Summary
Leadership has been talked about a lot, due to its importance in the history of organizations, be it social, political or economic, etc. It has always been a topic debated among big businesses, however, it does not matter if the leader is born or made in the organization, there is no doubt that leader people are valued in every company for being a promoter and generator of added value to it. Leadership applied to organizational ends is the triggering factor for driving the organizational goal or achievement. Companies that have well defined their plans from where they are and to where they want to go have always been those that have been able to advance and position themselves over the years. So strategically establishing a leader who leads the team and achieves the expected results is the basic goal of any company.Today, great competitiveness is a driver for improvement.
Introduction
When the economic structure of a country is analyzed, we find the coexistence of companies of all types and sizes. Regarding our study topic, we will analyze SMEs and their development in adherence to business leadership, which beyond managing will be the fact of Know how to direct and lead the work team to the joint participation of the objectives.
Exploring a little about the organization of companies, we will analyze what are the benefits and drawbacks of SMEs and the application of leadership based on the need for growth, organization and production.
We will study leadership as a basic strategy for the development of SMEs.
Leadership as the basis for new strategies in SMEs
Background
A wide panorama and in which we have been able to appreciate human evolution starting from ancient civilizations such as Sumer, Babylon, China and Greek, etc. passing through the military organizations and the Catholic Church, going through the Middle Ages and ending in the Industrial Revolution, periods in which the qualities or characteristics of leaders were identified, which at present must be significantly empowered to generate positive impact in the society.
The word "Lead" comes from lead, a word common to all the ancient languages of northern Europe (Dutch, German, Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian) and means 'path, route, course of a ship at sea, journey'. Meaning that remains more or less unchanged in languages. Therefore we can define that a leader accompanies people on a journey, guiding them to their destination. This in turn involves holding the group together while leading it in the right direction. However, this seems to be a cycle in which if you do not renew yourself, competitiveness absorbs you and that is why we will analyze leadership from the greatest need that the organization or group suffers.
Leadership is defined as “The relationship of influence that occurs between leaders and their followers, through which two parties seek to achieve real changes and results that reflect the purposes they share. Leadership involves influencing people to bring about change that will lead to a desirable future. ” (Daft, 2006, p. 5)
In the same way we define what a strategy is: it is a is a set of important decisions that regulate the behavior of an organization, and therefore it is not used to refer to a particular decision.
During the Second World War most of the Companies in Europe were destroyed, as they had to recover quickly, the solution to this situation was the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
In the case of Mexico, SMEs have helped decentralize large cities and small towns become urbanized, managing to export their products in some cases, an example of this is coffee that in some regions of Veracruz, its taste on the palate is delicious, With Export quality, accepted in several international markets. Before identifying the importance of SMEs in Mexico, we will begin by analyzing their meaning. Arthur Anderson in 1999, in his book Dictionary of Economics and Business, defines them as “An Economic Unit of Production and Decisions that, through the Organization and coordination of a series of Factors (Capital and Labor), seeks to obtain a profit by producing and marketing products or providing services in the market ”.
Combining these three terms we obtain as a result the application of leadership as a basic strategy for the growth and correct management of SMEs and as an important factor to the leader who will be in charge of giving direction and meaning to said strategies that provide efficiency and competitiveness to the organization. When evaluating evolution, the qualities used by each character throughout history can be defined, which allowed him to transcend, as in the case of Moses, with a positive attitude, character, willingness to listen and charisma with self-discipline, commitment and the vision of the future. The leader and his qualities, as well as the way he leads is our approach to productive strategy.
Development
The leadership has a large number of reasons that give it the importance that it has received until now, so it is necessary to address this issue in micro, small and medium-sized companies due to the situation in which they are immersed: the processes of globalization in which the exchange of products, as well as the production itself, have been transformed and adapted to technological development, to new production and marketing methods, but above all, at the speed with which markets change, today may be our strong, safe business; But if we do not adapt to the increasing development of technology, tomorrow will be very uncertain. Since then, many foreign companies have invaded the markets of national companies.
