Exploring Leadership Styles Across Nations: Examining Factors & Implications - Essay Sample

Introduction

Research on leadership in different countries is taking new shape after the realization that one form of leadership that is perfect in one country might not work effectively in other countries. Every country is different in its own way and this explains why every country has a desired leadership style. The leadership style of each country id determined by among other factors economic stability, education, and government systems. Within the field of leadership, two dimensions of scholarship can be discerned. These strands are the development of leaders and managers and their behaviors, attitudes, and attributes (Muratbekova-Touron, 2002). The development of leaders and managers is a system that has received great interest in North American countries.

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There are various forms of leadership styles but the most common ones are transactional and transformational leadership styles. These two are contrasted with laissez-faire leadership. In its broad explanation, laissez-faire leadership is defined as a situation where leaders abdicate their responsibility and also avoid making decisions. Those who work under the leader are given the power to make their own devices to perform their job responsibilities.

Every country has its unique way of governance and this determines how it can be perceived by multinational consulting firms. Specifically, the economic stability of a country has an influence on the kind of leadership best suited for it (Metcalf & Benn, 2013). The economic stability determined by the modern transportation and communication systems and networks, and technology among others and these affect the leadership style in a great way.

Modern Transportation and Communication Systems

Technological advancements over the past centuries have led to better, cheaper as well as faster transportation services which are more reliable, less polluting, safer and quieter. Stories on the glorious history of the technological improvements are usually in the language of propulsion, vehicles and facilities. Roads in Rome helped in tying together the Roman Empire as roads previously did in the early Americas and China empires (Pettigrew, 1987). Sledges or carts were used in those areas that lacked relatively good roads. For Millenia, mules, horses and camels were used for carrying trading goods while most folks used to walk along trails.

In 1800, sails and animals were superseded by steam engines which were used for propulsion. Turbine, gasoline as well as diesel engines later followed after the steam engines while in the 21st century fuel cells are in advancement. All these changes prove that basically, technology has been improving rapidly over the past centuries. The very best ocean sailing and wagon services that can into existence in 1800's enabled the transportation of goods, mail and travelers up to 150 kilometers in 24 hours (Fischer & Sullivan, 2002). In the early 21st century, almost all parts of the world have much far better services despite the fact that other places are served better than others and quality and affordability of service are frequently at question since better services are usually pretty much available universally.

Despite much emphasis on propulsion, vehicles as well as facilities, there is much more towards transportation technology development. Development of service stress and matters are on the list of processes that have steered and induced technological enhancements, enabled transportation to serve more diverse purposes as well as increased the number of services offered in the society. Networks have often adapted a variety of demands and environments hence enabling activities to move and shift to environments as well as places where they best suit. Enhance transportation technology have increased trade in understandings, goods and ideas as well as the long-term, daily and seasonal movement of tourists, workers and students along with enhance communication among people, places and activities (Berger, 1998). Through these ways, the interactivity capacities have enabled the development of middle classes and have helped in changing the balance of political and economic power.

Transportation Developments

In hundreds of years of failures and successes, technological developments have played a great role in ensuring the transportation sector is where it is today and researchers believe that it will continue to make more advances as the general modern technology also develops. Transportation development waves in the past pushed aside the older modes of transportation and supported sweeping economic and social changes. Every era had a set of technologies, modes or services that occupies the turf (McCarthy, Puffer & Darda, 2010). In the late twentieth and early twenty first century, most of the developed nations have well established auto, rail, ferry, short sea, air as well as other services whose activities, perceptions and institutions are well entrenched and established (An, Lee & Shin, 2011).

In the case of maturing of the less developed economies, services usually expand either as a result of investments that are intended to inducing development or in response to the market pull. Despite the fact that this results in the enhancement of modes in a variety of ways, their services and technologies are rooted within the conditions which existed in the time of their emergence hence they might have attributes that are incompatible with the enhanced economy (Fok, 2013). There exist concerns on the sustainability as well as the consequence of the improved and continued growth witnessed along the existing path. These concerns mostly focus on the impacts of transportation on the management and use of resources.

