LEADERSHIP PROJECT

Assignment Top Sheet

Your Name: Khalid Al-Barwani …….. ............................................ Student ID: 2113418

Unit Title: LEADERSHIP PROJECT(OMAN) …………………….…………Unit Code: SHR011-6

Unit coordinator’s name: Bas van der Sande .............................. Submission due date 30/05/2022

Assignment Title: Assessment 2 – Summative Assessment

Signature: ................................................ Date 30-May-2022

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Table of Contents
Assignment Top Sheet .................................................................................................................................. 0
Assignment Title: Assessment 2 – Summative Assessment ..................................................................... 0
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Critical evaluation of leadership theory ........................................................................................................ 3
History ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
Contextual issues of leadership in the middle east ...................................................................................... 3
Critical review of current and emerging aspects of leadership theory ........................................................ 5
Leadership model appropriate for the middle east ...................................................................................... 5
Part 2 ............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Evaluation of differing leadership styles and behaviors as per OCI’s culture, management and leadership
...................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Part 3 ........................................................................................................................................................... 11
Current leadership issues/challenges in OCI .............................................................................................. 11
Part 4 ........................................................................................................................................................... 14
Evolution of ‘leadership’ ............................................................................................................................. 14
Conclusions about the definition of ‘leadership’ ........................................................................................ 16
Transactional and transformational leadership style ......................................................................... 17
References .................................................................................................................................................. 18

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Introduction

Critical evaluation of leadership theory

History
At the time of Ottoman/Turk empire collapse during World War I, triumphant western European
countries had already established their colonies in the whole Middle East until 1950s and 1960s.
However, with the independence of many Middle Eastern countries, oil - boom was about to be
starting to push new infrastructure, economic, and education development programs in Middle
Eastern countries.

Accordingly, West’s interest in the region transformed from solely political to majorly economic
in nature, which influenced strong economic relationships between each other and stimulating
more and more business correspondences, labor and education transactions.

All of this caused huge amount of information exchange from WEST to Middle East, including
practices of modern management and leadership theories/styles.

Contextual issues of leadership in the middle east

Middle Eastern countries have become key geo-political and economic players in today’s
interdependent world, not only because of their special status of one of the biggest Oil Production
& Exporting Countries but also because of ongoing geo-economic situation in which Middle East
is increasingly taking center stage of international businesses.

Consequently, we see frequent exchanges between Middle Eastern Countries and modern Western
countries not only in business aspect but also in term of skills exchange and educational programs.

Having said above, let’s not forget, Middle Eastern countries still possess strong tribal traditions
and Islamic cultural roots which somewhat impede complete adoption of modern leadership style
because of following reasons:

- long Power Distance,

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- more collectivism, low individualism,

- high Masculinity,

- high tendency to avoid Uncertainty,

- low level of Long-Term Orientation, and

- low indulgence level

Moreover, Middle East countries are more influenced by Societal Values, indicating that locals
take pride in their families and organizations and possess strong loyalties for them. They also tend
to display high score in In-Group Collectivism and are okay with power distance level i.e. they
tend to accept power differentials, authority, social inequality and status privileges. They also
reflect low on performance, future orientation, and gender egalitarianism.

All in all, Middle Eastern societies are not majorly particularly performance oriented, instead they
are more family oriented and are okay with Gender inequality and unequal distribution of power.

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Critical review of current and emerging aspects of leadership

theory
It is a well-established fact that most of the modern leadership theories were first introduced,
developed and practiced by Western Europe and North American countries, in middle of the 19th
century, for e.g., starting from Thomas Carlyle’s Great Man Theory to Behavioral Theories
(1950s-1970s), then Contingency Theory (1967-1990) which that led to Transactional and
Transformational ideas of leadership (1980spresent), and eventually modern day’s emerging
theories revolving around Systems Thinking.

Naturally, these philosophies and theories are not only taught in Middle Eastern universities but
also are widely adopted in local organizations.

