PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

Universal Studios is a multinational motion picture company headquartered in United States of America. The company started in 1912 in the home country and later entered foreign markets.  The management of the company has faced many challenges such as steering the company forward during economic recessions and overcoming nepotism within its management. This paper will evaluate Universal Studios’ profile and its alignment with my professional skills. Moreover, the paper will evaluate Barrack Obama’s leadership profile and how his leadership may influence my career planning.

Universal Studios’ Profile

The goal of the company is to become the leading organization in the entertainment industry with a global presence in every country of the world. The reporting structure of this organization has the President at the top, followed by the chairman of the board, directors, CEO and administration. The mission of the company is to permeate every aspect of the entertainment industry by providing its products and services. Initially, when Laemmle was the company’s president, the company used authoritarian leadership style. As the company grew and gained a complex organizational structure, this leadership style proved ineffective. The entertainment industry was growing competitive and leadership became a point of competitive advantage. Universal Studios decided to improve its leadership style by engaging its employees (Spulber, 2007). One step that was taken to improve the leadership was the development of a performance dialogue program. The program was based on training, evaluation and rewarding good performance. To ensure the effectiveness of the program, Universal Studios sub-contracted Milestone Inc, a training and coaching expert to oversee it (Avolio, 2009). The program was first implemented using the top management. Currently, the Program is run through workshops where managers are taught how to set goals with their employees and the means of supporting the employees to accomplish the goals. Moreover, the program trains managers on how to evaluate their staff and provide feedback to ensure performance remains on course towards achieving the company’s objectives.

The culture of Universal Studios is substantially inclusive, given its global presence. People from different cultures seek to work at Universal Studios. These employees have diverse cultural traits that may conflict if not properly managed. Cultural differences’ management can provide a company with competitive advantage, irrespective of the industry within which it operates. People of diverse cultures have varying techniques of solving problems (Barak, 2010). A combination of such people in one organization, when managed well can provide the organization with a cutting-edge decision-making capability. Such people bring about group dynamics that create remarkable performance for their companies. An organization with a diverse culture has expansive market opportunities. These employees represent certain communities with unique characteristics and product preferences. Understanding the employees provide companies with an understanding of market characteristics, which enable companies to customize their services and products to take care of the needs of the specific markets. Employees at Universal Studios understand the need of appreciating each other because through training, they have been made aware of the strengths of diversity. The cultural diversity of the people at Universal Studios has created a diverse corporate culture. The product development teams are composed of people with different backgrounds, which help the company to develop unique products that are competitive. The corporate culture equips the company’s employees with the skills required to work in anywhere in the world. Therefore, when the company decides to enter new markets, its current workforce is able to take up the challenge swiftly. This swift adaptation helps the company to clinch the new market before competitors.

The physical work environment has been designed to match the changes of leadership style. Milestone Inc has guided the management of Universal Studios to foster a favorable work environment that will encourage creativity and teamwork.  After the management training was complete, managers at Universal Studios were more willing to give employees autonomy to make decisions relating to their work than before (Easterbay-Smith and Lyles, 2011). Moreover, one program was designed to train employees and coach them on how to increase their efficiency. The program was received overwhelmingly to the extent that the company’s Chief Financial Officer requested Milestone Inc to repeat the primary course to the company’s executives at a retreat they had. This training is an indication on how the company’s management wishes to improve the work environment to increase morale and teamwork. When employees are empowered through training, they have the courage to make decisions regarding their work confidently (Beck, 2004). The primary course was administered to employees and later repeated for the executives. This shows how the organization values learning. The Chief Financial Officer was aware that the executives needed to know the kind of training their employees had gone through, to determine their confidence and decision-making capabilities. The primary course provided to employees was not just a one time training program. The chief Financial Officer of the company promised continuous training for the various departments with consultation with departmental heads.

The stuffing policies of Universal Studios allow only the most competent people in their respective areas to join the organization. To ensure that only the best are employed, applicants are taken through a rigorous process of tests to verify their qualifications. The recruitment is done on a seasonal basis. The company provides internship to college students who provide administrative support to the recruiting staff.

The Company’s Profile alignment with my Career

The aspects discussed above concerning the Universal Studios align with my career goals and skills. The inclusive culture provides an ideal work environment for me to accomplish my career goals. I envisage working with people from diverse cultures for exposure and experience. Such people can impart important skills in me that cannot be found in books. The training provides employees with chances to advance their careers and knowledge base. I aspire to advance my career to the highest level possible. This can be achieved through joining Universal Studios.  The empowerment employees enjoy at Universal Studios aligns with my professional needs to make decisions regarding my work. I work well without supervision because am competent in managing my work and am trustworthy. My management skills find a perfect place for use at Universal Studios.

