Leadership and Innovation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Leadership and Innovation - Assignment Example This in turn is supposed to improve the organization's operational flexibility and thus the ability to deal with change. For the study of leadership, the above mentioned changes have led to the widespread adoption of empowerment strategies. Such an adoption is understandable: if one flattens an organization's structure, there is little choice but to empower the organisations lower-level workers with broader decision-making responsibilities. As a result, the traditional "limits to power" once designated by boundaries of hierarchy and rational authority are blurring (Gordon 2002). This paper deals with the questions of leadership and its intrinsic relation with organisational change and innovation within the framework of a case study - the experience of WL Gore & Associates, Inc. The paper consists of three major parts, related respectively to leadership, change and innovation, each chapter discussing both theoretical concepts and their practical implementation at Gore & Associates. The New Leadership paradigm incorporated three main categories of theory - transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and culture-based leadership. ... Such an adoption is understandable: if one flattens an organization's structure, there is little choice but to empower the organisations lower-level workers with broader decision-making responsibilities. As a result, the traditional "limits to power" once designated by boundaries of hierarchy and rational authority are blurring (Gordon 2002). This paper deals with the questions of leadership and its intrinsic relation with organisational change and innovation within the framework of a case study - the experience of WL Gore & Associates, Inc. The paper consists of three major parts, related respectively to leadership, change and innovation, each chapter discussing both theoretical concepts and their practical implementation at Gore & Associates. Leadership in WL Gore & Associates, Inc. Transactional and transformational leadership The New Leadership paradigm incorporated three main categories of theory - transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and culture-based leadership. The transactional leadership theorists, including those theorists who explored the concept of leadership through the eyes of followers, explained leadership as contingent on a condition of transaction or exchange between leaders and followers. Alternatively, transformational leadership theory argues that "good" leadership is achieved through more than just tangible inducements. It suggested that leadership can be conceptually organized along a number of charismatic and situationally correlated dimensions: charismatic leadership, inspirational leadership, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration. The culture-based theorists viewed leadership as being culturally specific, where "good" leadership, among other things, primarily depends on whether or not a