The main challenge that the transportation technology face is finding out sustainable and efficient development paths which are open options. Increasing efficiency alone will never create new environments which enables or allows innovation. Hence such environments might be necessary in the future as they have always been in the past towards supporting the evolution of an equitable and more workable future for all sectors in the society (Fischer & Sullivan, 2002). Technology and innovation developments are daily events within the transportation industry since people work out where and how they could travel as firms as well as other organizations arrange and plan passenger freight and travel movement.

Traffic and fuel engineers investigate on the advanced methods of timing the traffic lights while suppliers will always seek the best materials. Warehouse managers seek to balance out-of-stock with inventory as well as the shipment costs while technologists seek for lighter yet stronger vehicles and the safety experts always test the already existing as well as new technologies (Pettigrew, 1987). These are some of the everyday activities which lead diverseness of perceptions of within processes, their relative importance as well as the relationship between them.

Technology Development Process

Without market, technology and its root innovation are seen to be worthless mainly because when the transportation technologies are improved, they enhance services since things and people are able to move more easily as communication increases. Consumers get increased choices and information regarding goods and services also better opportunities for recreation and socialization. Producers may opt to substitute the higher-grade resources for the lower grade ones which may result in the availability of more varied and larger markets.

The expanded geographic scope creates opportunities for changes in economies of scale as well as spatial organization. Specialization opportunities increase materials segment production and consumption, new markets as well as the tools for production. As raw materials, production, organizational and consumption options increase, the new technologies become apparent as serving many purposes innovation companions that result from improved transportation (Pettigrew, 1987). With better communication and transportation, markets as well as new resources, the existing innovations that are not widely adopted tend to diffuse rapidly.

As auto and air services, road and wagon services, rail services as well as canal and river improvements interact with improved communications and other advances to enable a revolutionary and sweeping developments, the process repeats itself. It is as a result of these that the transportation systems get to relate to the cultural, political, governance and capitalist systems also to the spread of animals and plants as well as the broad sweep of geography and history. Reliable, strong transportation and communication systems play an important role in the development of economies of regions and countries across the globe generally (Button & Nijkamp, 1997). Areas with efficiently integrated communication networks and transportation systems have the capacity to move people, communicate swiftly as well as transport goods as the base for advancement of trade therefore, acting as an important factor that leads to a developed stronger economy.

On the contrary, those countries or regions that do not have strong communication and transport networks have less robust economies and trade. The use and location of communication and transport systems have a spatial component that is closely tied to a specific success and form of economic system. During the early 18th century, Adam Smith a political economist wrote that with the easy access to sea trade and ports, coastal areas are likely to be much wealthier than the inland areas (Pettigrew, 1987). Hence according to him, the spatial location of a country's economic engines and actors as well as the physical geography of a country including its mountains, oceans and rivers determines the wealth or the poverty of the country.

Communication Networks

Just as economic activities depend on reliable communication networks, so does the transportation system. Improvement in communications basically point to economic development too, an amply demonstrated circumstance with the rise of global trade as well as the development of the global communication networks. The first-growing field of logistics which includes the control of the placement or movement of people and goods, the execution, the planning as well as the related supporting activities is highly dependent on reliable communication. It is as a result of the advanced and improved modes of communication that businesses are able to send out freight alerts and forecasts by the use of optimization software and truckers are able to get up-to-date traffic information by the use of a GPS in order to look for alternative routes or avoid congestion.

Social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming well established features of most businesses which enable back-and-forth communication between the company representatives and the customers. The modern modes of communication present in many countries include the commercial wireless networks, broadcast infrastructure that includes the radio and TV, wireline, satellite communications as well as the cable which includes broadband network. It is as a result of deregulation and technological advancements that the communication sector is undergoing rapid changes (Ossowski et al. 2004). All these communication systems are frequently interconnected such that in the case of a national television networks systems that transmits signals to a satellite then to local stations.

Problem Statement

Despite the vastnes...