Are You a Collaborative Leader by Herminia Ibarra and Morten Hansen - Article Example

Are you a Collaborative Leader? Identify the problem discussed in the article and the hypothesis formulated by the In the article, ‘Are Youa Collaborative Leader’, the author, Herminia Ibarra and Morten Hansen, tried to describe the importance of collaborative leadership in this age of competitiveness. This is because through collaborative leadership style, a leader might easily attract all his or her employees or co-partners of diverse thinking power and cultural views so as to accomplish the common goal. Similarly, the CEO of Salesforce.com, Mr. Marc Benioff tried to reduce the difference among the top-management as well as the employees of the organization so as to amplify its productivity and profitability in the market among others. However, it might be possible only if both the top management as well as the down-level employees collaboratively participate in all sorts of decision-makings so as to present varied types of ideas and suggestions. This might prove effective for the organization of Salesforce.com in amplify its brand image and reputation as compared to many other rival players. The prime intention of maintain such type of collaboration among the employees and the management is to attain varied types of inventive suggestions and decisions that may prove effective for the organization of Salesforce.com at the time of development of new product lines (Ibarra & Hansen, 2011). However, in order to evade the traps and ripe innovative results, the author tried to highlight the opportunity to making decisions by all individual within a group (Beardwell & Claydon, 2010). So that, each and every individual might present their views and ideas that may enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the organization of Salesforce.com. The need for the study in the article –justify why this is appropriate to MBA program and its applicability in UAE/GCC environment This article mainly depicts the importance and effectiveness of collaboration. This is because; in this age, collaborative effort leads to success, i.e. achievement of the final goals or aims. Otherwise, through individual effort, it may not be possible to attain the final objectives of an organization that might prove helpful in amplifying its profitability and brand value in the market among many other rival players. Other than this, collaborative effort helps an organization to attain the most effective decision that may enhance the inner strengths and reduce the upcoming threats and weakness. Due to these reasons, this article acts as a catalyst to improve the interpersonal relationship among all the members of an organization to attain the final objectives. The organization of GE implemented the strategy of collaborated leadership style so as to encourage the workers to participate in the decision making process of the organization. This is done in order to amplify its productivity and total revenues in the market so as to increase its reliability and loyalty. The methodology employed in the study In this study, the CEO of Salesforce.com made use of a social networking site named, Chatter, such as face-book or twitter for the employees. By doing so, all the employees might easily present their decisions or views that may be liked or agreed by all other employees of the organization of Salesforce.com. Moreover, in the meeting session, all 5,000 employees are invited and a huge television is presented in front of them, so as to analyze the decisions. Along with this, all the employees are presented with ipod and ipad in order to present their decisions and ideas. By doing so, the organization became successful in attaining varied types of inventive suggestions that may amplify its brand value and market share among other rival players (Ibarra & Hansen, 2011). Critique on article: the study’s assumptions, limitations and potential for future research The article of, Are you a collaborative leader’, presented a very important concept, i.e. collaboration. Collaborated effort acts as the most important weapon to fight any sort of problems thereby amplifying its position and reputation. Similarly, the organization of Salesforce.com made use of a site named, chatter in order to preset their ideas and decisions among the stakeholders of the organization. This is done so that the decision-making process of Salesforce.com do not get dependent over the inclusive leaders of the organization and its entirely different from the views and suggestions of the stakeholders. Due to which, the organization implemented Chatter so that, the stakeholders might also present their desires in front of the employees or management just as the inclusive members. Moreover, with the help of chatter, the stakeholders also remain totally informed about all the decisions and strategies of the organization of Salesforce.com. This is done in order to amplify the reliability and loyalty of the stakeholders over the organization thereby enhancing its position and sustainability among others. However, the prime limitation of this process is that all the stakeholders as well as the employees had to remain updated about all the strategies and policies of the organization of Salesforce.com in order to make any sort of decisions. Only then, he or she might become successful in presenting their views