DIPLOMA IN STRATERGIC MANAGEMENT AND

LEADERSHIP OTHM

MODULE CODE : R/617/5012

MODULE NAME : STRATERGIC LEADERSHIP

NAME : MS SOBANA THIYAGARAJAH

BATCH NO : 01

STUDENT ID : BT/OTHM/01/14

CENTRE : BATTICALOA CAMPUS

PROGRAM : DIPLOMA IN STRATERGIC MANAGEMENT AND

LEADERSHIP OTHM

DATE OF SUBMISSION : 22/05/2022

Table of Contents

Task – 01 Case study.........................................................................................................................................

Background of the company.............................................................................................................................
Biography of Jack Ma.......................................................................................................................................
 Explain the meaning of strategic leadership and importance to the selected organisation..................
 Leadership approach of jack ma..............................................................................................................
 The role of Jack Ma develop the strategy to make organizational Success...........................................
 How Jack Ma transforms business to increase the value and cooperate social responsibility.............
Task – 02............................................................................................................................................................
 The role of the business leader in driving organizational performance................................................
 Critically explore the exercise of leadership power and influence of Jack ma......................................
 Leadership characteristic of Jack ma to gain competitive advantages..................................................
 Provide the criteria for measuring for assessing an organisations strategic effectiveness from a
leadership perspective.......................................................................................................................................
Task – 03............................................................................................................................................................
 Critically discuss the importance of teams and team leadership in organisational performance.
9
 Distinguish between workgroups and teams and leadership................................................................
 Stages of group development.................................................................................................................
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................
 Task – 01 Case study

Background of the company

The Alibaba Group, created by Chinese leader Jack Ma in 1999, was the first website to assist
small firms in promoting innovation through an online business-to-business strategy. Under the
leadership of very successful business leader Jack Ma, the company has grown to become one of
the most prominent worldwide leaders in online and mobile commerce. In 2013, Jack Ma
stepped down as CEO of Alibaba Group, leaving behind lessons for budding entrepreneurs.

Biography of Jack Ma

Ma was born in Hangzhou, China, on October 15, 1964. He grew up in a place that had nothing
to do with the West. He's not bad, but he's not great. He struggled in school and was often
arguing with his peers. He used to give tours in China to guests as a youngster because he spoke
English well, and one of the tourists called him "Jack." He graduated in 1988 and applied for a
variety of occupations before landing a job teaching English at a school where he formed strong
teacher-student bonds. Flour had no prior programming or coding skills, and he first learned
about the Internet in 1995 when visiting the United States. He said that he first learnt how to use
the Internet in 1998, a year before launching his internet business following his seventeenth
conference. Invest with friends. With a fortune of $ 25 billion, Jack Ma is the richest man in
China today (Chowdhury, 2019).

 Explain the meaning of strategic leadership and importance to the selected

organisation.

The ability of a manager to articulate a strategic vision or component of the organization, as well
as encourage and persuade others to achieve that vision, is referred to as strategic leadership. The
use of strategy in personnel management is also known as strategic leadership. It is possible to
influence members of an organization and bring about change. Strategic executives lay the
foundation for the organization, allocate resources, and communicate the strategic vision.
Strategic leaders work on extremely challenging topics in a hazy environment that is influenced
by the situations and organizations they lead (Alibabagroup, 2018).

Strategic productivity is the core goal of strategic leadership. Another goal of strategic leadership
is to establish an environment in which people may anticipate corporate needs while doing their
own work. Employees are encouraged to pursue their own ideas by strategic leaders. Strategic
and business executives are increasingly relying on the reward and incentive system to inspire
productive and high-quality employees to perform at their best for the organization. The process
of innovating, envisioning, and preparing to help someone achieve their aims and objectives is
known as functional strategic leadership. Strategic leadership necessitates the ability to anticipate
and comprehend the workplace. It necessitates objectivity and the ability to see the big picture
(Fannin, 2018).

