Managing Human Resources Leadership Style

Managing Human Resources

Leadership Style Analysis

The leadership styles of company managers are able to significantly influence its success. The type of leadership is the result of education, personality, and skills of each leader. Some of the leaders present a combination of leadership styles in accordance with the business they address and the objectives of their company.

Rupert Murdoch is one of the most successful businessmen with numerous international companies. The success of the media mogul can be attributed to several factors. The most important factor that influenced his success is represented by Murdoch's orientation towards innovation. Murdoch understood that in order to create competitive advantage and to build a strong company it is important to use innovation.

Murdoch wanted to make the rules in the media industry and this could be achieved through innovative practices. In addition to this, the strategy based on innovation determined competitors to follow the rules established by Murdoch's company and to develop and implement strategies intended to counteract the effects of Murdoch's actions. His strategy was successful, given the fact that Murdoch's companies have reported increasing incomes.

Another factor that determined Murdoch's business success is represented by diversity. This is because Murdoch focused on developing companies from several fields. Therefore, these companies refer to technology, entertainment, publishing, and newspapers. However, most of these companies develop activities in the entertainment field.

Murdoch thought that these companies from different fields could support each other and support the development of his empire. For example, entertainment activities are connected with technology, which means that Murdoch developed such companies in order to support its broadcasting activities through technological developments.

Newspapers are a controversial subject in Murdoch's case. This is because although he owns important newspapers like the New York Post, Murdoch owns numerous tabloids in several countries. He has been accused of influencing the tabloid activity and using it for his own purposes. In his attempt to become the leader in the media industry, Murdoch has been accused of monopolistic practices.

Although Murdoch's strategies are questioned by his competitors and by some specialists in the field, his success proves that Murdoch was right about the strategic decisions he made. In addition to this, Murdoch developed and implemented flexible strategies that allowed his companies to adapt to environmental changes.

Murdoch wanted to expand his business on international level, but also wanted to expand it on different business sectors. This means that he was interested in pushing limits, and in setting records that his competitors had difficulties in addressing. By building a large media corporation, it would be difficult for smaller competitors to challenge its position. This allowed Murdoch's company to establish the rules in this market, which helped Murdoch increase his power.

The success of Murdoch's company can be attributed to his innovative management skills. Murdoch has the ability of identifying markets where certain products or services can be expanded. For example, Murdoch identified the potential of the Asian market that he exploited by the media companies he developed. His market analysis proved to be correct, given the large market share his companies developed.

The media environment is a business sector that can be continuously developed. Technical developments are able to significantly influence the success of media companies. In addition to this, media moguls have the power to influence the economic, the political, and the social environments. This strong position on the market must be sustained by significant investments in the company. In order to improve the company's situation, Murdoch focused on identified potential business segments that were not that much addressed by his competitors.

Rupert Murdoch was aware of the fact that in order to build the empire that he wanted, it was necessary to create a monopolistic market. Although such a competition does not favor the stakeholders, it was a good strategy for Murdoch's company. This is revealed by the significant sales increase as a result of price reductions. But Murdoch's view did not limit to his media empire. He wanted to influence the world's economy by the cheaper oil that was supposed to result from the war in Iraq. Therefore, he publicly supported President George Bush. In other words, Murdoch has the ability to influence political decisions that have effects on international level.

Another important aspect that must be taken into consideration is represented by the innovative leadership that Murdoch's style includes. Murdoch understood that the media industry requires continuous investments in innovation in order to sustain the leadership position on this market and customers' interest. This can be observed in Murdoch's focus on addressing technological developments.

However, this strategy seems to not be in the favor of some of his employees. This is because the introduction of such technologies required that the role of employees had to be reduced. The large protests of unions and workers were not able to determine Murdoch to change his opinion. This reveals the determination of Murdoch in pecoming the leader in this industry.

