ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND LEADERSHIP NOTES + FINAL QUESTIONS, Appunti di Leadership e comunicazione

Scarica ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND LEADERSHIP NOTES + FINAL QUESTIONS e più Appunti in PDF di Leadership e comunicazione solo su Docsity! MODULE 1: PEOPLE, ORGNAIZATIONS AND SOCIETY THOUGHT QUESTIONS What is strategic leadership and why do organizations and you depend on it to achieve success? Strategic leadership is the ability to follow a particular direction and vision, as a strategic leader does not only have the interest that an organization performs but wants that organization to perform with a particular direction in mind. The organization and the individuals in it are particularly affected by strategic leadership because the direction set in the organization must also be strategic, meaning that it tends to have positive and valuable outcomes. Nothing will be achieved if one is not able to set up a strategy necessary to pursue a given direction, with the right people, the right organization, and the right determination to achieve increasingly ambitious and challenging goals. The attitude of a strategic leader is precisely that of always being ready to face new challenges, without having moments of pause, ready to work for his or her organization non-stop to be able to foresee the next challenge. To better understand the concept of strategic leadership, we use the strategic leadership equation which says that strategic leadership is the combination of strategy formulation and strategy implementation. The first part of strategic leadership is that you must have a strategy. Of course, having a strategy does not imply that everyone is able to adopt it to achieve positive and important results. Even if everyone has more or less the same strategy, some are better at strategy implementation, and to be better you have to be able to make full use of all the human and technological resources within the organization in order to follow the direction provided by the strategic leader. Organizations and employers need the strategic leader to push them in the right direction to pursue, with a positive attitude, setting the right collective behavior in order to push the whole organization to high performance. The strategic leader is also crucial to understand well the dynamics of human behavior within the organization in order to take full advantage of all the values that the people in the organization can bring and to improve the performance capability of the organizations. WHY ARE INSIGHTS FROM THE STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR SO IMPORTANT TO STRATEGIC LEADERS? Organizational behavior is a discipline full of insights for career and life skills. We are studying the behavior of individuals and groups or teams in organizations so that we can better understand that behavior and through a better understanding of that behavior, we should be able to move it in the most positive directions possible. Understanding the whole dynamics of human behavior can be particularly important for strategic leaders as they can improve their performance and can achieve more ambitious and important results. It is essential to acquire and correctly understand the dynamics of human behavior inside and outside organizations in order to understand how behavior is affected and can affect the whole organization to which the leader is the main reference point. dynamics of human behavior inside and outside organizations in order to understand how behavior is affected and can affect the whole organization to which the leader is the main reference point. The strategic leader will be able to build and enhance the organizational performance capacity and move towards the best beneficial and positive strategic direction as possible with the aim to make the organization high performance and do better things for the whole society. It is really important to understand the behavior of the people in order to help companies to implement their strategy and reach ambitious objectives. WHAT CAN YOU DO STARTING TODAY TO BECOME BETTER AT SELF MANAGEMENT? Working flawlessly within an organization requires a strong basis of self-management, as in most cases not everyone within an organization is always on our side. The ability to manage oneself is also the ability to make difficult and important decisions under pressure. Closely related to this topic is the topic of emotional intelligence, which in management is a widely used term as it expresses the fact that our intelligence is our ability to understand and recognise our own emotions and those of others, and to be able to manage and self-manage our feelings in a variety of situations. There is a simple equation that tries to describe what are the components of self-management defining it as the sum of "self-awareness" and "self-regulation". Starting with the first component (SA) this represents the load in the equation, or rather expresses self-awareness. What is crucial to understand in this first part of the equation is that you cannot be able to do anything unless you start with self-understanding and this means recognizing not only your strengths but also your weaknesses, without diminishing or overestimating them in any way. Behavior within and for the organization must be based on self-awareness. The second component that completes the self-management equation is self-regulation: this indicates that one is acting with full confidence. And above all, the achievement of trust implies the need to commit oneself to the achievement of a certain objective or the realization of a certain project.. In order to become a better person, I will have to start by understanding myself, my strengths that I need to make the most of as well as my weaknesses that I will work on so that they also become an added value to my person. I will try to improve my communication skills, networking, interpersonal and inter-organizational relationships as well as emotional intelligence by trying to improve strategic thinking in order to achieve important performance. On the other hand, I will try to be positive and maintain the right attitude towards hard work and acquire more and more discipline, which is essential to complete a task in the right way and time. The right attitude and ethics will definitely lead me to be a better man for the society I live in and better enjoy my statement just made here. WHY MUST STRATEGIC LEADERS UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIETY? The strategic leader will be able to build and enhance the organizational performance capacity and move towards the best beneficial and positive strategic direction as possible with the aim to make the organization high performance and do better things for the whole society. A great employer must be able to transmit the right stimulation to all workers within the organization, with the right attitude, because there is a close connection between the organization itself and society. This is because there is a close connection between the organization itself and society. Society is reflected in the organizations of which it is composed, and it is clear that the performance of the employees in a given organization will be reflected in a positive or negative way in society itself. Great goals and great performance achieved within the organization will have a great impact on society as a whole, and this means offering society and its members a series of positive impacts in terms of general health. In general, strategic leaders have three fundamental capabilities that enable them to better understand the relationship between organization and society. The first is absorptive capacity, which is the ability to recognize and assimilate new information and then apply it in processes to improve the organization-environment fit. The second one is called adaptive capacity and refers to the ability to change and at the same time be flexible to change, trying to fully exploit the new resources acquired by the change itself and how these may impact on society. Finally, the third key competency is a managerial wisdom, which expresses the ability to perceive changes in society and in the external environment and to understand how social actors move and what their relationship with the organization is. This is where the concept of emotional intelligence comes in, used by strategic leaders in order to be able to make the right decision at the right time. WHAT IS THE STORYLINE OF THIS COURES AND WHY IS IT RELEVANT TO YOU? This course is about strategic leaders who activate talent so that people, organizations, and themselves consistently achieve high performance and do good things for society. In this course we are studying organizational behavior and strategic leadership for a reason and that reason is twofold. Firstly, we want to understand human and organizational behavior so that we can participate, lead, and manage so that the organizations we are part of can do great things for society and achieve high performance. Secondly, we want to understand all those same things about ourselves as individuals and direct ourselves strategically so that we can always be the best we can be and do good things for ourselves. It is very important for me to be able to understand how to help the people around me in the hope that I can activate their talents and understand their behaviors and emotions so that we can build a better society. In the case of a similar situation, the likelihood is that everyone who faces a similar situation will be able to respond in the same way, while consistency refers to the fact that a given individual will respond in the same way over time, with the individual's degree of response remaining unchanged. In attribution theory, the risk is to blame the individual for their lack of performance: this tendency is called fundamental attribution error and it is possible to analyze it through a questionnaire as explained by the professor during the video lesson. The questionnaire to be administered to employees will precisely have the purpose of going to analyze whether there are different explanations or different explanations for the lack of performance of a given individual, in order to go in search of the root of the problem, which could concern either internal causes or external causes (e.g. the surrounding environment) as specified above. (VEDI IL LIBRO) 5. FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION THEORY Attribution is the process of developing and creating explanations for events or assigning perceived causes for events. It's natural for people to try to explain what they observe and the things that happen to them. In psychology we have this theory called attribution theory. Attribution theory helps us understand how people perceive causes for events, assess responsibility for outcomes, and the personal qualities of the people involved. It deals with whether the assumption is that an individual's behavior, such as poor performance, is due to internal or external causes. According to attribution theory, three factors influence this internal or external determination of causality: distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency. Distinctiveness considers how consistent a person's behavior is in different situations. If the performance implemented by a particular employee or collaborator is typically low, regardless of the technology they are working with, then one will tend to assign the poor performance to internal attributions and therefore there is something wrong with that employee. If, on the other hand, the poor performance is due to something happening in the work environment then in that case you will tend to assign the performance problem to an external attribution. The consensus takes into account the likelihood that everyone facing a similar situation will be able to respond in the same way. In the case of a similar situation, the likelihood is that everyone who faces a similar situation will be able to respond in the same way, while consistency refers to the fact that a given individual will respond in the same way over time, with the individual's degree of response remaining unchanged. In attribution theory, the risk is to blame the individual for their lack of performance: this tendency is called fundamental attribution error and it is possible to analyze it through a questionnaire as explained by the professor during the video lesson. The questionnaire to be administered to employees will precisely have the purpose of going to analyze whether there are different explanations or different explanations for the lack of performance of a given individual, in order to go in search of the root of the problem, which could concern either internal causes or external causes (e.g. the surrounding environment) as specified above. To summing up, we think it's never our fault, we think our employees have bad skills or bad efforts but that's not always the case. Perhaps the problem lies in our own bad approach to the situation, and it's important to understand this for the good of the entire organization. (VEDI IL LIBRO) 6. SELF-SERVING BIAS Speaking of attribution theory, there are two errors of perception that are associated with the assignment of an internal and/or external cause to the organization: the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias. With regard to the second one, self-serving bias is a form of attribution error that involves the underestimates internal factors and overestimates external factors as influences on someone's behavior. When you go to ask co-workers, managers, leaders, employees to identify the causes of their poor performance, managers mostly cite a lack of support, dictated by an external or situational deficiency. The inherent justification for low performance is related to the fact that it is the environment that did not adequately support me and did not allow me to do a good job. Attribution theory calls this self-serving bias, which is the tendency to deny personal responsibility for performance problems but accept personal responsibility for successful performance. (VEDI IL LIBRO) 7. FREEDOM IN WORKPLACE Freedom to do one's job is one of the components belonging to the "support" pillar of the performance triangle. It represents a real resource that is fundamental for all workers: making one's collaborators feel free and supporting them in their work helps them to optimize production processes and performance in general, as through this possibility each person will be free to ask for suggestions and make suggestions to their leader on how to operate in certain situations. The companies' interpretation of the concept of freedom at work is very similar to that which can be defined for the employees within it. The organization, therefore, has a definition of freedom in the workplace that overlaps with that of the employee in some ways but is also different in others. For an organization, the provisions for creating workplace freedom also translate into providing flexibility to its employees and thereby reducing its fixed costs. It also translates into giving them the space to make their own work and career decisions, but within certain parameters. 8. PERFORMANCE CONSTRAINT Quando in linea generale si parla del fattore supporto, libertà, obbiettivi, risorse e tempo si usa spesso il termine “vincoli di prestazione”. I manager e i leader dovrebbero cercare di eliminare i vincoli di performance in modo da poter liberare il percorso per l’individuo e il suo talento di fare il lavoro migliore possibile. Sul posto di lavoro, nella squadra, nell'organizzazione vogliamo che le persone corrano il più velocemente possibile per arrivare alla meta, e uno dei modi in cui le aiutiamo a farlo è quello di abbattere gli ostacoli per loro, non farli saltare per far si che essi evitino l’ostacolo. Esistono dei vincoli di rendimento comuni riassumibili in concetti diversi ma strettamente collegati tra loro, e questi sono: obbiettivi poco chiari, politiche e procedure scadenti, mancanza di risorse, inadeguatezza della tecnologia a disposizione, scadenze di progetti e/o lavori non realistiche e dunque impossibili da rispettare, e infine mancanza di informazioni primarie e fondamentali per procedere verso il raggiungimento di un obbiettivo comune. Un osservatore comprensivo, un manager perspicace e un leader saranno in grado di identificare questi vincoli e la prima cosa che dovrebbero fare giorno per giorno è quella di cercare di abbattere questi vincoli uno ad uno. Se non vi è la possibilità di eliminarli, allora lo step successivo sarà quello di minimizzarli con lo scopo di aiutare tutti i collaboratori a lavorare al meglio. È necessario che questi “limiti” siano il meno vincolanti possibile per tutte le persone di talento che lavorano sul posto di lavoro, in modo che questi possano sfruttare al massimo le loro capacità Chiaramente i vincoli citati sopra sono quelli comuni all’intera letteratura, ma il lavoro di un manager promettente è quello di riuscire a scoprire nella conversazione con le persone quelli che sono i loro vincoli, i loro limiti, per cercare di annullarli. Questo avviene attraverso il dialogo, e un buon manager dovrebbe sempre porsi la domanda di “come poter aiutare giorno per giorno ogni singolo componente dell’organizzazione”: allora attraverso questa prospettiva l’intera azienda lavorerà con serenità e positività, consapevoli di poter contare su un manager di grande valore e talento (VEDI IL LIBRO) 9. EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION Generally, one can speak of two different types, but at the same time similar characters, of motivations: extrinsic motivation (rewards) and intrinsic motivation (rewards). In this case we will deal with the argument inherent in the second type of motivation. Extrinsic rewards are positively valued work outcomes that are given to an individual or group by some other person or source in the work environment. Extrinsic rewards are derived from factors external to the job, external to the organization. They might include things such as praise for work well done, symbols of achievement such as "employee of the month", as well as the pay and benefits one receives from the job. The most common extrinsic rewards is pay. Extrinsic rewards are generally not as "motivating" because they leave the worker feeling almost compelled to complete a task rather than wanting to do it for pleasure. This is a very significant difference, especially for those who believe that money in itself is an effective motivator, but money taken individually is not a motivational tool capable of unlocking a worker's best potential. Obviously, pay and benefits must be managed well to ensure that they have a positive motivational impact. (VEDI LIBRO EXTRINSIC REWARDS) 10. