Managing In a Global Environment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managing In a Global Environment - Coursework Example Higgins’ turning point, according to Prescott, had to do with his marriage to a Japanese woman, which pulled him further into the Japanese culture. Prescott believed that success as an international executive involved blending the home viewpoint and comprehension of foreign culture. This paper aims to discuss the nature of this managerial problem, give alternative solutions to the problem and finally give recommendations on how to deal with the problem. The major conflict between Leonard Prescott and his assistant, Higgins John, comes from the fact that while Prescott is an international businessman possessing over twenty five years of experience at Weaver, Higgins is relatively young and has more attachment to Japan. Prescott has spent most of his time in various countries such as the Philippines, India, and Mexico, as well as years spent at the company’s US international division. He believed that the American way was best, an ethnocentric attitude that was in stark c ontrast to Higgins. Higgins was more attached to Japan and even involved himself in the lives of his employees and his Japanese neighbors. Higgins preferred to use his fully paid leave to visit remote areas in Japan, instead of returning to the United States. Prescott followed an entirely different behavioral practice, preferring to keep his distance from the Japanese. As an experienced businessman from the US, he preferred to maintain a distance between him and his subordinates. His viewpoint was that the personal life of employees must not be mixed with their professional life and that the employees doing so were engaging in time-wasting activities, including Higgins. Prescott is also not in favor of the decentralized decision making approach adopted by Higgins that included employee suggestions in management policies. Higgins, on the other hand, does not believe in power distance. Rather, he insists on consultation and maintenance of employee relationships. Higgins’ approa ch led to him vehemently rejecting the dismissal of one manager who apparently lacked initiative, general competency and leadership. Prescott’s attitude focuses on individualism and personal performance while Higgins leant more towards a collective workplace atmosphere. Higgins was also more trusting of his Japanese employees than Prescott, and thus, laid down contingency plans for future failure. As the Weaver Corporate Manager, it is vital that people have a good working relationship in the workplace to achieve the organization’s objectives (Daft, 2012: p23). Therefore, where the conflict between Higgins and Prescott is concerned, it is vital that it is determined immediately in order to ensure the entire organization runs smoothly. First, Higgins and Prescott should forge a mutual understanding fast. Higgins must not forget that he represents the American parent company, and not his attachment to the people and culture of Japan. Prescott, on the other hand, needs to understand that all employees need to work in a happy environment rather than being made to work for a rigid autocratic structure. To achieve this, Prescott needs to manage change at Weaver, as well as mange the conflict arising from these changes. Both Higgins and Prescott need to be more effective in their various management abilities. The following section puts,

Being Aware of Effective Leadership Research Paper

Being Aware of Effective Leadership - Research Paper Example However, even those theorists have not come up with conclusive evidence as to who is an effective leader. For example, trait theorists cannot explain how individuals with similar traits perform differently in different situations or an agreed set of traits that make up great leaders. This paper will try to discuss effective leadership using one of the great leaders in history; Bill Gates. The Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 by two young individuals Bill Gates and Paul Allen and has grown to be a giant in the industry. William H. Gates III was born in October 28, 1955 in Seattle Washington. He was the only son of William Gates II a well known and accomplished attorney. Since his early childhood gates was very intelligent and astonished with computers. His parents wanted him to pursue a law career but that was never to be as he was more interested in computers. He was enrolled in a public school but was later transferred to lakeside school since his parents wanted him to have a more challenging environment which matched his exceptional abilities. It was while there that Bill began his journey as an inventor and a great entrepreneur. He and his friend Paul Allen took time to study computer programming by themselves and began writing computer programs (Wallace, 1992). Gates was enrolled in Harvard University in 1973 where he continued pursuing his interest in computer programming. When an opportunity arose, he quit college to pursue his career. This came about through a cover story on popular electronics magazine which carried a cover story on a microcomputer, the Altair, made by the MITS firm in New Mexico. He and his colleague Allen offered to develop an interpreter for the program; Microsoft BASIC interpreter. In 1975 they founded the Microsoft Company which is now the largest personal computer software company (Gates, 1996). He became the chief executive officer, chief software architect, chairman and the largest individual shareholder until the year 2000 when he stepped down as the CEO but retained the chairmanship of the Board. He was recognized by the times magazine as one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th century and one of the 100 most influential people of 2004, 2005 and 2006 (Wallace, 1992). In 1994, he was recognized as the CEO of the year by CEO magazine and in 2011, he was the fifth most powerful person in the world (Forbes, 2012). This is in addition to the numerous honorary degrees he has received from various universities for his exemplary work. Bill Gates has played a great role in driving Microsoft Corporation to where it is today. First, through his efforts and that of Allen they founded the company from scratch with their skills. He was involved in designing software which was the key task in the newly formed company. They started by developing the BASIC interpreter for MITS which allowed individuals to play games among other functions. He also began the idea of charging for the use of software. Tho ugh his idea was unpopular, he persisted and later it became the norm for software developers (Gates, 1996). Gates also developed the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) for IBM one of the computer giant companies but retained the right to license other manufacturers. Soon the operating system became the universal standard for personal computers. He was also involved in