Chapter I: Management and Leadership Short history [611272]

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Content

Introduction

Chapter I: Management and Leadership – Short history
1.1 History and evolution of management
1.2.Functions of management
1.3. Mangers
1.4 History and evolution of leadership
1.5. Functions of leadership
1.6. Leaders
1.7. Leadership or management: Is there any difference?

Chapter II: The Virgin Brand
2.1. Short History;
2.2. Management inside the brand ;
2.3. Leadership inside the brand;

Chapter III: Case study: Sir Richard Branson – Founder of Virgin Brand
3.1 His beginings;
3.2 The creator of Virgin;
3.3. The leader not the manager;

Conclusions
Bibliography
Annexes

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Chapter I
Management and Leadership – Short history

1.1 History and evolution of management
Traditionally, the term "management" refers to the activities (and often the group of
people) involved in the four general functions: planning, organizing, leading and coordinating of
resources.
The idea of management is not new. Early forms of management concepts have been
applied through out history in order to progress as a society . Management activities were needed
in order to complete massive projects such as Stonehenge or the e gyptian pyramids .
During centuries people have been shaping and reshaping organizations . If we look
back
through
world history,
 there are stories
of people
working together
in
formal
organizations such
as the
Greek, Roman and Otoman armies, the Catholic Church, the East
India Company. Also, people, have long been
writing about h ow to
make
organizations
efficient and effective . At that point terms such as management or
leadership 
were unknown .
Two prominent and
instructive
examples
are the
writings
left for
us
by
Niccolo
Machiavelli
and
Sun Tzu.
Although 
the
adjective 'Machiavellian' is often 
used to
describe
cunning
and

manipulative 
opportunists 
Machiavelli 
was a great 
believer
in the virtues of a republic. 
This
fact is
shown
in
Discourses, 
a
book
Machiavelli 
wrote in 
1531
while
he
lived
in
the
Italian
republic of Flo rence.
The principles 
he set
forth
can
be easly adapted
to apply to the
modern management of our organizations.
Another classic work that 
offers valuable informations 
to modern
managers is
The
Art
of War,
written
by the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu
more than 2,000 
years
ago. The

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book
was modified and used by Mao Zedong, 
the founder of 
People's
Republic
of China
in
1949.
In the 21st century observers find it increasingly difficult to subdivide management into
functional categories. More and more processes simultaneously involve several categories.
Instead, one tends to think in terms of the various processes, tasks, and objects subject to
management.
Branches of management theory also exist relating to nonprofits and to government: such
as public administration, public management, and educational management. Further,
management programs related to civil -society organizations have also spawned programs in
nonprofit management and social entrepreneurship.
1.2 Functions of management
Over the time, t he term management has been defined in lots of ways. Usually ,
management is the process of getting things done with and through people by guiding ,
encouraging and motivating them toward common objectives.
For a successful manager his employees are his most important asset. A successful
manager admits that he is only as good as the people he supervise. Therefore, in management,
individuals join forces , with others to attain mutual goals in the benefit of the company.
In a company t he managerial functions are similar, whether they involve supervision of a
factory, a laboratory, a office , or a store . The primary managerial functions are the same
regardless of t he level in the hierarchy of management: first -level manager , middle -level
manager, or top -level management.
Also the m anager ial functions are the same whether we speak about a profit -making firm,
a non -profit organi zation, a government office and so on.
1.2.1. Planning
The main role of this function consists in setting goals, objectives, policies, proce -dures,
and other plans needed to achieve the goal of the organization . In this stage the manager chooses
a course of action from a number of alternatives. An important fact about planning is that the
manager must think before act and also look ahead and prepare for the future . Planning also

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include deciding what, how, when, and by whom work will be done, but it also include the
development of certain scenari os.
1.2.2. Organizing
The second function in management is organizing , this primarily answers the ques tion,
“How will the work be accomplished?” . Here the manager defines various tasks and groups them
into distinct areas, sections, units, or teams. The manager also must specify the tasks , assign
them, and at the same time, give subordinates the authority needed to carry out this tasks.
Basically o rganizing means arranging and distributing work among members of a team in order
to accomplish the organizati on’s goals.
1.2.3 Staffing
The third function in management is s taffing and is the managerial function of recruiting,
selecting, orienting, and training the team members . In this function the manager must appraise
the performances of his employees, promot e them, and givie them the opportunitie to develop in
their career .
1.2.4. Leading
The forth function of management is l eading . The main purpose of leading is to guide the
activities of employees towar d accomplishing objec tives. The leading function involv es guiding,
teaching, and super vising employees . Here the manager must help employees in developing their
potential by directing and coaching them effectively. He also must direct, motivate, or influence ,
because it plays a major role in the morale of the employee , his job satisfaction, produc tivity, and
also communication.
1.2.5 Controlling
The fifth and also the last function of management is controlling. This involves ensuring
that actual performance is in line with intended performance and taking correc tive action as
needed. Without this function i t would be impossible for a manager to determine whether work
was proceeding properly or not . If plans or standards are superficial or poorly conceived, the
controlling function is limited. Basically controlling means not only making sure that objectives
are achieved, but taking corrective action in case of failure to achieve planned objectives

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This five managerial functions can be seen as a circular movement. If we view the
managerial process as a circular f low consisting of the five func tions, we can see that the
functions flow into each other and that each affects the others.

1.3 Managers
The management performance is significant different across countries . The United States
for example is at the top of the management league table, while at the bottom we can find
Greece, India and China as the worst performers. Other strong performers are Germany, Sweden
and Japan , while France, Italy and the UK are all mid -table performers .
United States firms score particularly highly in terms of people management, such as
promoting and rewarding talented workers quickly. Overall, cross -country differences account
for only 9% of the variation in management practice. Performance differences between
compan ies in the same country are far larger than any cross -country variation. For example, the
best t hird of Indian companies outperform the European average. This is worrying for those who
complacently assume that vastly superior Western management protects them from off shoring .
Regarding the self-assessment Greek, Portuguese and Indian managers are the most
optimistic about their management skills , while the Japanese, Swedish and French are the most
pessimistic.

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There are a number of policy factors that have an effect on companies’ adoption of good
management practices. The most significant among these are the competitive environment and
the flexibility of the local labor market .
A higher competition will always will lead to a better . This is basically the result of two
effects: good practice spreads quickly in highly competitive environm ents and poor practice is
eliminated by Darwinian natural selection as poorer performing companies are removed from the
marketplace. The labor markets also play an important role, since these appear to allow
companies to adopt better people management practices. In countries with rigid employment
laws, firms find it difficult to implem ent effective hiring, promotion retention and also firing
practices.
One particular ownership form that appears to be linked with superior management
practices is private equity. This superior performance of private equity appears to be quite robust
– they come out on top both with and without controls for country and industry.
One explan ation for this could be that private equity firms only buy well -managed firms
so that their high management scores simply reflect their ability to cherry -pick the firms that they
buy. But this is not entirely true, usual ly private equity buy-outs is the re verse: they buy badly
managed firms with the aim of turning them around. This suggests that their management scores
are more likely to be biased downwards by having recently purchased badly run firms.
1.3.1. Multinationals, family ownership and skills
Firm ownership and the availability of skilled people, both in management and among
the workforce in general, are also associated with important differences between the better –
managed firms and the rest.
A clear example of this are the multinational compa nies from countries like Greece and
India who achive extremely good management practices despite the poor management practices
fo the local domestic firms.
Family ownership are usually associated with particularly bad management. This fact is
an issue in Europe since in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and the UK, around 10% of the
manufacturing firms are family owned with a CEO that has been chosen because they are the