Leadership model appropriate for the middle east

I believe that instead of blindly following the western leadership theories, careful considerations
must be given to local cultural context and on-ground realities in order to achieve greater benefits
out of these theories.

After a careful analysis of multiple leadership theories including Great Man and Trait Theories,
Behavioral Theory, Contingency/Situational Theory, and Charismatic Leadership Theory, I have
found Transactional & Transformational Leadership style and Values-Based Leadership Model
best fit for Middle East environment.

Leadership theories mainly start from Historian Thomas Carlyle’s Trait Theory (which is also
considered as one of the foremost leadership theories), as per which leaders are born with inherent
characteristics and are divinely inspired to rise when situation be. However, this theory does not
fit Middle East culture because people here are very much religious and they do not believe on
classism or racism, consequently, they would never accept anyone as a leader only because of their
charisma, creativity, trustworthiness, or intellectual/emotional intelligence. Rather, they demand a
breadth of more traits more relatable to their own culture.

In this respect, behavioral theories are more suitable to Middle East culture since here a pious and
honest person is always looked up with reverence and admiration. Therefore, if a leader possess

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and exhibits good deeds and actions visibly, there are more chances of him being accepted as a
leader. These actions maybe clarity of communication, delegation of tasks, kind and friendly
nature, trustworthiness, and especially his ability to match his leadership approach to the level of
his audience.

This does not limit to only individual needs of followers, but also encompasses technical part of
the job i.e. task orientation vis-à-vis relationship orientation where participative leadership is
nurtured and people are involved in planning.

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Part 2

Evaluation of differing leadership styles and behaviors as per

OCI’s culture, management and leadership
Oman Cables Industry (SAOG) is my current employer, OCI is one of the largest cables
manufactures in Middle East having products ranging from low voltage control and medium
voltage cables to instrumental cables, PV cables, overhead conductors, submarine cables and
building wires.

Leadership Style describing OCI’s culture, management and

leadership

OCI is more than 32 years old Company, working on international best practices, industry’s best
standard operating procedures and well-developed organizational policies where leaders’ roles and
authorities are well defined with clear job responsibilities in place.

In OCI, leadership style is mostly role based, which means that when leaders interact with their
subordinates their behavior, communication, presentation, and interaction is totally different than
when they interact with Company’s Management/Directors. As leaders’ roles change, so do their
behaviors– to meet individual needs of their audience.

Furthermore, in OCI, a great deal of importance is also given to technical needs of one’s followers
(along with personal needs) i.e. focusing on development needs of their followers.

Secondly, Management also puts so much importance on the fact that leadership style must match
the environment, for which least-preferred co-worker scale is employed to find out which
employees would be best suited in which situation. Employees having higher least-preferred co-
worker score are deemed to be better in interpersonal skills and in getting the work done thru other,
whereas, low least-preferred co-worker score people are more task-oriented and exhibit leadership
capability only when they possess positional power.

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This approach of situational leadership style also depends on the maturity level of the subordinates
and the level of relationship between the leader and subordinates; for e.g., if relationship is low,
then leader can only instruct his/her follower to perform some task, however, if relationship is
high, he/she may invite volunteers among his/her followers to perform the task.

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Evolution of Leadership Styles in OCI

OCI’s leadership approach vis-a-vis competitors

OCI’s emphasis on charismatic leadership style gives it many advantages over its competitors in
the region. One recent employee survey carried out in the beginning of the year indicated that
employees not only look up to their managers for their career aspiration but also they acknowledge
contribution of their leaders/managers in their career progress, because of which OCI employer
branding has improved a lot in GCC market, not only many fresh graduates dream to enter the
organization but also retention level is comparatively higher than any other industrial organization
in GCC region.

More specifically, OCI’s leaders are considered as pacesetting leaders (who set aggressive goals
for their followers and help them to achieve it by praising and encouraging them and providing
them with necessary skills and coaching) instead of acting as an authoritative or coercive leader.
OCI’s leaders posses strong beliefs and great vision about future, they are high performance
oriented, exhibiting professional confidence and emotional bond with their followers who are not
only obedient but also devoted and loyal to their leader.