In addition to this, Murdoch's success in the media industry can be attributed to his ability of identifying and developing business trends. By investing in innovative techniques and introducing them on the market, Murdoch managed to get the attention and interest of customers, which led to increased customer loyalty and market share.

The process of globalization has determined companies to develop multicultural work environments. Murdoch proved his abilities in this direction also. His skills allowed him to easily integrate the different cultures of the acquired companies into News Corp. His strategies in such cases increased employee motivation, which was supposed to increase efficiency and productivity.

As mentioned above, Murdoch did not limit his influence to the economic environment, but he also focused on the political one. Therefore, he focused on satisfying the requirements of governments in certain countries in order to allow his company to reach its objectives in the regions in case. This also helped Murdoch sustain the market share of his company.

Rupert Murdoch is observed as having a combative management style. This is because he focuses on reducing his competition. Murdoch understood that in order to become the leader in the media industry he had to act faster than his competitors. As a consequence, Murdoch is well-known for developing and implementing flexible strategies able to adapt to environmental changes. This determined his competitors to invest in counteracting the effects of Murdoch's strategies, instead of investing in innovation, market development, and in developing competitive advantage. This allows Murdoch to establish the rules in the media market and to determine his competitors to follow them.

The complexity of Murdoch's entrepreneurial style is revealed by the global vision and centralized management of NewsCorp. In addition to centralized management, Murdoch also developed an interventionist style. This is because on certain situations, Murdoch preferred to temporarily take over the leadership of certain divisions or departments that were not performing in accordance with his needs and requirements (Johnson et al., 2008).

Murdoch's entrepreneurial style had important implications. This is because the political relationships of the media mogul reflected in his business and in the political situation in certain countries (Smith, 2011). In the UK, Murdoch's empire benefitted from Margaret Thatcher's interventions, which was an admirer of Murdoch's entrepreneurial style. As a consequence, Murdoch supported politicians through his newspapers.

2. Human resources represent the most important resource that companies can exploit. The success of companies' activity relies on the efficiency of their employees. Therefore, it is important to develop motivational strategies that are able to address the needs of the personnel. Given the fact that the activity of different companies determines various requirements of their employees, the motivational strategy of each company must be developed in accordance with the size, activity, and objectives of the company.

The satisfaction of employees also depends on the leadership skills of the manager of the company. Some of the leaders are people oriented, while other leaders are activity oriented. In other words, some of the leaders prefer to focus on the development of their subordinates' skills in order to improve their company's activity. Other companies require that their leaders work on improving the activities and processes within the company.

Different leadership styles refer to the relationship with employees in different ways. Transformational leadership focuses on improving individuals and social systems. Such leaders are interested in improving the motivation, morale of employees, which leads to improved efficiency. Transformational leaders try to influence their subordinates into building a strong relationship with the company. In addition to this, transformational leaders tend to focus on involving their subordinates in the decision making process and in helping them express their ideas.

Transactional leaders consider that employee motivation should be limited to rewards and punishments allocated in accordance with their performance. Such leaders are not interested in whether the company's resources allow their employees to reach the established objectives. They prefer to control the decision making process.

Rupert Murdoch is mostly a transactional leader. He is not interested in the ideas that his subordinates might have, but in them doing the job they are supposed to do. His human resources management is not considered to be efficient. Specialists in the field have stated that Murdoch is a ruthless manager that terrorizes his employees in order to motivate them. His visits in certain divisions of his company determine increased tension among his employees and their superiors.

In addition to this, Murdoch's authoritative style determines his employees to follow the rules he establishes. His leadership style does not allow his subordinates to consider him a CEO, but a dictator they must fear. His style does not seem to be constant. This is because he is known for actions based on his mood. His behavior around employees is also in accordance with different requirements determined by the company's activity. This does not help create a stable work environment for employees.

The recruitment and selection process developed by Murdoch is based on aspects that are considered improper by human resources specialists. He sometimes employed editors that he thought liked him. The leader in this case did not develop strategies intended to identify employees able to address the demands of these positions.

