Business -- Applied Management Project STYLES OF LEADERSHIP: PROCTER & GAMBLE VS COLGATE-PALMOLIVE

This research proposal will focus on two major competitors in the national and international market, Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive, and the types of leadership that can be found within those organizations. The first step will to compile a list of leadership models that would most likely to be found within these organizations and then develop a questionnaire or interview process to see which models would fit best in the organizations. By identifying the leadership styles that are used in the organizations, it could be useful to the organization to understand leadership models and adapt or improve the current styles of leadership that are used in the business

Body

Brief History and Organization Background

Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble was established in Cincinnati, OH in 1837 by brothers-in-law William Procter, a candle maker and James Gamble, a soap maker, continuing to this day under the name of Procter & Gamble (Procter & Gamble, 2015). It began as a two-man partnership but by 1859, the partnership had 80 employees and annual sales exceeding $1 million, and then steadily grew through research, innovations and army contracts. In 1890, the partnership ended as Procter & Gamble incorporated to raise additional funds for expansion. In 1900, the corporation begins international sales in England and parts of Asia. In 1915, the corporation began manufacturing outside the United States, in Hamilton, Canada. In 1920, the company began using direct sales, with 450 salesmen selling directly to retailers. In 1930, the first non-family member, Richard R. Deupree, is chosen as company president, and the corporation establishes it first overseas subsidiary by purchasing Thomas Hedley & Co. Ltd. Commencing in 1935, the company expands into Asia by: the 1935 acquisition of the...

In the 1940s and 1950s, the company expands into South America by building or acquiring manufacturing in Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela. In 1954, the company expands manufacturing into France. The company continues its acquisitions, including but not limited to Charmin Paper Mills in 1957 and Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals in 1982. The company also continues its geographic expansion, most notably expanding into Eastern Europe through its acquisition of a detergent manufacturer in Czechoslovakia in 1991, obtaining a hiring license in Saudi Arabia and opening Chinese operations in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Tianjin, Dongguan and Nanping by 2013. Today, P&G's manufacturing and marketing is represented by approximately 145 nationalities and its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as PG at $82.89 per share (Yahoo!Finance, 2016). Its corporate board of directors has general oversight per Ohio's General Corporation Law, P&G's Amended Articles of Incorporation and Code of Regulations, and the Board of Directors' By-Laws (Procter & Gamble, 2015).
ii. Colgate-Palmolive

William Colgate & Company was founded in New York City in 1806 by William Colgate as a candle, soap and starch factory, reorganized in 1875 as Colgate & Company. In 1898, B. J. Johnson Company developed the formula for soap made of palm oil and olive oil, called "Palmolive," which became so famous that the company was renamed Palmolive, and then merged with the Missouri-based soap manufacturing Peet Brothers Company. Palmolive-Peet acquired Colgate Company in 1928, eliminated "Peet" from its name in 1958 and became the current Colgate-Palmolive Company (Colgate-Palmolive Company, 2016). In 1930, the company was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Before and after its incorporation, the company has expanded…