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Unit 8: Foundations of Organisational Behaviour

Skill usually requires a certain environmental stimuli and situation to assess the level of Notes
skill being shown and used.
4. Expertise: Expertise may be explained as expert advice or opinion. When you are a leader,
the people you lead will look up to you. They will be dependent on your expertise to help
them succeed. If they cannot depend on you to guide them, you will fail as a leader.
Leadership behaviour is showcase by people who have an expertise on one or more areas
of work. To succeed, the people you lead will need to see you as being an expert.

Task Analyse at least five people around you and enlist their positive as well as
negative qualities in terms of professionalism.

Case Study Acer making it easy

tan Shih is a national hero in Taiwan; Acer is a successful international brand. The
computer industry is one of the most competitive in the world, having always been
Sdominated by the giants such as IBM. So, how has a Taiwanese company become the
third largest manufacturer of personal computers (PCs) in the world, creating a respected,
and sometimes feared, brand? How has the company managed to break away from the
“Made in Taiwan” image, which like many countries in Asia has been associated with sub-
standard products?
The answer is, of course, the careful construction of a strong brand image. From the very
beginning, Shih realized that this was the great challenge, and he positioned his products
more at the higher end of the market than any other Taiwanese products had been
previously. For example, when entering the Japanese market, he priced his products the
same as theirs to avoid the poor-quality image associated with lower-priced products.
This was an important signal emitted by the brand—that Acer-branded products were not
to be classified as commodities.
Acer Computer has always spent huge sums of money on research and development, and
in this respect, tends to follow the Japanese technology companies. Shih believes in
“innovalue”–using innovation to create value in the design and production of cutting-
edge products–and leading the industry. It is Shih’s company that has actually positioned
the PC as an aesthetically pleasing home appliance, and this philosophy is summed up in
the new corporate mission statement: “Fresh Technology Enjoyed by Everyone,
Everywhere.” Fresh does not imply new but the best, namely, proven high-value,
low-risk technology that is affordable to everyone, and has a long lifespan.
Fresh also refers to innovation based on mature technology that is user-friendly, reasonably
priced, and enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. Acer Computer has a long history of
innovation, and continues to add to this brand strength at every opportunity. Acer
Computer’s aim is to become more consumer-oriented, as it believes that PCs will become
consumer-electronic products with a wider range of uses and applications in the areas of
communications, entertainment, and education. Acer Computer, therefore, has to become
an expert in consumer electronics as well as personal computing. Shih refers to this as a
shift from being ‘technology-centric” to “consumer-centric.” The computer industry has
always been the former, emphasizing products more than people. Acer Computer is, thus,

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