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eldest son. A much better result can be seen in United where only 2% of the firms are being
family owned with the CEO chosen because he is the eldest son.
An important role in the organisation is played by the skills of both the managers and
non-managers . For example, 84% of managers in the highest scoring firms are educated to
degree level or higher, as are a quarter of the non -management work force. Among the lowest
scoring firms, only 54% of managers and 5% of the wider work force have degrees
1.4 History and evolution of leadership
Nowadays leadership is probablly one of social science’s most examined phenomena.
The scrutiny afforded to leadership is not surprising, given that it is a universal activity evident
in humankind and in animal species (Bass, 2008). According to classical Western and Eastern
writings leade rship is vital for effective organizational and societal functioning. In practice ,
leadership is very easy to identify but it is also very difficult to be define d precisely. Because of
his complex nature leadership, doesn’t have a specific and widely accep ted definition of and
might never be found.
Leadership, and the study of it, has roots in the beginning of civilization. Egyptian pharaohs ,
Greek heroes, and biblical patriarchs all have one thing in common : leadership. Over the years
have developed an important number of definit ions and theories of leadership. H owever, there
are enough similarities in th is definitions to conclude that leadership is „an effort of influence
and the power to induce compliance ” (Wren,1995). Our work, work environment, the motivation
to work, leaders, leadership, leadership style, and a myriad of other work -related variables have
been studied for almost two centuries.
In the late 1970s, leadership theory research moved beyond focusing on vari ous types of
situational supervision as a way to incrementally improve organizational performance (Behling
& McFillen, 1996; Hunt, 1991). Research has shown that many leaders turned to a transactional
leadership theory, the most prevalent method of leaders hip still observed in today’s organizations
(Avolio, Waldman, & Yanimarina, 1991; Seltzer & Bass, 1990). Transactional leaders lead
through specific incentives and motivate through an exchange of one thing for another (Bass,
1990). The underlying theory of this leadership method was that leaders exchange rewards for

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employees’ compliance, a concept based on bureaucratic authority and a leader’s legitimacy
within an organization (Tracey & Hinkin, 1994; Yukl, 1998).
At a time when leadership research was beg inning to appear especially dull and lacking
in any theoretical advances or insights, the work of Bass and his associates (Bass, 1985, 1998;
Bass & Avolio, 1994; Hater & Bass, 1988) and others promoting visionary and charismatic
leadership theories, reigni ted interest in leadership research in general (Bryman, 1992; Hunt,
1999) and in related schools of leadership (e.g., trait school).
Bass built on the work of Burns (1978), House (1977), and others to argue that previous
paradigms of leadership were mainly transactional; that is, they were focused on the mutual
satisfaction of transactional (i.e., social exchange) obligations. He believed that a different form
of leadership was required to account for follower outcomes centered on a sense of purpose and
an idealized mission. Bass referred to this type of leadership as transformational leadership, in
which idealized and inspiring leader behaviors induced follow ers to transcend their interests for
that of th e greater good.
Nowadays t rait theories of leadership thus focus on personal qualities and characteristics.
We recognize leaders like South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson,
Apple co -founder Steve Jobs, and American Express chairman Ken Chenault as charismatic,
enthusiastic, and cour ageous. The search for personality, social, physical, or intellectual
attributes that differentiate leaders from nonleaders goes back to the earliest stages of leadership
research.
1.5 Functions of leadership
We define leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a
vision or set of goals. The source of this influence may be formal, such as that provided by
managerial rank in an organization. But not all leaders are managers, nor, for that matter, are all
managers leaders. Just becau se an organization provides its managers with certain formal rights
is no assurance they will lead effectively.
There are three basic needs common to such diverse groups as a mob storming the
Bastille, primitive tribe of hunter -gatherers, a basketball team, or the executive committee of a
corporation. The first need is for a common direction and the second one is the need for

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motivation. Without motivation the individuals can fall away from the team , or spend much of
their time meeting their own needs, at the expense of the group’s needs. Also t he executive
committee will be ineffective if its members are concerned solely with their own personal
advancement. The third need is for guidance; both the team and individuals within it need to
know whether or n ot they are on the right way , and also what they can do about it. The mob
storming the Bastille will be helped by knowing where gates are unguarded; the basketball player
will be helped by advice on how to get open.
Usually a person that provides most of t hese needs is called a leader . Even though we
don’t have a clear definition of leadership we can point three fundamental functions of it , and the
associated results are:
1.5.1. Direction
A very important function of leadership is direction. Usually p eople tend to know where
they’re going: they are able to describe their mission and their goals. T hey also spend the
majority of their time on tasks and behavior that are related to achieving those goals.
1.5.2. Motivation
The motivation function is also very important because it gives p eople reasons for going
there. By doing that they can find the work and its goals rewarding . This kind of people
generally prefer team, and goal, oriented behavior.
1.5.3. Guidance
People know how they’re doing and what to ch ange: they get information about progress
and how to improve. Also they can act on those informations.
1.6 . Transformational Leadership
Transformational leaders inspire followers to transcend their self -interests for the good of
the organization and can have an extraordinary effect on their followers. Andrea Jung at Avon,
Richard Branson of the Virgin Group, and Jim McNerney of Boeing are all transformational
leaders. They pay attention to the concerns and needs of individual followers; they change
followers’ awareness of issues by helping them look at old problems in new ways; and they
excite and inspire followers to put out extra effort to achieve group goals.

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Transformational leaders are more effective because they are more creative, but also
because they e ncourage those who fol low them to be creative, too. Companies with
transformational leaders have greater decentralization of responsibility, managers have more
propensity to take risks, and compensation plans are geared toward long -term results, all of
which facilitat e corporate entrepreneurship. One study of information technology workers in
China found empowering leadership behavior led to feelings of positive personal control among
workers, which increa sed their creativity at work.1
1.7 . Leadership behavior
The most comprehensive theories resulted from the Ohio Sta te Studies in the late 1940s,2
which sought to identify independent dimensions of leader behavior. Beginning with more than a
thousand dimensions, the studies narrowed the list to two that substantially accounted for most of
the leadership behavior described by employees: initiating st ructure and consideration.
Initiating structure is the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or
her role and those of employees in the search for goal attainment. It includes behavior that
attempts to organize work, work relationsh ips, and goals. A leader high in initiating structure is
someone who “assigns group members to particular tasks,” “expects workers to maintain definite
standards of performance,” and “emphasizes the meeting of deadlines.”
Consideration is the extent to whi ch a person’s job relationships are characterized by
mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for their feelings. A leader high in
consideration helps employees with personal problems, is friendly and approachable, treats all
employees as equ als, and expresses appreciation and support. In a recent survey, when asked to
indicate what most motivated them at work, 66 percent of employees mentioned appreciation.
1.8 . Leaders
Globalization is placing new demands on today’s corporate leaders. As organizations
continue to expand and operate in a more virtual environment, executives are being asked to
provide guidance and direction to teams working across time zones and distances. In addition,

1 X. Zhang and K. M. Bartol, “Linking Empowering Leadership and Employee Creativity: The Influence of
Psychological Empowerment, Intrinsic Motivation, and Creative Process Engagement,” Academy of Management
Journal 53, no . 1 (2010), pp. 107 –128.
2 R. M. Stogdill and A. E. Coons (eds.), Leader Behavior: Its Description and Measurement, Research Monograph
no. 88 (Columbus: Ohio State University, Bureau of Business Research, 1951).

