Introduction
The role of a leader in an organization is to determine the direction that the organization should take. Wine Lovers Enterprise is an organization that needs leadership in the current time of change. Leadership experience in this organization dictates the management to keep in touch with its employees to facilitate any change in the company. Wine Lovers Enterprise is an old organization that manufactures wine bottles, synthetic corks, and labels. This paper looks at the necessary leadership characteristics and aspects that will facilitate the impending change.
Purpose and Goals
Wine Lovers Enterprise is an organization that manufactures assorted items such as wine bottles. This organization makes items that are used in wine trade including synthetic corks and labels. The organization has been enjoying prosperity for a long period, even under the current leadership. The leadership vision for this organization is to make Wine Lovers Enterprise a leader in the market by producing the best quality products in the market. The leadership vision for the organization is to improve it to international class that is characterized by global marketability.
The mission statement for the organization is to ensure the best performance in the market through the provision of quality products. This organization is a profit-making institution that has different purposes towards its overall goals. The purposes of the organization are to:
- Provide support to the wine industries through the provision of quality wine bottles and corks.
- Ensure continued productivity.
- Ensure market dominance through effective customer service.
How to Enhance the Role as a Leader
Wine Lovers Enterprise has effective leadership that has allowed it to maintain profitability, competitiveness, and stability for the past years. As a leader in this organization, several things may be carried out to enhance the leadership role. According to Broday and Andrade (2013), the leader needs to be in contact with employees at different levels of the organization. In this organization, the same practice needs to be in place where the leadership is in touch with employees. The leadership role can be enhanced through the development of special rules to guide management in the organization. Female employees who make up over 80% of the workforce in the organization should be represented in the leadership.
Leadership can also carry out a number of actions to enhance its role, including the provision of adequate time for different employee levels. Adequate leadership structure is also important in the development of enhanced management. Other ways of producing a more effective leadership is to improve employee motivation through better remuneration and service delivery (Kaymaz, 2011).
As a Change Agent
Strategic change in organizations is better facilitated through leadership at the corporate environment (Muethel & Hoegl, 2010). In the current organizational setting, certain aspects in leadership are necessary for a short-term and long-term change in Wine Lovers Enterprise. Female employees dominate the current corporate environment in the organization. Most of them are less satisfied by the current management structure. For the short-term change, leadership needs to incorporate women in the organization’s management. Women should take a representative proportion in the organization. Leadership positions should often reflect the employee structure in the organization (Kaymaz, 2011).
Another short-term intervention that the leadership needs to put in place is the provision of appropriate working conditions that are in favor of different working populations. The working conditions in this institution need reevaluation to assess whether employees are satisfied and motivated. The assessment needs to reflect the exact feelings within the workforce based on the reported rumors of the impending employee actions. Another short-term intervention for the leadership at the organization is a review of the leadership structure. An organization is as good as its leadership structure (Muethel & Hoegl, 2010). A significant short-term step in change management is the development of a committee to establish the performance of the organization and/or provide recommendations towards improvement.
Long-term interventions and short-term changes in leadership are necessary for this organization. The organization needs to utilize the developed short-term organizational structure on a long-term basis to ensure that all individuals within it are satisfied. The leadership structure that can be adopted in the long-term requires the incorporation of all staff members in a representative proportion. There are more female workers in the organization compared to their male counterparts. Hence, the proportion in management should see an increased female representation. There is a need to increase the contact between employees and management.
Wine Lovers Enterprise faces stiff competition, although it has been enjoying good performance and profitability, especially from the cheaper Chinese products. A long-term measure that can be proposed in leadership to avert this risk is to reduce the production cost by cutting down any inefficiency. The organization will diversify its market by making more products in the same market and industry. It will add the types of wine bottles that it manufactures to improve its market appeal. To allow larger customers such as Chautauqua Vineyards & Winery Inc. in Finger Lakes or Gallo in Napa Valley, the Chinese production experts will see increased production and link with these companies.
Organizational Structure
The appropriate organizational structure for Wine Lovers Enterprise is a combination of democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles. In this form of organizational structure, the leadership will incorporate the ideas provided by different individuals and stakeholders to improve service delivery and productivity. The laissez-faire part of leadership will allow employees to carry out their work with minimum interference from management and leadership in general. The structure will consist of the overall leader. This position is not changing in the new structure. A board that consists of ten members will oversee different departments in the organization. The board will comprise different managers from the departments. The distribution of these positions will reflect the organization with at least half of the members being female.
The management will include committees that govern the different functions of the organization, including the production part of the company. These committees will involve some members who will be elected by their fellow employees as a representation of the workforce. The important committee that will be involved in production will receive the most experienced members to ensure efficiency and a better performance.
Organizational Culture
The organizational culture that is necessary for this organization should complement the executive structure and organizational goals. Market culture is appropriate for this organization. According to Muethel and Hoegl (2010), organizational culture influences the personnel output by determining a part of their output. Employees will be the most important shareholders in the organization, just as the situation is for customers. The leadership will adopt a culture where employee and customer feedbacks are used to influence decision-making. This form of culture will allow changes towards the better organizational performance.
Employees will be motivated through sustained motivational exercises such as increased remuneration and rewards for workers who perform well in specific areas (Kaymaz, 2011). A market form of organizational culture allows leadership to integrate its functions with those of employees and consumers. The leadership will ensure increased marketing through advertising. However, there is a need to ensure that organizational competitiveness is retained through the promotion of better marketing. Employees in this organization will be incorporated into the leadership. The best example is the promotion of coexistence of different genders at the workplace. With the arrival of the Chinese production experts, there will be a different culture at the organization and hence the need for tolerance and cooperation.
Environment for Change
Wine Lovers Enterprise is an organization that has an appropriate change environment. The leadership at the various levels is cooperative and easily changed. It is also the mission and objective of this organization to allow change by promoting easy transition. Employees will be willing to allow the necessary change since most of these organizational changes will be in their favor. According to Muethel and Hoegl (2010), organizations that have appropriate change environments are better suited to perform in their respective markets. Wine Lovers Enterprise is an organization that has a satisfactory change environment.
Conclusion
In conclusion, leadership is a continuous process where a leader purports to learn new things on a daily basis based on his or her interaction with the people he or she leads. Since the performance of any organization is a function of leadership, it is imperative to enhance or sharpen the leader’s headship traits so that he or she can bear fruits to the people behind him or her whilst standing a chance to overcome any leadership challenge. The paper has focused on leadership at Wine Lovers Enterprise. It has addressed the leadership and change aspects that are required in this organization.
Reference List
Broday, E., & Andrade, P. (2013). Application of a Quality Management tool (8D) for Solving Industrial Problems. Independent Journal of Management & Production, 4(2), 377-390.
Kaymaz, K. (2011), Performance Feedback: Individual Based Reflections and the Effect on Motivation, Business & Economics Research Journal, 2(4), 115-134.
Muethel, M., & Hoegl, M. (2010), Cultural and societal influences on shared leadership in globally dispersed teams, Journal of International Management, 16(1), 234-246.