 Leadership approach of jack ma

The study of leadership has three basic methodologies or theories. The characteristics or
psychological approach, the situational or contingency approach, and the behavioral approach
are the three approaches. The attributes approach held the concept that leaders are born, not
manufactured, and that there are some features unique to leaders that serve as distinguishing
characteristics between them and others. This technique is based on the fact that an individual's
behavior is somewhat formed by his personality, making it simpler to differentiate him from
others. Knowledge, mental flexibility, willpower, integrity, and physical and emotional stamina,
according to the method. The method assumes that these leadership characteristics are present in
all leaders and groups that have leadership. Furthermore, trait theories ignored the impact of
contextual influences. It has been feasible to identify universal and unique leadership
characteristics. Because leaders do not operate in a vacuum, their social, cultural, and physical
environments play an important influence in their development and survival (Husain, 2018).

 Characteristics and Behaviors of Jack Ma

He is a misfit. His energy and confidence inspired many, yet he was a touch unreliable since he
was so sure of his abilities to transform the world. He is more conscientious in his work and
respects his subordinates' confidence with greater honesty. He is creative and open-minded. He
admitted to being responsive, never disappointing, adaptable, and nice with his employees since
he had high expectations for them.
Jack Ma acted in a relationship-oriented manner; he was a participative leader who included his
employees in decision-making and valued their input. He got into the habit of meeting every new
employee in the company, always meeting employees and being able to connect with them by
making the PPS intranet system the most significant item he established and sharing his opinions
with his colleagues and communicating with them normally. He collaborates with his staff and
holds annual entertainment events such as a fun talent show party to stimulate them (Mohamed,
2018).

 The role of Jack Ma develop the strategy to make organizational Success

There were numerous factors that contributed to Jack Ma's success. He achieved enormous
success as a result of his transformative leadership, which drove him to grow it in an
organization beyond the conventional expectations offered by his behavior. He valued attitude
and passion, believing that it was more essential than theoretical skills; he brought his staff
together around a common purpose; he sought to follow one individual, which is difficult to
believe that the entire firm would follow one person. Have the same objective. Jack Ma has a
clear vision and will devote time to honing creative thinking abilities in order to foresee risks and
adapt to change (Patel, 2014)

 Critically explore the exercise of leadership power and influence.

The capacity to influence others' conduct with or without resistance by employing a range of
strategies to push or prod action is known as power. The ability to accomplish goals is referred to
as power. People in positions of power have the ability to influence the conduct of others in order
to attain a goal or objective. Others may resent being forced to perform certain things, but a
competent leader can overcome this opposition. Although some individuals consider power as
wicked or corrupt, it is a feature of organizational life and is neither good nor bad in and of itself.
Leaders can utilize their position of authority to help or hinder others, to serve or undermine the
organization's aims (Tobak, 2014).
Different types of power
 Legitimate Power
 Referent Power
 Expert Power
 Reward Power
 Coercive Power
 Informational Power

 How Jack Ma transforms business to increase the value and cooperate social
responsibility

Before leaving as CEO of Alibaba Group on May 14, 2013, Jack Ma gave his final public
address at Stanford University, describing his company as a start toward transformation in new
business creation procedures. If a business strategy is written in 1996, the writer believes he is
lying to others or to himself because no one knows what will happen. So he chose not to make a
plan because life is a project that unfolds gradually, and he added, "Embrace change, change is
the finest plan."
As a result, Ma sees the Alibaba site as a step toward change, which he sees as an opportunity for
young people: "Any change is an opportunity for young people since no one has a chance if
things don't change." He embraced “change” and was a leader who dealt with the threat as a new
opportunity (Bhargavi, 2016).

 Leadership and sustainability concepts and trends.

Sustainable leadership entails taking a responsible approach to our leadership style, pausing to
consider the broader implications of our activities on society and the environment. This could
include taking into account our larger stakeholder group, as well as the natural systems in which
we operate and their limitations.

It's critical to start by examining and comprehending how our particular roles could contribute to
addressing global issues like climate change and gender inequality, as well as recognizing the
value that our individual acts might provide. Responsible leaders look up and out beyond their
role, organization, and industry (Creswell, 2014).
Senior leaders influence the culture of their organizations by their own actions and how they
engage and involve others. Senior leaders set the tone by emphasizing the importance of
responsible leadership in their strategy and values. They grow in self-awareness and consider
how they interact with environmental, societal, and economic challenges.
They also consider how their organizational strategy has a net beneficial impact on the world and
what improvements they might do to make that impact more long-term. Senior leaders cultivate a
climate in which employees, stakeholders, and clients may work together to shape a more
sustainable future (Elenkov, 2002).