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the competitive environment is req uiring leaders to mak e sense of increasingly disparate sources
of information a nd make decisions more rapidly.
In today’s increasingly global business environment, companies are being forced to conduct
more work virtually. Besides beingmore distributed, the business world has become faster paced
and intensely competi -tive. For today’s corporate leaders, engaging the hearts and minds of
individuals who are located around the globe has proven difficult, especially in emerging
economies where plentiful job opportunities and risi ng wage rates make it difficult to hold onto
the best and the brightest.
1.9 . Leadership or management: Is there any difference?
In general are two strategies the leader s can take to improve the performance of
individuals or a team : “Take what exists and mak e it work to its fullest capacity” and “Change
what exists to make it work better”
The first one is the “master mechanic” approach. Usually m echanics do not redesign a
car; they tune it, clean it, and supply it with the best parts and fuel to make it work to its fullest
potential. The second is the “master inventor ”. Inventors are more likely to ignore the existing
order and design something new. The last approach is obvious the riskier, but is sometimes well
worth the risk.
Both strategies are good , depending on circumstances; and they are not incompatible. For
example, in the process of making something work better, people often find ways to change it;
and in the process of trying to redesign something, people may find a way to make the original
item work better. A leader may operate in either or both of these modes.
Burns, (1978) described these two approaches as “transactional” and “transformative”.
He describes the transactional approach (improve what you have) as characteristics of
management and the transformative approach (change it) as the key to leadership.
According to Burns, leadership consists primarily in changing what exists, which limits
the applicability of the concept. Second, the sharp contrast between “leaders” and “managers”
may s uggest that one cannot be both, and often leads people to consider one better than the other.

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Another writer, Bennis (1990) has taken the leader -manager separation to an extreme in
an article that extols the virtues of leaders and leadership behavior in part by denigrating
managers and management behavior.

Leadership functions
Transactional
(Management) Transformational
(Leadership)
Direction Goals and objectives Vision and values
Motivation Recognition and rewards Expectations
Guidance Feedback Modeling

Transactional
(emphasized by managers) Transformational
(emphasized by leaders)
– Setting clear, measurable objectives;
– Meeting performance standards;
– Establishing procedures and systems to
guide and support doing work;
– Dealing with existing systems in a
practical, realistic way;
– Getting the work done;
– Making use of knowledge based on
experience;
– Taking action; – Communicating high expectations;
– Living up to potential;
– Establishing principles to guide
priorities and decision -making;
– Looking for opportunities to do things
better;
– Getting ready to the future;
– Taking new and different perspectives;
– Communicating a picture of the future;

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Chapter II:
The Virgin Brand

2.1 Short History
The Virgin Group was found in 1970 by a twenty years old boy Richard Branson. Until
now, it has developed into a leading international investment group and one of the world's most
recognized and respected brands. And it still keeps on going. The Virgin Group achieves
successful businesses in sectors ranging from mobile telephone, travel, financial services, leisure,
music, holidays to health and wellness, which is really a wide scale and widely covered on
different fields. According to the statistics on the official website, the group has approximately
50,000 employees in 34 countries and global branded revenues were around 13 billion pounds
(21 billion US dollars) in 2011.
The history of the Virgin Group started from 1971: the open of the first Virgin Record
Shop in London. Then it developed and became Britai n’s first residential recording studio in
1972. In 1973 The Virgin Records label and Virgin Music Publishing launched in the UK with
the release of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. And till 1979, Virgin opened the first Virgin
Megastore in London. In the sam e year, Virgin Books was launched to publish which were
focused on music titles. This is the development of Virgin in the early stage, starting from the
field of record and music. The preliminary appearance of a company is formed within the first
several y ears.

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Started from the 1980s, Virgin got stronger and became a competitive company. Virgin
Games was founded in 1981. With vast progress, it was capable to buy Heaven in London.
Moreover, with the launch of Virgin Atlantic Airways Company and Virgin Cargo in 1984 and
the Virgin Airship and Balloon in 1987, Virgin stepped into travel and transportation field. In
later 1980s, Virgin started to take part into the international business in American, Europe and
Asia, but never stopped in extension, Virgin Hotels was born later at that time.
In 1990s, Virgin Atlantic continued to develop. It opened up more new flights around the
world. Virgin Megastores, Publishing, and Virgin Videos kept on expanding. Virgin Drinks
serving Virgin Cola, Vodka and soft drinks were new established during the same time. In 1996,
Virgin Trains was built aiming to becoming the best service company in the UK. In 1996, Virgin
Mobile was born. Up till now Virgin Mobile owns business all over the world, in Europe,
America and Asia. In the n ew century, Virgin never stops its step in developing to a new field:
Virgin Active, Virgin holidays, Virgin Cars, Virgin Blue, and Virgin Cosmetics set up. These
years, with the rapid development in information technology, Virgin put lots of effort in thi s
area. Virgin Group continues to complete itself as an all -powerful global company. From the
new 20th century and up till now, Virgin has never stopped its extension and development, 21
but becomes stronger and stronger3.
The extension type of Virgin Grou p is category extension which means the new products
use the existing brand name but in different categories. The categories of Virgin Group are very
board basically including five varieties in different fields: lifestyles, Media & Mobile, Money,
Music and Travel.
Seen from the history and achievements of Virgin Group, it can be considered as a
successful case. It might be difficult to find another company like Virgin which is a company
almost covers all kinds of business. While nothing is perfect, one of t he most famous failure
examples of Virgin Group is Virgin Coke. It is not saying that Virgin is an unsuccessful
company, but only taking the frustrated case of Virgin Coke into consideration.

2.1.1. Main Brand: Virgin Atlantic Airways Company

3 http://www.virgin.com/history

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Looking back at the history of Virgin, the earliest brand of the Virgin Group is the field
of music which included Virgin Megastore and Virgin Radio International. However, the most
successful and well -known brand (or product) of Virgin Group is the field of travel, c overing
airways, travel agency, hotels trains and vacations. Virgin starts to “fly” with Virgin Atlantic
Airways Company. And then it continues to fly higher and become stronger, but never ends.
Consequently, airlines business of Virgin is considered as a parent brand of the Virgin Group.
The Virgin Atlantic believes that there is no 100% sustainable and perfect aircraft at the
moment. They are trying their best to contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle by working
towards an accessible and strong global economy through profitable and low carbon aviation.
The vision of Vi rgin Atlantic is ‘flying high’4 while the mission is ‘to grow a profitable airline,
where people love to fly, and where people love to work’. What’s more, the company focuses on
the busin ess and leisure markets and driving efficiency and effectiveness to achieve the
successes in the industry.5
In 1984, Virgin Atlantic Airways was born. By the end of this decade, the company had
flown over 1 million passengers and started shaking up service s onboard by becoming the first
airline to offer individual TVs to their business class passengers. In 1992, Richard sold Virgin
Music to Thorn EMI and invested the proceeds into Virgin Atlantic. It was in the same year that
first super economy service was launched. In 22 1999, the Virgin Group sold 49% of the
company stock share to Singapore Airlines valuing a minimum of 1.225 billion pounds. The year
of 2003 came with the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s revolutionary Upper Class Suite, the longest
and most co mfortable flat bed and seat in business class. The new Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow
opened in March 2006 enjoying many unique features of the flagship lounge: a cocktail bar, a
hair salon, a cowshed spa, a brasserie and a games room.
In 2007, Virgin Atlant ic launched a brand new check in facilities at Heathrow Terminal
Three. For economy and premium economy passengers, Zone A is now wider, brighter and more
spacious, enabling passengers to check -in at kiosks in a faster and more stress -free way. Upper
class passengers can come to the upper class wing via a private security corridor so that
passengers can speed through the terminal to the Clubhouse more quickly than ever before.
Virgin Atlantic operated a pioneering biofuel demonstration in 2008 with Boeing a nd engine

4 http://www.virgin.com/people -and-planet/flying -high
5 http://www.virgin -atlantic.com/en/us/allaboutus/missionstatement/index.jsp

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manufacturer GE Aviation on a 747 between London and Amsterdam. This was the world's first
flight using biofuel on a commercial airline. Virgin Atlantic has also ordered 15 of the 787 -9
Dreamliners which burn around 27% less fuel per passenger th an the A340 -300, the aircraft it
will replace in the Virgin Atlantic fleet.
The statistics also show that Virgin Atlantic makes great financial profits year by year,
and keeps the vision and value in mind: Virgin Atlantic f ly higher and higher till now6.
The statistics also shows that Virgin Atlantic makes great financial profits year by year,
and keeps the vision and value on mind, Virgin Atlantic is the biggest success by far, with its
£1.9billion of turnover roughly 50% of the entire Virgin Group's sales . Virgin Atlantic flies
higher and higher till now.