in front of the management through chatter. Otherwise, the decision or suggestion may not be preferred by the other members of the organization of Salesforce.com and might also be critiqued. Hence, in order enhance the dominance and reputation in the organization, the employees or the stakeholders need to be extremely informative about the plans and policies of the organization of Salesforce.com (Ibarra & Hansen, 2011). If the decisions or the suggestions offered by the employees or the stakeholders are at par with the organizational policies or strategies then it might surely prove worthy for it. Moreover, by implementing such types of decisions, the dependency and uniqueness of the organization ofSalesforce.com gets amplified thereby increasing its portfolio and uniqueness in the market among many other existing contenders. In additions, positive decisions, might improve the total sales and profit margin of the organization of Salesforce.com that may enhance its equity and market share to a significant extent. Furthermore, if any decision is taken as per the aspirations of all employees and stakeholders, then it would surely amplify the dependency and reputation of the organization. Apart from this, the level of devotion and commitment of the employees towards the assigned task might get enhanced that may surely prove effective in future (Adair, 2010). Moreover, due to the improvement of the rate of motivation of the employees, the rate of retention also enhances that is extremely essential for the up-liftment and growth of an organization. This is because, retention of experienced staffs help to present varied types of inventive products and services that may increase the total sale and profitability of the organization in this aggressive age. Thus, it might be clearly stated that collaborated effort leads an organization towards its success that mitigates its threats and challenges to a considerable extent. Summary and Conclusion In this age, sustainability and competitiveness is extremely essential. However, in order to do so, it is extremely essential to retain the employees as well as the stakeholders of an organization, as they are the prime pillars. Without their support, an organization may not amplify its productivity and profitability in the market among other rival players. Therefore, in order to improve their reliability and loyalty over the organization, its extremely essential to present all sorts of information to them. Only then, their level of awareness of the stakeholders and employees might remain up-dated that may prove effective for the organization. However, the organization of Salesforce.com also implemented this strategy to make the stakeholders and employee informed and so offered high concentration over collaborated leadership style. By doing so, the leader encourages all the employees and stakeholders to participate in the decision making process so as to present their views. Only then the organization might become successful in analyzing the inner desires and motives of the employees and stakeholders and might act accordingly. However, by doing so, the organization of Salesforce.com might become successful in amplifying its competitive position and brand image in the market among many other existing rival players. Along with this, the organization might also amplify its total sales and profitability that may enhance its dominance and reputation. So, the strategy of collaborated leadership style is one of the most effective style for the organizations operating in this age of competitive rivalry. Conclusively, it might be stated that implementation of collaborated leadership style within the organization is extremely essential in order to amplify its portfolio and loyalty. Moreover, this style might also motivate the employees towards their assigned duties that may reduce the rate of attrition to a considerable extent. However, due to the improvement of the retention rate of the employees, the intensity to develop or present varied types of inventive products or suggestions might get enhanced. As a result, the productivity and total revenue of the organization might get enhanced along with improvement of its range of customers. Other than this, as the employees are encouraged for the decision-making process, the rate of inner morale and self esteem gets enhanced that enhances their level of performance and commitment. Moreover, due to improvement of the level of performance of the employees, the total productivity of the organization also gets enhanced that may increase its efficiency in the market among other new entrants and existing players. Due to these underlining causes, the concept of collaborated leadership style is offered high attention by the organization of Salesforce.com that improved its growth and uniqueness. Hence, the process of collaborated leadership style acts as a tactic that binds both the employees as well as the stakeholders within a string that amplifies the growth of the organization. So, it is highly preferred by all as compared other strategies and policies. References Adair, J. (2010). Effective Motivation: How to Get the Best Results From Everyone. New York: Cengage Learning. Beardwell, .J. & Claydon, T. (2010). Human Resource Management. London: Sage. Ibarra, H. & Hansen, M, T. (2011). Are You a Collaborative Leader? London: Harvard Business Review. Read More