This kind of leadership style helped OCI a lot in the pandemic situation in 2020-2021 when
employees were afraid to attend the work but still showed up to the work because of the excellent
leadership style showcased by OCI’s leaders who made an all-out effort to ensure proper safety
precautions are employed in the workplace to avoid any unwanted situation. Not only that, OCI’s
leaders led from the from by showing up at shop floor frequently, addressing worker’s concerns
immediately and rewarding staff members for their efforts. This charismatic leadership style not
enabled the company to remain functional in COVID times but also to earn maximum profits when
our competitors were incurring loss due to production shut down.

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Part 3
Current leadership issues/challenges in OCI

Currently, when we perform SWOT analysis of company’s leadership, we find-out Company is

facing different pressures not only from outside but also there are many weaknesses inside of the
company, which are becoming increasingly high-lightened due to changing socio economic
situation. Such weaknesses were hidden form Management’s observation for so long but now have
become major threat for company’s existence.

Like all other organizations in Oman, OCI is also affected by pandemic and its after affects such
as looming supply chain problems, increasing raw material cost, disruption of delivery cargoes,
uncertainty of Govt. orders etc.

All of the above explains that, from Management part, we need to show exemplary leadership in
the face of new challenges to steer the company out of this looming crisis.

The situation is still not so bleak, as we still have untapped avenues to force our come back by
concentrating more on our not so perfect operations and try to make it lean, effective, & efficient.
Management is considering all kind of option in its hands, including, holding employee’s annual
bonuses, cutting salaries and withdrawing increments, also laying-off few extra headcounts.

All of the actions mentioned above may serve as a double-edged-sword for the Management. On
the one hand it will give Management extra agility and cash flow to run company’s operation
smoothly for a couple of more months but on the other hand it may jeopardize Company’s working
environment as post lay-off working environment is always very toxic and unhealthy for the
productivity.

Company may face big resistance from labors, during lay-off exercise, who are Omani nationals
and very difficult to be laid off because of legal matters. Also, remaining employees will now face
a trust-deficit with Company’s management.

In such a complex situation, we may only pin our hopes on good and situational leadership, now
it is the responsibility of Company’s leaders to show their true leadership not only from

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relationship context but also from technical context. Company’s leaders should come forward to
identify creative solutions of supply chain problems and then lead their team from the front in
implementing the solutions and addressing the problems.

As commonly said, special circumstances demand special measures……likewise, now OCI’s

leaders should show their charismatic leadership qualities by adapting to the situation and by
motivating and inspiring their followers as well to get prepared to achieve this uphill task.

OCI leaders must display high energy and great enthusiasm not only from technical perspective
but also from relationship perspective, they should aspire their followers with their great energy
and self-confidence because this self-assurance will not only help in their persona building and
role modeling but also their strong beliefs and conviction will enable them to express their vision
confidently clearly to their followers.

Consequently, followers will also aspire for high performance and will have extra-ordinary
confidence on OCI’s leaders since they now identify with them on a very personal level and have
great confidence on their abilities under the leadership of their leaders. This emotional bond
between leaders and followers is based on affection, respect and esteem which lead to ultimate
obedience of the leader and devotion & loyalty towards him.

Another important aspect which Management should not forget is that such kind of high energy
between leaders & followers only co-exist when there is critical situation, great challenges and
urge to perform extra-ordinarily. Therefore, Management should avoid creating a monotonous
situation or managing the situation in a bureaucratic way - because trying to handle the crisis with
an unchanging attitude will literally kill the sense of urgency and then it would be stupid to expect
any heroic feats from the employees.

To start with OCI’s leaders should first establish a clear and noise-free channel of communication
which will give positive signals to the employees and clear any doubts they may have. All
uncertainties concerning future of the Company and job security will vanish when leaders
communicate with their followers.