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION Generally, one can speak of two different types, but at the same time similar characters, of motivations: extrinsic motivation (rewards) and intrinsic motivation (rewards). In this case we will deal with the argument inherent in the first type of motivation. Intrinsic rewards are positively valued work outcomes that the individual receives directly as a result of task performance. A feeling of accomplishment after completing a particularly challenging task with a good person- work is an example. Intrinsic rewards are received directly from task performance. For example, the satisfaction that comes from completing a challenging task would be an intrinsic reward. This is a motivation that comes from within, i.e., this comes directly from the employees if the leader has performed well as the "skill and support" part of the performance triangle. with their team tasks, results, and interpersonal relationships. Regarding team vitality, members of an effective team are sufficiently satisfied to continue to work well together on an ongoing basis. When a task is finished finished, they look forward to working on others in the future. Such a team has significant long- term performance potential. 15. WHAT INPUTS ARE IMPORTANT FOR A TEAM SUCCESS Inputs are the essential foundation for a successful team's performance, as they set the stage for all of the team's subsequent actions. Obviously, the stronger a team's input foundation is, the greater the chance of long- term effectiveness for the entire organization. Key team inputs include resources and setting, nature of the task, team size, and team composition. You need to ensure that teams have high-quality inputs, well-designed goals and reward systems, and appropriate resources and technology. As with individual performance, team performance can suffer when goals are unclear and insufficiently challenging so having the right resources in place lays a strong foundation for the success of the entire team. Another important team input is the nature of the task. Different tasks place different demands on teams and when these are well defined and transparent, it is easier for members to know what they are trying to accomplish. These require a continuous flow of information exchange as well because to tackle more complex and less transparent tasks this information flow will be critical. The connection between the various team members is crucial as socially complex tasks require agreement on common goals and methods for achieving them. Last but not least, let's talk about the size and composition of a team. The size of a team can have a strong impact on the effectiveness of the entire team: as a team gets larger, more people are available to share the work and accomplish the necessary tasks. Larger teams with many members are more prone to possible domination by aggressive members who tend to split into subgroups within the same team. Clearly, the number of subjects can also be critical, as depending on the even and/or odd number of the team, possible deadlocks in terms of voting for certain measures could be averted. 16. WHAT PROCESSES CAN INFLUENCE TEAM SUCCESS? Team process represents the way team members interact and work together. The main processes that influence team success are: norms, cohesion, roles, communication, decision making and conflict. There is no doubt that the effectiveness of any team depends on having the right inputs, but to excel these are a necessary but not sufficient resource. To achieve effectiveness, team members must have strong, positive team processes. Simply put, team members must work well together if they are to turn available inputs into high-performance outputs. And when it comes to analyzing how well people "work together" in teams, and whether or not process gains outweigh process losses, the focus is on critical team dynamics. These are forces that operate in teams and influence how members relate to and work with each other. This aspect of team performance is particularly important such that when talking about team processes we often refer to the concept of "group or team dynamics" which are the forces operating in teams thata ffect the ways member work together. 17. WHAT IS THE “TEAM EFFECTIVENESS EQUATION”? Within organizations, there is no doubt that teams are pervasive and particularly important: they perform fundamental tasks and help members achieve satisfaction in their work both individually and collectively. Clearly like all "organs" of the organization, it has its challenges in that not all teams function properly and not all members are always satisfied with its work. This is why it is important to understand when a team is defined as effective and what are the elements that enable it to achieve this result. An effective team is one that achieves high levels of task performance, member satisfaction and team viability. By observing and defining the team as an open system, we can use the team effectiveness equation to decipher and discover what might be the relationship between the various resources of a team. This equation states that: Team OutputS = team inputs + team dynamics. Where, team dynamics is given by = process gain - process losses. So, the equation could be written also as: Team outputs = team inputs + (process gain - process losses). This equation is intended to emphasize that whenever things are done that increase processes within a team, it is gaining some sort of advantage, even competitive advantage over the external environment. I would like to consider the video that the professor showed us pertaining to Steve Jobs, just in regard to team effectiveness. In his video, Steve Jobs, talks about this team in which all members within it feel good, everything happens very naturally and excellent performance is achieved almost automatically. In this context, he spoke of group synergy that is able to reach any individual and allows each member to bring out the best in themselves. But clearly it is necessary to stay sempre attenti perché non sempre le relazioni che si instaurano all’interno di un team possono giovare il team stesso. Viceversa, nel momento in cui il team, visto come open system, instaura delle relazioni “tossiche” con altri enti fuori dell’organizzazione stessa, instaurando un clima non piacevole internamente al gruppo, allora in questo caso il team potrebbe subire delle perdite in termini di risorse (umane e/o economiche), relazioni, dinamiche, processi, ecc. (VEDI LIBRO SE NECESSARIO) 18. WHAT IS A GROUP OR TEAM NORM? Norms are rules or standards for the behavior of group members. These are norms in the sense of actual guidelines, which are intended to provide the right direction for team members' behavior throughout the decision-making process. They can be viewed as rules or standards of team conduct: norms help members guide their own behavior and predict what others will do. When someone violates a team norm, other members typically respond in ways that aim to enforce it and report behaviors in line with the norm. These responses may include subtle suggestions, direct criticism, and even reprimands. In the extreme, someone who violates team norms may even be expelled from the team. There are different types of norms within a group clearly, but a key norm in any team environment is the performance norm. This conveys expectations about how hard team members should work and what the team should accomplish. In some teams the performance norm is high and strong. There is no doubt that all members are expected to work very hard and that high performance is the performance goal to be achieved. If someone slacks off, they are reminded to work hard or they end up being removed from the team. But in other teams, performance is low and weak. Members are left to work as hard or as poorly as they like, with little concern from other members. Among the different types of norms that exist within a team we recognize: - Ethical norms - "We seek to make ethical decisions and expect others to do the same (positive) - Norms of organizational and personal pride - "Stand up for the company when others criticize it unfairly (positive), or don't care about your company as taking advantage of its members (negative) - Standards of support and availability - "People on this committee are good listeners and actively seek the ideas and opinions of others" (positive); or completely the opposite, within a group there is a struggle for survival and who is stronger. (negative) - Standards for improvement and change - "In our department, people are always looking for better ways to do things" (positive); or, conversely, people try to cling to old ways of problem solving without spurring change in the team. In conclusion, it is clear that the presence of norms (whether positive and/or negative) is critical for a team to be called upon to work well and, more importantly, effectively, and efficiently. (VEDI LIBRO SE NECESSARIO) 19. WHAT IS A GROUP OR TEAM COHESIVENESS? The cohesion of a group or team is the degree to which members are attracted to and motivated to remain a part of it. We might think of it as the feel good factor that causes people to value their membership in a team, identify positively with it, and strive to maintain positive relationships with other members. Feelings of cohesion can be a source of need satisfaction, often providing a source of loyalty, security, and esteem for team members. Because cohesive teams are a source of personal satisfaction, their members tend to exhibit definable predictable behaviors that allow them to differentiate themselves from members of other teams or teams that are less cohesive. Members of a cohesive team are more energetic when working on team activities, are less likely to be absent, less likely to leave the team, and more likely to be happy for the success of the entire group and regretful for failures in general. One of the best examples in this area is dictated by the "Apple Case" as shown in the video by Steve Jobs. In this case, the team had an uncommon sense of belonging and each member was ready to give his all for the success of the team, as well as ready to face all the dangerous and unsuccessful situations that could happen to him. It is in this that lies the strength of a team cohesiveness, also dictated by the willingness to sacrifice oneself for it and to enjoy the positive performance together with all the members of the team. (VEDI LIBRO SE NECESSARIO) 23. WHAT LESSONS IN TEAM LEADERSHIP ARE OFFERED BY STEVE JOBS? Steve Jobs and the "team leadership" implemented by himself represents one of the best examples of high performance triangle applied to reality. Steve wanted to demonstrate through his leadership position, that if you do well in the selection of human resources and recruit the right people, then the end result will be the creation of a team with the right characteristics that alone will allow the creation of motivation for each individual. Steve Jobs strongly believes in self-management and leading through the most explicit manifestation of talent. The right talent was able to give each team member something that is inspirational to be able to use maximum effort towards achieving a common and positive result. We could define steve jobs as one of the greatest visionaries of all time, who was able to make his team members believe in his own vision, through hard work towards achieving a bigger and better future. I would like to conclude the answer to this question from the "Apple" case to define what we might call the ideal combination of norms and cohesion that describes a high-performance team. High-performance teams have core values, clear performance goals, the right mix of skills and creativity. And these are all characteristics that the "Apple team" has had since its inception. Steve Jobs, to create this team, put together a team of high caliber people who were excited and motivated by a very challenging task. They worked all hours and at a relentless pace, combining enthusiasm, expertise and commitment to a common goal. In the process, they set a new benchmark for product innovation, as well as new standards for what makes a high-performance team. MODULE 3: MOTIVATION – FROM REWARDS TO REINFORCEMENT THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1. What is motivation? Motivation is defined as the set of forces present within the individual that explain what is the direction, level and persistence of a person's effort at work. From the definition of motivation, we infer that motivation predicts effort, but we know that this does not always occur, as effort is only one component of the performance equation so not everything depends on this one component. To expect effort, then we should have an amount of capability and support such that high performance can be achieved. Direction refers to an individual's choice when presented with a set of possible alternatives. As an example, whether the individual should pursue a direction based on quality rather than quantity or both. Level refers to the amount of effort a person puts "forth" (e.g., whether an individual puts forth a lot, very little, too little, etc.). Persistence, as the third key component of motivation expresses the length of time a person sticks with a particular action (such as, for example, the willingness to keep trying or give up a particular project, job, activity, when something proves difficult to achieve). 2. Can a person motivate someone else? The concept of motivation is a particularly important one, and obviously the first valid answer obtainable to this question is definitely yes, that is, a person can be a source of motivation for someone else. But, to answer this question, I would like to make use of the concept of Theory X and Theory Y elaborated and developed by psychologist Douglas McGregor regarding motivation. McGregor goes on to describe two contrasting sets of "assumptions" that managers generally make about their employees or workers. Theory X expresses the notion that people dislike work, have little ambition, and are unwilling to take on any kind of responsibility. Managers who adopt this assumption are able to motivate their people using a rigid "carrot and stick" approach, which rewards good performance at the expense of punishing poor performance. Theory Y, on the other hand, expresses that people are capable of self-motivation and enjoy the challenge of work, as well as being able to take on strong responsibilities as well. Managers who adopt this assumption certainly have a more collaborative relationship with their people and motivate them with the goal of allowing them to work on their own initiative, giving them great responsibility and also giving them the ability to make decisions. Clearly this theory makes a rather general concept explicit, focusing on two of the possible scenarios that might occur within an organization, but it manages to clarify transparently what the concept of "being able to motivate another person" is. Clearly, the choice of one assumption over another will be shaped in some way by a variety of factors, including the structure of the organization, the type of work that people will be required to do (repetitive, demanding, dynamic) and their level of skill and expertise. 3. If a person is highly motivated at a task, does that suggest they will work hard…be high performing…or both? If a person is highly motivated to accomplish a particular task, this does not imply that this is a high performer and this is because, as we know, "effort" in view of achieving a given goal is only one component of the performance equation. In order to define a subject a high performer we necessarily need two other components which are those of ability and support, in order to expect effort. The result of the combination of these three elements will provide a high performance from the subject itself. The only thing we can say about a highly motivated person is that they are likely to work hard and put a lot of effort into the task, but this is not enough to ensure that they will be a high performer, because we need to think about the whole package and the components that are part of it. 4. How does the upside-down pyramid view of organization’s change a manager’s or leader’s mindset? Generally, within an organization, the figure of the manager or leader is placed at the top of the pyramid model, emphasizing what is the higher "hierarchical level" that the individual in question has with respect to his or her co-workers and workers. The inverted pyramid view of the organization tends to cause the mindset of a manager or leader to change significantly. By changing the perspective, now at the top of the pyramid there will be workers who were previously placed at the base of the pyramid: now the person who does the "real manual work" (think of a bricklayer, for example) goes into action and provides a product or service to the customer himself. But clearly the perspective of this new inverted pyramid means that everyone at the base must contribute at the level of support and sustainment to the entire organization. Through this vision, now the people who were previously at the base, willing to build the actual pyramid that had the manager or leader at its top, now represent the beacon of the organization itself. As an example, if you think of the Ryanair company, at the time of check-in who is the person who goes to validate that everything is in order? It certainly won't be the CEO, manager, or leader of that organization, but it's really the person who is sitting on the other side doing the check-in and helping the customer with all the bureaucratic procedures that need to be done. And it's because of this direct work and relationship with the client that the business can go strong. the students, to one group he says that the mice were really smart, while to the other he says that the mice were not so smart and good. The result obtained, as briefly discussed above, is that the mice thought to be smarter (thus expected to be smarter) performed more disappointingly than those initially thought to be less disappointing. The expectation in Rosenthal's experiment was able to change the scientist's behavior on the mice, and the mice react to this change in behavior by adapting to the expectation. The same argument was also made by Rosenthal using children as the protagonists of the experiment, to be given to teachers with the simple wording of warning them that some children were "smarter than others." This type of introductory information profoundly affected the behavior of teachers in carrying out their jobs. And here's where the motivation aspect comes in: based on these expectations, individuals will turn out to be exactly the same type of person you initially expected. If the initial expectation was "prejudiced" and therefore negative towards the individuals, they will not be very motivated at work, will not put much initiative and will do the bare minimum they can achieve. Conversely, as McGregor showed in one of his experiments, if the expectation is that workers will arrive at the workplace motivated and responsible then they will be willing to put their talents to work for the goals of the team and the organization because they have the opportunity to manifest their motivation with all of themselves. 