Transformational Leadership Assignment: Change Management In Amazon

Question

Task: As an individual, you will electronically submit a two-part report comprising of (i) a critical review of academic material (1,000 words) and (ii) a critical appraisal, evaluation and justification of change within an International organisation (2,000 words).
Part 1: Critical Review of academic material (1,000 words)
The first part of the module focuses on strategic leadership and management by examining the evolving nature of leadership and how transformational leaders lead their organisations. This part of the module explores leadership needs and the appropriate leadership style among other things. There will also be focus on leadership qualities and styles which will encourage students to reflect on their own development as leaders on the international stage. A number of models, theories and perspectives of leadership are explored including Leadership style and the relationship with situational factors; Critical components of strategic leadership; Leadership development, styles, motivations and competencies. (1,000 words) It is suggested that this Part is completed by Week 6. Part 2: Critical appraisal, evaluation and justification of change within an International organisation (2,000 words)
The second part of the module aims to help students develop an understanding of the concept of organisational transformation and change and to be able to reflect critically on current debates about the extent to which organisations may be manipulated or transformed. You will study a range of tools, models and theoretical concepts concerned with the process of managing change and learn to apply this learning in a case study context. This part of the module also aims to develop your appreciation of the human dimension of change initiatives and the strategic role of leaders, paying particular attention to the emotional impact of organisational change and enable student to consider change leadership behaviours at an international level using appropriate conceptual and practical tools. The nature of change management and the impact of organisational dynamics, power and culture on the strategic change programme are also explored. (2,000 words)
To aid you for this section, it is strongly suggested that you keep an academic diary, from the first day of your studies within Birmingham City Business School. This will enable you to better plan your studies / research
Both parts in the report need to be attempted to achieve a pass overall – you cannot pass this module by submitting less than the two specified parts.

Answer

Part 1: Critical Review on the case scenario of transformational leadership assignment
It is discussed in the transformational leadership assignment that there exist positive correlation between the leadership effectiveness and the leadership type developed by the higher executive of management in organization. In large organisation leaders of the business need to develop relationship with the employees to gain knowledge about the behavior that is expected mutually. Transformational leadership could provide an important contribution to the large organization’s leader. It would influence their communication and improve the relationship with the staff (Fernie and Sparks, 2018). Leadership of situation type plays a vital role in improving climate of learning type within the organization. As opined by Alonderiene and Majauskaite (2016), it would empower the staffs to follow the goals of the company. This leadership style allows big company to act as per the alteration takes in the external environment. It would create changes of effective type to develop a workplace of sustained learning type within the organisation. Stimulation of intellectual type is considered as vital aspect of this leadership style. Large companies leader need employees who could adapt as per the alteration takes place in the company. Depending on this style of leadership, it could contribute inspiration to the staff to some extent (Chaffey, Hemphill and Edmundson-Bird, 2015).

Leadership is a vital management function, which helps to enhance the efficiency of the employees for achieving the goals of the organization. Leader is considered as an individual who initiates the task by interacting the plans and policies to the employees. A leader is expected to be playing a vital role in the organisation. He tries to inspire the staff with non-economic and economic type of rewards. This results in better performance of the employees. Leader is not there only to supervise but also plays the role of guiding the employees in the right track. As opined by Graham et al., (2015) within this transformational leadership assignment, guiding implies over here the method by which the employees would perform their task with efficiently and effectively. In this transformational leadership assignment, confidence is considered as an important factor which could be gained through work efforts expression towards the staff. It could be achieved by making the employees understand their position and guiding them to achieve the goals of the company effectively (Hayes, 2018). It is also necessary for the leader to listen to the problems and issues of the employees. Morale implies employee’s co-operation towards the task provided to them and wins the trust of that employees. A leader could be the booster of the morale by getting the entire cooperation so that they could perform with their two most abilities for achieving goals (Chaffey, Hemphill and Edmundson-Bird, 2015).

The purpose of the management discussed in the transformational leadership assignment is to get the work done by the employees. An efficient environment of work helps to get good growth of the company. Hence, the leader must give priority to the relationship with the human (Plowman, 2017). The leader must keep contacts of personal type with the employees and should try to solve the problem of the employees. He should try to treat the employees as a term of humanitarian. As stated by Holten and Brenner (2015), it would be possible to get the coordination by the help of reconciliation of interest of personal type with the goals of the company. These sorts of synchronization could only be gained through effective and proper co- ordination which should be the initial purpose of the leader (Hayes, 2018).