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Once employees will see new active leadership approach to address the issues at hand, they will
also have more confidence on Company’s leadership and will then be more happy to participate in
the process since they sense that their active participation will help company steer out of the
danger, which is not only helpful for the company but also for their future.

This confidence is all the more necessary especially when top Management is totally comprised of
foreigners, whereas, laborers are majorly Omani nationals and there is some natural mistrust
between two of them. With the help of such charismatic leadership, laborers will gain more
confidence on Company’s Management and will eventually overcome the trust deficit they
currently have.

Moreover, Management’s intention to bring about absolute order in company’s operation is also
one of the many causes of current trust deficit where foreigner Management professionals, who
are unaccustomed to local issues, trends and culture are trying to push their strategies without
taking in consideration view-point of local employees, for e.g., Management is trying to cut down
cost of production by reducing employees’ compensation and benefits, however, employees are
fighting for salary increase. This two different approaches from Management and workers are only
widening the trust deficit between each other.

Lastly, in order to promote In-Country-Value, Management is investing heavily towards

Omanization so as to show case the Company as a truly Omani Company in order to secure good
business from the Govt. sector, however, in reality such investments are not producing any fruits
at all since the local employees are mostly lacking in basic language and technical skills.
Resultantly, Company is still depending on foreign human-resource without having any immediate
available replacements for them, which is not a very promising situation from sustainability point
of view, especially in current changing geo political situation in Middle East. A Company totally
depending on expats is indeed a big risk considering geo-political situation in Middle East and also
because it is counter-productive in its efforts towards sustainability.

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Part 4

Evolution of ‘leadership’
Best leadership style should amalgamate different scientific disciplines , including but not limited
to, biology, psychology, anthropology, neurobiology, sociology etc.

human development is a result of recurring elements, which means that certain similar patterns
play a very important role in development of leadership style.

Accordingly, misalignment of leaders may result in mis-management of the followers leading to

deterioration of Work Standards. Obviously, when a leader tries to lead/manage people against
his/her belief system or culture, the performance and productivity level often reduces.

A human being always adapts to ever changing life conditions biology, neurologically, and socially
by learning cultural information (called coping mechanism), such information may range from
music, language, beliefs, politics etc., these coping mechanisms eventually become DNAs of one’s
leadership style and remain in evolution through-out.

Accordingly, one should refer different disciplines in order to understand completely about
leadership style:

Psychology (personality types),

Biology,

Neurobiology,

System theory

Sociology,

Anthropology

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Leadership style is evolving progressively through different complex stages. Leadership responses
are being improved and are now better suited to handle challenging conditions of life which are
becoming more and more demanding with every passing year (for e.g., our generation has
experienced COVID pandemic and came out victorious out of it).

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Conclusions about the definition of ‘leadership’

Before taking this course, my thinking about leadership was that leadership is just a personality
trait and all great leaders are actually born with leadership quality. However, now after taking the
course and studying several different leadership styles, I am of the view that leadership is mainly
situational and requires certain characteristics, actions and deeds which anyone may learn and put
to action, provided he is good at analysing and assessing the situation. Now, I realize that not all
leaders are actually born leaders, instead, the upbringing and environment someone receives
actually helps him/her to transform in to a great leader.

Furthermore, earlier I used to believe that anyone having particular leadership characteristics/traits
such as confidence, decision making ability, and way of convincing etc. is a leader by default and
that situational circumstances do not play any major role in this equation. However, later, I realized
that every situation demands different kind of leadership skills and what really counts is the ability
of the leader to mould himself/herself as per the requirement of the situation.

After study different leadership theories in this course, now I believe that my understanding about
leadership was completely wrong because in essence leader is a person who actually inspires
his/her followers/subordinates to achieve something extra-ordinary and then help them in the
journey. I also now understand that leader must adjust himself/herself with the ongoing
circumstances by bringing himself at the same level of understanding of his audience so that his
followers may relate with him and ideas.