8. What useful insights did B.F. Skinner and his pigeon ping pong experiments offer to managers and leaders? B.F. Skinner offers very useful insights through his experiments on the behavior of managers and leaders. The experiment in question concerns the study of pigeons and their behavior, as well as the possibility of learning them the game of ping pong without ever talking to them or mistreating them. All that needed to be done was to follow a law, called Thorndike's law, which states that behavior followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and clearly it is also for unpleasant consequences, but now it is good to focus on the positive. This is to elaborate on the concept of "positively reinforcing behavior" which turns out to have had great demonstrable power. What Skinner did with pigeons, was to reward them with small grains of food, whenever they put in place a "typical" ping pong move. This is how pigeons learned to play ping pong, which is absolutely unusual since it is not a person but an animal. And this was also applicable in the human reality, in the relational exchanges between people in view of reaching certain goals. The fact of positively reinforcing allows to be amazed and surprised by the results that can be generated: this does not mean that we should not point out when people are inadequate or when they do something wrong, but it means going to "reward" with small rewards every time a positive action is done. Skinner's operant conditioning expresses that it is the control of behavior through the manipulation of its consequences that allows to positively reinforce the subsequent manifestation of the desired behavior or at least the approximation of the latter, which within an organizational reality in the function of manager or leader is a very powerful way to influence behavior to the best. Finally, to conclude, I would like to mention what is the only regret stated by Skinner in an interview shortly before his death. In this interview, Skinner stated that his only regret was teaching pigeons to play ping pong, this is because in applying the experiment to people, many refused as they did not want to be treated as pigeons, but rather as people. MODULE 4: USING POWER AND GAINING INFLUENCE THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1. What is power? (VEDI ANCHE LIBRO) In organizational behavior, power is defined as the ability to get someone to do something that you want done or the ability to make things happen in the way in the way you want them to happen. Power therefore expresses the ability to influence the behavior of other people even if they don't want you to. The essence of power is control over the behavior of others: without a close connection (direct or indirect) it is not possible in any way to alter the behavior of other individuals. The concept of power is closely related to that of influence, as the latter represents what an individual has when he or she exercises power and is expressed by the behavioral response of others to the exercise of power. Now if we go back to David McClelland's work, he also studied the "need for power" differentiating it into two forms. On the one hand you have the need for personal power and it expresses a need that reflects a desire to control and influence and even manipulate the behavior of other people, purely for personal gain. This personal gain refers to the fact that the exercise of this power provides the person implementing it with a feeling of . the individual draws on another's morality or shows a clearer long-term path toward a "morally desirable" end. Finally, as a last resort, coalitional power is the ability to control another's behavior indirectly because the individual has an obligation to someone as part of a larger collective interest. 5. How does personal capital differ from social capital? Personal capital and social capital represent two sources of personal power. Personal capital represents what you bring to your power situation, based on your experience and references. It expresses the ability to gain or obtain influence through the connections you have made, the networks you have built with other people in the social structure. Clearly, all of these "tools" within the organization and not only that but also at the team level can greatly help individuals accomplish their projects and tasks. The concept of personal capital is closely linked to that of relationships: but by relationship we don't mean the simple exchange of information, it's a somewhat transactional concept linked to what is a mutual exchange of ideas, values, pleasure on a human and disciplinary level. This is where the concept of social capital comes in, which is closely related to that of personal capital, but in this case social capital is everything you can bring to the table in terms of power and influence based on who you know, how you know, what your interconnections are with people in the work and external environment. Social capital materializes in the form of connections and relationships. To achieve positional power the first step is to gain skills and referrals in order to access personal power and the second step is to gain social capital connections and relationships. Clearly the "fusion" of these two important capabilities means that the personal managerial power package is quite substantial and the challenge will be to be able to keep it unchanged and why not even improved over time. 6. How can you build both personal and social capital? (VEDI ANCHE LIBRO PER SOCIAL CAPITAL) The construction of social and personal capital occurs through a long process of interaction with the organizational and non-organizational environment, aimed at building strong ties and relationships between all individuals. Personal capital and social capital represent two sources of personal power. Personal capital represents what you bring to your power situation, based on your experience and references. It expresses the ability to gain or obtain influence through the connections you have made, the networks you have built with other people in the social structure. Clearly, all of these "tools" within the organization and beyond, but also at the team level can greatly help individuals accomplish their projects and tasks. The concept of personal capital is closely linked to that of relationship: but by relationship we do not mean the simple exchange of information, it is a somewhat transactional concept linked to what is a mutual exchange of ideas, values, pleasure at a human and disciplinary level. This is where the concept of social capital comes in, which is closely related to the concept of personal capital, but in this case, social capital is everything you can bring to the table in terms of power and influence based on who you know, how you know them, what your interconnections are with people in the work environment and in the external environment. Human skills in emotional intelligence and interpersonal relationships are essential for success in each of the activities and managerial roles possible. Managers and team leaders must develop, maintain, and work well with a wide variety of people, both inside and outside the organization. These include job-specific networks of contacts, networks of career guidance and opportunities, and social networks of trusted friends and peers. In this sense, it can be said that managers need to develop and maintain social capital in the form of relationships and networks that they can call upon if necessary to get the job done through other people. 7. What are the risks of obedience? (VEDI LIBRO) To answer this question, I would like to introduce and explain the concept as well as the risks of obedience through an experiment performed by Stanley Milgram in the early 1960s. Milgram designed experiments to determine the extent to which people were able to obey commands from an authority, even if they believed they might endanger another person's life. The experiment involved paying subjects from a wide variety of occupations a nominal fee to participate in the project and they were told that the purpose of the study punishment was learning. The subjects were to be actual "teachers." The "learner" (Milgram's friend) as he was called, was strapped to a chair in an adjacent room with an electrode attached to his wrist: the experimenter (another Milgram partner) was dressed in a lab coat. The experimenter appeared impassive and stern, instructing "the teacher" to read a series of word pairs to the student and then to read back the first word along with four other terms: the student was to indicate which of the four terms was in the original pair by pressing a switch. The teacher was instructed and therefore had to obey the order to administer a shock to the pupil each time he or she gave an incorrect answer, and more importantly this shock had to be increased by one level of intensity each time the pupil made a mistake. If a teacher proved unwilling to continue with the experiment and expressed refusal to want to administer the shock then the experimenter would say, "the experiment requires you to continue" or "you have no choice, you must continue". Generally speaking, only when the teacher refused to continue after the fourth shock, the experiment was stopped: in this way about 65% of teachers actually administered a near lethal shock to their students. Through this experiment, Milgram concluded that there is a tendency for individuals to conform and be obedient through turning off their emotions by simply doing what they are told to do. The tendency to obey is powerful and represents a real problem in everyday life as well as in the life within an organization this is because the lack of "dissent" due to extreme obedience to authority is associated with the lack of rationality and ethics particularly questionable. The riskiness of obedience is very much felt in those organizational environments where the power structure is all above those who, during Milgram's experiment, did not offer any resistance in continuing to apply electric shock to "students". When an individual is not at the top of the organizational structure, but rather at the bottom or even in the middle, his or her career advancement is conditioned and depends particularly on how good one is at responding to orders and directives from higher levels. Another well-known author in management theory, Chester Barnard, argued that the risk associated with obedience without any dissent on the part of individuals could only occur if four circumstances were present within an organization. The subordinate (employee) can and must understand the directive provided by his superior, the subordinate must feel mentally and physically capable of performing the task assigned to him without any obligation in this respect. In addition, the subordinate must believe that the directive is not inconsistent with the organizations purpose and must believe that the directive is not incompatible with his or her personal interests. It is important to understand that the subordinate does not need to understand how the proposed action will help the organization because that is not in his or her interest, but he or she must believe that the requested action is not inconsistent with the purpose of the enterprise itself. Another very important insight provided by Barnard and related to the possibility of avoiding risks related to obedience is dictated by the acceptance theory of authority, which argues that people in power and in positions of authority can exert influence on an individual and their behavior only if you let them. So in this case the problem is eradicated from the outset, going to reject the problem from the moment it might arise, to avoid the consequent risks that would arise. 8. How do we decide when to say “no” when someone asks us to do something we are uncomfortable with? To answer this question I would like to make use of an experiment carried out during the 60s in the United States that highlights what is the state of mind and motivations that led an individual to make decisions that in reality he would never have wanted to make and to which he would have been willing to say "no" but in those circumstances he was unable to do so. Milgram designed experiments to determine the extent to which people were able to obey commands from an authority, even if they believed they might endanger another person's life. The experiment involved paying subjects from a wide variety of occupations a nominal fee to participate in the project and they were told that the purpose of the study punishment was learning. The subjects were to be actual "teachers." The "learner" (Milgram's friend) as he was called, was strapped to a chair in an adjacent room with an electrode attached to his wrist: the experimenter (another Milgram partner) was dressed in a lab coat. The experimenter appeared impassive and stern, instructing "the teacher" to read a series of word pairs to the student and then to read back the first word along with four other terms: the student was to indicate which of the four terms was in the original pair by pressing a switch. The teacher was instructed and therefore had to obey the order to administer a shock to the pupil each time he or she gave an incorrect answer, and more importantly this shock had to be increased by one level of intensity each time the pupil made a mistake. If a teacher proved unwilling to continue with the experiment and expressed refusal to want to administer the shock then the experimenter would say, "the experiment requires you to continue" or "you have no choice, you must continue". Generally speaking, only when the teacher refused to continue after the fourth shock, the experiment was stopped: in this way about 65% of teachers actually administered a near lethal shock to their students. Through this experiment, Milgram concluded that there is a tendency for individuals to conform and be obedient through turning off their emotions by simply doing what they are told to do. The tendency to obey is powerful and represents a real problem in everyday life as well as in the life within an organization this is because the lack of "dissent" due to extreme obedience to authority is associated with the lack of rationality and ethics particularly questionable. ethical, it is not always the case. The use of incentives by unscrupulous managers can be unethical. Power can also be based on punishment instead of reward. Coercive power is the extent to which a manager can withhold desired rewards or administer punishment to control other people. Process power is control over production and analysis methods. The source of this power is the placement of the individual in a position to influence how inputs are turned into outputs a department or even a small group. Process power can be separated from legitimate hierarchical power simply because of the complexity of fi rm operations. A manager may have formal hierarchical authority to make a decision but may be required to use the analytical schemas of others or to consult on effective implementation with process specialists. Information power is access to or control over information. It is one of the most important aspects of legitimacy. The "right to know" and use information can be, and often is, conferred on the holder of a position. Thus, informational power can complement legitimate hierarchical power. Finally, representative power is the formal right conferred on an individual by the which allows him or her to speak as a representative of a group composed of individuals from all departments. With reference to personal power, this resides in the individual and is independent of his or her position within an organization. The four bases of personal power are expertise, rational persuasion, reference, and coalitions. Expert power is the ability to control another person's behavior through the possession of knowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person does not have but badly needs. The possession of expert power is relative and not absolute: that is until an individual comes along who is more experienced and better than you then this is in your hands, from that moment on expert power is clearly lost. Rational persuasion, on the other hand, expresses the ability to control the