2.2. Management inside the brand;
The organizational culture of Virgin Group is quite complex. Virgin Group serves as a
parent company of over 100 separately run companies that operate in industries that are often
completely unrelated. The common denominator within each company is the Virgin Brand. The
brand is similar or identical within each separate operation. This symmetry serves as a guideline
for the image that each division or department is expecte d to represent. This image is one of
quality and innovation. By creating an exceptional brand, the company is able to create a high
level of loyalty within its customer base. The diversity of businesses operated by Virgin Group
helps the company maintain a high level of loyalty in many different industries. This is the
ultimate reason why company has seen a high level of success throughout is many different
business ventures. Managers within the company use the concept of innovation to inspire the
employees to contribute to the company at all levels, rather than just doing what they are told.
Employees can contribute to the cutting edge products that the company creates as well as look
for new ways to increase the overall efficiency of the company. The Virgin Group has been able
to create a management style that encou rages employees to be competitive. This also gives
people the desire to see the company succeed in order to be a contributor to a fresh and creative
business model.

6 http://www.virgin -atlantic.com/en/us/allaboutus/ourstory/index.jsp

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Virgin under Sir Richard Branson claims that they are difference maker in the world. For
that they are trying to innovation in their ways to get higher in competitive advantages and in
their diversity. They introduce virgin as a brand that stands for quality, innovation, competitive
challenge, fun and value for customers' money. They have good r esearch and analysis system
that help them in starting anything new. They claim that they put same shoe of customers to walk
on the street of purchasing and utilizing thi ngs before going into a start7. They work as trend
setter in the market rather than be ing just followers.
They deeply focus on their competitors approach and then develop a strategy that comes
with better results. They make sure they are adding some values to any brand. They focus on risk
and rewards. They are very much selective and careful in appointing thei r staff and management
team. They even for Human resources went into joint -ventures with other companies to get
maximum inputs and knowledge from skilled market.
They have diverse approach with diversity in their products and services with bunch of
variet y in it. They are very much concern about their market and ways into that market. All this
is lead by Sir Richard Branson. The power of virgin is hiding with leadership style of Richard
Branson who is good in his ways and style. His reputation, network, pa rtners and management
brought him to this level as it mentioned on their by company itself. They got rid of bureaucratic
ways of management and replaced it with competent self motivated management that is capable
of dealing with situation their selves most the times instead looking for directions upwards every
time as it is in every bureaucratic structure. They work as team as family even within their
businesses and within the group of this brand 'virgin'. There are some time certain problems for
that their system provides a solution based leadership and at the top is Richard himself working
like a good skilled leader and manager. Everything they try is customer feedback based and
makes right guidelines for them every time when they miss something.
The lower level management positions tend to focus more strictly on the management
side of the company . Each management function varies within the different divisions in the
company. Managers at the Virgin Group have a wide range of goals to pursue. Because each
division within the company varies in its specialization it takes well trained managers to run it
effectively. Managers hired by the company tend to have a solid background in their area of

7 Bartholomeusz, 2011

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specialization. They also need to have a history of proven managemen t experience to be
considered for a position. Ultimately, managers within the Virgin Group deal with managing the
day to day tasks required to keep their division running efficiently.
The controlling function of management is the least important function t o the Virgin
Group. As a whole, controlling is often felt to be unnecessary by top level management. The
company believes that employees should have a certain amount of freedom to make choices for
the good of the organization. It is this freedom and decisi on making that has the potential to
bring out the best in an employee. Branson has stated that if an employee does not excel at their
work they should be given another chance with a different job within the company (Carmichael,
E). This innovative thinking helps to create a healthy organization structure.
2.2.1. Management by Objectives
At Virgin this model is followed completely as organisation focuses on its objectives and
makes employees get their targets set accordingly. They have to adjust things both way first
company tries to accommodate employee's objective and makes such corporate strategy that
helps staff in achievement of their objective s and policies are supportive to employees in their
growth. While employees are also expected to go with the br oader objective s of company and be
loyal to the company objective.
It is in many studies that virgin having higher level of such loyalty from staff. Virgin
ensures that there is enough support for employee's identity and acknowledgement in their
system. Purpose is to involve everyone in the organisation rather than focusing and giving
importance to top managers. This way all mangers start from their levels and they later
contribute on top level in planning and implementations.
Virgin follows all principl es of MBO like flow of organization's goals and objectives at
all levels is ensured, there is set of specific objectives for every member, there is higher level of
participation in decision making by staff, There is certain time span for targets and everyt hing is
based on time and feedbacks.
Virgin also makes policies and targets based on SMART approach. Making all targets
and objectives Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time -related.

19
If we compare this with TESCO and Sky they also have this approach in their business
and they try to keep them on this way of management by objectives. (mandmgloba, 2011) All
three companies are doing well on it but it is fact that the way Virgin is following this rule is
different from others two and they are d oing remrably well in their performance compare to
others two. Other two have huge investments supports but still if we compare the returns over
investments Virgin is making ahead. While this approach of Management by objective is adopted
by all these mega businesses in their strategy of dealing things in their business.
2.2.2. Centralization and Decentralization
There is beautiful balance of centralisation and decentralisation at Virgins Group this was
attained through by changing their ways of decision making at authority levels and by
corresponding organization's structure effectively higher goals can be achieved. All decisions are
made according to need and capacities. There is more freedom at lower levels in Virgin as Virgin
leadership believes in hum an potential. Thus they avoid unnecessary delays in decision at
implementation levels. On the other hand the concept of centralisation in TESCO (Hiscott, 2010)
and at Sky is more tight than Virgin. Their decentralisation approach is some time affected by
the ways of decentralisation for short times. They were failing to develop such kind of trust over
their managers that the staffs of Virgin enjoy. The team building and degree of freedom for
performance according to your skills is very high at Virgins compa ring to TESCO and Sky. Both
are facing good competition in their related product and services with Virgins. As three of them
are into media, mobile industry and service providing in different sectors.
2.3. Leadership inside the brand;
The leadership dynami cs within the Virgin Group start with Chairman Richard Branson.
He is a very vocal and flamboyant leader. His mission is to inspire those who work below him to
work to the best of their abilities for the good of the company. He often pushes his belief that by
contributing to the good of the company it will increase the rewards for everybody involved. He
has stated that he tries to bring the best out of people and does this for workers at the lowest
levels as well as the top ranking executives. This philosop hy is encouraged to all managers
within the company.