It is heard by every that leader is trying to open another head quarter in North America. This implies that there would be availability of more than 50000 jobs in the next decade. The investment for opening the second head quarter is near about 5billion dollar which boost the philanthropy of the corporate sector. In a shareholder letter Jeff Bezos speaks regarding the vitality of concentrating on long term for taking decisions in business. Most of the approaches made by the community is same regarding this. It is evident that vision of the leader matter for successful growth of the company (Fernie and Sparks, 2018). It would help to develop the bold thinking and innovation within the organisation. This approach could take time for getting the result in the company. In the principle of leadership explored in this section of transformational leadership assignment, they mainly influence the members of the team to be innovative and curious to learn new things. Leaders never thought that they have learnt everything they always remained in the phase of learning new things. They always remain curious about innovative matter and try to explore those facts (Plowman, 2017).

An eminent leader is mainly popular for their tendency to commit and disagree. They mainly give value to conversation of inclusive type where opinions of diverging type are raised. However, in the end leaders choose a point of decision where everyone put their acceptance, collaboration and inclusivity are important factors to be considered for successful growth in the organization (Fernie and Sparks, 2018). In organizations, leaders listen to other employees and give respect. An efficient leader is well known mainly for his innovative and visionary style of leadership. As per role of leader, concentrating on the consumer would make the organization resilient more. The transformational leadership assignment examines the words of Iqbal et al., (2015) that in organization there is a popular saying that begins with the customer and work according to it. It has been mentioned by Bezos several times that one need to concentrate on the need of customer and work according to it when anyone starts as per the customer needs they always begin with the problems and demand of the customer. This is not followed by most of the companies and they follow the opposite rule to run the organization. Jeff Bezos is always fascinated with the vision skill of a leader. Idea of being for longer time is the key factor for success of leaders (Chaffey, Hemphill and Edmundson-Bird, 2015).

Company’s brand is considered to be the person’s reputation. Reputation could be earned by performing well in a difficult task. Brand of organizations reflects the personality of eminent leader thinking and beliefs. In result the culture of the organization continues to develop and grow. As opined by Zhang et al. (2015), leaders of companies are believed to be an innovative one. Hence, the readings provided in this transformational leadership assignment depicts that the culture of the organization is also very innovative. Bezos is famous for doing innovative things well. Leader must be best at trying innovative ideas in several areas as a part of experiment (Plowman, 2017).

Part 2
Introduction: The concept of organisational change management illustrated in the following transformational leadership assignment can be defined as the process through which business and business needs are updated by an organisation. As the requirements of the customers change with each passing day, change management is required in the organisation to deal with the same through organisational culture, structure and enterprise. This helps in regard to strategies, processes, technologies, procedures and culture (Romager et al., 2017). In the present case of transformational leadership assignment, organisational change, transformation and the role of Jeff Bezos would be analysed in transforming Amazon as a brand. The importance of the human dimension of change would be analysed along with the strategic role of the leader to understand the necessary changes brought in the organisation Amazon (Hiles and Hon, 2016).

Change in Amazon and transformation in the organisation
With the advent of technology it is seen that most of the companies are creating e-commerce websites and hence this can affect the sales of the company Amazon. Hence, change has been brought with betterment in product development, product portfolio, Amazon Prime, delivery options and Amazon Pay and such other facilities (Head, 2017).

The change has been brought with the help pragmatic pathways that are important in dealing with the recent needs and the changed requirements of the organisation. The first step is the metrics that matters where it is seen technologies, tools and updated prospects are used by the company (?urek, 2015). The next step taken by Amazon discussed in this transformational leadership assignment has been scaling the edges where it is seen there are different business practices like direct inventory management from the sellers and the retailers are used by the company (Smart Insights, 2019). The third stage is re-shaping the strategy of the company that is based on the idea of mobilising large eco-systems of business that include positive views and generation of incentives. This is followed by the last stage that is the incremental changed products and services by the company. It is evident herein transformational leadership assignment that Jeff Bezos believes in bringing change from time to time to serve the customers better and to meet the changing needs of the customers (GotAbout, 2019).

Theoretical understanding of change management
Lewin’s Change Management Model: Kurt Lewin’s model of change management can be understood in the light of the organisational change that is managed by Amazon. The three stages of change can be stated in the following section of transformational leadership assignment:

Unfreeze: this is the preparation of the change that is brought by Amazon. In this case, it is found that the organisation is preparing for the change (Turban et al., 2018). In order to bring the status quo in the organisation, Amazon tries to resist the change by bringing the profit perspective in the scenario (Cummings, Bridgman and Brown, 2016).

Change: this is the stage outlined in the transformational leadership assignment where the real change in brought by the organisation. In this regard, it can be said that leadership and reassurance is provided by Jeff in Amazon (Hiles and Hon, 2016). In Amazon communication is the best strategy that is used in order to bring the change. The staffs are involved in the process through bottom down communication method (GotAbout, 2019).