behavior of another because, through individual efforts, the person accepts the desirability of an offered goal and a reasonable way to achieve it. Rational persuasion involves both explaining the desirability of expected outcomes and showing how certain actions allow specific outcomes to be achieved. Reference power, on the other hand, expresses the ability to alter the behavior of others because the person wants to identify with the source of power. A person's referral power can be increased when the individual draws on another's morality or shows a clearer long-term path toward a "morally desirable" end. Finally, as a last resort, coalitional power is the ability to control another's behavior indirectly because the individual has an obligation to someone as part of a larger collective interest Position Power + Personal Power (personal capital (expertise + reference) + social capital (connection + relationship)) 13. Why is it important to understand the limits of position power? The importance of position and personal power can be found in the equation that defines marginal power, the sum of these two components. Clearly, as marginal power is a very complex concept, it is important to outline the differences between these two very important components. An important source of power available to a manager derives solely from his or her position in the organization. position in the organization. Specifically, positional power comes from the formal hierarchy or authority given in a particular role. There are six important aspects of positional power: legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, process power, information power, and representative power. Legitimate power derives from the extent to which a manager can use subordinates' internalized values or beliefs that the "boss" has a "command right" to control their behavior. Legitimate power represents the unique power that a manager has because subordinates believe that it is legitimate for a person in the managerial position to enjoy the right to command. Rewarding power is the extent to which a manager can use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to control other people. Examples of such rewards include money, promotions, compliments, or enriched jobs. While giving rewards may seem ethical, it is not always the case. The use of incentives by unscrupulous managers can be unethical. Power can also be based on punishment instead of reward. Coercive power is the extent to which a manager can withhold desired rewards or administer punishment to control other people. Process power is control over production and analysis methods. The source of this power is the placement of the individual in a position to influence how inputs are turned into outputs a department or even a small group. Process power can be separated from legitimate hierarchical power simply because of the complexity of fi rm operations. A manager may have formal hierarchical authority to make a decision but may be required to use the analytical schemas of others or to consult on effective implementation with process specialists. Information power is access to or control over information. It is one of the most important aspects of legitimacy. The "right to know" and use information can be, and often is, conferred on the holder of a position. Thus, informational power can complement legitimate hierarchical power. Finally, representative power is the formal right conferred on an individual by the which allows him or her to speak as a representative of a group composed of individuals from all departments. With reference to personal power, this resides in the individual and is independent of his or her position within an organization. The four bases of personal power are expertise, rational persuasion, reference, and coalitions. Expert power is the ability to control another person's behavior through the possession of knowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person does not have but badly needs. The possession of expert power is relative and not absolute: that is until an individual comes along who is more experienced and better than you then this is in your hands, from that moment on expert power is clearly lost. Rational persuasion, on the other hand, expresses the ability to control the behavior of another because, through individual efforts, the person accepts the desirability of an offered goal and a reasonable way to achieve it. Rational persuasion involves both explaining the desirability of expected outcomes and showing how certain actions allow specific outcomes to be achieved. Reference power, on the other hand, expresses the ability to alter the behavior of others because the person wants to identify with the source of power. A person's referral power can be increased when the individual draws on another's morality or shows a clearer long-term path toward a "morally desirable" end. Finally, as a last resort, coalitional power is the ability to control another's behavior indirectly because the individual has an obligation to someone as part of a larger collective interest Perché non durerà, si basa solo su premi e punizioni se non si segue il giusto comportamento. Se tutto quello che si può dire è che io sono il capo e che bisogna attenersi ad esso, si arriverà ad un punto in cui la gente si stancherà di ascoltarti e si stancherà delle tue punizioni 14. What are the major types or bases of personal power? The importance of position and personal power can be found in the equation that defines marginal power, the sum of these two components. Clearly, as marginal power is a very complex concept, it is important to outline the differences between these two very important components. An important source of power available to a manager derives solely from his or her position in the organization. position in the organization. Specifically, positional power comes from the formal hierarchy or authority given in a particular role. There are six important aspects of positional power: legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, process power, information power, and representative power. Legitimate power derives from the extent to which a manager can use subordinates' internalized values or beliefs that the "boss" has a "command right" to control their behavior. Legitimate power represents the unique power that a manager has because subordinates believe that it is legitimate for a person in the managerial position to enjoy the right to command. Rewarding power is the extent to which a manager can use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to control other people. Examples of such rewards include money, promotions, compliments, or enriched jobs. While giving rewards may seem ethical, it is not always the case. The use of incentives by unscrupulous managers can be unethical. Power can also be based on punishment instead of reward. Coercive power is the extent to which a manager can withhold desired rewards or administer punishment to control other people. Process power is control over production and analysis methods. The source of this power is the placement of the individual in a position to influence how inputs are turned into outputs a department or even a small group. Process power can be separated from legitimate hierarchical power simply because of the complexity of fi rm operations. A manager may have formal hierarchical authority to make a decision but may be required to use the analytical schemas of others or to consult on effective implementation with process specialists. Information power is access to or control over information. It is one of the most important aspects of legitimacy. The "right to know" and use information can be, and often is, conferred on the holder of a position. Thus, informational power can complement legitimate hierarchical power. Finally, representative power is the formal right conferred on an individual by the which allows him or her to speak as a representative of a group composed of individuals from all departments. With reference to personal power, this resides in the individual and is independent of his or her position within an organization. The four bases of personal power are expertise, rational persuasion, reference, and coalitions. Expert power is the ability to control another person's behavior through the possession of knowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person does not have but badly needs. original pair by pressing a switch. The teacher was instructed and therefore had to obey the order to administer a shock to the pupil each time he or she gave an incorrect answer, and more importantly this shock had to be increased by one level of intensity each time the pupil made a mistake. If a teacher proved unwilling to continue with the experiment and expressed refusal to want to administer the shock then the experimenter would say, "the experiment requires you to continue" or "you have no choice, you must continue". Generally speaking, only when the teacher refused to continue after the fourth shock, the experiment was stopped: in this way about 65% of teachers actually administered a near lethal shock to their students. Through this experiment, Milgram concluded that there is a tendency for individuals to conform and be obedient through turning off their emotions by simply doing what they are told to do. The tendency to obey is powerful and represents a real problem in everyday life as well as in the life within an organization this is because the lack of "dissent" due to extreme obedience to authority is associated with the lack of rationality and ethics particularly questionable. The riskiness of obedience is very much felt in those organizational environments where the power structure is all above those who, during Milgram's experiment, did not offer any resistance in continuing to apply electric shock to "students". When an individual is not at the top of the organizational structure, but rather at the bottom or even in the middle, his or her career advancement is conditioned and depends particularly on how good one is at responding to orders and directives from higher levels. Another well-known author in management theory, Chester Barnard, argued that the risk associated with obedience without any dissent on the part of individuals could only occur if four circumstances were present within an organization. The subordinate (employee) can and must understand the directive provided by his superior, the subordinate must feel mentally and physically capable of performing the task assigned to him without any obligation in this respect. In addition, the subordinate must believe that the directive is not inconsistent with the organizations purpose and must believe that the directive is not incompatible with his or her personal interests. It is important to understand that the subordinate does not need to understand how the proposed action will help the organization because that is not in his or her interest, but he or she must believe that the requested action is not inconsistent with the purpose of the enterprise itself. Another very important insight provided by Barnard and related to the possibility of avoiding risks related to obedience is dictated by the acceptance theory of authority, which argues that people in power and in positions of authority can exert influence on an individual and their behavior only if you let them. So in this case the problem is eradicated from the outset, going to reject the problem from the moment it might arise, to avoid the consequent risks that would arise. Affermare che l'autorità del manager si basa sull'accettazione da parte delle persone del suo diritto di dare ordini 17. Why is Barnard’s theory important to you? (VEDI ANCHE LIBRO) To answer this question, I would like to introduce and explain the concept as well as the risks of obedience through an experiment performed by Stanley Milgram in the early 1960s. Milgram designed experiments to determine the extent to which people were able to obey commands from an authority, even if they believed they might endanger another person's life. The experiment involved paying subjects from a wide variety of occupations a nominal fee to participate in the project and they were told that the purpose of the study punishment was learning. The subjects were to be actual "teachers." The "learner" (Milgram's friend) as he was called, was strapped to a chair in an adjacent room with an electrode attached to his wrist: the experimenter (another Milgram partner) was dressed in a lab coat. The experimenter appeared impassive and stern, instructing "the teacher" to read a series of word pairs to the student and then to read back the first word along with four other terms: the student was to indicate which of the four terms was in the original pair by pressing a switch. The teacher was instructed and therefore had to obey the order to administer a shock to the pupil each time he or she gave an incorrect answer, and more importantly this shock had to be increased by one level of intensity each time the pupil made a mistake. If a teacher proved unwilling to continue with the experiment and expressed refusal to want to administer the shock then the experimenter would say, "the experiment requires you to continue" or "you have no choice, you must continue". Generally speaking, only when the teacher refused to continue after the fourth shock, the experiment was stopped: in this way about 65% of teachers actually administered a near lethal shock to their students. Through this experiment, Milgram concluded that there is a tendency for individuals to conform and be obedient through turning off their emotions by simply doing what they are told to do. The tendency to obey is powerful and represents a real problem in everyday life as well as in the life within an organization this is because the lack of "dissent" due to extreme obedience to authority is associated with the lack of rationality and ethics particularly questionable. The riskiness of obedience is very much felt in those organizational environments where the power structure is all above those who, during Milgram's experiment, did not offer any resistance in continuing to apply electric shock to "students". When an individual is not at the top of the organizational structure, but rather at the bottom or even in the middle, his or her career advancement is conditioned and depends particularly on how good one is at responding to orders and directives from higher levels. Another well-known author in management theory, Chester Barnard, argued that the risk associated with obedience without any dissent on the part of individuals could only occur if four circumstances were present within an organization. The subordinate (employee) can and must understand the directive provided by his superior, the subordinate must feel mentally and physically capable of performing the task assigned to him without any obligation in this respect. In addition, the subordinate must believe that the directive is not inconsistent with the organizations purpose and must believe that the directive is not incompatible with his or her personal interests. It is important to understand that the subordinate does not need to understand how the proposed action will help the organization because that is not in his or her interest, but he or she must believe that the requested action is not inconsistent with the purpose of the enterprise itself. Another very important insight provided by Barnard and related to the possibility of avoiding risks related to obedience is dictated by the acceptance theory of authority, which argues that people in power and in positions of authority can exert influence on an individual and their behavior only if you let them. So in this case the problem is eradicated from the outset, going to reject the problem from the moment it might arise, to avoid the consequent risks that would arise. Perché questo significa che le persone che hanno potere su di te, hanno influenza su di te solo se tu decidi di accettare quel potere su di te, se lo rifiuti, non funziona. Quindi, consapevoli di questa tendenza, dovremmo chiederci sempre se le cose giuste da fare per noi sono 18. What are the key differences between universal facilitators and inhibitors of leadership success? The key differences are that universal facilitators are all about positive attitude, if you are trustworthy, honest, positive, encouraging with your workers, always informed about what is happening within the company, maintaining a proactive attitude. The inhibitors are, on the contrary negative, are not cooperative with the group, not proactive and you want things done with a dictatorial way An authentic leader must be able to empower people, their organizations with the aim of achieving superior results in the long term: authentic leaders recognize that leadership in itself is not only about their success or the fact that their loyal subordinates are loyal only to them, but they are aware that the key to a successful organization is to surround themselves with responsible leaders at all levels, including those who do not have direct relationships with the "top of the organizational pyramid". This in my opinion is the true power of authentic leadership in its best form. 3. WHAT IS SERVANT LEADERSHIP? (VEDI LIBRO) Servant leadership, developed by Robert K. Greenleaf, is based on the concept that the primary purpose of business should be to create a positive impact on the organization's employees and the community itself. The servant-leader is first and foremost a true servant; that is, he or she must possess a natural sense of wanting to serve and to serve first. Only later does a conscious choice lead an individual to aspire to lead a particular organization. The servant leader is in harmony with the spiritual core values, and in serving these, he or she assists other peers, colleagues and the organization itself. The servant leader helps others discover their inner spirit, gaining and maintaining the trust of his or her followers by being an effective listener and by placing the importance of assisting others over self-interest. Thanks to Professor Robert K. Greenleaf, ladearship in service is usually seen as a true philosophical movement, whose guiding philosophy is consistent with that of the other aspects of moral ladership. In this case, the power to model service is the basis for being able to influence others: the leader represents the guide to serve and asks others to follow. Precisely because of the following of other individuals, this behavior becomes a special form of service for the entire organization. 