Essay: Leadership's Role In Tackling Modern Issues.

1. Demonstrate critical understanding of key aspects of business, management and leadership knowledge, at least some of which are at or informed by, the forefront of aspects of the discipline.

2. Demonstrate an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge

3. Apply techniques of analysis and enquiry through initiating and carrying out investigations into business related issues/projects

4. Demonstrate critical understanding of how their own cultural and ethical values may impact on their ability to engage and work ethically, constructively and sensitively in diverse environments and/or teams
 

Understanding Organizational Elements Using Different Models and Theories

The aim of this assignment is to discuss about the importance and effectiveness of the leadership in dealing with different contemporary issues. In the current business scenario, there are number of strategic issues being faced by the business leaders and these issues are having the requirement for effective management (Gerasimov & Gerasimov, 2015). In this assignment, different models and theories will be used to understand the organizational elements and recommended the alternatives for the leaders. This assignment will be done from the perspective of Amazon and thus it will help Amazon to have an effective leadership approach in the long term.

According to Loius Allen, the definition of organization states about the process of accomplishing a particular job or objective in collective form. Moreover, according to him, organization also refers to process of establishing relationships with different people in effectively getting the job done (Miller & Rice, 2013). On the other hand, Koontz and O’Donnell states that organization refers to the coordination between the different stakeholders in both vertical and horizontal forms to achieve the common goals. According to Mintzberg’s theory of organizational structure, there are different forms being followed. For example, machine organization refers to the structure with having high level of bureaucracy. This is due to the reason that hierarchy is being maintained in the organization (Kumar, 2015). It should be noted that companies with having subsidiary in different countries, which are controlled in centralized manner. On the other hand, some entities can also be termed as divisional organization due to the reason that diversification of the business in different sectors will increase the departments based on different jobs (Langley et al., 2013). This is causing having different line managers based on different divisions. Lastly, some entities can be termed as innovative organization due to the reason that innovation is the key to the organizational success in the current time. It is the innovation which is helping the contemporary organizations to change the entire retail scenario by means of online services. 

In the current business scenario, organization management is important due to the reason that it will help in dealing with different issues effectively along with integrating the different organizational elements in more functional way. One of the major importance is optimum utilization of the resources. Organizations will be termed as economical only when the utilization and return from the available resources is at the maximum level (Rice, 2013). Thus, with the help of the effective process of organization management, organizations can able to utilize their available resources properly by selecting the best alternative. Moreover, with the help of the effective organization management, all the resources such as employees, finance and infrastructural can be integrated properly.

Importance of Organization Management in Dealing with Different Issues

Organization management is also important due to the reason that it will help in regulating the cost of operation for the organizations. This is due to the reason that with the help of the organization management, they will able to put the right elements in right place and ensure the maximum return from the investments (Noe et al., 2017). Moreover, it should be noted that different organizations are operating in a highly competitive business scenario and thus cost leadership is key to their success. By reducing the cost of operation due to effective organization management, they will be able to gain competitive advantages in the market. Thus, it can be concluded that initiation of the organization management is important for the organizations in terms of their competitive advantages.

According to modernization theory, it is important for the contemporary business organizations to align their market expansion strategy to that of the technological advancements. This is due to the reason that in the current business scenario, technology plays an important role for the business organizations to gain competitive advantages (Zupic & Cater, 2015). On the other hand, it should also be noted that the current business organizations should have the objectives of market expansion due to the reason that in the current era of globalization, it is important for the organizations to expand their business across the world. Hence, it can be concluded that with the help of the modernization theory, they will be able to align their technological advancements to their diverse business presence across the world.

On the other hand, another major competing theory of organization is rational system. This refers to the division of the organizational affairs in goal specification and formalization. Specification of goals refers to the guidelines for completing the particular tasks in the given time and resources (Baumgartner & Rauter, 2017). On the other hand, formalization of the resources refers to the standardization of the organizational behavior. Thus, it can be concluded that according to the rational organizational system, it is important for the contemporary business organizations to design their organizational elements including resources and behavior to achieve the goals. 

There are number of organizational theories can be relevant for the business organizations. Amazon being a global multinational is also following different approaches of organizational theories. One of these is Taylorism or scientific management theory. This refers to the improvement of the skills and efficiency of the employees with the help of the technologies and majority of the organizational affairs are automated (Swift & Hwang, 2013). Thus, it helps in enhancing the gross organizational productivity along with reducing the chance of human error. Amazon is following this organization theory due to the reason that they are technology based firm and majority of their jobs are being done by the automated assembly line. On the other hand, each of the employees of Amazon is trained and is comfortable with the use of latest technologies. Use of extensive technologies in the internal process of Amazon is one of the major reasons for their success in the global scenario.  

