Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words - 2

Leadership - Essay Example During any change there is resistance to change by the employees. Managing change requires leadership and leadership during mergers and acquisitions can be challenging. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are seen as long-term strategic orientation of the firm and not a one-time business tactic for short-term goals (Lin, Hung & Li, 2006). Industry consolidation and privatization, and the liberalization of economies are the most significant factors that have fueled M&A at the international level. They continue to be a popular form of corporate development and industry and firm specific factors finally govern the reason and the purpose of the mergers and acquisitions. M&As are ‘among the most important strategic decisions companies ever make’ (cited by Duncan & Mtar, 2006). However, there are many instances when M&As have failed even when the mergers take place between firms within the industry. One such example is the merger of Daimler-Chrysler – two giant automobile companies – that was supposed to be a merger of equals. Covin, Kolenko, Sightler & Tudor (1997) find that leadership style impacts post merger satisfaction and tha t leadership should be a key consideration for mergers. This heightens the importance and the role of a leader during the change management when mergers take place. Since our organization is planning a cross-border merger, it is essential to plan and implement change. While both managers and leaders are necessary for a healthy organization, leadership differs from management. While management is the "mental and physical effort to coordinate diverse activities to achieve desired results", leadership is defined as "natural and learned ability, skill, and personal characteristics to conduct interpersonal relations which influence people to take desired actions" (Handbook for Excellence, n.d.). "You lead people; you manage things" is how John Pejza expresses the difference between the two in this book. Through

Comparison and Differences between Date Positivism and Post-Positivism Assignment

Comparison and Differences between Date Positivism and Post-Positivism Concepts - Assignment Example Post-positivism is the exact rejection of the tenets that supported positivism. Having been coined after the original idea, post-positivism recognizes that the observable world has a connection between what scientists think and work. This implies that there is no difference between the scientific reasoning and the common sense reasoning. To verify observable phenomena in science, procedures are followed. This, therefore, means that in the scientific verifications, something beyond the measurable and observable, in this case, knowledge is achieved (Giddens & Sutton, 2010). To the sociology research today, the two concepts are important in that they guide the search for scientific answers. Whereas the positivist view of research holds that science should measure the observable in the search for truth, the post-positivist view of the same is that all measurements have an error and is fallible. This means that deeper inquiry is required to ensure that science holds steadfast the goal of getting it right about what is measured in research. The order perspective is based on the belief that the society is held close by shared principles and concepts. These concepts are responsible for the social consensus that is observed in any society. The cohesion and interdependence of the people in the society are a secured by the shared norms and beliefs (organic and mechanical solidarity). Conflicts according to this perspective arise from new perspectives that come to intrude the normal perceptions of beliefs and concepts. In the light of this perspective, structural approach to social work aims at maintaining the social prestige with little if any interference with the social structures and the related stability (Turner, 2012). The conflict perspective, on the other hand, is based on the concept of power and inequality in the society. As a result, the cohesion that exists in a society is unhealthy and not supposed to be maintained.