Refreeze: in this stage of transformational leadership assignment the final change is brought and Amazon tries to maintain the change with the help of retention of the employees and trying to train them in the new regard. The employee engagement is one of the best measures that are used by the organisation to ensure that there is betterment in the organisation (Hiles and Hon, 2016). Smart insights are embedded in the minds of the employees and the same are applied in the customer service and change management of the organisation (Cummings, Bridgman and Brown, 2016).

Leadership style of Jeff Bezos
Transformational leadership is the strategy that is used by the CEO Jeff Bezos of Amazon. They have the influential capability to try to motivate the employees with their words and behaviours. As per the investigation conducted on this transformational leadership assignment it can ve stated that this is the strategy that is used by Jeff Bezos where the huge changes and large scale changes are brought by him through behaviour (Gorla, Chiravuri and Chinta, 2017). He has the calibre to broaden the thinking and the motivational aspect of the employees for which employees are dedicated to the changes that are brought in the organisation. Meeting the objectives, vision and mission of the organisation is the prime concern of the CEO (Smart Insights, 2019). This is met by him though his charismatic personality. It is noticed in case of transformational leadership ethical convictions are important and is the risk taker who is part of the getting in to the long run. However, Jeff has been able to draw the convictions and the ethics to build the necessary trust in the organisation (Tseng, Lee and Chu, 2015). Jeff Bezos is a transformational leader as he has the ability to use his calibre of enthusiasm, optimism and positive. Furthermore, it has been found in the transformational leadership assignment that transformational leader takes the risk and measures the uncertainty along with challenges and assumptions. They guide employees to reach the outcome or the solutions without criticism (Hatfield, 2019).

What is the human dimension of change initiatives and the strategic role of Jeff Bezos discussed in the transformational leadership assignment?
The human dimension of the change initiative is the one of the measures that has been brought by the organisation and the CEO with the help of intellect, intuition and the min of the person. The instant shift and the permanent change in the organisation can be brought with the lasting thoughts of the employees (Romager et al., 2017). This has been done by the CEO by communicating at every level of the organisation. The change initiatives of the company as applied by Jeff in the last few years include reach, act, convert and engage (Hatfield, 2019). As mentioned in the transformational leadership assignment, this is the strategic thought that is applied by the company to both the customers and the employees. In case of bringing the change in Amazon Jeff has been one of the means through which he had made the employees idealised about reaching the common goals (GotAbout, 2019).

The moment the changes that are required in the organisation are discussed and finalise in the organisation, he makes it a point to communicate with the immediate subordinate levels of employees and his charisma or the problem solving skills inspire the workforce to follow him (Head, 2017). Employees follow his charisma and respect his individualised respect to every department. Hence, his strategic role in the organisation is to bring enthusiasm and positivity within the workforce with the help of intellectual simulation and communication style (Tseng, Lee and Chu, 2015). Though it is not possible for the CEO to communicate with every individual employees but his strategic thought is to reach the employees and understand the vulnerabilities that are faced by the people in the organisation (ReVolve, 2019).

Paying particular attention to the emotional impact of organisational change
Jeff Bezos understand the emotional part of the employees through some specific steps. Once, the decision of change management or required change is proposed in the organisation Amazon, he creates the necessary strategies of the ways the changes can be achieved (Romager et al., 2017). The next step is once the change has been finalised he plots the plan and the timeline through which change can be brought (?urek, 2015). It is noticeable that in all the above mentioned cases provided in the transformational leadership assignment he takes the necessary suggestions and participation of the employees. He tries to understand the emotional content and the feedback of the employees based on the change imitative initiated (Smart Insights, 2019).

The next part of the attention that is provided by Jeff Bezos being a transformational leader is that he tries to understand the issues that might be faced by the employees, the training methods that must be devised, the help and the guidance required by the employees and the problems that might arise (ReVolve, 2019). Once, the managers or the team leaders of the team inform the members about the change if they raise any concern of issue that rightfully tackled by Jeff Bezos. The most important aspect illustrated in this segment of transformational leadership assignment is that Jeff Bezos is very clear of the quality of service and dedicated that he wants from his employees (Wang, Cavusoglu and Deng, 2016). He is distinct and clear about the same which makes the employees feel that nothing is hidden from them and they are part of the organisation (Hatfield, 2019).

