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Comparison between two retail companies picked are Walmart and Costco

The two retail companies picked are Walmart and Costco whose 2017 Financial statement links are provided below: WALMART https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ wmt/financials?query=income- statement COSTCO https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ cost/financials?query=income- statement Both organizations are well known brands and position themselves well with their customer base. Walmart’s value proposition is “We save people money so they can live better”. On the other hand, Costco’s value proposition is “All-in-one convenience and everyday affordability”. Both retailers focus on cost saving for their customers. Looking at their financial statements and by analyzing them a few key areas are evident when comparing the two organization. Looking at the current ratio and quick ratio we can determine the short-term solvency of each organization. The current ratio can be determined by dividing the assets by the liabilities. Walmart’s current ratio sits at 0.86 while Costco’s sits at 0.99. The quick ratio is c

The Role of the Situation in Leadership



Situation leadership is described as an adaptive leadership style because it conforms to “the existing work environment [or situation] and the needs of the organization”, (McCleskey, 2014 , page 1)  He  adds that situational leadership is not based on a specific skill of the leader; instead, he or she modifies the style of management to suit the requirements of the organization.

The Situation Theory based on fact that “real causes of effective and ineffective organization leadership reside in structural features rather that the characteristics of the people who lead those organizations, Vroom quoting Perrow(1970) on page 1.  Leaders are identified based on their traits however the behavior is dictated by situations they have to tackle described as “structural antecedents and organizational outcomes” ( Vroom & Jago, 2007, page 19) . Vroom & Jago, 2007 supports this position with a presentation of findings of “longitudinal studies of changes in organizational effectiveness” which were based on changes in top leadership whose data show little effect (variance) on organizational outcome that resulted from the changes in leadership.  The research disproved that the change in leadership has a direct effect on significant organizational outcomes.
The theory which emphasizes the irrelevance of traits of the leader to organization effectiveness is based on three premises:
 (1) Leaders have very limited power (much less than is attributed to them),
(2) candidates for a given leadership position will have gone through the same selection screen that will drastically curtail their differences, and
 (3) any remaining differences among people will be overwhelmed by situational demands in the leadership role, (Vroom & Jago, 2007, page 19-20).
In any situations it is largely unlikely that all the three premises above would be pass the validity test score as even as leader selection criteria may narrow the identification to people with similar sought traits individual differences still persist  and challenges that face leaders may be similar but its handling and decision taken differ from person to person.
An example  of Situation Leadership
An example of situation Leadership we see often in our community being exercised is when community is mobilized to support a neighbor who is bereaved. Personally, I once got moved when my next-door neighbor lost a wife. In our context I found myself taking the initiative to mobilize ladies to rally together to support the bereaved family in organizing the home to be ready to host family members and friends as well as get the community to contribute toward the required food for the ladies to cook in the 2 days or morning and make sure all have been fed and taken care of. This way we eased the burden of the tragedy on the family. It was not so much because I possess the skill to do so, it was so because a situation presented itself amidst the community that needed someone to provide leadership for and this was the first time, I found myself in such a role. Most times I follow other leaders. It was too close to home and nobody seemed to emerge to take that role in time and someone had to do it in a timely manner.

References
McCleskey, J. (2014). Situational, transformational and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4). Vroom, V. H., & Jago, A. G. (2007). The role of the situation in leadership. American Psychologist62(1), 17. Retrieved from http://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Leadership/Vroom_Jago_2007_The_role_of_the_situtation_in_leadership.pdf
Spahr, P. (2015, Oct 30). Situational leadership. How flexibility leads to success.  St. Thomas University. Retrieved from https://www.ssc.coop/cms/lib/MN06000837/Centricity/Domain/9/How%20Flexibility%20Leads%20to%20Succes.pdf

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