Task – 02

 The role of the business leader in driving organizational performance.

One of the most important aspects of enhancing tangible performance is leadership. As essential
decision makers, leaders determine the acquisition, development, and usage of enterprise
resources, transforming them into valuable products and services and giving value to corporate
shareholders. As a result, they are powerful sources of management and long-term competitive
advantage. Numerous studies have found positive links between transformational leadership and
individual and organizational outcomes. Similarly, some research demonstrate that
transformative leadership behaviors are more positively associated to subordinate performance
than transformational leadership behaviors in a range of organizational situations (Stegerean,
2011). The transformative behavior of leaders leads them to learn more about the implications of
their employee duties. Jack Ma is the epitome of a successful. He was an inspiration to people all
over the world. Jack Ma is a role model for a successful business person in his 20s, with unique
qualities such as high ambition, broad perspective, positive thinking and a unique leadership
style.

 Critically explore the exercise of leadership power and influence of Jack ma

Jack Ma was a charismatic leader who inspired his followers; they accept his knowledge since it
is credible, thus they believe all he says. They were inspired by his ideas, demeanor, and
business management. He was a goal-oriented leader who motivates his employees by setting
goals for them to meet and motivating leaders by encouraging them to pursue their aspirations
and flourish. His staff stated. Jack Ma is a dynamic leader with credibility who recruits
employees and encourages them with realistic goals. When he first met Jack Ma, he was working
at Tong Genrang & Company (Undetected), an international online engineering department, and
he was impressed by his vision and business plan, which is one of the best he has ever seen.
Sales Research's Lily Lee stated that Alibaba has guided them to a dream from the beginning.
Other employees said Jack Ma cared about the company's culture, that he makes them embrace
the challenges, and that he motivates them to succeed (Harris, 2007).

 Leadership characteristic of Jack ma to gain competitive advantages

1. He brings people together to achieve a common purpose.

Ma recognizes that no matter how hard you try, no employee, business partner, or possible
investor would ever trust or believe you. Another key to his greatest success is accepting it
and adjusting your mindset. Rather than uniting his company under one vision, he unites
them around a single aim. The leader is less crucial than the vision.

2. He is a visionary.

A good leader, according to Jack Ma, must have a vision. He should aim to stay one step
ahead of the competition and expect better results than the competition. Investing effort in
developing creative thinking skills and trusting your gut is the characteristic of any great
leader.

3. Tenasius is his name.

Aside from foresight, Ma believes that leaders must be tough and clear-eyed. Knowing what
you want to achieve and having the drive to achieve it not only puts you on the road to
success, but it also inspires everyone around you to work hard toward the same objective.
The flour business strategy revolves about being proud of your work and not seeking
solutions.

4. He considers failure to be quitting up.

 When it comes to money, "the biggest failure is quitting up." If you go out and try your
hardest but fail to reach your goal, you consider it a success. Ma, like all great leaders,
understands that barriers and challenges can teach you a lot. Perseverance and learning from
your mistakes are key to success.

5. He loves life

I often tell myself that I was born here to live life, not to work. We're not here to work; we're
here to help each other. You will undoubtedly regret working your entire life. Jack Ma's way
of life revolves around this feeling. It's all about having fun and helping others. If you want to
make money, you must modify your thinking.

6. Encourage people

Some executives argue that limiting colleagues' capacity is one of the reasons they are not
empowered. It is your obligation as a leader to build others' leadership qualities, as well as to
develop business skills and inspire others to support growth and performance improvement
(Igbaekemen, 2015).

 Provide the criteria for measuring for assessing an organisations

strategic effectiveness from a leadership perspective.
The clarity of a picture is determined by the clarity of the mirror. According to my
understanding, leadership effectiveness should be measured "in the behaviors of the
personnel/employees of an organization." The behavior of the employees and their approach to
their respective jobs, i.e. the quality of their task performance as well as their contextual
performance, particularly in a multicultural diverse setting, is the ultimate reflection of the
effectiveness of the leadership. The displayed performance of an organization's employees'
following actions would provide a sufficient insight into the success of the leadership under
which they are performing (Iqbal, 2015):

1. Job satisfaction of the employees.

2. Employee's level of commitment.
3. Employee's loyalty towards organization.
 4. Empowerment as experienced by the Employees.
5. Initiative/Risk taking ability of the employees.
6. Work life balance as experienced by the employees.
7. Quality of Task performance by the employees.
8. Turn out level of employees under down times of the organization.
9. Distance from the power center as experienced by the employees.
10. The average length of service put in by the employees.