Some leaders allow their subordinates to establish the rules among them and to build the environment in which they prefer to work. This refers to decentralization. Rupert Murdoch does not seem to agree with such an approach. He prefers to interfere with work relationships in the divisions of his company.

Experts that have studied the situation at News Corp have observed that Murdoch prefers to apply centralized management processes. He does not delegate power to his subordinates. News Corp is organized based on traditional management structures and clearly established lines of authority, but Murdoch makes all the important decisions. The company's strategy and objectives are established by Murdoch, although he is sometimes interested in the advice of specialists.

Given Murdoch's behavior, his subordinates cannot progress and improve their skills. This is because they are not allowed or encouraged to express their opinion, to get involved in the decision making process, and to participate in establishing the company's strategy. They are only expected to do their job, and in accordance with their performance they are rewarded.

Therefore, employees cannot develop loyalty towards the company. They feel that the company is interested in their performance, and not in the development of their potential. They consider that the company is not sufficiently investing in them. As a consequence, their interest, efforts, and investments in the company's activity are likely to be reduced.

Murdoch's behavior towards his employees is also based on divide and rule policies. This is intended to make employees vulnerable. This serves the interests of an authoritative leader that is considered a dictator by his employees. The reasons behind this situation rely on the fact that Murdoch considers that vulnerable employees are easier to control. His assumption is correct, but it does not mean it is also efficient.

By creating a work environment characterized by fear, tension, lack of friendliness, support, and encouragement for employees, Murdoch intended to improve the control on his company, which was supposed to help him increase the productivity and efficiency of his staff. Instead, this type of environment creates improper work conditions that lead to reduced efficiency.

The effects of this leadership style on Murdoch's employees were significant. As stated in the case study, this workplace environment determined numerous nervous breakdowns from the company's employees. In other words, this type of behavior can threat the mental health of the company's staff. It is likely that most specialists in the field would not approve with this type of behavior. Experts recommend that the workplace environment is characterized by stability, encouragement and support for employees, and others. Such factors of influence did not seem to interest Rupert Murdoch.

Although Murdoch seemed authoritative by nature, this does not explain his dictatorial style towards his employees. As mentioned above, authoritative leadership is useful in situations that require control from top management. However, there is a big difference between authoritative and dictatorial leadership. Increased control levels within the company are not the same thing with terror and fear among employees.

Rupert Murdoch's style and behavior around employees was described as calculated terror. This means that Murdoch focused on inspiring fear among his employees and terrorized them in order to follow his orders. By this behavior Murdoch intended to reduce the individuality and personal ideas that his subordinates might want to express. This way, it was easier for Murdoch to impose his ideas and to reduce the resistance from subordinates.

The fact that this leadership style and behavior is considered calculated refers to the fact that Murdoch was aware of his behavior and its effects. His actions regarding the fear that he imposed among his subordinates are intentional. In other words, his dictatorial behavior cannot be attributed to Murdoch's personality, but to his intention.

In addition to this, it seems that numerous human resources processes at News Corp did not take place based on proper strategies. This is the case of performance evaluations. The systems regarding performance evaluations at News Corp did not include reviews of employees' activity. Therefore, it is likely that the company's managers were not aware of the evolution of their staff. This means that the rewards system also did not function properly. Specialists have also observed that career advancement processes were not properly established at News Corp. This made it difficult for employees to get promotions.

Rupert Murdoch is also accused of abusive verbal behavior towards his subordinates. This was in accordance with Murdoch's strategy of imposing fear among his employees. Although this behavior is considered to be inefficient, the success of news Corp reveals that Murdoch's strategy reached its objectives.

3. The leadership style is very important in influencing companies' success. Each company requires different types of leadership in accordance with its activity and with the objectives it intends to address. However, good leaders can adjust their style to the requirements of different situations.