20
There is a solid distinction between leadership and management within the Virgin Group.
Transformational leadership comes from the top managers and executives within the company.
Richard Branson along w ith other company executives have set many common goals for the
company to achieve as a whole. These ambitious goals include expansion into international
markets, utilization of new technology, loyalty among customers, and joint ventures with other
compani es. Goals of this level are voiced to all people involved with the company. This has a
benefit to the company by giving everybody involved a challenging mission to accomplish. The
highest level of management encourages employees to use their skills in a wa y that will best
compliment the company. The idea behind this is to promote the philosophy that the overall
benefit of the company will lead to individual benefits for each person involved. Group
contribution will eventually lead to rewards for executives, managers, employees, shareholders,
and customers alike.
A key feature of the Virgin group was the roles which senior executives played and the
way in which they interacted. Although their formal positions were as executives of the
individual operating companies, a number were long -time Branson associates who par ticipated
more widely in the management of the group. For instance, while heading up corporate services
at Virgin Atlantic, Frances Farrow’s legal background meant thatshe provided much wider leg al
advice within the Virgin group. Similarly, although Rowan Gormley formal positions were with
Virgin Direct and Virgin Wine, he was a source of new business leadership and strategy
expertise for the group as a whole. Thus, although the Virgin group had n o corporate structur e,
Branson and his senior execu tives and advisors did, in effect, form a team which exerted overall
financial control, guided strategy, assessed new business ideas, a nd determined new
appointments.
A key aspect of this informal integrati on and control was the Virgin culture. This was
defined almost entirely by Branson’s own values and management style. It reflected his
eccentricity, sense of fun, disrespect for hierarchy and formal autho rity, commit ment to
employees and consumers, and belie f in ha rd work and individual responsi bility. The group
provided an environment in which talented, ambitious people were motivated to do their best and
strive for a higher level of performance. While the working environment was informal, anti –
corporate, an d defined by the pop culture of its era, expectations were high. Branson expected a
high level of commitment, the acceptance of personal responsibility, and long hours of work

21
when needed. Financial rewards for most employees were typically modest, but non -pecuniary
benefits included social activities, company -sponsored weekend g etaways, and impromptu
parties.
The apparent chaos of the Virgin group, with its casual style and absence of formal
structure and control systems, belied a sharp bus iness acumen and f orceful deter mination of the
Virgin group. It was easy for more traditional business enterprises to underestimate Virgin – a
key error of British Airways. Virgin possessed considerable financial and managerial talent, and
what Virgin lacked in formal struct ure was made up for by a strong culture and close personal
ties. The Virgin organizational structure involved very little hierarchy, offering short lines of
communication and flexible response capability. Employees were given a great deal of
responsibility and freedom in order to stimulate idea generation, initiative, commitm ent, and fun.
The lack of a cor porate headquarters and the small size of most of the Virgin operating
companies were intended to foster teamwork and a strong entrepr eneurial spirit.
The lower level management positions tend to focus more strictly on the management
side of the company. Leadership is encouraged among managers, but it often takes strict
management to get the job done. Each management function varies within the different divi sions
in the company. Managers at the Virgin Group have a wide range of goals to pursue. Because
each division within the company varies in its specialization it takes well trained managers to run
it effectively. Managers hired by the company tend to have a solid background in their area of
specialization. They also need to have a history of proven management experience to be
considered for a position. Ultimately, managers within the Virgin Group deal with managing the
day to day tasks required to keep thei r division running efficiently.

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Chapter III
Case study: Sir Richard Branson – Founder of Virgin Brand

3.1. His Beginings
Richard Branson’s entrepreneurial actions have developed in the British social, political
and economic context of the last 45 years. From the mid -1960s to now, this context has
immensely changed. Yet, Branson’s actions have always adapted, his responses to market
opportunity modifications evolving accordingly, as the examples selected below will show.
In the mid -1960s, th e United -Kingdom went through a major societal transformation, the
British society suddenly freeing itself from the shackles of rules and conventions inherited from
the Victorian era. While Parliament progressively modified legislation towards more in divid ual
freedom and equality8, the so -called “underground” movement sprung up into the open.

8 Listing all legislation passed in favour of individual freedom and equality would be too long, but one should
remember the Race Relations Act banning racial discrimination in public places (1965), the Abortion Act (1967),
the National Health Service (Family Planning) Act which legalised bi rth control regardless of marital status (1967),

23
Rejecting their parents’ consumerist lifestyle, the anti -establishment youth organised to freely
live their sexual, musical and drug experiments and express their conv ictions. Protests flourished
against international controversi al situations like the Vietnam W ar or the Rhodesia white –
minority domination, or to denounce domestic issues like the questioning of the Welfare State or
the disputable living and studying condi tions of students. Since most gathering and
demonstrations of the youth remained peaceful in Britain, Harold Wilson’s Labour government
did not exercise violent coercive methods. The consequently permissive atmosphere allowed the
youth to think nothing cou ld stop them.
It was in this context of the British youth’s protesting breakthrough that 17 – year-old
Branson created his first venture, Student Magazine. Though exploiting the fashionable trends of
political activism, Student Magazine was not a second IT9. Yet, it had scarcely anything to do
with the initial project rolled out by Branson and his school -mate Jonny (Jon athan Holland
Gems) of an inter high school journal that would help pupils to make their school life evolve.
The proof of it is the first iss ue featured political activist and actress Vanessa Redgrave, openly
homosexual painter and photographer David Hockney and the Beatles’ album Sergent Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band cover co -designer Peter Blake, among others.

3.1.1 Student Magazine
Richard Branson’s business career began while he was a student at Stowe, a
privateboarding school. His start -up magazine, Student, was first published on January 26,1968.
The early success of the magazine encouraged Branson to leave school at 17years old, b efore
taking his final exams. Agreeing to the boy’s request to leave, the head -master offered the
prophetic statement, “Richard, you will end up in prison or as a millionaire.” Both predictions
were to be fulfilled.
This early publishing venture displayed f eatures that would characterize many
ofBranson’s subsequent entrepreneurial initiatives. The magazine was aimed at baby -boomers
between 16 and 25 years old and was designed to appeal to the optimism,irreverence,

the Sexual Offences Act which decriminalised homosexual acts in private (1967), the Murder Act which abolished
death penalty for murder in Britain (1965), and the Divorce Reform Act allowing de facto separat ion without
evidence of fault (1969).
9 IT (or International Times, as it was first named) is a provocative magazine (now exclusively online) launched in
1966 by underground activists John Hopkins and Barry Miles.

24
antiauthoritarianism, and fashion consciousn ess of the new generation.It would also fill a “gaping
hole in the market.” Student was to be the “voice of youth”and would “put the world to rights.”
Its eclectic style reflected its founder’s ability tocommission articles by celebrities and to identify
subjects not touched by many well -established magazines. Norman Mailer, Vanessa Redgrave,
and Jean -Paul Sartre con -tributed pieces which appeared among articles on sex, rock music,
interviews withterrorists, and proposals for educational reform.
The success of the magazine promoted favorable notice in the national press. Branson
was described incomplimentary terms as “The editor, publisher and sole advertising manager
…ateenage professional whose enthusiasm gets things done to an extent that would shame his
elders.” Certainly his energy and enthusiasm were needed to keep the organization going. The
offices were transient, first in a friend’s basement flat, later in a disused church. The staff – a
closely organized cooperative of friends, acquaintances and hang ers-on – distributed magazines,
took copy and, frequently, avoided creditors. As Branson said at the time: “The staff all work for
nothing. I supply them with some -where to sleep and some food. It’s not so much they are
working for you as working with you.
3.1.2. Virgin Records
Branson’s next venture was mail order records. Beginning with a single advertisement in
the last issue of Student magazine, Branson found that he was ab le to establish a thriv ing
business with almost no up -front investment and no working capital, and could easily undercut
the established retail chains. The name “Virgin” was suggested by one of his associates who saw
the name as proclaiming their commercial innocence, while possessing some novelty and modest
shock -value. Virgin Reco rds brought together Branson and his childhood friend Nik Powell, who
took a 40 percent share in the company and complemented Branson’s erratic flamboyance with
careful operational and financial management. In 1971 Branson opened his first retail store – on
London’s busy Oxford Street.
Expansion into record publishing was the idea of Simon Draper – one of Virgin’s record
buyers. Draper introduced Branson to Mike Oldfield, who was soon installed at Branson’s
Oxford shire home with a fully equipped recording stu dio. Tubular Bells, launched in 1973, was
an instant hit, eventually selling over 5 million copies world -wide. The result was the Virgin
record label, which went on to sign up bands whose music or lifestyles did not appeal to the
major recor d companies. Am ong the most suc cessful signings were the Sex Pistols, who were

