Ford Motor Company (592 words)

Assignment 3, Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor CompanyLeadership and Organizational Behavior ? BUS520
May 15, 2011
1.Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance.

Leadership is the most important role in an organization. According to the text ?leadership is the process of developing ideas and a vision, living by the values that support these ideas and that vision, influencing others to embrace them in their own behaviors, and making hard decisions about human and other resources.? (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Many people confuse management with leadership when in reality not all managers are leaders.

A ?good? leader will have excellent communication skills, decision-making skills, conflict-resolution skills, people skills and the ability to create a vision. They know that they are the example for the rest of the organization. People often view the organization by examining the leadership and because of this leadership must be an active role in the organization for the organization to be successful.

Leadership is the foundation of an organization; they are motivators for the employees of the organization. Leading is about setting direction and ensuring that that direction is followed. The nature of how leading is done depends on the context of the situation, one one’s perspective, and on the nature and needs of those involved. ?It is generally expected that “good” leadership is the key to the organizational success that leads to superior performance.? (Pinar, 2008). The leadership whether it be good or bad sets the tone for the entire organization.

2.Discuss Mulally?s leadership style at Ford Motor company and provide examples of how his actions fit this style.
There are four leadership styles; selling, participating, delegating and telling styles. Each has their own characteristics and strengths. In the selling style the leaders uses communication, provides direction both of which help to build confidence and motivation in the follower. In the participating style the leader promotes and facilitates the sharing of ideas. In the delegating style the leader turns the decision making and implementation over to the followers. In the telling style the leader provides directions and instructions while working closely with the follower.

Alan Mulally uses the selling leadership style. When Alan Mulalley joined Ford he spent a lot of time with the Board Members, the management team and the Chairman Bill Ford. His purpose was to gain as much knowledge as possible as well as establishing relationships. Mulally established a strong line of communication because he believes this is the key to success. Everyone in the company must know and understand the plans for the future. ?”Communicate, communicate, communicate,” Mulally explained in one of his notes to me. “Everyone has to know the plan, its status, and areas that need special attention.”? (Taylor, 2009).As a way to ensure that everyone was aware of his plans he had plastic cards made that had Ford?s goals on one side and the revised definition of the mission on the side.
3.Discuss how goal setting helped Ford improve its performance.

Upon his arrival Alan Mulally began establishing goals and to ensure they were achieved he put processes in place and a new management system
4.Assess Mulally on each element in communication opened including message transmission, trust, agendas and goals.

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5.Evaluate the effectiveness of Mulally?s leadership style and recommend whether he should continue with this style, or use a different style.

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Summary
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References:
Hellriegel, D., ; Slocum, J. W., Jr. (2011). Organizational behavior: 2011 custom edition (13th
ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.