acquire their positions in different ways. It could happen by seizing power by force, which is called usurpation or it can be inherited. Other ways are election/popular acclaim or appointment. It is essential to investigate how leaders emerge and what kinds of people become successful in this position. One of the theories discussing this topic is the Great Man Theory. It assumes that „Leaders are born and not made and great leaders will arise when there is a great need.” (www.changingminds.org) Studies on leadership in the past examined individuals who were already great leaders. There were almost always from aristocracy because it was difficult for lower class people to emerge amongst the ranks of society. However there are exceptions such as Robin Hood. He represented a very appealing organisational vision and he gained a waste number of followers via communicating the right policies. He created a very successful organisation by advertising his company values, so successful that even the present formal authority – which represents for example a big competitor company – had troubles gaining market share. This suggests that the quality of leadership is indeed what wins in business. The notion that great men would arise in the time of need often bare mystical aspects and it was easy to justify by mentioning historical characters such us Churchill or Jesus. Many studies discuss which kind of personalities are the best suited for leadership positions. Leaders are generally good in handling people but this does not necessary mean being friendly over the top. Keeping a bit of distance can keep up the respect and authority. While leaders, especially transformational ones tend to care a lot about the feelings of their followers, it does not mean that they would not be task oriented. They are indeed achievement focused but they realise the importance of filling up followers with enthusiasm in order work together towards the vision. The work of Hua Guofeng represents (leader of China for a perioid after of Mao's death) real transformational leadership. He himself did not take credit for his work that caused fundamental changes in the governance of the nation but instead aimed to influence many others to work towards his vision.