25
contracted to Virgin until the band’s breakup following the arrest and subsequent death of Sid
Vicious.
The recession of 1979 –82 was a struggle for Virgin. Several business ventures failed and
several of Branson’s close associates left, including Nik Powell, who sold his share -holding back
to Branson for £1 million plus Virgin’s cinema and video interests. Despite these setbacks, the
1980s saw rapid growth for Virgin Records with the signing of Phil Collins, Human League,
Simple Minds, and Boy George’s Culture Club. By 1983, the Virgin group was earning pre -tax
profits of £2.0 million on total revenues of just under £50 million.

3.1.3. Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic began with a phone call fro m Randolph Fields, a Californian lawyer who
proposed founding a transatlantic, cut -price airline. T o the horror of Branson’s execu tives at
Virgin Records, Branson was enthralled with the idea. On June 24, 1984, Branson appeared in a
World War I flying outfit to celebrate the inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic in a second -hand 747
bought from Aerolinas Argentina. With the launch of Virgin Atlantic, Branson had embarked
upon a perilous path strewn with the wreckage of earlier entrepreneurs of aviation, includin g
Laker, Braniff, and People’s Express. Unlike Branson’s other businesses, not only was the airline
business highly capital intensive, it also required a completely new set of business skills, in
particular the need to negotiate with governments, regulatory bodies, banks, and aircraft
manufacturers.

3.2. The creator of Virgin Group
As the creator of Virgin and its unique corporate culture, and the primary promoter of its
image and entrepreneurial spirit, Richard Branson was synonymous with Virgin. He has been
referred to as the “hippie entrepreneur” of a “counter -cultural enterprise.” To many of his
generation he embodied the spirit of “New Britain.” In a country where business leaders were
members of “The Establishment” and upholders of the existing social structure, Branson was
seen as a revolutionary. Despite a privileged family back -ground (his father was a lawyer and
Richard attended a private boarding school), Branson had the ability to transcend the social
classes which traditionally divided British society and segmented consumer markets. As such, he

26
was part of a movement in British culture and society that has sought to escape the Old Britain of
fading empire, class antagonism, Victorian values, and stiff -upper -lip hypocrisy. In the remaking
of British society in its post -imperial era, Richard Branson can be viewed – along with musicians
such as the Beatles, politicians like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, and other new -age
entrepreneurs such as Anita Roddick of Body Shop – as an important chang e agent.
His informality and disrespect for convention were central to his way of business.
Branson’s woolly sweaters, beard, windswept hair, and toothy grin were practically a trademark
of the Virgin companies. His dislike of office buildings and the usua l symbols of corporate
success was reflected in the absence of a co rporate head office and his will ingness to do business
from his family homes – the Manor in Oxfordshire, a Maida Vale houseboat, and later his
Holland Park house. His lack of a clear distinction between work and his social and family life is
reflected in the fact that his cousins, aunts, childhood friends, and dinner -party acquaintances
were all drawn into business relationships with him. Hi s approach to his business rela tionships
was t hat work should be fun and his employees should gain both pleasure and a sense of
fulfillment from their role in creating enterprises. Branson has experienced few problems in
paying quite modest salaries to the great majority of Virgin employ ees.
His use o f joint ventures was an extension of this model reinforced by his dealings with
the Japanese. Branson was impressed by the Japanese approach to business, admiring their
commitment to the long term and the way they took time to build a business through orga nic
growth rather than acquisition. His only major acquisition was the parts of British Rail that
formed Virgin Rail. Prior to that Branson had made only two significant acquisitions: Rushes
Video for £6 million and the forerunner to Virgin Express. He saw similarities in the Japanese
keiretsu system (multiple companies inter -locking through managerial and equity linkages in a
collaborative network) and the structure he created at Virgin, with around 200 mo stly small
companies, which com bined “small is beaut iful” with “strength through unity.”
Branson’s values of innocence, innovation, and irreverence for authority were apparent in
his choice of new ventures. He drew heavily on the ideas of others within his organization and
was prepared to invest in new star t-ups even in markets that were dominated by long -established
incumbents. His business ventures, just like his sporting exploits, reflected a “just live life”
attitude and a “bigger the challenge, greater the fun” belief. In identifying opportunity he was
particularly keen to identify markets where the conservatism and lack of imagination of

27
incumbent firms meant that they were failing to create value for customers. Branson entered
mark ets with a “new” and “antiestab lishment attitude” that sought to offer cus tomers a better
alternative. An example of this was Virgin’s entry into financial services. Into a business that
was long regarded as conservative and stuffy, Branson hoped to bring “a breath of fresh air.”
What did these principles mean for the types of ma rkets that Virgin entered and the kind
of strategy that Virgin adopted? Will Whitehorn identified a number of common themes:
•“Challenging markets”
•“Taking competition to the next level”
•“Sticking it to the Big Boys”
•“Quality”
•“Value for money”
•“Challenge”10
At the same time, the affection of the British public towards Branson reflected the fact
that Branson was a traditionalist as well as a radical. Branson’s values and his sense of fair play
were consistent with many traditional values that defin ed the British charac ter. His competitive
battles against huge corporations like British Airways and Coca -Cola link well with the English
heroes who have battled against tyranny and evil: King Arthur, Robin Hood, and St George. His
fights against Br itish Ai rways’ dirty -tricks cam paign, and his resisting unethical practices in
competing for the franchise to run the National Lottery, resonate well with the British sense of
fair play. Even his willingness to appear in outlandish attire reflected a British propen sity for
ludicrous dressing -up whether at fancy -dress parties, morris dancing, or the House of Lords.

3.2.1 Richard Branson’s personal brand profile
Richard Branson is well known for his values and strong leadership skills . He has been
pivotal in establishing t he Virgin identity. Branson’s personality is reflected in his passion for
daring adventures and doing thing differently to attract attention; for example his hot air balloon
crossing of the Atlantic in 1987, the TV -show “The Rebel Billionaire” and when he dressed up
in a wedding dress to promote his new venture ”Virgin Bride”.
In that way the identity of Virgin is reflected in the activities Branson performs, and helps
shape its images with stakeholders. Branson describes himself as an "adventure capitalist ”