For intangible metrics like contentment or commitment, a five-point anchor Likert scale may
be utilized. Before placing Jack Ma in the leadership matrix and paradigm framework, he
offers some leadership advice that can help us better understand his leadership style. The
following are seven tips:
1. Leadership is about working together.
2. Reason to succeed is our team. 
3. Understand local culture.
4. Very focused on your brain.
5. Difficult times always received good returns.
6. If you don’t do it, nothing’s possible. 
7. Give precedence to employees.

According to Jack Ma's leadership advice, he is clearly iconic for the new leader during this time
due of his distinct style. First and foremost, he is known for team leadership in leaders and task
structure, as evidenced by recommendations two and seven, because he is more concerned with
tasks than with his staff. He regards his personnel as partners rather than bosses and foundations,
as stated in the organization section. Furthermore, as seen by the company's ideals, Jack Ma does
not take the company's culture seriously since he wants his employees to work happily as a result
of their dedication and hard effort (Bhau, 2015).

Task – 03
 Critically discuss the importance of teams and team leadership in organisational
performance.

Several basic characteristics contribute to effective group functioning. Individual acts must first
be successfully integrated by team members. They each have distinctive and distinct parts to
play, and each character's performance contributes to the group's overall success. This suggests
that team failure could be caused not just by individual members' incompetence, but also by the
group's collective failure to coordinate and synchronize their individual efforts. Group processes
influence group performance and frequently modulate the effects of other external variables. In
complicated and dynamic situations, teams are becoming increasingly important. This
characteristic is very relevant to corporate teams, particularly top management teams.

Jack ma team work

"Teamwork" is one of the secrets to Jack Ma's success as a leader. Because he is not a
professional in many areas, such as technology, he believes he cannot thrive without excellent
team members. As a result, he requires the organization to have outstanding men with amazing
talent. Jack Ma once gave an interview about how to tell the difference between a leader and an
employee. His response is a skill. "Your staff should have greater technical skills than you," he
stated. If they don't, it's likely that you hired the incorrect person. As a result, Mr. Ma regards his
workers as partners. He has established a participatory culture. He can teach, despite his lack of
expertise in technology and computers. He knows how to instruct, motivate, and inspire others.
Therefore, he uses those skills to communicate with his employees to clearly understand the
goals of the company, and as a result all operate under the same goal, leading to improved
performance of the company (cooke, 2013).

 Distinguish between workgroups and teams and leadership

Groups vs. teams

The terms 'group' and 'team' are frequently used interchangeably - at least by the majority of
people. However, there are significant distinctions between group and teams. We have a football
squad, not a football team, or a particular interest team, not a special interest team, for example.
Although the distinctions are little, they are significant, and we must comprehend them.
The primary distinction is that a team's strength or focus is determined by the nature of their
mission and how members are related to one another. A group, on the other hand, can be formed
by a huge number of people or by a determined determination to accomplish a certain goal, such
as political reform.

While these differences are subtle, we need to understand that a group is a group of people who
form a unit for a reason or reason, and a group is a group of people who work together to achieve
a common goal. The subtlety of these differences becomes more apparent when we take these
words one step further and look at a task force and task force.

Working groups and workgroups

We have teams and groups in the corporate world. A working group is made up of
interdependent individuals who have a common purpose of making the final decision for their
company. A team consists of two or more individuals who are interdependent in their
accomplishments and may or may not work in the same field. The distinctions are minor, but the
key point is that a group works together and participates in decision-making, whereas a group is
self-contained.

Leadership

Leadership is the art of inspiring a group of people to work together to achieve a common
objective. It refers to guiding workers and co-workers with a strategy to meet the company's
needs in a corporate setting.