Barrack Obama’s Leadership Profile

Barrack Obama, the president of the United States of America is an inspirational leader. His career life started in 1983 when he graduated with a degree in political science from Columbia University. Obama moved to Chicago in 1985 after working in the business sector for a while. At Chicago, he was the community organizer for low income residents. In 1988, he joined Harvard Law School. In 1989, he met Michelle Robinson in a law firm in Chicago where he was an intern. Michelle was his mentor at the law firm. Obama became the first African American editor of Harvard Law Review. After school, he went back to Chicago to work as a law lecturer at Chicago University. In 1996, he joined politics and won the Illinois senate seat. In 2000, he failed to clinch the House of representative seat in the democratic primary. In 2004, he ran for the U.S. Senate seat and won with 52%. Obama became the first African-American president in 2008 after defeating the republican candidate, John McCain. After serving his first term as the president of the United States, Obama won a second term.

Barrack Obama is considered one of the most successful leaders of his time because he overcame several obstacles to become a powerful man in the world as the president of the United States of America. The most remarkable aspect of Obama is his oratory skills that inspire his followers. His eloquence resonated with the voters in Illinois and the whole of the United States when he ran for the Illinois senate seat and presidency respectively. An eloquent leader can articulate his vision to capture the minds of his audience (Bonnici and Cooper, 2011). When this happens, the audiences identify with the leader’s dream and are willing to live it. Consequently, they provide their support to the leader in his work to ensure the shared vision is accomplished (Schein, 2006). Barrack Obama has had immense contribution to society. First, Obama contributed to his law profession by lecturing at Chicago University Law School. Moreover, when he was the editor of Harvard Law Review, he contributed to the law profession by disseminating knowledge to other scholars. Apart from his contribution to the law profession, he advocated for the rights of the poor. When he was the Illinois State Senator, he led other leaders in drafting legislation that could enable access to health care services and early childhood education for the poor. Moreover, he created state income credit that has immensely benefitted the poor. Therefore, part of the success attributed to Obama comes from his contribution towards a better community, especially the poor (Starratt, 2004).  Obama uses transformational leadership style. His oral skills have enabled him to create a vision and articulate it to his audience. When he vied for the presidency in 2008, all odds were against him. He was an African-American in a country controlled by the majority white Americans. Moreover, racism is rampant in America, which could have played a big role to his disadvantage. However, his inspirational speeches rendered racism ineffective since his followers identified with his dreams. He created a clear path that was to lead to the desired goal.

Despite being the president of America, he is a family man who values his family. This has been seen in public where he has talked about the support he gets from his family. Moreover, his family has been part of his political career as seen during his two inaugurations. Therefore, he is a man who has balanced his careers with family life and has managed to become successful in both.

Barrack Obama’s Leadership Profile and my Career Planning

Learning about Obama’s career will help me to shape my goals and remain true to them. The hardships that he passed through could have easily killed his morale and motivation. Despite the challenges, he remained focused to his goals. This inspires me in my career because his story motivates me to remain focused despite the challenges. Obama’s career profile has taught me an important lesson that service to the humanity, cannot derail people from their successful career goals (Wintzer, 2007). On the contrary, they enrich careers. From Obama’s career profile, I have decided to perfect by oratory skills so that I can influence my followers to live my dream. My career planning has been enriched because I have learnt that to become a leader, planning starts early. Since I plan to be part of Universal Studios executive managers, I will ensure I succeed in the lower levels of management so that when I reach my goal, people will accept the legitimacy of my success. Their support is essential because our shared vision is required to achieve success.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Universal Studios has an elaborate organizational structure, mission and goals that define its direction and relationships. Its inclusive culture makes it an attractive organization for employees. The company provides learning opportunities to employees and management, enhancing their efficiencies. The best qualified staffs are hired to ensure the company’s competence.  The working environment is attractive, giving employees and management a favorable environment to accomplish their tasks efficiently. For these aspects, the company matches my career skills and objectives since there is a perfect match between the skills and the organizational aspects. Barrack Obama’s oratory skills have made him inspirational and successful. They have helped him articulate his vision to his followers, thus gaining their support. His leadership skills and success have helped me improve my career planning, thus properly positioning me for my future career.

Reference List

Avolio, B.J. 2009. Full Leadership Development: Building the Vital Forces in Organizations. California: SAGE.

Barak, M.E. 2010. Managing Diversity: Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace. California: SAGE.

Beck, R.C. 2004. Motivation: theories and principles. New Jersey, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Bonnici, C.A., & Cooper, B.S. 2011. Creating a Successful Leadership Style: Principles of Personal Strategic Planning. Washington DC: R&L Education.

Easterbay-Smith, M., & Lyles, M.A. 2011. Handbook of Organizational Learning and

Knowledge Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Schein, E.H. 2006. Organizational Culture and Leadership. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Spulber, F.B. 2007. Global Competitive Strategy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Starratt, R.J. 2004. Ethical Leadership. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Vandeveer, R. C., & Menefee, M. L. 2009. Leadership styles. New Jersey, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Wintzer, E. 2007. Global Competition and Strategic Management. New York: GRIN Verlag.

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