10 Will Whitehorn, Talk to Georgetown MBA students, London, March 16, 2000

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(hrmagazine.ca.uk), and this is mirrored in Branson's core strength: The ability to take a
consumer's experience to another level. He is the living embodiment of the Virgin brands’ vision
and values, which are fun, excitement and innovation, as mentioned above. Branson has been a
symbol and guideline for a certain style of leadership – the personification of a brand, ‘Virgin is
Branson and Branson is Virgin’. His personality reflects the corporate identity and is aligned to
have the same vision and values . HR magazine, which made an interview with Branson in 2001,
described that “It's through the cult of Branson that Virgin has grown to what it is today”
Branson builds the Virgin identity by doing crazy activities, starting new ventures and
being energetic ; he never gets boring. In addition, Branson using himself has a huge role in
establishing the image .
Branson is brilliant at promoting his company through his personality, and thereby create
an image of the brand’s identity. He has been very dedicated an d attentive in aligning the Virgin
brand and his personal brand for people to recognize him and the Virgin brand interconnectedly.
The brand promise is crucial to Branson, and he is competing on reputation strategy in which the
Virgin name signifies a dist inction and promise of the company to the stakeholders. For long
Virgin has competed with British Airways, but Virgin with Branson in front succeeds in building
an emotional bond and an appealing brand.
More than building a strong image externally, Branson has succeeded in spreading the
Virgin vision that reflects in high customer service cause of the highly motivated workforce and
is great at articulating a strategic vision for his followers and employees. His attitude towards the
employees is that if empl oyees are inspired, empowered, and free to act, they will stretch
themselves to make exceptional efforts and demonstrate a high degree of commitment. Melewar
states that it has been crucial for Branson to ensure that everyone in the company understand the
Virgin identity and how it plays a role in succeeding and furthermore to connect to the values of
Virgin . Branson states that the employees play important part in creating an image within and
outside the business. Additionally, Branson states that he gives top priority to the staff, secondly,
the customers, and lastly, the shareholders. As he argues, the staff is more committed to the
values of the brand and their enthusiasm and behavior should delight the target market and in the
long term enhance sharehol der wealth. This illustrates that Branson’s main goal is to create a
vision and values to the employees, since this will pay back in customer loyalty. By securing the
vision 36 internally, he makes sure that the employees live the brand. This secures that the vision

29
and image are aligned, since this is spread internally and then lived authentically outside the
company to make it trustworthy .

3.3 The leader not the manager
In his entrepreneurial life Branson has taken many risks, the greatest of which was
probably when, having already achieved significant financial success, he was prepared to take a
major risk for what he believed was a bigger goal, success in the airline business. Not one person
in the airline business, apart from Branson, seemed to believe it would survive more than a year,
but he did. His airline is now the 2nd largest largest British long haul international airline.
However, his stance was that he was bold in his decision, not foolish.
Branson infuriates the experts precisely because his success has come from breaking
nearly all of their most sacrosanct rules. He is a billionaire because he hasn't accepted limitations
and contends that even a failure like Virgin Cola actually benefited his brand because it
generated so much media coverage and reinforced his image as a risk taker challenging the
establishment. Branson probably faced his greatest challenge in what is now termed as the BA
‘dirty tricks’ campaign. In 1991 the UK Civil Aviation Authority opened the door for Virgin to
operate fro m Heathrow and this was one of the major causes of the BA "dirty tricks" campaign
against Virgin. In 1992 BA published a libelous article in BA News which argued that Branson
protestations against British Airways were merely for publicity. Many would have buckled under
the repercussions of this and the subsequent damage to the airline but Branson took the brave
step of taking on grey -suited corporatism and sued British Airways for libel, much against the
advice of many. BA settled out of court when its lawy ers unearthed evidence of the extraordinary
lengths the company went to to "kill off" Virgin. Among its many dodgy tactics, BA operatives
leaked stories to the press impugning Virgin's safety standards; hacked into Virgin's reservations
system; called Virg in customers, lied about cancellations, and switched them to BA flights; and
circulated rumors that Branson had AIDS. Having won substantial damages Branson divided the
funds amongst his staff.
As usual, Branson worked hard and turning the press to his sid e. He ensured BA’s actions
were shrewdly publicized as widely as possible by Branson, enhancing his image as the
consumer’s friend, struggling honorably against self -serving, grey -suited corporatism.

30
The staff at Virgin have a name for Branson. It is ‘Dr . Yes’. They call him this because
he generally won’t say no. He finds more reasons to do things than not to do them. He says his
motto really is: ‘Screw it – let’s do it!’ His philosophy is always to give something a go, to find
more reasons to do things t han not to do them and does not believe that the little word, can’t,
should stop anyone. When he started his first venture, Student magazine, at the age of 15, people
said he could not do it as he was too young with no experience. But that did not stop him and at
16 he left school to work full -time on the magazine. This was not a man that needed a university
education or an MBA to succeed! Then, everyone said he would fail in the airline business and
he proved them wrong, again.

3.3.1. Sir Richard Branson leadership style
If we deeply study the style of Mr Branson he is a dynamic leader that always looks
higher towards major goals in life. For that he adopts couple methods like .
Theory of needs, MOB and balanced centralisation and decentralisation. He more focuses
on brand value of his company. He has very simple ways of living, he believes in enjoying life
and sharing it with others. He is man of his own choices he choose what he liked instead of
looking into his background on that business and he made succ ess. He always bucking his team
on different occasions as he wants them feels that he is with them in all matters. He has
developed a culture at Virgins that cannot be found in many organisations. All employees of
Virgin are invited to show and perform the ir capabilities. He is innovative person with many
qualities of leadership in business that reason his company is expanding over the years. HE has
invested his own rule for all this and put all his efforts as success that way. He is able to identify
many h urdles and made much better than his compotators. He has given his employees great
independence in work as he also welcomed them for fast promotions over the time. He has idea
that anyone can took over the top in his company if they show such kind of commi tments.
Virgin's all success in days of 1970s and 1980s is result of Branson's unusual way and
management style that was corner stone on all this business and his corporate norms were
different form the system that was existing at that time. He stopped we aring traditional
businessmen suit and tie instead he use to wear a sweater and slacks. He uses technologies
effectively compare to other and enjoy his holidays and dealing everything on phone, fax and
internet. He gives his subordinates more freedom to wo rk their tasks. He believes everyone

31
wants to deal with top person so he provides his managers to deal with him directly. He gives his
staff high performance incentives and he relies on his team. He also adopted a technique through
which he have divid ed hi s company tasks into multi unit operations. His companies are connected
with each other very wel l and some time supports each other.
Most important is that he always encouraged to his employees go and do some innovation
and take more risks instead of being in fear with failure risks. He is famous for his risk taking
ability and habit. He normally emphasise on the importance that a service should bring for
customers for the value of their money. He is skilled with troubleshooting and making new
projects. His motto is to create such companies only in which he himself believes.
He describes his style of leadership as breaking the rules. A self -made man who set up
his first business at the age of 16, he never learned the “rules of management”.
When hiring leader s, Branson feels that commitment, vision and personality are better
indicators to the success of a future manager than a strong academic record. He wants passionate
and decisive leaders who will inspire, motivate and empower their teams to innovate and inv est
themselves in the business.
One of the key elements in Branson’s leadership style has been his willingness to listen.
From the beginning of Virgin Group’s development, he has given his personal phone number to
all company employees, believing they shou ld have access to him at all times, including
weekends, encouraging them not only to report problems but also to suggest new ideas for the
business.
In a recent interview with Forbes Magazine, he said that listening to staff and customers
and learning fro m their feedback has allowed Virgin to take risks, to break barriers and to offer
fresh ideas to the marketplace.
However, Branson’s top tips for leading a business are to have a sense of hu mor and to
have fun. The ability to laugh at yourself is a good wa y to carry people along with you and
demonstrates self -awareness. And he is convinced that if don’t enjoy what you do, you shouldn’t
be doing it.

3.3.2. 10 rules for being a great leader
In his book "The Virgin Way," Branson breaks down the top 10 rules t hat have motivated
him and his employees every step of the way.

