Vidsoft technologies Essay Example for Free

Vidsoft technologies Essay Vidsoft technologies was an Internet company in California and it developed enterprise software to solve the procurement needs for its clients such as Cisco systems, Johnson and Johnson and Telespain companies. Keith Nash who was the companys chief executive officer of Vidsoft had instilled a culture in the organization where employees were free to speak their minds, work hard and deliver customer satisfaction because he believed that so long as the Vidsoft customers were success full, so would the company. The organization also encouraged employees and it had several motivational activities for its employees which included football pingpong tables and social gathering during Fridays so that the employees can enjoy themselves and feel free to talk about the events of the week and what they felt about the company or any situation which may be there. Managers were promoted from within the organization and the company always looked for those who were better than the existing ones. However as Internet need expanded, they few individuals remaining demanded high salaries therefore the criteria for hiring people relaxed where they chose to employ people then train them. Babatunde was the senior technical support manager, Hsu was a technical support engineer who was a hard worker but was not a team player and wanted to climb the corporate ladder faster. Babatunde promoted Li into management and although she was determined to fit, Hsu was not happy that Li was his boss and wanted to be transferred to another group because he did not respect Li, he joined Vidsoft because of Babatunde and therefore wanted him to remain his boss and that Li was not experienced for the job so there was nothing which he would learn from her. Although Babatunde tried to resolve the situation, Hsu did not want to be under Li and she did not want him to leave because she feared that others may have negative views of her. In this case Babatunde can resolve this situation by making Hsu the manager of the group dealing with the other line of the product because it did not yet have a manager and he had necessary skills for the position. This would be a powerful motivator for Hsu and he would be able to learn to associate with others and also involve himself in the team work which was highly valued by the company. The internal promotion of Hsu would also generate loyalty through his recognition and it would increase his morale by fulfilling his need of increased status and his want to climb up the corporate ladder. This is because Hsu was an experienced person for the managerial job and with his degree in computer engineering, he would effectively manage the other group and bring good results to the customers and the company. Due to Hsu attitude and his response to Lis promotion, there was no surety that he would be comfortable with the other new manager who would be brought to manage the other group if he was to be shifted from Lis team. This therefore means that if he was the manager, he would be directly under Babatunde which he always wanted and he would be comfortable in his position. Through this promotion also, others would not despise Li as they had already started to be influenced by Hsus attitude because there would be a good reason for removing Hsu under her management. This situation could have been avoided initially by first talking to each and everyone in the group which was to be managed by Li about the decision of promoting her as their manager. Those not comfortable like Hsu would have then been given the chance to move to the other group initially therefore the problem would not have occurred. Other employees would have also been informed about the promotion so that whoever who might has been interested such as Hsu would have a chance to be taken as one of the candidates to fill the position. In future, this problem can be avoided by talking to all the people concerned and the entire group which will be managed before making the move of promoting one of them so that they are all comfortable with the decision. Others should also be taught on how to accept others and their capabilities but not just think of themselves and how they can be able to move up the corporate ladder, they should be made to think of the company first and how it can be made to improve it and this will in future prevent such scenarios from reoccurring. The employees should also be taught ti respect each other and be ready to work under the supervision of any of them who would be promoted for a more superior position. Vidsoft technologies and its management should also provide opportunities to the employees through a job-bidding procedure or during the performance evaluation of employees by the managers to declare any interest which any of them may have in a specific promotion opportunity in the organization. The employees should be notified that they should identify higher positions which they may be interested in and they should not only use a general statement that they would someday want to have a better job but they should be clear and specific so that the management can be aware and therefore monitor such an employee for any possibilities of leadership or management skills. Performance evaluation should also be conducted on all the employees on basis of written specifications and all the standards which are related to the job and the appraisal should also be written so that they can be used in future. Vidsoft managers should conduct meetings with individual employees so they their evaluations can be signed and also determine their abilities in management. A system should also be developed so that the employees can be alerted on when any promotional opportunity is available in the organization so that they can have a chance to express their interest in the positions given (Devon 2007). Transactional leadership