The importance of SMEs as units of production of goods and services in our country and the world justifies the need to dedicate a space to their knowledge.
Because they carry out a lower volume of activity, SMEs have greater flexibility to adapt to market changes and undertake innovative projects that will be a good source of job creation, especially professionals and other qualified personnel.
In almost all market economies, small and medium-sized enterprises, including micro-enterprises, constitute a substantial part of the economy.
The new and growing competitiveness has destabilized not only many micro, small and medium-sized companies but also entire industrial sectors that did not contemplate such an extreme situation; In general, the turbulent environment (red ocean) in which the vast majority of companies are immersed produces changes in consumer preferences and often seems uncontrollable by these companies.
“All this activity is leading companies from almost all over the world to rethink their strategies, policies and routine methods of acting and operating in the business world. As a consequence, thousands and thousands of executive managers are being asked to develop new products, new distribution channels, new marketing methods, new production methods, new financial strategies and a host of situations that demand constant updating and innovation ”(Kotter, 1999, p. 45).
Hundreds of people are also being called on to help the organization put these ideas into practice, imagine what needs to be done in an environment full of uncertainty caused by intense competitive activity, and get others, often many Others, accepting a new way of doing things, require techniques and attitudes that most managers simply did not need in the relatively quiet times of the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. This requires more than technical experience, administrative capacity and traditional management knowledge, it also requires "Leadership".
Currently, in the face of the growing wave of business competition and innovation, more and better leaders are required, people with a broad vision and great self-confidence. Without these people, there is no way for companies to prosper. “Good administration and good management are no longer enough. Every time it becomes necessary to have leadership in production ”(Kotter, 1999).
Given the aforementioned circumstances, national companies, especially micro, small and medium-sized companies, need new methods, techniques and flexible structures that facilitate them to adapt immediately to the demands of local markets, but especially global markets, to Therefore, the entrepreneurs who direct and coordinate these companies must sustain a leadership in accordance with the new conditions established by the economic dynamics of a globalized world, in which Mexico is inserted.
Importance
In recent years, mobile telephony, the internet and email have decisively impacted the organization of companies and leadership styles. Communication in real time has facilitated the most agile treatment between the different structures of the companies. Changes have also been generated in the market, in such a way that waiting times have been practically eliminated, customers now demand immediate solutions, and require being able to speak to the right person at the moment, this is therefore a great challenge for the business leader.
The importance of leadership in micro, small and medium-sized companies is greater and fundamental compared to stable and dynamic situations in the predictable market. In order to locate the field of action of the leadership, the difference between what corresponds to the actions of the administration and those of the leadership is established. According to Hotgetts and Altman, “Management is the process of making things happen through other people, while leadership is part of the job of an administrator; Leadership is the process of influencing people to channel their efforts toward achieving a specific goal or goals.
As we can see, there is a consensus on the part of both authors regarding that leadership implies directing, influencing and guiding towards the objectives and goals of the group, in the same way that leadership implies motivating people to engage them in different actions, in order to be able to satisfy the motives of the followers.
Taking into account that the working conditions over the years have undergone permanent changes, the technological instruments that are used in the different sectors and areas of work require greater knowledge of the workers for their use; The leadership that the leader must exercise today is different, he must be an agent of change; therefore it is important to know what qualities and talents are required to be a good leader in this new millennium.
Leadership roles
Let us now analyze the functions that allow the leader to achieve the task, keep the work team together and be able to reach the goal, are the key to achieving a successful performance:
"According to Adair, the functions of leadership are:
- To establish objectives. Therefore, the purpose, purposes and objectives of the organization must be defined or identified. It is important to ensure that there is a plan, if possible agreed to achieve the goal. This makes it easy to understand and define where to go and where you want to go. It is important to clearly communicate the objective and the plan. Control, supervision and monitoring are all about the process. If performance is not evaluated, there is no material to give feedback to the group or work team. ” (Adair, 2007, p. 41)
If we analyze this point with precision, each and every one of the functions alludes to the administrative process, so it is necessary for the leader to have the objectives of the organization well defined and to know how to involve the people or team in charge.
