How could Moroccan firms implement an effective business organization structure, functions and governance based on a visionary leadership model?
The development of human capital is a core component of achieving organizational
effectiveness. The main problem in some Moroccan companies is that the centralization of procedures is dominant, which can influence the overall performance, innovation and
employees’ career development. According to Hofstede’s dimensions, Moroccan companies tend to have a high power distance, which means that centralization is popular and that there is a high gap between managers and their subordinates. A corporate culture that is based on Visionary leadership and a flexible management style could be very interesting for Moroccan firms.
To illustrate this, we can say that leaders with high levels of a visionary leadership were predicted to be reported as having more effective organizations. Many Management experts have stated that this kind of leaders with high leadership skills facilitated the greatest perceived organizational effectiveness in their respective organizations through inspiring their colleagues to perform better and obtain the desired results. For example, a visionary leader is considered as a strategic planner who inspires other people, who plans his decisions through a smart plan that involves good communication, risk taking and active listening to what other people in the company have to say regarding those decisions. Regarding the cultural dimensions that are common among Moroccan companies, the Power Distance cultural dimension as discussed by Dutch Social Psychologist Geert Hofstede, is very high within Moroccan firms. For instance, employees feel very limited in terms of innovation and the fact that they could discuss their ideas with their Managers. The solution to face this centralization is to build a strong corporate culture that is based on good communication across departments, weekly meetings to discuss the current problems and suggest realistic solutions, monthly reward the best performing and creative individuals with a reward that we can call “The visionary leader of the month”.
I believe that this having a business strategy based on strategic leadership would bring many benefits to Moroccan firms. For example, it would allow every person within the organization to develop their skills in different areas such as Communication, leadership and teamwork. I hope that one day, we will see more Moroccan organizations taking into account this interesting concept in their internal procedures and management. This kind of leadership would contribute to organizational effectiveness as it will make employees feel more valued, motivated, therefore they would be ready to achieve a high level of performance. Also, making employees feeling valued means that there would be a stronger workplace culture based on respect, open communication, meeting the deadlines and being more productive during the daily tasks. A good example of visionary leadership, is the American Technology Multinational company “Apple” under the reign of Steve Jobs, who has a clear vision and had passion for the company and its people, allowing them to innovate and be creative. The idea is not to follow another company’s strategy, but to have a unique vision based on open communication and innovation.
Furthermore, in order for Moroccan firms to succeed in implementing an effective management style based on a visionary style, the corporate culture and its global vision should be clearly designed around 3 areas: Creativity, Communication and leadership. Also, Executive Training and development programs should be considered as a priority in the companies’ short- term strategic goals, as this will allow Managers to develop their core leadership and communication skills. Moreover, they should be aware of the importance of conveying the company’s vision, their departments’ goals and their management style, as everyone within the company should feel valued and share his thoughts, suggestions and ideas freely. And to sum up, I have chosen a quote by Robert S.Kaplan that I would to share: “Without strong visionary leadership, no strategy will be executed effectively.”
