Practice the Field of Management

¶ … Practice

The field of management theory has exploded as of late, with many new and different frameworks proposed to understand how and why leaders make the decisions they make, the effects that these decisions have on an organization as well as on the leaders themselves, and how to possibly make better decisions. One such framework of understanding is the concept of influence processes, which identifies certain avenues/areas that allow leaders and leadership teams to disseminate decisions and policy throughout an organization, and examines the way they relate to overall management styles and decisions. There are several commonly identified influence processes, any or all of which might be used by a particular leader or leadership team at a particular time or when making a specific decision. Simply put, influence processes are the various methods by which influence can be exerted by management and leadership teams throughout an organization, which is a salient feature of overall leadership style.

The various identified influence processes themselves also reflect the general leadership temperaments that utilize them. Direct decisions are the most basic and unavoidable of the influence processes; the decisions made by leadership inherently have a direct affect on the rest of the organization. The allocation of resources is a process that is more consciously and purposefully engaged in exerting organizational influence, and is highly interconnected with direct decision making in most organizations. Rewards systems and the selection and promotion of other leaders are also key influence processes; not only do rewards and acknowledgements encourage the desired behaviors, but promotion inherently perpetuates these behaviors in the leadership team. This is somewhat related to role modeling, which is arguably the most essential of these influence processes -- organizations and employees emulate leadership.

Andrea Jung embodies her identity as a role model wholeheartedly. As the Chairman and CEO of Avon Products, Inc., she has consistently used her prominent leadership position t demonstrate and expound the strict ethical behavior she expects in the company (Lussier & Achua 2007). Her implementation of a mandatory ethics seminar for all Avon employees and agents is an example of both direct action and resource allocation, and shows the company's commitment to its stated principles with a large financial investment (Lussier & Achua 2007). Due to the structure of the company, rewards tend to be more informal, though in a 2004 speech Jung also stated that simple success, for individuals and the company as a whole, was dependent on ethical conduct, thereby stressing the automatic extrinsic reward of doing better business (Lussier & Achua 2007). Jung, who is consistently named among the countries best corporate executives, is also living proof of the power that the selection and promotion of leaders has.

The same is certainly true of Indra Nooyi, who went from working nights to put herself through graduate school at Yale to leading PepsiCo (Graham 2006). The innovation and determination that saw Nooyi's promotion and make her such an excellent role model is demonstrated n her direct decisions. She was instrumental in PepsiCo's acquisition of Quaker Oats and its move (somewhat) to healthier products, while at the same time diverting resources to the company's fast-food chains, making them one of the profit centers of the company (Graham 2006). These actions dictated the general shift in policy within the company, and the reallocation of resources necessarily changed the organizational structure of PepsiCo to some degree. Nooyi continues to lead by example, which is one of the reasons PepsiCo has remained so strong.