Contemporary organisations face a large number of issues connected to globalisation and the need to develop leadership skills that will allow responding to the challenge. Unfortunately, many practices, approaches, tools, and competencies that were appropriate several decades ago no longer help leaders achieve success. This paper aims to outline the chosen issue, conduct a GAP analysis, offer recommendations for developing necessary leadership competencies, and analyse the usefulness of the proposed recommendations.
The chosen issue is globalisation because organisations and business ventures no longer compete on a national or regional level; their products or services have to have an advantage over others provided by companies across the world. Fox (2016) argues that the main issue is that leadership is becoming more complex. Approaches that allowed companies to achieve success several decades ago are no longer valid. Brown (2017, para. 2) states that globalisation possesses several issues for businesses, including “low growth, trade protectionism, financial instability and deep-seated inequality, as well as mass migration,” while Kaeser (2019) points out the revolutionary changes within many industries will provide many new opportunities for managers.
Hence, companies that fail to employ leaders who understand both the implications of globalisation and possess the necessary competencies that allow addressing the problem are subjected to failure.
The GAP analysis will help determine the existing leadership competencies and those that managers will have to develop to respond to the increasing issue of globalisation and its impact on businesses. According to Rouse (n.d.), and Training Magazine the inconsistency between the knowledge and skills that leaders possess and those necessary for successfully overcoming globalisation problems are ability ensure commitment, self-awareness, strategic planning and change management for organisations (How to identify leadership limitations, 2016). Other leadership competencies required for this issue are the ability to develop competencies of personnel and lead them in the uncertain environment.
Shandler (2015) argues that three primary levels of operations – structure and strategy, culture and human resources have to be aligned. Hence, global leaders have to have a more in-depth understanding of all elements contributing to successful operations, and therefore, more advanced knowledge of the business environment should be present. In this regard, the primary recommendation is to dedicate time and effort to continuous learning.
Existing leadership skills and competencies are mainly connected to the ability to effectively managing operations, reducing costs, and achieving competitive advantage. According to Giles (2016), Lotich (2019) and Holland (2019), the contemporary leaders have mastered the ability to develop and adhere to ethical standards, self-organise, learn, grow, and connect with their followers. However, this assessment provides insight into competencies that are perceived as crucial by leaders. Hence, some inconsistency with the actual skills and capabilities can be present.
The recommendations include focusing on the global strategy and connecting the operations of a subsidiary with those of others to contribute to the global development of the organisation. Quah (2017) recommends focusing on university students who will soon become global leaders and providing them with tools and techniques that can help their companies overcome the issue. An important factor is ensuring that these individuals understand the problem of disruption caused by political and economic changes, for instance, Brexit. Vilner (2017) argues that it is crucial to develop and adopt adequate communication strategies that will allow global companies to operate cohesively.
Although the value of communication for good leaders has long been emphasised by researchers, the globalisation demands a change in applied strategies. Focusing on the development of employees and ensuring that their competencies correspond with the requirements of the industry’s environment is another aspect. A recommendation for leaders would be to dedicate more attention towards reviewing best practices in human resource management.
Analysis
The usefulness of the outlined plan is supported by credible scholarly sources, professional newspapers, and real-life case scenarios. Scholarly articles by Maranga and Madison (2017), Bird and Mendenhall (21016) provide an understanding of the importance that the development of competencies outlined in the previous chapter has in the context of contemporary leadership. Features such as the ability to learn, culture sensitivity, relationship management are cited as necessary. The need to address this issue not only within a company’s hiring and training practices but also in the domain of professional education is one of the recommendations. Gardner-McTaggart (2018) argues that incorporating contemporary leadership knowledge into university programs is crucial. However, because of the scope of this issue, this recommendation is challenging to execute and thus may not be useful.
An essential part of the outlined plan is the need to develop new communication strategies that leverage modern technology and being in contact with teams and branches located across the world. This is substantiated by Luthra and Dahiya (2015) and Levius, Safa, and Weeks (2017) who state that although the current approach to hiring managers does focus on communication and ability to persuade as to the primary skill, the changing landscape of organisational interactions requires strengthening this competency.
Understanding the dynamics and changes within different countries and the impact of this element of businesses is another essential element of global leadership (Virkkunen, 2018). This is supported by the author’s explanation of the changes in international cooperation and trade, which ensures that the recommendation to develop an in-depth understanding of global politics is necessary.
Motivation and adequate human resource management in the global context is another aspect mentioned in the outline. According to Fowler (2018, p. 182), “advances in motivation science, specifically the development of self-determination theory, suggest that many current leadership competency models contain outdated approaches to motivation.”
Hence, the advice to dedicate time and effort towards examining modern human resource management is valid, especially considering the fact that this approach correlates with a competency of employee development. Lawrence (2015) states that this competency refers to not only the capabilities of a leader in conveying a message but also in his or her ability to develop persuasive mission and vision statements. In this regard, ensuring that the message is understood across diverse environments and is linked with the global strategy is vital.
Hence, based on the cited scholarly articles about global leadership and competencies in regards to globalisation, it can be concluded that the proposed recommendations are highly useful for modern leaders. It is because they both correspond with the arising needs of businesses and can be implemented effortlessly. Hassanzadeh, Silong, Asmuni, and Wahat (2015) state that globalisation and changes in technology are causing many changes in the context of business operations and some leaders may be unprepared to face them. Overall, the evaluation of the outlined plan provides support to the strategies and reasoning for each competency that should be developed by leaders in the context of globalisation.
Reference List
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