4. WHAT ARE THE LIMITS OF POSITION POWER AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP? (VEDI LIBRO) Speaking of transactional leadership, this establishes give-and-take relationships that appeal to the self-interest of subordinates. These leaders conventionally manage the clarification of subordinates' responsibilities, rewarding them for achieving goals and punishing them for failing to achieve any of them. Transactional leadership involves leader-follower exchanges, which are necessary to achieve routine performance agreed upon between leaders and followers. The exchanges that occur may involve different dimensions and it is in this area that what may be the limits of this leadership style will be defined. The first limit could be dictated by the rewards: when the reward for achieving a certain objective does not meet the expectations of the individual who must receive it, this could have a negative impact on the relationship and the bond of trust established with the leader, who will have to remedy this situation in some way to prevent the trust from diminishing over time. In this case, as far as active management is concerned, if the corrective action taken to correct deviations from the rules or standards is not effective, this could compromise the entire organizational structure, going to damage even the company's performance at the expense of a loss of trust and esteem towards the leader. As far as passive management is concerned, the main limitation is found in the fact that there is no intervention by the leader in the event that standards are not met and this would cause a sense of satisfaction on the part of followers based on the idea that results have actually been achieved, when in reality, the goals to be achieved were others. Also for the laissez-faire dimension, responsibilities are ceded to individuals to avoid decision- making by the leader: this clearly expresses one of the foundations of transactional leadership, but if freedom is not somehow "guided and observed" by the leader, the entire organizational structure is at risk. In conclusion, the main limitations that transactional leaders and the adoption of this leadership style may face are a minimization of innovation and creativity, a lack of appreciation of empathy within the organization, and the fact that generally this style tends to create more followers than leaders among employees.With reference to position power, the importance of position and personal power can be found in the equation that defines marginal power, the sum of these two components. An important source of power available to a manager derives solely from his or her position in the organization: specifically, positional power derives from the formal hierarchy or authority given in a particular role. The important aspects that make up positional power are varied, and it is here that its main limitations are found. With regard to legitimate power, which expresses the unique power that the manager has because subordinates believe that it is legitimate for a person in a managerial position to enjoy the right of command, the main limitation can be found when subordinates no longer recognize this position, and therefore do not see the leader as "their beacon", and a tendency may arise to disregard the directives and objectives required by the entire organization. Another aspect to be considered concerns the so-called extrinsic and intrinsic rewards that the manager can adopt to control other individuals: if these are not satisfactory and/or are not perceived correctly by the subordinates, then the relationship of trust could break down over time going to crumble the stability of the entire organization. The same can be said about the adoption of process, control, and coercive power in the hands of the manager: if these powers are misused or overused, the consequences in terms of performance could be significantly affected. 5. CAN ONE PERSONAL BE GOOD AT USING DIFFERENT LEADERSHIP STYLES? Just with reference to the concept of the authentic leader whose importance was deepened through reading the article published at Harvard Business School I believe that a person could have great difficulty adopting different leadership styles and I would like to explain this through the concept of authentic leadership. We all have the ability to inspire and empower others, but we must first be willing to devote our entire selves to our own personal growth and to developing ourselves as "leaders" not just at the organizational level but socially. And it is precisely this that precludes and indicates authentic leadership, that is, knowing oneself: one's personal experiences in terms of values, emotions, beliefs and thoughts, and acting according to one's true self by expressing what one truly thinks and believes. In this sense, although no one is perfectly authentic, authenticity is something to strive for and reflects the unhindered functioning of one's true core self. Those with a high level of authenticity are thought to have optimal, stable, congruent self-esteem, as opposed to fragile self-esteem based on external responses. Leaders who desire authentic leadership should have genuine relationships with followers and co-workers and exhibit transparency, openness, and trust. All of these points tap into the psychological well-being emphasized in the positive psychology literature: as an example, Nelson Mandela is considered historically and socially to be an authentic leader. Perhaps the most important aspect of authentic leadership is the notion that being a leader begins with you and your perspective on leading others. But being authentic is only one aspect of moral leadership. And picking up on the very moral aspect, as written within the article, no one can consider themselves authentic by trying to imitate someone else: of course you can and should learn from the experiences of others, from the performances achieved by great people, but there is no way to be successful if you try to be exactly like them. People trust you when you are genuine and authentic, not when you are a replica of someone else. Dedication is required; that is, dedicating yourself to fulfilling your potential for a lifetime. Clearly this does not mean that a person cannot adopt different leadership styles depending on the organizational context and even have some good results, but this could be unsatisfactory and unproductive because each person must discover and rediscover over time what is the essence of being a leader, and not all of us enjoy the same skills, share the same values, passions and emotions. Therefore, finding and rediscovering a unique style that fits like a glove with the person you are will certainly lead to high-performance and satisfying results in the long run, and the need to adapt each time and therefore adapt your leadership style could lead to non-positive consequences. 6. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SHARING LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES WITH OTHERS? Shared leadership can be defined as a dynamic, interactive process of influence among individuals in groups for whom the goal is to "lead" each other toward the achievement of group or organizational goals, or both. This process of influence often involves peer or lateral influence, while at other times it may involve downward or upward hierarchy. The key distinction between shared leadership and leadership models is that the process of influence involves more than just downward influence on subordinates by a leader, but rather leadership is widely distributed among a number of individuals rather than centralized. The key element as well as the benefits to successful team performance is definitely to create and maintain the conditions for such performance. The main benefits of adopting this type of leadership are the adoption of effective and goal-directed effort, the presence and eventual acquisition of adequate resources, performance and competent and highly motivated individuals, the establishment of a climate of mutual support and great productivity, and finally the achievement of great continuous improvement. 7. HOW DOES TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ACTIVATE TALENT THROUGH PERSONAL POWER? (VEDI ANCHE LIBRO) Transformational leadership occurs when leaders broaden and elevate followers interests and stir followers to look beyond their own interests to the good of others. This type of leadership consists of four dimensions such as. Charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration. Transformational leadership through its components just mentioned can activate an individual's talent through personal power and this is possible due to the fact that personal power is one of the two fundamental components of managerial power, which in order to be applied inevitably requires the fundamental components of transformational leadership. Charisma provides a vision and a sense of mission, definitely stimulating the personal power of an individual: the most exemplary case is that of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, who emphasized his personal power to research and recreate the importance of a product, as a radical innovation. Inspiration allows you to communicate with high expectations using symbols or communication (verbal and non-verbal) that allows you to focus on the effort to achieve a specific goal. Intellectual stimulation promotes intelligence, rationality and careful problem-solving: here, too, personal power, being an intrinsic component of the individual, can enable the individual's talent to realization at a societal level. I am convinced that my determination will lead me tomorrow to achieve important results and, above all, to be satisfied and grateful for the work I have done so far to ensure that my activities can benefit not only myself, but above all the people around me. 11.What is the difference between transactional and transformational leadership? Speaking of transactional leadership, this establishes give-and-take relationships that appeal to the self-interest of subordinates. These leaders conventionally manage the clarification of subordinates' responsibilities, rewarding them for achieving goals and punishing them for failing to achieve any of them. Transactional leadership involves leader-follower exchanges, which are necessary to achieve routine performance agreed upon between leaders and followers. The exchanges that occur may involve different dimensions and it is in this area that what may be the limits of this leadership style will be defined. Transformational leadership occurs when leaders broaden and elevate followers interests and stir followers to look beyond their own interests to the good of others. This type of leadership consists of four dimensions such as. Charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration. Transformational leadership through its components just mentioned can activate an individual's talent through personal power and this is possible due to the fact that personal power is one of the two fundamental components of managerial power, which in order to be applied inevitably requires the fundamental components of transformational leadership. Charisma provides a vision and a sense of mission, definitely stimulating the personal power of an individual: the most exemplary case is that of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, who emphasized his personal power to research and recreate the importance of a product, as a radical innovation. Inspiration allows you to communicate with high expectations using symbols or communication (verbal and non-verbal) that allows you to focus on the effort to achieve a specific goal. Intellectual stimulation promotes intelligence, rationality and careful problem-solving: here, too, personal power, being an intrinsic component of the individual, can enable the individual's talent to be activated through the ability to interact with a range of activities and projects useful to the organization. As a final dimension, individualized consideration provides ersonal attention, treats each employee individually and coaches and advises: this is essential and certainly through personal power the talent of an individual can be fully exploited. In conclusion, transformational leadership is probably strongest at the top-management level, where there is the greatest opportunity to propose and communicate a vision, but this does not imply that it is limited exclusively to those levels, as this can be rediscovered and found at all levels of the organizational structure. (RISPOSTA NON MIA) The transactional leader is one that rely only on power position, so it is legitimate and can rely on reward and punishment, respectively to give praise to a behavior or punish a wrong one: this type of leadership is not enough to be a good leader. On the contrary a transformational leader is not always a legitimate one, but can be, but for sure is one that use a lot of personal power (personal capital + social capital) , he/she has reference power and good communication skill that can inspire people enough to communicate them the vision and make them believe in that. After that we can show them the pathway to implementation that leaves people with confidence in sense of competency and can unleash that motivation inside them to pursuit that goal. Piramide + servant leader 12.How did the transformational of these three leaders from one another – Gandhi, King, Kennedy? With reference to the videos shown to us by the professor, these three great individuals used reference power during their lifetimes to make societal and especially global profound changes with their leadership styles, which each enjoyed in a special and special way. Gandhi had the special ability to convey that vision through non-verbal communication, as his presence alone was enough to inspire individuals to have a vision and to begin the journey to take that path. Gandhi through his words of peace and gestures of peace was able to guide through his style so many people and all this he put into practice without saying anything at all, he himself personified the global leader that everyone needed at that time. Martin Luther King in the same way as President Kennedy was able to inspire and communicate their vision with incredible communication skills, elegance, and persuasive power: the main and fores only difference between them was that Kennedy also had formal authority, the legitimacy to order, give rewards and punish like a president, while Martin Luther King did not apply this kind of "leadership" in this way, but he gave strong and great weight to every word he pronounced. 13. What criteria did coach Herb use when choosing members for team USA in the Miracle movie? Coach Herb was a task leader, he had a vision in mind, a strategy to be implemented to win the Olympics and he knew which player to choose to follow that path, he did not need superstars, but the right person for that particular role, that is someone who has strong individual skills well combined in a team context. 