Compare autocratic, paternalistic, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles by examining control, participation, employee welfare, speed and business context.
Sources for use with Section A
Extract A
Alibaba Group
The Alibaba Group was established in 1999. The business was inspired and led by entrepreneur Jack Ma, a former English teacher from China. Jack Ma and 17 other people invested in the business. From the beginning, the business focused on using technology to enable small businesses to grow and compete more effectively in the global economy. Its mission is ‘to make it easy to do business anywhere’. Jack Ma is now a billionaire.
The Alibaba Group’s first website allowed small Chinese exporters and entrepreneurs to sell internationally. The Alibaba Group has grown into a global leader in online and mobile commerce. It is a world recognised brand and the fastest growing e-commerce business, employing thousands of people. The Alibaba Group has expanded and now has many websites. Its three main websites are Alibaba, Taobao and Tmall. Alibaba is for business-to-business sales (B2B). Taobao is consumer-to-consumer sales (C2C), similar to eBay, though it does not charge a selling fee like competitors such as eBay. Tmall is for business-to-consumer sales (B2C), similar to Amazon. Transactions on its websites totalled $248 bn in 2018, which was more than eBay and Amazon combined.
The Alibaba Group has a programme called the ‘Tech For Change Initiative’ that aims to support female education through free online training and free access to computing resources. It aims to help one million women become computer developers by 2030. The Alibaba Group donates funding for healthcare for the underprivileged and for wildlife protection.
Extract B
Leadership of Jack Ma
Jack Ma, a Chinese entrepreneur and founder of the Alibaba Group, built a large team around him that trust his decision making. He is known for his paternalistic style of leadership. He believes in taking responsibility for the actions of the group.
In an interview, Jack Ma mentioned how his paternalistic leadership helped him to succeed. He said he gave his team the confidence to follow his commands as he took the responsibility for anything that went wrong. He also said that his job is to make sure his team is happy, because when the team is happy, they can make customers happy.
Assess the advantages of a paternalistic style of leadership for a business such as the Alibaba Group.
Indicative content guidance
Answers must be credited by using the level descriptors (below) in line with the
general marking guidance. The indicative content below exemplifies some of
the points that candidates may make but this does not imply that any of these
must be included. Other relevant points must also be credited.
Knowledge, Application, Analysis, Evaluation - indicative content
- A paternalistic leader makes the decisions in a business and
decides what is best for employees. The leader is seen as a
father or mother figure
- Jack Ma may have developed this style of leadership as a
teacher in China
- This style of leadership may lead to employee loyalty as they
feel like they are being listened to and their needs are met,
reducing absenteeism and staff turnover
- Decisions are made with the employees' best interests taken
into consideration, which may motivate staff and improve
productivity
- Feedback is invited and encouraged, which may improve
morale/productivity and lead to increased sales revenue for
the Alibaba Group
- Jack Ma founded the Alibaba Group and may be the best
person to make decisions for this successful business
- However, the industry is dynamic and it may be that Jack Ma
is not always the right person to make the final decisions
- This style of leadership, unlike laissez-faire leadership, may
not encourage others to use their initiative and may stifle
creativity, which is important in the IT industry
- If final decisions are not made by others in the organisation
this may be viewed as autocratic leadership by the
employees, leading to demotivation.
- Many employees are motivated by empowerment and
responsibility and if they do not have these it may lead to
them leaving the company to work for competitors.
Level
Mark
Descriptor
0
A completely inaccurate response.
Level 1
1-2
Isolated elements of knowledge and understanding - recall based.
Weak or no relevant application to business examples.
Generic assertions may be presented.
Level 2
3-4
Elements of knowledge and understanding, which are applied to the
business example.
Chains of reasoning are presented, but may be assertions or
incomplete.
A generic or superficial assessment is presented.
Level 3
5-7
Accurate and thorough knowledge and understanding, supported
throughout by relevant and effective use of the business
behaviour/context.
Analytical perspectives are presented, with developed chains of
reasoning, showing cause(s) and/or effect(s).
An attempt at an assessment is presented, using quantitative and/or
qualitative information, though unlikely to show the significance of
competing arguments.
Level 4
8-10
Accurate and thorough knowledge and understanding, supported
throughout by relevant and effective use of the business
behaviour/context.
A coherent and logical chain of reasoning, showing cause(s) and/or
effect(s).
Assessment is balanced, wide ranging and well contextualised, using
quantitative and/or qualitative information and shows an awareness of
competing arguments/factors, leading to a supported judgement.