Nature of change management and the impact of organisational dynamics
The nature of change management of Amazon can be understood in relation to the customer satisfaction and customer being the prime focus perspective (Wang, Cavusoglu and Deng, 2016). In this regard it can be noticed that the essential step that is taken by the organisation and Jeff is that to integrate the service of the company with the interest of the customers (GotAbout, 2019). The employees are provided with the vision of customer experience. Hence, the nature of change management might be bit confusing or problematic initially but employees can relate to the vision of the company and the collective goal that they are set to be part of in the organisation (Gorla, Chiravuri and Chinta, 2017). The nature of change is mostly smooth as the leader ensures that there is proper communication to the employees and the employees are aware of the organisational dynamics (ReVolve, 2019).

The impact of organisational dynamics of the change is that every department and teams that are required to be part of the change receives the communication about the change that is to be brought in the organisation (Wang, Cavusoglu and Deng, 2016). Based on the same the intellectual simulation, thoughtfulness and strategic vision of Jeff are used to motivate the employees (GotAbout, 2019).

Power and culture on the strategic change
The term “Power” in regards to the scenario of transformational leadership assignment can be sated as the means to influence other and channel them in a particular type of work. Culture in the organisation can be stated as the environment where supposedly “correct” methods of working process and environments are used. In case of Amazon it can be stated that the power of Jeff Bezos is more of the softer side of dealing with things (?urek, 2015). He is great leader as he tries to analyse the situation and use transformational leadership to understand the means of reaching the strategic goals (Smart Insights, 2019). In an example it can be seen that the values of the organisation is used by Jeff Bezos. For example, in case of achieving better customer loyalty the strategic means that is used by is that to understand the needs of the customer, taking help from the teams and the departments to bring the change like Amazon Prime for videos or movies (Hiles and Hon, 2016). Hence, it is clear on this transformational leadership assignment that the integration of the teams and suggestion is part of the organisational culture that is used in reaching the strategic goal and introducing the same rightfully (ReVolve, 2019).

Critical recommendations
It can be critically said in this transformational leadership assignment that employee engagement has been one of the pivotal aspect of the organisation and Jeff Bezos has been one of the pillars to bring the necessary changes and sustain them. However, in some context it has been found that as the company is MNC and the operations are found in different parts of the world the changes that might be required in certain area or service quality might not be appropriate for other areas (Gorla, Chiravuri and Chinta, 2017). Furthermore, employees have often said that Jeff Bezos is not accessible from any part of the world. Like in case of the employees who are delivering in Africa the issues of the changes that are brought might not be suitable for them (Turban et al., 2018). In such cases the team lead or the managers are the common link to reach the head office as they cannot impart the issues to Jeff Bezos. However, it can be still said that Jeff Bezos is one of the best leaders in the world of e-commerce business with his transformational leadership strategies (Tseng, Lee and Chu, 2015).

Conclusion
It can be concluded from the overall discussion on transformational leadership assignment that Jeff Bezos is one of the personalities in the business world who has been efficient in maintaining his image in Amazon with the help of the transformational leadership means. The strategies applied by him include understanding the core of the problem and resolving the same with right measures and change management process. However, the key method applied by the leader as discussed in the above segments of transformational leadership assignment is that he makes his employees part of the positivity. He makes them participate in the change that is important in dealing with the employee engagement. The enthusiasm and the positivity are assured by Jeff Bezos along with resolving the issue or vulnerabilities that is faced by the employees. This makes him one of the present business leaders in the world.

References
Part 1:
Alonderiene, R. and Majauskaite, M., (2016). Leadership style and job satisfaction in higher education institutions. Transformational leadership assignment International Journal of Educational Management, 30(1), pp.140-164.

Chaffey, D., Hemphill, T. and Edmundson-Bird, D., 2015. Digital business and e-commerce management. Pearson UK.

Fernie, J. and Sparks, L. eds., 2018. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new challenges in the retail supply chain. Kogan page publishers.

Graham, K.A., Ziegert, J.C. and Capitano, J., (2015). The effect of leadership style, framing, and promotion regulatory focus on unethical pro-organizational behavior. Journal of business ethics, 126(3), pp.423-436.

Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.

Holten, A.L. and Brenner, S.O., (2015). Leadership style and the process of organizational change. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(1), pp.2-16.

Iqbal, N., Anwar, S. and Haider, N., (2015). Effect of leadership style on employee performance. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(5), pp.1-6.

Plowman, B., 2017. Activity based management: Improving processes and profitability. Routledge.

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Part 2:
Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., and Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. Transformational leadership assignment Human relations, 69(1), 33-60.

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Tseng, H.L., Lee, Y.C. and Chu, P.Y., 2015. Improvisational capabilities in e-commerce adoption: A multiyear comparison. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 18(1), pp.48-66.

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