14. What leadership role di Herb ask assistant coach Craig to play, and why? Like we said Herb was a task oriented leader, but we know that is not always enough, but Herb was like this and as a leader you have to be what you are to be credible, knowing that, Herb ask to Craig to be the people leader, he asked him to take care of the players, see how they are doing, take care of all the problems and try to make them comfortable and in best way to do their job. 15. Why did Craig keep blowing the whistle as Herb requested? That episode was a clear example of the Barnanrd’s acceptance theory of authority and also remind us the issue of obedience of Milgram experiment. Craig tendency was to obey, but he was struggling with it, because he knew that was bad for the players, but in the same time Herb was the boss so he was continuing whistle and whistle till the moment he found himself in the position of whether questioning the order or continue to obey. 16. How do you describe to a potential employer “the leader in you”? This is in my opinion a very interesting question and one that I will probably have the opportunity to answer with more clarity and freshness of mind at the end of this college journey. I strongly believe that discovering and rediscovering oneself at the level of leadership characteristics is one of the fundamental steps that an individual can take in his or her working career, clearly related to these types of activities covered in both the Organizational Behavior course and in the university reality. Leadership is a balancing act and I believe that if we are able to manage our skills, opportunities, and personal leadership abilities with the challenges we will face throughout our careers, then we will achieve the desired success. But success, is a consequence of working hard, daily, and being able to adapt daily to the changes that life throws at us without qualms. This is precisely why it is important that we begin to develop strong problem solving skills, that we are able to unmask and turn around what actually seems impossible to achieve. In me I see a person who is ready to give everything in order to obtain that important goal, which is first of all personal self-realization that then leads to self-realization at a societal level. I am convinced that my determination will lead me tomorrow to achieve important results and, above all, to be Finally, the last question is "how do we sustain our ability to provide that unique value?": it is important to analyze and study if there are barriers to imitation, if there are factors that prevent our competitors from being willing or able to replicate the value we create for our customers. This last question focuses on understanding what factors allow us to continue to win over time. (Example: IKEA). From defining what strategy is, you can analyze how it differs from tactics. The tactic expresses a small component of the whole strategy and I would like to deepen the difference citing the book "The Art of War" a manual that par excellence goes to outline what is the true meaning of a strategy. And just as defined in the book, the strategy in general when you are at war is to win the war, while the tactic expresses the set of specific actions that must be taken along the entire path that will then win the war. 2.EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CORPORATE LEVEL AND BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY? Strategy at the corporate level, is defined in response to the questions "what business should the firm compete in?", i.e., in what areas do you want to do business and "how should corporate management manage this group of businesses". The objective of defining this strategy is to carry out a careful assessment of the opportunities to use one's resources and skills to enter a particular sector and actually choose the field in which to apply one's strategy. In this sense, it follows the definition of the firm's "mission" and the choice of sectors in which it is appropriate to operate. Corporate strategy specifies the actions that the firm must take to achieve a competitive advantage by selecting and managing a group of different businesses, in various sectors and product-markets. On the other hand, once you have identified and chosen which sector(s) you want to enter, you will have to answer the question "how to compete within the market?" and the answer to that question is defined by the business level strategy, which explains how you intend to compete in that specific market. Regarding the definition of the business level strategy, a competitive advantage can be achieved by the individual company mainly in two ways: the first concerns the ability to provide a product similar to that of competitors but at a lower price and in this case the company will obtain a cost advantage. In this scenario the idea of the enterprise would be that one to become true and own "leadership of cost" in the field of competence. The second way instead regards the ability to supply a differentiated product, for which the customer is disposed to pay a "premium price" greater regarding the competing articles, because it recognizes in the product unique and inimitable characteristics. (Apple case) 3.DESCRIBE THE BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY FOR AN EXISTING COMPANY THAT YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH? In answer to this question I would like to describe what is the business level strategy of a well- known US multinational company that produces operating systems, smartphones, computers and multimedia devices, such as Apple. Apple business strategy can be classified as product differentiation. Specifically, the multinational technology company differentiates its products and services on the basis of simple, yet attractive design and advanced functionality. Apple business strategy consist of the following 3 elements: Focus on design and functionality of products, enhancing customer experience and strengthening apple ecosystem. With reference to the first point, according to its business strategy, Apple has adapted the advanced features and capabilities of its products and services as the basis of its competitive advantage. The list of innovations introduced by Apple includes, the introduction of the iPad, the first device of its kind which is a true technological innovation, the development of the Macintosh which is the first computer to use a graphical user interface and the launch of the iMac which is a true work of pure strategic computer design. The advantage of being a "first mover" was certainly another element of Apple's competitive advantage. With reference to the second aspect, focusing on customer experience is one of the pillars of Apple's business level strategy as well as commercial strategy. The company has succeeded in creating a customer experience that extends beyond the process of purchasing a product. We find in this aspect also the presence of numerous "Apple Stores" around the world where customers can try products and ask questions to Apple staff trained and prepared about all the technology provided by the company and all this contributes effectively to the customer experience. With reference to the last point to finish, Apple's business level strategy is also characterized by a vertical integration such that the company has advanced skills in software, hardware and services at the same time. This aspect is one of the main factors that distinguish it from its competitors and the company has managed to benefit from it immensely by creating a real source of competitive advantage. 4.DESCRIBE THE CORPORATE LEVEL SRTRATEGY FOR AN EXISTING COMPANY THAT YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH? In answer to this question I would like to describe what is the business level strategy of a well- known multinational company that produces musical instruments and motorcycles, Yamaha Corporation. I really like this example because the types of business carried out by this company are completely different and for this reason in my opinion it expresses a strong potential of the managament that has been able to make coincide two types of business apparently not compatible. On the one hand, the company offers products and services of a purely musical nature, producing pianos, organs, guitars, basses, and various components essential for the operation of the same. On the other hand, the company offers a truth of products and services inherent to the world of motorcycling, which in addition to holding a real stable has several stores that offer complete equipment necessary for the conduct of travel, and motorcycle racing. I find ingenious the solution of this great multinational company that has opted to immerse itself in the market, going to completely rout the competition in two sectors particularly complex and above all whose resources and skills acquired are completely distant from each other. Diversification strategy: corporate related diversification and operation related diversification = dominant business (mcdonald) – related constrained diversification (PeG/ walt Disney same expertise on a lot of product)– related linked diversification (on the value chain) – unrelated conglomerate ( General Electric lowest profitability) MODULE 7: STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP THOUGHT QUESTIONS WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP TO ORGANIZATIONS TODAY? The importance of strategic leadership for today's organizations expresses the ability to anticipate and predict the realization of long-term competitiveness. It is precisely with regard to this long-term vision that I would like to provide some insight into the quotes executed in an interview by Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz. Howard Schultz can be defined as a transformational leader capable of adopting strategic leadership as he was able to develop a long-term vision and turn it into reality through the collaboration of Starbucks employees. The vision expressed the fact that Starbucks was a kind of "third place" between home and work and that Americans were willing to spend a threshold amount of money between $3 and $5 for a cup of coffee. Schultz used his strong charismatic personality and values to develop a transformational work environment at Starbucks that built a veritable empire, thanks to his dedication, millions in investment, and his motivation and influence on his employees. So strategic leadership is critical today for organizations that will become the great businesses of the future: expressing the ability to anticipate and predict the realization of long-term competitiveness. To do this, a strategic leader must respond quickly to environmental change that requires continual change in the set of assumptions or even strategy if the barrier to overcome is too high for the good of the organization. Obviously there are a number of basic components that a strategic leader must have: determination of a clear purpose or vision for the company overall, the ability to maintain and leverage core The entire company staff can use this information to make better decisions for the future of their organizations. This important tool helps improve the efficiency of all organizational processes, ensures that strategy is still appropriate for long-term achievement, facilitates inter- organizational communication, and is closely tied to the strategic vision. It is not so valuable to focus exclusively on the financial result, as we need to be aware of the entire market and customer situations: investment in research and development has become essential today and is closely linked to the strategic vision that allows us to improve internal processes and develop products or services that can guarantee our long-term success. MODULE 8: DYNAMIC NATURE OF STRATEGY THOUGHT QUESTIONS WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION USING THE CAR INDUSTRY AS AN EXAMPLE? According to Christensen's explanation, the term "disruptive innovation" is used in the economic literature to describe the phenomenon whereby an innovation transforms an existing market or industry by introducing simplicity, accessibility, and convenience where complication and high cost expresses the status quo. This tends to be completed by designing for a different set of consumers in a new market and ultimately lowering prices in the existing market. Before citing the example of the automotive market I would like to pay attention to what Professor Christensen says are the key points of "disruptive innovation". First of all, when you are a small company and you are planning to grow steadily, a certain segment or slice of the market might be very attractive to the whole organization, but the problem arises once you grow economically. Once you become a "big business," the same opportunity that you thought you saw some time ago may now seem insignificant and you may lose the ability to see the right opportunities over time. This is because all big businesses in the future are or have been small businesses in the past or in the present itself. Using now the automotive industry as an example, I would like to mention the case of Toyota. Toyota after the second world war started the production of a 3-wheeled crawler, whose use was particularly easy and intuitive in the streets of Japanese cities. The initial investment was important and internal capital was used: the customers were Japanese and even the distribution was initially local. Then they started to go beyond the local territories, entering another country such as America. In this country, however, in order to make the car affordable and accessible to students who were not able to afford a car in 1962 there was a need for a conversion and remodeling of the vehicle itself. By doing this, they managed to acquire a large slice of customers and most importantly also new distributors whose importance was crucial in the American territory. Now, convinced of being strong enough compared to the "incumbents" in the territory, Toyota decides to establish itself in amercia by opening its own plant and try to reach the market share of high-end customers. In this way they focus on supporting innovation and producing car models for this segment of customers, for example the Lexus brand. Christensen does not directly explain the high-end innovation, but this at the same time could occur at the moment when a high-end player might be interested in reaching the low-end market, as amazon did with the kindle whose value at the release was quite high and unusual for a product of that type, but thanks to its technology and especially its adaptability to the needs of customers it became very popular and with time also settled its price so that all customers could afford it. WHY IS TRANSIENT ADVANTAGE AN IMPORTANT CONCEPT IN A DYNAMIC CHANGING ENVIRONMENT? In a dynamic environment that is constantly changing economically and technologically, achieving long-lasting competitive advantage with a long-term view is a very difficult concept to implement and this has also been demonstrated by Rita McGrath in her book entitled "end of Competitive advantage". She argues that as a result of all the technological, social, and economic changes, it is very difficult in today's society for companies in most industries to establish a sustainable long-term competitive advantage. Companies are increasingly forced to develop temporary advantages, and this leads to the concept of transient advantage. The importance of transitional advantage is found in the behavior of the strategic leader who must aim to lead people with meaning and purpose, understanding the path on which the organization is going and this needs several "key points" to be taken into account. These are certainly a continuous reconfiguration of the business strategy, seen not only as an objective to be achieved in the long term, but seen as a dynamic environment, ready to change and adapt to the needs of the market at that given time. In addition, it is important that the leader is able to make everyone in the organization healthy and valuable, through healthy disengagement and proper resource allocation. Innovation should be viewed as a set of routines whose use reflects the regular way of doing innovation more in the short term than in the long term: the idea is to gain competitive advantages that are consistent with long-term goals but are intended to be exploited in the short term. A strategic leader needs to embrace transient advantage, learning to launch new strategic initiatives again and again, investing in innovation to build temporary competitive advantage, and being ready to adapt quickly to changing environments. A crucial element is that everyone in the organization must be ready to learn from the environments around the organization and be prepared to adapt and change. You will need to be able to analyze data and interpret weak signals from the environment and let people experiment around you: that way they are free to try a different approach trying to reach the hypothetical real option situation. These are small investments that convey the rights to make a more significant future investment only if it is profitable. Building a strong relationship and network of connections, investing in the community as a way to deepen ties with clients is a source of real advantage. EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF INFLECTION POINTS? I would like to explain the concept of inflection points starting with how they are defined by Andy Grove, president of Intel. Within his book called "only the paranoid survive" he introduced the concept of inflection points. It said that inflection points represent a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change. The actual inflection point is expressed by a change in the business. It is a crucial aspect that drastically shifts some element of our business, challenging certain assumptions that are taken for granted. Using Andry Grove's definition, the Inflection Point expresses the moment in the life of the business when the environment itself dramatically changes one or more elements of your business. The main problem is that Inflection Points have actually always been there, but you didn't really realize that the changes were happening so dramatically. Another fundamental problem is that we generally tend to surround ourselves with people who are similar to us and have the same opinion as us, so when someone adopts a different reasoning or idea, we simply tend not to listen. You have to be able to see around corners and be paranoid, you have to be able to pick up on the early warnings that come from the outside environment. We can't notice when you start losing people or you're not able to hire the people you want to hire. To do this, we need to be able to recruit the most valuable human resources and promise them new technologies, new stimuli, and activities in which they can learn to be interested. By picking up on these warnings we have the knowledge that we are close to the inflection point. GIVEN A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT THAT IS EXPERIENCING TRANSFORMATION, HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THE FOCUS OF A STRATEGIC LEADER? The role and purpose of what is the essence of a strategic leader also and above all involves the ability to adapt to the changes that occur within the competitive environment in which one operates. It is precisely from the concept of vision that the leader is able to identify the goal to be achieved: the strategic leader must adopt an "open-minded" approach, that is, open to innovation, to set up new market experiments in order to try to identify what lies around the corner. Of course, in order to do all this, the leader must be able to manage risk in the best possible way, building over time a particularly diversified portfolio of assets and investments. The manager, acting as a true agent for the shareholders, or principals, should make decisions that maximize shareholder wealth even though it is in the manager's best interest to maximize his or her own wealth. Generally, agency problems arise when incentives or motivations arise for an agent not to act in the principal's best interest: through regulations or by incentivizing an agent to act according to the principal's best interest, agency problems can be reduced or avoided. We might characterize this problem as one of differing priorities: where the owners' priority is the pursuit of new investment to increase stock value, management might pursue a priority related to job security, corporate luxury, and/or higher compensation at the expense of shareholders. Agency costs are a type of internal cost that a principal may incur