Leadership management of the virgin group

Leadership Management of the Virgin Group Leadership Management of the Virgin Group 2 February Leadership Change is the only constant in the world so when the world changes it is a must for an organisation to have the pace of change, to anticipate a success ahead. When the organization faces challenges like these different situations, leadership styles can adapted to address the challenge. Since Richard Branson is a charismatic leader Grant, He can easily adapt to any leadership style as it is required by the joint venture.

Global business revolution has made the market so competitive today, that business consolidation has become very popular among firms.

Some organizations even see it as the only hope for business survival. As a result, many firms are going through one form of restructuring and reorganization or the other, to enable them compete favorably in the global market and achieve greater efficiency. In view of the foregoing, this report attempts to answer the following critical questions in connection with the structure, management and operations of Virgin Group of Companies: Are there any synergies between the separate Virgin Companies?

Which businesses, if any should Branson divest? What should Branson do to assure that Virgin survives him? This is evident by the fact that there are interactions, cooperation, combined effect, collaborations, concerted effort as well as strong sense of obligation among these companies.

These themes, as possible proof to existence of synergies between the separate Virgin companies appears to be firmly connected to the following sources and links, from which they drive their synergies: These sources of synergies are discussed in details as follows: The first and a very important source and link for interaction leading to synergies between the separate Virgin companies is the presence and the role of its founder and instigator-Sir Richard Branson.

Branson, right from the humble beginning of the student magazine, has been at the helm of affairs in building the business empire known today as Virgin Group Ltd.

Branson has instilled his entrepreneurial spirit and business values throughout Virgin Group. His disdain for bureaucracy has brought about transparency and quick interactions among management and employees of Virgin group of companies.

Leadership Management of the Virgin Group – BUMBLEPHONE

For instance, the continual expansion of Virgin group using internal cash flows from Virgin Atlantic Airways is a typical example of this scenario. Similarly, the Virgin Megastores provided another opportunity for expansion, with new such stores opened in other locations such as Japan, United States, Australia, Spain and the Netherlands.

Being a private group of companies, with few individuals at the top of decision making, it is fairly-easy to cause such internal interactions to create the desired synergy within Virgin Group. The brand name is perceived by many to be the single greatest asset binding these different companies.

The brand name and the novel entry of Branson into new business frontiers has become an open door to the entire group, as the companies collaborates in business. Despite public criticisms over possible over extension of this brand, the wide spread use of the brand in capturing new and ailing business is enjoyed by many within the Virgin group.

Although, many analysts criticizes Virgin for its composition and lack of defined structure and hierarchy; but, the over two hundred Virgin companies operate together, with most of the operations conducted through other companies within the group; creating that combined effect.

Irrespective of the fact that there is no overall single parent company for the entire group, there exist some companies within Virgin whose functions are basically to own and manage other operating firms within the group; which indeed creates the desired synergies of working and helping one another.

Of all these over Virgin companies, majority are operating companies who own assets and offer goods and services, the remaining few are holding companies.

Therefore, no matter how seemingly-chaotic the Virgin situation might be, in terms of established structure and formal control systems; this weakness is effectively balanced by their high-level of cooperation.

Each of Virgin group of companies, are known to be individually setup and managed; unlike what is obtained in large established corporations such as Shell, Chevron, and British Airways etc.

There are no boards of directors for Virgin Group, and strategic decision making is solely the responsibility of Branson with a few top management executives. This type of management system offers short lines of communication and prompt response to urgent issues; instead of bureaucratic process of waiting for approvals and responses.

Branson also has consistently disputed such allegations, pointing that each of his numerous companies is setup and operated as a standalone company.

The bottom line here is that, these companies are not public, but privately owned and financed by internal cash flows and equity. Others are financed through joint venture agreements or external debt.

According to Branson, each of his companies is funded individually and separately on a standalone basis.

Leadership Management of the Virgin Group - New York Essays

The idea is to nurture the companies to stand on their two feet and compete favorably among themselves and others in their lines of business. Reports from publicly available sources has it that since before now, Branson has taken a more radical and conservative approach of funding his businesses; which helps Virgin to have little income output while still having chunk equity stake when setting up new businesses.

He seized that moment to acquire both profitable and ailing assets. Furthermore, after a careful analysis of the Virgin business-case to form a personal opinion, I would recommend that for Virgin Group to enhance and maintain its return on investments ROI ; Branson needs to divest the following businesses: The rationale for my choice of these businesses for divestment is as follows: It is indeed my opinion that Branson divests from transport business both Air and Rail travels.

My position is based on the premise that different empirical studies about transportation, have consistently proved that the transport industry generally has been unprofitable for so many decades.

Return on investments for firms operating in this industry has also remained on the negative side of the financial scale, compared to those in lucrative industries such as the ICT. Narrowing this perspective to Virgin Group specifically, it is glaring to note that the privatized railway industry in the United Kingdom where Virgin has acquired great stake; has performed so poorly that it nearly ruin the hard earned brand name of the group.May 04,  · Leadership Style at Virgin Group: Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson.[2] The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle.

Different management and leadership styles have different impacts on Virgin Atlantics strategic decisions; which can be related to the vision of Virgin Atlantic “to grow a profitable airline where people love to fly, and where people love to ark” (virgin-Atlantic, ).

Virgin Management is the heart of Virgin. We support the Branson family and the growth of the Virgin brand by developing and nurturing valuable Virgin businesses around the world.

We are committed to our purpose of changing business for good. The Virgin Group organisation structure is designed in a way that ensures employees who maximise their potentials are bestowed with them when management comes to the knowledge that they are organisationally committed to their duties.

enjoy performing their roles and share knowledge where necessary with the view to adding value to their unit and. The Virgin Atlantic was too launched to expand the brand value of The Virgin Group, so having an understanding about The Virgin Group tells what kind of organisational strategy is .

Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson has spent his entire career pushing the envelope. It's resulted in an eclectic and expansive set of companies under the Virgin name, including airlines, a.