Aligning Business Strategy to the Technological Advancements and Market Expansion

Another organization theory being followed by Amazon is administrative theory. This refers to the concept of initiating different departments and the entire jobs are divided in different departments. However, the end objectives of all the departments are same and they are complementing each other in gaining the desired results (Wei & Guo, 2014). In the case of Amazon, departments are getting increased with diversification of their business. For instance, online streaming business of Amazon is operating different to the retail business. Each of these activities of Amazon is being headed by different managers along with having specific sets of employees with required skills and expertise.

One of the major benefits of organizational learning process is enhancing the individual expertise and mastery of the employees. This is due to the reason that in the current business scenario, skills and expertise of the employees are important for the business organizations in gaining competitive advantages. However, not all the employees are having same sets of skill and expertise (Real, Roldan & Leal, 2014). Thus, with the help of the leaning process, the personal mastery of the employees will get enhanced by means of collaborating with others and getting the knowledge from them. In this case, the added skills of an individual can be transferred to others as well and this will finally increase the effectiveness of the entire organization. Another major benefit of initiating organizational learning process is increasing the team effectiveness. This refers to the fact that the current approach of the corporate teams in the organizations comprises of different employees from different cultures and social backgrounds. Thus, with the help of organizational learning process, these employees will have the access to the knowledge of others and contribute in the effectiveness and productivity of the team. With the help of the organizational learning process, the motivation and satisfaction level of the employees will also get enhanced (Li et al., 2014). This is due to the reason that if the employees can have the access to different knowledge and expertise of others, then they will be more effective in dealing with the major challenges. In this case, it should be noted that employees will be more motivated when they will have the access to larger knowledge. In the case of Amazon, initiation of the organizational learning process will help to get the maximum return out of the available human resources. Moreover, it will also help them to be more competitive in terms of their human resources. 

Different Organizational Theories Relevant for Business Organizations

In the current time, organizational learning is one of the major processes that should be followed in gaining competitive advantages. According to Senge’s five disciplines of learning organizations, one of the major aspects is creating a shared vision. This refers to fact that the business organizations should have common and universal vision that will be agreed by all their internal stakeholders (Noruzy et al., 2013). Moreover, it should be noted that each of these vision should be properly communicated to and from the upper and lower level of stakeholders. Thus, the learning process will get enhanced among the stakeholders. This model also states about the systems thinking, which refers to the concentration on the holistic organizational issues over the individual issues. According to this approach, it should be noted that all the actions in the organizations are interrelated with each other along with their consequences. Team learning is another popular mode of organizational learning process predominantly being practiced by Amazon. This refers to the process of coordinating as team members rather than competitors and achieves the organizational objectives in collective manner. However, prior to the implementation of these learning processes, it is important to determine the internal situations of the organizations (Alegre & Chiva, 2013). This is due to the reason that based on preference and expectations of the internal stakeholders, learning process should be initiated. For instance, Amazon is working on team work learning process due to the fact that they are having diverse sets of employees. Thus, with the help of team learning process, different ideas from different employees are getting generated and they are being used for collective achievement of the organizational objectives. 

There are different types of power that can be practiced in the business management. According to French and Raven’s forms of power, there are can be mainly six types of power that can be practiced. The major one is the coercive power, which refers to the use of force and in order to gain compliance. This is being practiced majorly by the autocratic leaders in their decision making process (Pierro et al., 2013). The next form of power is reward power, which refers to the positive sources of power by means of offering of financial benefits and other incentives. This is the most popular in the current time with majority of the organizations are following these. Legitimate power is the most common power, which is being gained by means of selection or election. This is due to the fact that the power of authority that comes with a certain position is known as legitimate power. The next form of power is referent power, which refers to the influence of an individual over others. The more will be the intensity of influence over others, the more will be the degree of referent power. The last form of power is expert power, which comes with the knowledge and expertise automatically (Cernas Ortiz & Davis, 2016). Thus, it can be concluded that each of these forms of power can be practiced in terms of different processes. In the case of Amazon, reward power is being majorly practiced, which is further helping them to create positive impression among the internal stakeholders. Thus, the degree of referent power is also more in the organization. 

