Agency Theory

Agency Theory Student’s name Institutional affiliation Course Date First Assignment Agency theory originates from a situation where one or more individuals hire another person called an agent to carry out the business activities on their behalf. According to Arthurs et al. (2008), the managers tasked by the stockholders to manage the affair of the companies on their behalf are known as agents who have to play the stewardship goals to ensure success of the company. Organizational development and behavior can be explained by the agency theory because the agents tasked to undertake managerial activities have to nurture a certain working culture that suits the organization as whole in line with the set goals, which have to be achieved. Organizational development is concerned with the application of various mechanisms like inter-group organization to bring out the desired change. Organizational behavior is charged with the application and study of the appropriate knowledge regarding how employees and other stakeholders act in organizations. It follows that agency theory, which is based on the relationship between owners and managers helps to turn the organization into the required framework. The managers/agents are likely to study the working environment with a view of drafting and implementing policies that can help to increase productivity and hence profitability (Lee & O’Neill, 2003). Leaders have to develop adequate communication frameworks between them and employees to help in addressing issues of most concern to help avoiding mistakes that can result into risks to the companies. They also need to consult experts both internally and externally to ensure that they understand the dynamics of the industry quite well to facilitate the prospect of arriving at informed decisions. As observed by Sine et al. (2006), there is also need to have regular communication between stockholders/directors and the managers to ensure that the core business issues are being reflected in the decisions being made to avoid risking the image and prospects of the company as a whole. Second Assignment The research questions that have been availed regarding the external activities of Sony Incorporation in realization of the set objectives aims at covering all aspects of significance that have to be analyzed categorically. All the questions have been organized in such a way that they address the concerns that the company has to address in material time to increase its prospects in the foreign markets. The first question wants to assess the major external factors that the company is facing and how they are impacting on the decision making. Such a question aims at establishing the role that managers have to play in the wake of the identified external factors affecting the prospects of the company. According to Lee & O’Neill (2003), the knowledge of such factors shall form a platform that shall necessitate informed decision making. The second question is concerned with addressing the leadership challenges that the corporation is facing at the global arena. It is evident that the firm has subsidiaries and outlets in numerous markets that differ in their dynamics and features thus the need for prudent leadership traits. The question is looking at the manner in, which the leadership shall exercise its decision-making targets in different market set-ups to enable the company to progress as expected. The third question is looking at how Fiedler’s Contingency model can be applied to the affairs of Sony Incorporation that happens to be a multinational establishment. The model is based on the notion that there is no apparent leadership style that can be applied to all employees at the same time (Lee & O’Neill, 2003). The company has outlets in various markets that have different social and cultural set-ups thus the question shall be addressing alternative le...