Therefore, I believe now that one type of leadership may prove successful in one scenario but may
fail in other situations, because different leadership approaches/styles are meant for different
situations; for e.g., a trade union leader may be very influential in handling, negotiating and
motivating huge crowd of workers, since he is able to talk in same language with them, but in front
of top Management may not convince them because of the fact that now his audience is more
educated, experienced and mature.

Hence a successful leader must always try to relate himself/herself with ongoing situational
demands, otherwise, he/she lose effectiveness in his/her leadership style.

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In conclusion, for different situations, there are different leadership approaches and thus different
leadership styles maybe relevant; for example, when situation is uncertain and employees are not
very educated and mature, then a authoritative leader may work best for Company’s interest
because he/she will be able to lead and direct his/her staff solely thru his own vision and
knowledge; however, when situation is certain and stable i.e. objectives and goals are clear to
employees, who are well aware about what they are supposed to do…..then a participative leader
maybe works best to just give a direction to his/her subordinates and then delegates all further
operational level decision making to his/her followers, keeping only supervisory role to himself
by encouraging them and thus showing his/her belief on his/her team.

Transactional and transformational leadership style

Last but not the least, the most important point I understand is the difference between transactional
and transformational leadership style.

Transactional leadership is based on rewards & punishments to motivate ones followers,

whereas, transformational leadership style is based on inspiration, cerebral stimulation, and
distinctive consideration i.e., loyalty of followers, their intellectual stimulation and personal
relationship between the leaders and their followers

Strong leaders show courage and remain committed to transparency, fairness, and doing the right
thing in spite of any challenging circumstances they may face. Leaders also value team-building
skills, trust, empowerment, and willingness to listen with open mind opinions of their colleagues

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References

Book and Journals

Abbasiyannejad, M. and Silong, A.D., 2015. Contemporary leadership theories. In Chaos,

Complexity and Leadership 2013 (pp. 327-330). Springer, Cham.

Bodrožić, Z. and Adler, P.S., 2018. The evolution of management models: A neo-Schumpeterian

theory. Administrative Science Quarterly, 63(1), pp.85-129.

Dansereau, F., Seitz, S.R., Chiu, C.Y., Shaughnessy, B. and Yammarino, F.J., 2013. What makes

leadership, leadership? Using self-expansion theory to integrate traditional and contemporary

approaches. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(6), pp.798-821.

Do, T.T. and Mai, N.K., 2021. The Evolution of Leadership Theories: A Literature Review.
Recent Developments in Vietnamese Business and Finance, pp.297-314.

Dugan, J.P., 2017. Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. John Wiley & Sons.

Hussain, N., HAQUE, A.U. and Baloch, A., 2019. Management theories: The contribution of

contemporary management theorists in tackling contemporary management challenges. Journal

of Yaşar University, 14, pp.156-169.

Khan, I.U. and Nawaz, A., 2016. A comparative analysis of leadership theories: a review. Gomal

University Journal of Research, 32(2), pp.20-31.

Lawter, L., Kopelman, R.E. and Prottas, D.J., 2015. McGregor's theory X/Y and job
performance:

Mango, E., 2018. Rethinking leadership theories. Open Journal of Leadership, 7(01), p.57.

Nawaz, Z.A.K.D.A. and Khan, I., 2016. Leadership theories and styles: A literature review.
Leadership, 16(1), pp.1-7.

Ospina, S.M., 2017. Collective leadership and context in public administration: Bridging public

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leadership research and leadership studies. Public Administration Review, 77(2), pp.275-287.

Thingalaya, N.K., 2015. The Essence of Management Theories Simplified. Nitte Management

Review, 9(1), pp.72-77.

Van Wart, M., 2013. Lessons from leadership theory and the contemporary challenges of

leaders. Public Administration Review, 73(4), pp.553-565.

Wren, D.A. and Bedeian, A.G., 2020. The evolution of management thought. John Wiley &
SonsAdams, R. (2009). Governance and the Financial Crisis. ECGI Finance Working Paper No.
248/2009.Retrieved online from: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1398583
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2013 32

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