because of the agency problem. They include the costs of any inefficiencies that may result from hiring an agent to take on a task, along with the costs associated with managing the principal-agent relationship and resolving differing priorities. While it is not possible to eliminate the agency problem, principals can take steps to minimize the risk of agency costs. A real-world example of an agency problem can be found by considering energy giant Enron, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Accounting reports were fabricated to make it appear that the company had more money than it actually earned. Company executives used fraudulent accounting methods to hide debt in Enron's subsidiaries and overstate revenue. These falsifications allowed the company's stock price to rise during a period when executives were selling parts of their holdings. In the four years prior to Enron's bankruptcy filing, shareholders lost an estimated $74 billion in value. Enron became the largest bankruptcy in the United States at that time with its $63 billion in assets. Although Enron's management had a responsibility to look out for the best interests of the shareholder, the agency's problem led management to act in its own best interest. What are two responsibilities that corporate board directors have? We can classify the responsibilities belonging to corporate boards of directors into two main types: outward-facing responsibilities and inward-facing responsibilities. The first type of responsibility is all about improving the public image of the organization and formulating strategy for the future on a long-term basis. These outward-looking responsibilities are also particularly important in terms of the relationship of trust that is established between the company and its shareholders, whose imprint is projected entirely for the long term. This involves determining and monitoring the products, services and programs of the entire organization, ensuring adequate resources, and determining the mission and purpose of the organization. In addition, for this group of responsibilities, it becomes critical to select and support the executive body and review its achievable and actually achieved performance over time. These types of responsibilities ensure that management is operating consistently with the interests of shareholders. The selection and evaluation of new executives is necessary in order to properly manage the organization and also ensure that the structure's key strategies and financial report are correct and are operating within the laws currently in place so as not to be accused of possible crime or fraud. Identify the most important advantage of the German, Japanese and America models of corporate governance. Starting with the American model, it is useful to introduce the concept by outlining the fact that in the United States the unitary system is rule-based. The American model consists of a unitary board with a dominance of independent outside directors and is also reinforced by a legal and mandatory rule under the Sanctions Act. The American unitary system does not exhibit any of the variations found in European governance models and remains tied to the combination of its functions in the capacities of the president and/or CEO. The effect that results from this near-overlap of functions is a concentration of power in the hands of the same person since in most American boards (more than 80%) the same individual combines both functions. Directors also face legal penalties for non-compliance, so the main advantage of this model is the well-supervised financial relationship without question. The U.S. model also has another major advantage, which is the dominance of independent outside directors who are more objective and able to apply the right legal sanctions when the need arises. As already mentioned, the chairman and CEO are often the same person and the shareholder has little influence over the composition of the board. Vogernance is governed by a statutory charter and mandatory rules. Directors face legal penalties for noncompliance, and since the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 these penalties have been strengthened. Regulators have a duty to let directors follow these rules by policing them. So, the main advantage of this model is the strengthening of the rules, given by the oversight of the financial report and the sanctions that directors face. Nowadays, among the most popular corporate models there is also the Japanese model, which particularly differs from the American one in that it is based on the principles of mutual shareholding, the formation of large associations with different participants and the subordination of dividends. The Japanese corporate governance model is made up of Keiretsu: these are networks of Japanese companies linked through cross-holding and interlocking directorships. This is a model that pays particular attention to the strong bond that is created between the people who are part of this scheme, since the strong relationships that are created tend to remain strong even in the long term. The basis of the model involves a set of cross-shareholdings, interconnections between firms and internal management of the firms. As is the case in Germany, bank lenders own minority shares and are key members of the keiretsu. Governance reflects the Japanese culture of social cohesion: thus, stakeholder-centric view of governance, non-adversarial relationship, lifetime employment, decision-making by consensus, promotion based on loyalty and social compatibility as well as performance. The stakeholder-centric view of governance has a responsibility to help governance even though this is a double-edged sword. This is because the board of directors is large and made up of keiretsu members of the network, and people are promoted only because of tenure and loyalty and not on the basis of performance: this means that even a mediocre and not excellent employee can aspire to get to top management, as long as he or she turns out to be loyal in every way to the organization. On the other hand, however, this could negatively influence relationships in terms of performance in view of achieving particular organizational goals. Finally, a communication approach is used that goes by the name of Ringi which is an up- down in management until an agreed position is reached and given by the board on the ratified decision. All these characteristics give a sense of closeness to the Japanese model that have difficulty understanding the importance of external information and objectivity. This closeness leads to the poor performance of the economy and weakens the banks at the heart of keiretsu. What is the importance of the trend toward convergence in international governance practices? Out of all the markets that exist, finance is a seamless global market because nowadays it is very easy to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars anywhere to any currency you want and businesses tend to want to take advantage of that. You're always looking to get the best financing to fund your business and as a result, the people who are providing equity in debt want to see as much transparency and appropriate corporate governance approach so you can be sure that your financial reports are accurate. So the trend is to go for countries that use the same IRS financial reporting standards and try to have a more open and transparent corporate governance system. MODULE 10: ROLE OF GOVERNMENT: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF NATIONS THOUGHT QUESTIONS WHAT IS THE KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPARATIVE ADANTAGE AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE? With reference to the difference between the two concepts, economists argue that countries compete on the basis of comparative advantage: this means that the national growth of any particular country is due to fivequa major factors, such as land, location, natural resources, labor, and population size. These factors in the considered environment are relatively unchanging and almost subject to inherited conditions. In this view of environment and competitive structure, the government plays a more or less passive role in helping firms compete in the global marketplace. Porter, in his definition of competitive advantage changed this idea, stating that advantages to be able to help companies be competitive in the market are created and are not dictated by inherited factors. Porter argues that to understand national competitiveness, one must start with the performance of individual firms, and then aggregate those firms into true clusters, which are groups of firms that are China has both geopolitical and economic motivations behind the initiative. Xi has promoted a vision of a more assertive China, while slowing growth and difficult trade relations with the United States have prompted the country's leadership to open new markets for its goods. Experts see the BRI as one of the main planks of bolder Chinese statecraft under Xi, alongside the Made in China 2025 economic development strategy. For Xi, BRI serves as a response to the U.S.'s much-ballyhooed "pivot to Asia," as well as a way for China to develop new investment opportunities, cultivate export markets, and increase Chinese incomes and domestic consumption. Under Xi, China now actively seeks to shape international norms and institutions and forcefully asserts its presence on the global stage." MODULE 11 (a): OB, STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP, AND YOU ENTIRE LECTION TRANSCRIBED MODULE 11 (a): OB, STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP, AND YOU JOHN R. SCHERMERHORHN, JR., Ph.D. File audio  (11a) 1.2.mp3 Trascrizione  Of course I get the final say I'm the professor after all, but remember. We've covered a lot of ground. You're going to have to take a final examination. And before you do that, you you need to be prepared. But beyond just doing well on the final and getting good marks in the course. I would like you to. But take just a moment to think back on what we've done and the conversations we've had. And celebrate what you've accomplished. It's not easy to study by distance and to not see your professor face to face. And I recognize that, and I respect that. But I also believe. You've worked hard and you deserve to celebrate a little bit. Uhm, let's do a little bit more work. Before you do that. And remember the goal. We want you to finish strong and we want you to be proud of how well you've done and what we want you to leave. This course and our time with you with a big smile on your face. Now let's proceed and the slides will pretty much speak for themselves until we hit what's called the big T model. And I'll explain that one briefly on audio. And then, as they say, let's bounce. We're out of here. Take care. {GREAT AND POOR SI) Employment security Selective hiring Self-managing teams / decentralization High and performance contingent pay Extensive training Low status differentiation Intense information sharing Great SI ACTIVATED TALENT NAGUAWNE GREAT Employers versus the BAD Ones e Fireatwill e Workto get rich and quit Poo r SI * Choose “career” over “life” 77 * People =coststo be saved Toxic e Alwayshiring, high turnover e Shortontalent Em ployer e Alltalk; little action INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL BECOMES “ACTIVATED TALENT” managing, | COMPETENCY | vien Teams and Managing Organizations T h e Ta | e nt Yourself Strategic The Self Leadership X Management sessi COMMITMENT GS The Activator When  Self Management Equation SM = SA + SR “SA” = Self Awareness: Understanding yourself, recognizing weaknesses, not over estimating strengths. “SR” = Self Regulation: Acting with confidence and changing so the right things happen in your life, job, career. (SELF MANAGEMENT EQUATION (VERY IMPORTANT TOPIC FOR THE EXAM) File audio  (11a) 1.9.mp3 Trascrizione  Here's the slide with that new model that I mentioned earlier, and it's called the big T model of personal competency. And I think it's a reasonable and helpful way for you to think about yourself and putting things together from a career management and a career development perspective. So for our purposes you’re the T That's what we're talking about, and we're talking about your big T model of personal competency. And when we think of the T, the T has to have a strong foundation, it needs that. And we refer to that as your depth. It's your aptitude, your skills, your initiative, your persistence. Your resiliency this is what you bring to the table in any situation. And right now you need to be thinking hard and long in our current very difficult environment with all of the challenges of finding a job and. Forging a career in very, very New Times. So what is your depth and how can you build that and create the strong vertical you need? To stabilize the breath. And T is in a T if you don't have the top and the top is the breadth, it's the horizontal. And that's you again. But this time we're talking about how adaptable you are, how well you relate to other people. Are you a continuous and aggressive inquisitive learner? And when you're in that organization, whatever it is, whatever type. Do you know that? File audio  (11a) 1.12.mp4 Trascrizione  Here we are. At the end. And it's back to the beginning with a little bit of review, so I'll make this quick. I hope the slides speak for themselves. Professor Sherman gave you a brief overview of his material and spoke from the heart about his enjoyment with working with you. And it's the same for me. But let's do a little substance before we part ways. First of all, I'd like to go back to. That new model that I just popped on you called the big T of personal competency. I kind of like it because it reminds us we have to have a strong vertical. We have to have that strong anchor in terms of depth of capabilities and competencies and we always have to keep those up to date. And we have to have a strong horizontal in respect to breath. We have to understand the system. We're part of. How it fits in the team fits in the organization. The organization fits in society. I fit in both. And we have to be adaptable. We have to be a continuous learner, et cetera. And finally, we always want to ground this thing in terms of personal ethics and in some sense of integrity and character that you can be proud of. And you know, it's interesting when we think of this big T of personal competency because the one thing we want to avoid. Wade is trying to work with somebody. Else is T. This T has to be your T. And you have to work it out in the context of your life, your career, your aspirations, your motivations, your talents, and what you. Hope to achieve. And you know it's an interesting day because the newspaper this morning here in America announces the death. Of country singer Kenny Rogers, who I've. You know, listened to for years and they offer a quote of Rogers, which I think is pretty telling and he's talking about trying to make it in the music business and recognizing that yes, I'm talented as Kenny Rogers, but I'm no Willie Nelson. I'm no Johnny Cash. I'm no Waylon Jennings in that the country superstar genre. So how am I going to make it? And that's kind of the question for us and Rogers has an interesting comment here and I'll leave the big T with this notion for you to think about. Roger says you either do what everyone else is doing and you do it better or you do what no one else is doing. And you don't. Invite comparison, so there's the two choices. It's the same for organizations as it is for you and me. You either do. What everybody else is doing, but you've got. To do it better. Or you do what they're not doing so that they can't be compared to you and you're. A unique commodity. Well, I work for Kenny Rogers and I hope it can. Work for you. Now when we go back to the core storyline and this has been significant, and we've. Pieced it together step by step as we've gone through. We said this course is about strategic leaders activating talents, so people, organizations, and themselves. Consistently achieve high performance and do good for society. That's a nice succinct statement. It's a nice, succinct storyline and I hope you can remember that and use it to guide you not only as you reflect on what we've done and try to put your learning. Together in the context of this course, but also as you're going forward in your family life and in your personal life and in your career life. And again, I'll go back to a quote. That I used earlier in the course in in the the terrible and troublesome time, we're in with the coronavirus. The article was talking about virus lessons for leaders. And remember the notion here. The author says great leaders. Approach tranquill quiet. In a distinct way, and he says, no matter how well things seem to be going, they continue to work relentlessly. And they peer around corners to anticipate the next unprecedented challenge. And good or bad, and they're not afraid to push their teams to prepare for these extreme scenarios. In our world of today. With all of its threats. Health wise and economically. We've got some leaders who made this challenge and. Some who don't. And I hope going forward in your life. And it doesn't have to be at the magnitude of a coronavirus crisis, just everyday in the events and problems and situations that present them to present themselves to you. Remember the lesson here? It's the strategic leader who isn't satisfied. With. A good a good day. It's the strategic leader who doesn't accept satisfactory underperformance. It's the strategic leader who's willing to peer around corners and look ahead into that future and take action today to try to meet it in the. Best possible way. And then that brings us to the little slide that I had where I offered you some of my tips and summary thoughts. I mean, that's what professors we have that advantage Professor Sherman gave you some of his and you know it's interesting because one of my son is an engineer at Amazon. The other is a visual effects artist in in California, in in LA. Very different jobs, very different