There are several styles of leadership. They are applied in accordance with the objectives of the company. The most important leadership styles are represented by the autocratic, the democratic, and the charismatic styles. The autocratic leadership style refers to leaders that like having control and prefer a centralized decision making process. The democratic style refers to leaders that focus on involving their employees in the decision making process (Leadership Expert, 2011). Charismatic leaders attribute their success to their personality characteristics and other skills that their team members like.

There are also other types of leadership. Some leaders focus on developing different leadership styles that can be applied in different situation in accordance with its requirements. These are flexible leadership styles.

Rupert Murdoch is one of the most well-known leaders in the field of media. His entrepreneurial skills helped him develop an international empire and to attract the admiration of his competitors. There are several factors that contributed to Murdoch's success. His large vision allowed him to develop a global media empire that could address all types of infotainment.

The leadership style of Rupert Murdoch is mostly autocratic, combined with innovative leadership. Some of the specialists in the field consider that Murdoch has a dictatorial leadership style. The autocratic leadership style is characterized by the leader having control of processes, activities, and the decision making process within the company. In this case, the decisions of the leader must be followed, and the leader does not appreciate having his decisions be questioned.

Therefore, autocratic leader establish the plans and the rules that they expect their subordinates to follow. There are situations where employees can improve the processes within the company, but are not allowed to express their opinion. Such leadership style is not appreciated by employees (Webb, 2009).

However, the autocratic leadership style can be efficient in certain situations. Its efficiency is observed in large companies. This is because such companies are often confronted with situations where they must develop flexible strategies that allow them to counteract the effects of the changes determined by their environment.

Rupert Murdoch is an obvious example of autocratic leader, or at least this is what several specialists in the field have observed. His vision of building an international media empire had to be reached by developing a strong and powerful leadership style that allowed him to keep control on the various business activities his company developed. Therefore, the attacks on Murdoch's leadership style might be questionable.

Although his style is strongly disliked by his employees and associates, others see Murdoch as a successful businessman. Given the fact that Murdoch was able to reach the objectives he established for his business empire, it seems that his strategies were successful. However, this does not mean that his leadership style is recommended in the case of other companies. Even more, it is quite surprising how this leadership style was able to lead to such business success.

This is because the leadership style applied by Murdoch seems to reduce the efficiency and productivity of employees instead of increasing it, according to theory. The strongly authoritative leadership style of Murdoch was focused on centralized management that allowed him to have control on the company's activities and employees. This type of leadership is considered to be inefficient.

His dominating personality was revealed by his relationship with subordinates. The fact that he did not allow his team members to involve in the decision making process determined them to think that he did not trust and value their opinions. Such an approach is likely to have significant effects on the morale of these employees.

Specialists in the field focus on discussing the importance of employee satisfaction and morale and its implications regarding staff retention and the company's efficiency and productivity. However, human resources motivation did not seem to interest Murdoch. In his opinion, employees must be controlled through fear. This strategy was also applied to his associates, because they had to understand Murdoch's position and intentions.

Murdoch's leadership style is more than authoritative, it is considered dictatorial. Although this benefitted Murdoch and his companies, his employees were negatively affected by situation determined by this leadership style. The media industry addressed by Murdoch did not require such a leadership style.

In such conditions, it is recommended to build a relaxed workplace environment that allows employees to develop their skills. This favors both the company and its employees. Most experts recommend developing strategies intended to increase staff retention. Murdoch's behavior is in opposition with these opinions. His leadership style demonstrates that he is not interested in theoretical approaches to leadership or in developing a leadership style that favors his subordinates.

This means that Murdoch does not want to be a leader, but a manager for his companies. There are significant differences between leaders and managers. Leaders are interested in their team members, in developing their skills and improving their situation. Leaders want to inspire others into transforming themselves and becoming leaders. In other words, leader can be associated with the stakeholder theory. This theory assumes that companies should establish their objectives based on the needs of all stakeholders affected by the company's activity. Stakeholders are represented by owners, managers, employees, customers, suppliers, the government and the community.