SME intervention
We generally associate small and medium-sized companies with job creation without digging too deep into the subject. The argument put forward to make such a claim is based on the idea that these companies use more labor and less capital than large companies, which in turn is associated with a reality, which is the growing supply of labor, and the chronic lack of capital. This statement is not entirely true, although small and medium-sized companies may have as a defect the multiplicity of functions and the lack of technological applications that increase productivity. It is also true that in Mexico they are the main source of work and that without their growth the number of economically active people would be much less.It is necessary to clarify that the constant updating of SMEs as well as the exercise of well-applied leadership.
Disadvantages
According to research, it is stated that SMEs are mostly run by their own owners, who sometimes have a high degree of ignorance of the direction of an organization, its work environment, its definition of objectives and goals, as well as teamwork.
Among the disadvantages that this could bring with it we find that these can be if a well applied leadership is not exercised; volatile, sensitive to negative environments, uninformed and unreported, low volume in production and sales, technological lag, lack of strategies to grow, management difficulties, low productivity and unplanned growth.
As we saw, the risks are many and can cause bankruptcy or total failure of the SME.
Advantages of leadership in SMEs
Organizational culture and good administration are not aspects attached only to large companies. For an SME it is essential to understand how to create a good leader, even more when he is the same owner.
Precisely, the great difference of the SME leader with respect to his peer in the big leagues is that, in most cases, it is the same owner who leads all the changes. In other words, a new organization of employees, a change of goals, adaptation to new markets or simply a "screw-up" in the operation of production processes depend on him and his example.
If we analyze Simone Hartard, academic director of the Strategic Leadership Center of the Adolfo Ibáñez University, an SME businessman must consider that he has a tremendously strong position of authority within the company, which makes things easier for them because they are listened to. But he also has certain barriers, since he is in charge of establishing the necessary norms, which produces a certain tension.
“A good leader begins by asking his employees about how they think things should be done, but in SMEs this methodology is very difficult, since many times the leader is the same owner of the company and has a more authoritarian role. The SME is more static and is not used to strong changes. For this reason, it is important that, in an initial stage, the leader works closely with his team, "explains the specialist.
So we have to depend on organizations to grow and endure on the leadership of their leaders, and this is true for those that are for profit and those that are not. Since organizations depend on the leader, we need to see what aspects of the leader are important. A good leader must meet four conditions; commitment to the mission, communication of the vision, self-confidence and personal integrity.
In their training and development, SMEs become increasingly stronger when the leader has the ability to define what purposes the organization has set and apply the appropriate methods to carry out the processes. The empirical mode of administration and management of SMEs has gone down in history, which is why today more is demanded by customers.
Currently in the state of Quintana Roo, as at the national level, SMEs have been gaining strength and have become a guarantee of progress, providers of goods and services, help social mobility, contribute to global productivity, balance society and are a supporter of demand.
Conclusions
As general recommendations, to have more effective leadership, you must try to provide spaces for people's creativity. That is, how they believe that things should be done and let them do them. That is, to return the responsibilities and to solve their problems, so that they realize what it is to take the reins of a project or team
Another important thing to exercise leadership is to always stay very close to people who think differently from the rest and the leader, an aspect that is not generally done in SMEs. In most cases, this type of employee tends to be isolated, but the truth is that listening to them means knowing the weaknesses that may exist in the leader and what are the causes of resistance.
Despite the fact that currently the techniques for understanding leadership and organizational culture are growing by leaps and bounds, SMEs still have a long way to go. In general, SMEs lack a lot of training to understand the leadership process and still tend to confuse them with the concept of authority. And it is logical. In recent years they have been concerned about other things, such as surviving economic problems and various financial crises. So the leadership today is working as a pioneer of the productive and organizational growth of SMEs.
Reference
- Adair, J. (2007). Not Bosses but Leaders. FC Editorial.Daft, RL (2006). The Leadership Experience. Vanderbilt: Cengage Learning Editores.Kotter, J. (1999). What leaders really do. Harvard University.
