Task I
Profile of Leadership:This reflective journal will first address the leadership profile of Tim
Cook, the current Apple CEO. Tim Cook assumed the position six weeks before the death of the
founder, Steve Job. Tim Cook was an American developer who has worked under in Apple
since 1998.
Leadership Theories:The two leadership theories that are discussed as relevant to this analysis
include the behavioural theory and situational leadership theory. The situational leadership
theory was first proposed by Hersey and Blanchard (1999). this theory proposed that a
situational leader can be one who understand the motivation of the leader and their ability to
manage various situations. McCleskey (2014) argued that a situational leader should be able to
adapt to the capabilities of their followers and match the follower development. Cook has been
acknowledged as an individual who supports collaboration and has been focusing on ways to let
his team drive creativity and innovation (Kane, 2015).
The second theory discussed is the behavioural leadership theory. This theory adopts the view
that leaders are made not born with acknowledging the need for change in approach and leading
(Trivellas and Drimoussis, 2013). Tim Cook faced a barrage of difficulties during his first two
years of being the CEO with constant comparisons to Steve Jobs. Since then, Apple Inc has
grown as he has learnt the need to look at alternative growth options and investments in
technology companies (e.g. Beats) (Schuch et al., 2017). His leadership qualities developed and
improved with time as a CEO exhibiting a behavioural leadership.
Leadership Styles:The two leadership styles that can be attributed to this author include
consultative leadership style and participative leadership style. Tim Cook very explicitly
acknowledges the lead for team driven engagement and decision making. He acknowledges the
need for diversity and recognises that diverse groups need to have autonomy to create innovative
products. The consultative leadership style on the other hand is one where the major decisions
are made at the top management level but efforts are made to understand the views of the
employees (Northouse, 2015). Tim Cook recognised the need for Apple's employees to be part of
a socially responsible company and took the decision to engage the organisation politically. He
has advocated politically for reform on various aspects including cybersecurity, environmental
preservation as well as surveillance.
Shaping Organisational Change:Tim Cook has been essential to shaping the course of Apple
beyond Steve Jobs.When performance of Apple showed a dip, he maintained calm and under
pressure and admitted to errors and owned up to the need for a different approach. He even
offered to reduce his own stock-based compensations to take account for the profit challenges of
the organisation. He has been instrumental in shifting the direction of Apple into various other
technology growth forms including digital payment solutions, innovative vehicular solutions and
other such ventures. Apple has also emerged to become a more open and shareholder and other
stakeholder friendly firm. There is an improvement in corporate reputation with more
transparency in terms of sustainability ventures.
Task 2
Leadership Approaches Applied by Percy Barnevik: The two key leadership approaches of
Barnevik include two traits of transformational leadership. These are intellectual stimulation and
idealised influence. A leader who can promote idealised influence is one who can act as a role
model to influence others to become more like leaders (Northouse, 2015). Such leaders are able
to inspire their employees through a vision of long term commitment to the goals of the
organisation. Barnevik was able to see the future of organisation (Antonakis and Day, 2017). He
wanted ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) to become a leader in the industry and see it grow a multi-
billion dollar company. This was achieved through the vision he set for his employees. The other
leadership approach of Boveri was intellectual stimulation. Transformational leaders should be
able to value creativity and autonomy amongst their followers.These leaders support followers
by engaging them in the inherent decision making process of the organisation.
Strategies for Implementing Change: The first strategy that can be recommended is the
establishment of facilitative communication style. As Beck& Cowan (2014) reported in
organisations where there is sign of transformational leadership there is better communication.
Leaders within ABB should build on the ethos set by Breveri and develop organisational
experiences that foster collaboration and communication. The need for a change across the
organisation can therefore be recognised at the top management as well as the lower
management level. The second strategy to respond to feedback. The corporate culture set at ABB
was essential in creating and empowering autonomous decision making. This can create an
environment where the employees may scruitinise the decisions of the leadership during any
change implementation. At this time, efforts should be made to respond to the feedback given by
the team. Feedback should betakenand the appropriate response where needed should be
provided.
The third strategy is to set goals and focus on continuous improvement. The overall change
culture at the organisation can focus on creating an environment where the focus is on getting
good results with constant feedback on ways to improve the organisational performance.
Task 3
Description of Project: This is an example of a project where I was a team member. There were
a total of six team members working towards the completion of a portfolio development for a
client in an advertisement firm who wanted to launch a new project. We had to develop a
complete project plan including finances, resource management as well as time schedule of
operation.
Analysis of Management of Project: The project was assigned to the team to be completed
within six weeks. We were allowed to do site visits and talk to the firm members. We were also
allocated a budget of NZ$500 for the project. As Burke and Barron (2014) argued, the best way
to increase project success is through effective management of time and costs. However, this was
missing from the project. There was no clear budgeting developed for the project and the team
leader would simply hand out the requested money for site visits or conducting surveys. This led
to a budget overrun. We also did not use any time management tools to analyse our project goals
(e.g. Gnatt chart). This led to time overrun. We were able to meet the needs of the project by
using the last few days to complete various sections and by overworking the team. However, we
were able to meet the scope of the project, i.e. a final detailed project plan for the client.
Two sources of power used for negotiation: The type of leadership followed by our project
manager shows transactional approach. However, they did use referent power and legitimate
power during negotiation of work tasks. Legitimate power also know as positional power exists
when the person wielding the power is deemed to have earned it legitimately. As the leader of
the team, legitimate power was displayed to assign duties and tasks and therefore negotiate work
agreements (Verzue, 2015). Additionally, the project manager also had referent power. This
power is derived from interpersonal relationships where the project manager engaged with the
team and got the team to like and respect them. The project manager was able to create a
personal relationship with the members of the team.
Discussion of strategies for negotiation:There were three strategies used by the project
manager for negotiating work needs. Firstly, the project manager was able to use a BATNA
(best alternative to a negotiated agreement). When any team member did not like the task
assigned or if the proposed approach was not approved, the project manager would highlight
alternative scenarios which can cause significant problems. Secondly, the project manager also
made use of the right tangible motivators (Englund, 2010). For instance, when arguments were
made regarding the sharing of workload, the fiscal impact of the decision or the potential
overtime that needs to be implemented were highlighted. It is important to point out that the
project manager despite highlighting the need for such effective resource and time management
did not follow these guidelines themselves. Thirdly, the project manager used a win-win
negotiation style where there was establishment of rapport and common goals. All the members
of the team were convinced that the approach adopted was the best for the team as well as the
project.
Three recommendations to improve achievement of findings: This research recommends
three important recommendations to improve overall quality of project management in the
future. First two recommendations include efforts should be made to have better time and
resource management. Given that the project was a student based academic one, the potential
implications was limited. However, in real business scenarios this can have devastating efforts.
Therefore, the use of the right budgeting tool and the right time management tool (e.g. Gnatt
chart) is important (Burke and Baron, 2014). Secondly, the project manager should try to create a
better approach to project negotiation by focusing on the individual capabilities and needs of all
members. Negotiation strategies could have been more effective if efforts to understand the other
party’s issues were made more clear. For instance, team members could have been given the
opportunity to discuss amongst each other their roles and responsibilities.
Two strategies to develop positive team culture : Positive team culture can be developed by
creating a more open approach to team leadership. The use of facilitative or participative
leadership role is preferred. A participative leader is one who can make use of participative
methods to engage people in decision making so as to help work together (Lam et al., 2015).
Secondly, efforts can be made to acknowledge the leader’s own mistakes. The project manager
should be a leader who is able to recognise the need to admit mistakes indicating his leadership
traits.
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