careers, but I shared this slide with both of them. And the visual effects guy kind of said, well yeah, this and that in your form etc. And and my son at Amazon Porter, he said dad. Uhm, yeah, I like it and he said, you know I could actually use it here when I'm working with some of the junior engineers in a career development capacity. But he said you you skipped over #5 on the on the slide, and it's true. I was so caught up in talking about. Taking care of your health, etc. That I neglected one of the points, which is perhaps one of the most significant ones in terms of the course we've just shared together, and some of the values that we've tried to communicate and discuss with one another, and it takes me back to Breck's poem when we we were left. Wondering where when the Great Wall of China was finally done? Did the Masons go? And this slide look at it again and please read #5. And take it to heart you can't forget the people who do the real work of the organization and your team. Leadership and management is not an individual sport. It's a team sport. And you rely on others. To do lots of significant and important things, and if they didn't do them. The organization, the team, and even you couldn't succeed. So let's not forget them. We respect everybody job is important. And everyone. Is a human being. That we should value. As such And with. That said. You know, if you look at the the photograph that that goes along with the call to this final video. It's my wife and I on a mountain side party in Ireland out in the West. There on looking out over Lake Corrib. And it was a theme party. Little out in the field, but everybody was supposed to come dressed as. In a Great Gatsby type outfit, and we had fun, and it was a glorious evening. And it was one of those things where we were just talking about in the strategic leadership concept when everything was just great. File audio  (11b) 1.3.mp4 Trascrizione  I have spent more than three decades. Learning about leadership and practicing it, and for whatever it's worth, after all that time, these are. Kind of the principles that that I have developed and I hope they have some. Usefulness to you. So the first thing I'd say is that leadership is very difficult work. Whenever you're working with people. It it's hard. I mean we. All have our own self-interests and our own strengths and weaknesses, and to try to get people to come together and work in a a direct like a unified direction. It's not always easy so I I would suggest that leadership. It's extremely hard work. You can never get let up in a sense because you're always making adjustments and trying to encourage people that work around you. But on the other hand, what I would suggest is that leadership is very. Rewarding there is a critical need today for people that can be leaders and that that can you know that have a a sincere desire to help the people around them to be successful so you can get a tremendous amount of fulfillment and trying to help people around you to recognize their own. Talents and develop them. You know you can mentor and coach them and help them to progress in their lives. So I think you know that I strongly recommend. That you take this role. File audio  (11b) 1.5.2.mp4 Trascrizione  OK, so leadership is all about people. As you well know, humans are emotional, we're defensive, and many of us are very resistant to change. We cannot be successful, though, if we can't get a large number of people to be to cooperate and collaborate with us to get the strategy implemented as we intend. But however you know. I think it's it goes without saying. That it is highly unlikely that you will ever see 100% consensus. The people that you work with. Some of the people will never agree. I mean, they're they think that we're moving in the wrong direction, and some people won't even talk about it, right? But they will in a sense they will. Try to resist the change without and so it's hard to to identify. You know in some of the ways that they are they are resistant, so we need a a strong understanding of how to influence people and and you know. And frankly, you know it's a political skill of how we can build. Coalitions to try. To move forward. With ideas that we think are critical for the. Organization to be successful File audio  (11b) 1.7.4.mp4 Trascrizione  As we've discussed, the hardest part of the job and the part that takes the most time is implementation or account execution. The fun part is at least the fun part for me has always been the formulation of a strategy. You know, understanding environment, competitors, customers and coming up with strategy but but that is probably. 20% of the job. The other 80% is the hard work of, you know, is making sure that everyone is moving forward to execute the strategy and the way that it was. Part of execution is you have to measure and you have to hold individuals accountable for their performance and and this is the hardest part of the job. It is the most emotional part of the job. Workplace trends. And they have identified that 30 to 50% of all the activities of all the jobs in the world can be automated. So that means that you know 10s of millions of people. Will have to restructure their jobs to keep employed or will have to find old new categories of jobs that we don't even know exist today. So that's the most important one that we all need to be aware of. And then secondly, I think it's important to, you know to look at the trends in your industry. What are the growth industries and how is your industry doing? Clearly, if you go to a growth industry, there are going to be a lot more opportunities for you too. You know to expand your skills and your and your responsibilities and to. Be rewarded more. File audio  (11b) 1.10.mp4 Trascrizione  The relationship between companies and the individuals who work for them, their employees, has dramatically changed over the last couple decades. You and I. Are much more responsible for our own destiny. There's a lot less security with regards to income with regards to. Health insurance with regards to retirement benefits. We have to take the steps throughout our career to make sure that we are saving money. For example, for retiree. And health care so that you know we we can take care of ourselves and our families. Companies are doing less of that. It's a different kind of contract that exists between the company and the employee. The company is less willing to provide you with lifetime employment and making sure that all the. That you have will take care of you. UM, they are basically the firm looks at it as a more immediate contract. We are paying you for the work that you're doing today, not what you did. You know, two years ago? In addition, they're doing less employee development, so they are doing some training for employees to. Gain immediate knowledge for very specific new technologies and software packages, for example, but for. You know the next advancement job companies are doing less of preparing you for that they are. Assuming that you will take the steps you will engage in new learning and trying to develop new experiences so that you will prepare yourself for the next job they are doing less of that. So the result is that you have to take you and I have to take much more responsibility for our own destinies. And really understand you know what is it that we want to achieve? And how do? I plan to take the steps so that I can achieve you know what I want out of my career. File audio  (11b) 1.14.mp4 Trascrizione  Well, everyone we've come to the end. I had hoped that, you know, I might have a chance to enjoy a beverage of your choice in person. But and maybe who knows? Maybe someday in the future that can happen. In the meantime, I. I would suggest that you know your life is going to be filled with very interesting times. There's going to be much change, and if you prepare to take advantage of it, I think you can do well and and find fulfilling work. And success and and I hope I'm hopeful that you can help others around you to adapt to that change so that they can also be successful. I wish that when you look back upon your life, you can say that you lived your life well. I also wish that you have a lifetime filled with success with wonderful relationships with others and that you have good health. You all take care and I wish you all the best. An agency problem can be defined as a conflict of interest inherent in any relationship in which one party is expected to act in the best interests of another party. Generally, in corporate finance, an agency problem usually refers to a conflict of interest between a company's management and the company's shareholders. The manager, acting as a true agent for the shareholders, or principals, should make decisions that maximize shareholder wealth even though it is in the manager's best interest to maximize his or her own wealth. Generally, agency problems arise when incentives or motivations arise for an agent not to act in the principal's best interest: through regulations or by incentivizing an agent to act according to the principal's best interest, agency problems can be reduced or avoided. We might characterize this problem as one of differing priorities: where the owners' priority is the pursuit of new investment to increase stock value, management might pursue a priority related to job security, corporate luxury, and/or higher compensation at the expense of shareholders. Agency costs are a type of internal cost that a principal may incur because of the agency problem. They include the costs of any inefficiencies that may result from hiring an agent to take on a task, along with the costs associated with managing the principal-agent relationship and resolving differing priorities. While it is not possible to eliminate the agency problem, principals can take steps to minimize the risk of agency costs. Consequently, we can see that it is really important to be able to create a good system of corporate governance with a board of directors that is independent: this is a fundamental step because the directors of the board should not have any material interest in the company and should only try to help the whole company to function effectively, efficiently and transparently. The agency problem is a problem that occurs especially in the United States when the CEO and the board are the same person. A real-world example of an agency problem can be found by considering energy giant Enron, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Accounting reports were fabricated to make it appear that the company had more money than it actually earned. Company executives used fraudulent accounting methods to hide debt in Enron's subsidiaries and overstate revenue. These falsifications allowed the company's stock price to rise during a period when executives were selling parts of their holdings. In the four years prior to Enron's bankruptcy filing, shareholders lost an estimated $74 billion in value. Enron became the largest bankruptcy in the United States at that time with its $63 billion in assets. Although Enron's management had a responsibility to look out for the best interests of the shareholder, the agency's problem led management to act in its own best interest. 3. Agency problem; The agency problem refers to a conflict of interest between the company’s agent, that is the manager and the company’s owner or entrepreneur. In a corporate governance the owner or principal relies on managers who act as their agents and who are supposed to maximize their interests, that would be to make as much money as possible, even if is in the managers own interest to maximize their own wealth. That’s why separation between ownership and management can take place overtime. The Agency problem can occur ofr many different reasons and one of the most common occurs because on the one hand the shareholder’s aim is to seek new investments to raise share value, while the manager, who works hard for the corporation thinks be deserves a higher compensation for the efforts made. Therefore the manager looks for job security, he hopes for same privileges and the agency problem may occur because these privileges are at the expense of the shareholder who is the founder of the corporation. Consequently we can understand that it is really important to create a good system of corporate governance with an independent board of decors because board directors shouldn’t have material interests in the company, and they just have to help the company run in an effective and transparent way. Thus can be a problem in the USA when the CEO and the board chateau are the same person. 4. Stakeholders and shareholders view; How does the “stakeholder view” of the purpose of a corporation differ from the “shareholder” view The terms "stakeholder" and "shareholders" are often used interchangeably within the corporate environment, but clearly the role they play in the context of a corporation's purpose is different. First, it is good to remember that shareholders are always stakeholders in a corporation, but stakeholders are not always shareholders. A shareholder owns part of a public corporation through stock or securities, while a stakeholder has an interest in the performance of a corporation for reasons other than stock performance or appreciation. A shareholder can be an individual, corporation, or institution that owns at least one share in a company and therefore has a financial interest in its short-, medium-, and/or long-term profitability. Stakeholders can be owners and shareholders, actual employees of the company, bondholders who own the debt issued by the company, customers who can count on the company to provide a particular good or service, suppliers and vendors who can count on the company to provide a steady stream of revenue. From these reasons alone, it can be seen that it is particularly important to stakeholders that the company whose stock or shares are owned succeeds in achieving particularly important financial goals. Shareholders face the risk of not receiving any kind of return in economic terms to their contribution, therefore, they are the people who own the company and are entitled to the value created by it. Milton Friedman as an economist and statesman, exposed the idea of the shareholder as having primacy over the purpose of a business: in this way the corporate executive is directly responsible to the shareholders who are responsible for conducting the business in accordance with what the shareholder decides. Although shareholders do not take part in the day-to-day management of the company, the company's bylaws give them certain rights as owners of the company. Conversely, the stakeholder says that capital should be invested in the future of the company, so don't focus on short-term annual profitability, but on long-term profitability by investing in the R&D process, for example. Stakeholders are tied to the company for a longer period and for reasons of greater need than shareholders. For example, if a company is performing poorly financially, suppliers in the company's supply chain may suffer if the company no longer uses their services. Similarly, the company's employees, who are stakeholders and rely on it for income, could lose their jobs. In addition, General Electric manager Jack Welsh said that shareholder value is only an outcome, not the strategy itself. To conclude, Ed Freeman, spoke of stakeholder theory as recognizing the interest of all those affected by the company's decision (customers, suppliers, local community, broader society). Each of these groups is important to the success of a business as the need for a wide range of stakeholders is key for a company to be profitable in the long run. These days, as BankRock's CEO did in his latest letter to investors, he said that companies are much more concerned about their contribution to society in areas ranging from employment to sustainability and climate change. 5. Inflections point; Rita McGrath, a professor at Columbia Business School, affirms that inflection points, are periods of time where the firm must respond to disruptive chanse in an effective way, or the risk is to face deterioration. She believes that we can spot inflection points by going out of the edges of the organization in order to see the early warnings. For example, we can understand that our competitive advantage is fades away when we can’t recruit the people we want or when we start losing our best workers and our customers find simpler and less expensive solutions. Moreover she says that very often we miss these inflections points because we are so used to the way in which things are that we don’t see the things changing. She also believes that sustainable competitive advantage is an exception, while housemen advantage is the new norm. Robert Rosenthal is an American psychologist who during the 1960s did an experiment, based on the "self-fulfilling prophecy" by telling the experimenters what kind of behavior to expect from the laboratory animals (in this case the mice), the protagonists of the experiment he carried out. The result obtained, as briefly discussed above, is that the mice thought to be smarter (thus expected to be smarter) performed more disappointingly than those initially thought to be less disappointing. The expectation in Rosenthal's experiment was able to change the scientist's behavior on the mice, and the mice react to this change in behavior by adapting to the expectation. The same argument was also made by Rosenthal using children as the protagonists of the experiment, to be given to teachers with the simple wording of warning them that some children were "smarter than others." This type of introductory information profoundly affected the behavior of teachers in carrying out their jobs. And here's where the motivation aspect comes in: based on these expectations, individuals will turn out to be exactly the same type of person you initially expected. If the initial expectation was "prejudiced" and therefore negative towards the individuals, they will not be very motivated at work, will not put much initiative and will do the bare minimum they can achieve.