works in situations where clear structures are created and it is very clear of what is needed of the subordinates and the rewards they are meant to get when they follow orders given to them by their seniors. Although punishments are not mentioned, the subordinates understands them well and there are formal ways of instilling discipline in them which is put in place. The early stage of transactional leadership is where the contract is negotiated, and the subordinates are given salaries and benefits and managers gets authority over the subordinates in the company. The work allocated to subordinates by the managers is considered his/her responsibility whether or not there are resources available to do the work and in case anything goes wrong during work, the subordinate is seen to be at fault and is given a punishment for the failure just the way they are rewarded if they succeed in their work. The transactional leaders uses management by exception where they work on the principle that if something is operating to defined performance, then it does not need to be given any attention and that exceptions require praise for exceeding expectations and collective action is applied for performances which are below expectations. Transactional leadership is based on contingency where reward or punishment are contingent upon a persons performance. It is still a popular approach for managers despite its limitations such as the assumption of the rational man who is seen as a person who is mostly motivated by the money given to him/her or the simple rewards offered therefore their behaviors can be predicted. While the common transactional leadership relies on the assumptions about human beings, their motivators and how the organizations work, today these assumptions are seen as incorrect, false and inaccurate. This kind of leadership is linked to behaviorist approach to human functioning which is incomplete and it focuses more on management not leadership. Transformational leadership Transformational leadership is the process which changes or transforms individuals where they are made to want change, to improve and to be led. They access employees motives, satisfy their needs and value them and they are likely to make the organizational more successful. Transformational leadership begins with development of a vision which may emerge from different discussions and then the vision is sold where the transformational leaders convince others to contribute. The leaders seeks to transform the organization as well as the followers so that they can be good leaders. The major differences between transformational and transactional leadership is that while transformational leadership deals with building need and meaning in individuals, transactional leadership deals with building on the need to get the job done and make a living out of it. Second is that transformational leadership is usually pre-occupied with purposes, values, morals and ethics while transactional leadership is pre occupied with power and position, perks and politics. Transformational leadership transcends daily affairs and is oriented towards the long term goals without compromising on the human values and principles while transactional leaders swamp daily affairs and look at short term goals. The transformational leaders separates causes and symptoms and work to prevent and treat, and it focuses more on missions and strategies to achieve the goals, it makes the full use of the available resources such as human interactions, they design and redesign jobs so that they are meaningful and challenging and strive to work effectively within the human potential in the current systems of the organization and they align the internal structures and systems to reinforce the goals which have been set. On the other hand, transactional leaders confuses the causes and the symptoms, they focus on the tactical issues, rely on human relations to oil, they follow and fulfill the expectations from their roles and they support structures which reinforce they organizations goals (Bass Riggio 2005). Transformational leadership creation of a moral aspiration for followers and leaders alike Transformational leaders motivate their followers so that they can take action and do their work well by appealing to the shared goals and values and by satisfying the higher order needs of the people whom they are leading. They satisfy the aspirations and expectations of the people whom they are leading and it becomes moral because it raises the level of human conduct as well as their level of ethical aspirations of both the transformational leader and the people whom they are leading and therefore it has a transforming effect on both the leader as well as the led. Transformational leaders fosters the appropriate changes by adding into and shaping the common goals, needs and wants between them and followers and they also develop and carry an evaluation of others in accordance to the set values in the organization. There are four factors of transformational leadership which create a high level of moral inspiration to both the leaders and their followers, these are one, it has an idealized influence which describes managers who are exemplary role models for associates and therefore the followers like them because they believe that they will help them. Second is inspirational motivation which describes managers who motivates their followers to commit to the organizations vision and they also encourage team spirit to reach the already set goals. Third is intellectual stimulation which describes the managers who encourage innovation and creativity through challenging beliefs or views given by a group and the forth is individual consideration which describes managers who act as coaches and advisors to the associates or followers by encouraging them to reach goals so that they can help themselves as well as the organization (Sadler 2003).