Organizational Learning for Enhancing Expertise and Increasing Motivation and Satisfaction Levels of Employees

Equality in operation is important for the business organizations to gain competitive advantages and ethical approaches. This is due to the reason that the current business environment is much depended on the diversity of the employees and majority of the organizations are leveraging on the advantages of the diversity (Lozano, 2014). According to the feminist theory of Cahn and Carbone, feminism is directly related to that of the economic inequality. This is due to the reason that with the increased level of women representation in the workplace, diversity will get increased. In addition, it is also being stated that with the increase in the women representation in the top level of the organizations, the preferences for the women in the lower level will also get increased (Chiva, Ghauri & Alegre, 2014). Thus, the gender diversity for the organization will get increased. On the other hand, it should also be noted that without the proper and equal representation of the women in the workplace, the authority and wealth will not get expanded rather it will be limited.

In the case of Amazon, there are number of opportunities that can be gained from the initiation of the equality approach in the management. One of the major opportunities will be the equal representation of all the internal stakeholders in the decision making process. This is due to the reason that the more will be the equal representation of the stakeholders in the decision making process, the more will be their motivation and involvement towards the workplace practices (Wu & Chen, 2014).

There are number of benefits that can be gained by initiating the concept of co-creation for the business. Co-creation refers to the process of involving the external stakeholders also in the delivering process in order to have the better product knowledge. On the other hand, Co-creation also refers to the involvement of the customers in the production process by adding their feedbacks (Chaswick & Raver, 2015). According to the concept of Co-creation being stated by Prahalad and Ramaswamy, it can help the business organizations in gaining their revenue as well as penetrating well in the target market. This is due to the reason that with the help of the co-creation, the feedback and preference pattern of the customers will be considered and the end products will have more value proposition for them. Customization process can also be offered to the end customers in order to have better co-creation (Antal, 2014). Amazon delivers the concept of co-creation by means of offering huge varieties of products from where different customers will select their requirements. Moreover, in the case of the online streaming business of Amazon, customers are having the options for choosing huge array of shows based on different criterions. This is helping Amazon to cater to different customer segments based on different taste and preference patterns. On the other hand, it should also be noted that with the help of the co-creation concept, satisfaction level of the customers can also be retained due to the reason that the expectations of them will be met effectively with the help of co-creation.

There are number of factors being identified from the perspectives of Amazon in this essay. It is recommended that the leadership in Amazon should enhance the effectiveness of their organizational learning process. This is due to the reason that currently, the learning process in Amazon is limited in specific facilities and within those particular employees. However, it is not effective if compared to the global scenario due to the reason that Amazon is having their facilities across the world and it is important for them to have the learning process beyond a single facility. This will only help them to have the holistic advantages from the learning process. In this case, it is also recommended that employees of Amazon from different locations should also have the access to come together in sharing their views and knowledge. This will also be beneficial in mitigating the cultural gaps between the different employees.

On the other hand, it is also recommended that Amazon should follow the neo classical theory of management. This is due to the reason that currently, the impact of the human is not given proper concentration and technologies are being more relied. However, in the sector where Amazon is operating, human actions are giving greater impact that should be considered. Thus, with the help of the neo classical theory of management, the organization will be considered as a social system and human actions will be given more focus. The more will be the focus on the human actions, the more will be the involvement level of the employees in the workplace. Moreover, the service delivery process will also get enhanced with the effective consideration of the human actions. With the effective and ideal coordination between the technology and human actions, the end service delivery process for Amazon will be efficient in meeting the expectations of the customers.

It is also recommended to the leaders of Amazon that apart from the reward power, expert power should also be focused on. This is due to the reason that with the expert power of the leaders, the effectiveness of the lower level employees will get increased. In addition, expert power of the leaders will also help in sharing their added knowledge with others, which will in turn enhance the referent power.

Conclusion

Thus it can be concluded that there are number of elements in terms of management being identified in this assignment from the perspective of Amazon. Different theories of organizational management such as power, gender equality and management theories are being used to evaluate the potential benefits of these elements. It is identified that for the multinationals such as Amazon, it is important to have the effective approach of organization management. There are number of benefits that will be gained by them and these benefits are identified in this essay. However, on the other hand, it should also be noted that in number of areas, Amazon is trailing behind and these areas should be improved. These identified areas are learning process, management approach and power control. A few recommended steps and strategies are discussed in this essay, which will further help in mitigating these issues. 

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