Formal and informal groups

Specific norms and regulations regulate the behaviour of formal team members, which are
normally established at the start of the group. The rules and principles that define the group must
be followed by all members. In addition, formal committees have a restricted leadership
structure, with an official leader who ensures that the team is on track to meet its objectives
while enforcing norms among the members.
The expression of members, norms, beliefs, and values that members treasure govern the conduct
of the informal group. Members do what they are required to do rather than being charged
because there is no official chairman of the committee to enforce non-existent rules and
regulations. Management assembles two or more people of an organization into a formal group
with the objective of achieving a specified goal.
Two or more people join personal informal groups with the goal of addressing their personal and
psychological needs. A formal group with an official leader has rules and regulations that he is
responsible for enforcing while also providing advice and direction to the group. The informal
group does not abide by the established rules, norms, or guidelines, and there is no official leader
in charge of the committee. At any time, anyone can take the lead. Other differences between
formal and informal groups include some members, behavior, interpersonal relationships, and
organization among others. (Jayakrishnan, 2010)

 Stages of group development

Team development is the process of learning to work well with others. According to research,
teams go through several stages of development. An educational psychologist named Bruce
Duckman identified a five-step development strategy that most teams found to be most effective.
Formation, storm, norming, performance, and adjournment were the stages. The following
diagram depicts the team's progress through the stages.
 Figure 1: Stages of development
Forming

Orientation and introduction are included in the creation step. People are searching for
leadership and power in this time of uncertainty. Control can be taken by a person who
affirms power or is smart. "What does the team have to give me?" "What should be
expected?" he wonders. "Do I fit?" Because members learn to know one another, the majority
of encounters are social (staff, 2020).

Storming

Stormy weather is the most challenging and dangerous stage. As people emerge, this is a
time of strife and competition. The team's performance may actually suffer at this moment
when the energy is diverted to non-productive pursuits. Members may form subgroups and
groups based on strong personalities or areas of agreement if they differ on the group's goals.
To reach this point, members must overcome obstacles, accept individual differences, and act
through conflicting opinions on team tasks and goals. Teams may stumble in this situation.
Failure to resolve conflicts can lead to long-term problems (Elenkov, 2002).

Norming

The quarrel is settled and some unity arises if the teams get into a storm. At the determining
stage, members agree on who will be the leader or leaders, as well as their particular roles.
Differences between people start to fade, and a sense of coherence and belonging arises. As
members learn to communicate and begin to focus on team goals, team performance
improves. However, reconciliation is risky, and if differences of opinion resurface, the team
could be dragged back into the maelstrom.

Performing

During the performance phase, the team has created consensus and cooperation, and it is
mature, organized, and well-functioning. There is a clear and consistent framework in place,
and everyone is dedicated to the team's goals. Problems and disagreements still arise, but
they are dealt with in a creative manner. (We'll talk about the function of conflict and how to
 resolve it in the next section.) The group concentrates on problem solving and achieving
team objectives.

Adjourning

Most of the team's objectives have been met at this point in the postponing process. The
emphasis is on completing final tasks and recording effort and outcomes. Individual
members may be reassigned to other teams as the workload lowers, and the team may be
disbanded. A formal endorsement of the team's mission and success will be useful if the team
feels upset after it is over. Members can be replaced by new members if the team is a
standing committee with current tasks, and the team can return to the creating or storm stage
and resume the development process. (Chowdhury, 2019)

Conclusion

Mr. Jack Ma is a well-known successful entrepreneur of this decade, and his narrative serves as a
tremendous inspiration to many people who benefit from his experiences. He had several
experiences from an early age, the majority of which were failures and rejections. He, on the
other hand, has a positive outlook and acts as a fighter. He believes that unpleasant life events
provide chances. Use this setback to improve yourself so that you can perform better next time.
The manner he guides his foundations is another trait that can be seen in the dough analysis.
Much of the content in this report is about how Jack Ma works with his employees in taking the
lead, because he believes that investing in people is the most important thing. Therefore, he is
not an employer by trying to participate in the team so that the culture of his company is not too
formal and serious. Moreover, he also gives confidence to his staff to participate in decision
making.

Mr. Ma's imaginative and revolutionary leadership style is intriguing. He can effectively lead the
lead crew by combining these two leadership approaches. In terms of his emerging leadership
style, he is a highly motivated individual. His team is willing to work without using their
strength, demonstrating their ability at the same time. Similarly, Jack Ma is a visionary leader
with his visionary leadership style. He might be able to establish a business before others. He
also has excellent communication skills. He understands how to motivate others, which will
benefit the organization.

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