Organizations are continually reshaped by competition, technology, and changing ways of working. This lesson explores why these forces make leadership especially important and how external and internal changes create new demands.
Organizations may be reengineered or restructured, and new forms—including network, virtual, and modular corporations—can alter how work is organized. Ideas such as the transnational organization, boundaryless company, and post-hierarchical organization reflect a shift away from familiar organizational structures.
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Why is leadership especially important during major transitions?
Leadership can provide confidence and direction as people and organizations move through uncertainty. Large-scale change may also require newer forms of leadership.
What is a paradigm?
A paradigm is an established set of assumptions that frames how people perceive situations and guides their thinking.
What external force is creating distinctive leadership demands?
Global competitiveness. It makes knowledge of foreign markets, global economics, and geopolitics increasingly important.
How can growing workforce diversity affect organizations?
It changes relationships among organizational members, their work, and the organization, bringing different needs and perspectives as well as challenges and positive possibilities.
Why might a previously successful way of working become a barrier?
Familiar assumptions can shape perception so strongly that people may fail to recognize when the environment has changed and new approaches are needed.
Quiz questions
Which capability involves identifying strategic opportunities before competitors do?Answer: Strategic opportunism.
What does managing a highly decentralized organization require of leaders?Answer: Coordinating broad responsibility and participation without relying entirely on centralized control.
What does interpersonal competence involve when working with a diverse workforce?Answer: Working with people in ways that respect differing and multicultural expectations.
How can a leader build organizational community?Answer: Help members develop a sense of ownership in the organization and its mission.
Which was listed as an additional approach emerging in leadership research?Answer: Leader-member exchange theory.
Based on Principles of Management by David S. Bright, Anastasia H. Cortes, Eva Hartmann, K. Praveen Parboteeah, Jon L. Pierce, Monique Reece, Amit Shah, Siri Terjesen, Joseph Weiss, Margaret A. White, Donald G. Gardner, Jason Lambert et al. (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.