32
1. Follow your passions, but protect the downside.
Branson has never been someone to back down from an idea because others criticized
him for it, and admires those who take the risk on something extraordinary.
2. Do some good
Branson's a firm believer in philanthropy and has signed Bill Gates' and Warren Buffett's
Giving Pledge, a promise to donate at least half of his fortune to charity.
3. Believe in your business
"A passionate belief in your business and personal objectives can make all the difference
between success and failure. If you aren't proud of what you're doing, why should anybody else
be?" Branson writes.
4. Have fun
Branson says that the heart that unites all of the disparat e companies under the Virgin
name is a dedication to fun. "Fun is one of the most important — and underrated — ingredients
in any successful venture. If you're not having fun, then it's probably time to call it quits and try
something else," he writes.
5. Don't give up
Branson is always in pursuit of a difficult challenge to overcome, and with these risks
come failures.
6. Listen more and talk less
While growing up with dyslexia, Branson developed a habit of writing things down so he could
remember them. It 's a practice he says he has maintained since childhood, and so he never goes
anywhere without a physical notebook.
7. Make room for personal time through delegation
"The art of delegation is one of the key skills any entrepreneur must master," Branson
writes. The most successful leaders know that they do not have the time or learning capacity to
excel at every aspect of their company and thus hire people to take care of things they're either
not good at or should not be wasting time on.
8. Go out and meet people
Don't be someone who gets stuck in front of a computer all day. Push yourself to get
lunch with coworkers; grab coffee with someone in your industry.
9. Communicate among all levels of your company

33
Branson doesn't believe in barriers between levels of employees, and thinks a CEO
should never forget that they are defined by their team.
10. Be happy!
To Branson, his $5 billion net worth wouldn't mean anything if he didn't actually enjoy
what he was doing. He sees success as a constant pursuit and indu lgence of happiness. It's why
he has his own private island.

3.3.3. Leadership Traits
1. Visionary
Branson has always believed that there are industries out there that can be ‘Virginized’,
which he means by revitalizing and making it more attractive. Branson’s vision of embarking on
novel and stimulating future prospects has led him to expand the Virgin name so vastly and yet
has kept its high standards.
Being a visionary, especially in a hospitality industry, is vital to being successful. In this
fast paced era, everyone is striving to create something outstanding to be ahead of its
competitors. Having vision is to be able to anticipate changes and seizing opportunities, without
this quality, one will have difficulty in leading his/her company to succ ess.
2. Team Builder
A successful leader is nothing without its followers. Being able to create unity in his team
has made Branson more successful than ever. He has flown to great heights to create a fun
working environment for his employees. He believes that people who work for him should not
have the concept of just coming to work for that paycheck; instead, he wants his team to enjoy
being a part of the Virgin family. As a team leader, one has to create a harmonious working
atmosphere with little confli ct or issues amongst its people. The most important part of being a
good leader is not only to lead its followers, but to foster a relationship and showing interests in
their needs.
Being in the hospitality business, there is no doubt that one has to work with other
people. Not just colleagues, but also other players such as industry partners, guests etc. A leader
simply cannot run a successful hotel just by being the best. The success of the hotel depends on
how the collection of employees functions it. By creating a team of employees that is happy to

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be working for the hotel, it would be more likely that they project their happiness towards the
hotel guests.
3. Confident, Determined and Persistent
Outstanding leaders must first and foremost, believe stron gly in what they want to
achieve. This unrelenting belief has to be portrayed through the leader’s confidence and
unrelenting spirit to never give up even when met with numerous obstacles. The leader must not
only have faith in him/her -self, but also in th e people he/she is leading. Branson had to jump
over many hurdles to be where he is now. Branson suffered from Dyslexia, which prohibited him
from being able to read by the age of 8. But that did not stop him; he fought with the disease and
ultimately over come it. This incident has given him the confidence he needed to become a great
leader, a sense that he can accomplish anything. When he was older, and his business matured,
he still met with failures like Virgin Cola and Virgin Vodka. His Virgin Airlines was sold
because it was not making money. All these did not stopped him from exploring other
possibilities, all he did was bounce back after disappointment and pressured forward.
Being able to lead is closely tied to the leader’s personality and spirit. Th e set of qualities
like confidence, determination and persistence is fundamental to strive in a competitive
hospitality industry. These qualities must also be projected onto the leader’s followers, to never
give up when met with a set -back. Ultimately, in the hotel business, it is impossible to satisfy
everyone, there is bound to be incidents where the hotel’s name is dragged through the mud, be it
because of financial crisis, reputation or competition. The key lesson to learn from Branson is
never give up trying.

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Conclusions

Just by observing the distance which Richard Branson has gone in the business world it is
not difficult to decide him as an exceptional business leader. Here the attempt is to analyze his
form of leadership using the major theories leadership. Words usually connected to Branson are
creative, fun, anti -establishment, fast, opportunist, adventurer, the risk of Taker, warm, friendly,
competitive, workaholic and hard negotiator. Those qualities are according to the trait theories of
leadership, main charac teristics of a successful leader.
Richard Branson has a good leader -member relations and treats his employees with
respect, like his own family, even to the extent of giving invitations to his junior members for
home for parties . He always welcome the feedback and new ideas of the employees. The task

36
structure of the Virgin is usually low since Branson gives his emplo yees the freedom and
initiative has to be creative. There are no established procedures , in which, things must be done .
His organization is work ing on flat and non -hierachical structure, which is made of clusters, and
given the flexibility to work independ ently without much interference. These factors clearly
show that his form of leadership is of much more democratic and participative nature. Position
power he proves to be dominant thinker, and generally makes decision by himself. When
observing the contin gency theory of Fiedler, it is clear that he belongs to intermediate type of
leader who is task motivated and socio -independen t.
Branson has strong contingency and situational leadership skills too. He has always
looked for and uses every opportunity to cr eate a new company to be viable. He is quite capable
of controlling situati ons and also a high risk taker. This refl ects the most domina nt theory of
leadership today i.e. situational theories. He follows different leadership styles and technics
according t o the situation and the context. This has been one of the most important features of
Rich ard Branson's leadership . He also shows the ability to implement changes quickly. Virgin
Cola in the United States changed its strategy, management and location of its t-drinks business
with emphasis on the theme "New Age beverages like fruit juices and energy drinks, when he
saw no prospect in the war against the Coca -Cola and Pepsi -Cola in the Cola Business.
Transformational leaders are also those that can adapt quick ly to change. Branson has
clearly demonstrated its flexibility and its success in adapting to changing organizational
cultures, as he bought new companies and moved into new areas, along with his men. Literature
clearly shows that the assessment of transfo rmational leadership is positively correlated with the
evaluation of managerial performance , Recommendations for promotion and the percentage of
the goals of the strategic business units.
According to Bass transformational leadership is more likely to refl ect social values and
arise in times of distress and change , while transactional leadership is probably found in well –
ordered, steady environment. Virgin is an organization that is focused on growth and constant
change, thus suitable for transformational s tyle.
Virgin is a kingdom, where the individuals Branson stamped in everywhere of the
business , therefore, his values and goals are the driving force of the whole co rporation. An
overview of tran sformational and charismatic leader ship theories suggests tha t the leaders may
achieve releva nt goals by making of followers, who personally identify with this style, also the

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work -group they are with . Thus transformational approach , in my opinion the best summari es the
style of this renowned business leader.
With c harisma, intellectual stimulation and inspirational motivation and individualized
consideration, transformational leaders have a great potential to promote actions beyond
expectations and produce changes within individuals and organizations. It seems that this form of
a leadership well -suited for a time li ke this in which has characteristics like uncertainl y, global
turmoil and institutional instability.

https://w ww.study.net/sample/pdf/How_to_Become_a_Better_Leader.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237268625_Richard_Branson_and_the_Virgin_Gr
oup_of_Companies_in_2004
http://www.diva -portal.org/smash/get/diva2:534912/fulltext01.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237268625_Richard_Branson_and_the_Virgin_Gr
oup_of_Companies_in_2004
http://www.worldbhc.org/files/full%20program/C8_PaperChamprouxWCBH17March2014030
82014.pdf