«Business Leader-Putera Sampoerna» - Great Essay Sample

Leadership is a vital fact in the business world (James, 2010). Every team will need a person to spearhead the vision of the team so as to realize the goals and the mission of the organization or a team. The different times of leadership styles are as broad as there are different personalities. Ethics represent the basic principles that form the doctrines governing a given discipline or association. In leadership, ethics forms part of the necessary arm that should be observed (Weiss, 2010). It is advisable that the leader uphold these ethics to ensure that the followers feel appreciated and honored.

Putera Sampoema is an Indonesian billionaire who has played a key role in improving the future state of the country. He was born in the year 1947 and inherited once of the well-established companies in Indonesia - Sampoerna Cigarette Company from his father. He held the reign of Sampoerna Cigarette Company leadership for a total of twenty two years (1978-2000) after which he handed over to the son. However, in 2005 the ownership of the company changed after Putera traded the shared invested in the company shifting the ownership to Philip Morris International. He invested the in his own Sampoerna Strategic company which is a varied set of business adventures. The net worth of the company and family are arched at USD 2.39 billion. The company has an eminent and sizable market share in the agriculture, technology, environmental and microfinance business (Sampoerna Foundation, 2013). Putera leadership is also highly witnessed in the field of charity work through his philanthropic foundation.

Putera Sampoerna Foundation as a vision of transforming the leadership caliber of Indonesia through investing in developing young and future skilled leaders. The leaders are equipped with the necessary leadership skill and knowledge that will enable the country to face the enormous task in the business world. This mission is championed through vast philanthropic scholarships that to the students in school. The foundation also seeks to empower the young leaders through offering them job opportunities to exercise their leadership and entrepreneurial skill. In addition, the foundation is geared toward tapping profound capability among women and channeling it towards moving the country forward. He has identified himself as one of the most ethical leaders of the time with dire interest of the nation at heart.

Some of the ethical leadership theories that can be used to describe Putera leadership characteristics include utilitarianism and altruism (James, 2010). His notion of targeting a large population at the expense of benefiting or owning the wealth alone as a family qualifies him as a utilitarianism. The focus he gives is mostly geared towards arriving at a better nation capable of facing the future expected challenges. The level of scholarship distributed every year cost the foundation a lot of money that could otherwise be used to further enrich or expand the family business. However, such ideologies are not the case with Putera and his philanthropic hand has helped the Indonesians magnificently.

Altruism is concerned with helping and benefiting others (Dion, 2012). This is one of the foundation's principles where the interest of the country prevails those of Putera. He invests a lot in the philanthropic docket aiming at improving the living standard of Indonesians. Students get funded to pursue their studies with a goal of taking over the leadership mantle from the old, and using the knowledge gained to spearhead the country’s economy to match those of the developed countries. He can be described as a transformational leader who has a vision of a better Indonesian that the current country state.

Putera leadership and vision can be described as acquired from the vast exposure and experience from his varied educational history. He has been educated from different countries at different levels of education. This exposure has enabled him to acquire and amass ideas that may be crucial to his country. His 22 years as the leader of Cigarette Company have also gained him a profound composure in handling leadership matters. The fact that he also stepped down for his son to take over the leadership of the company, as he deals with charity work is a supportive argument on his kind heart in serving. Ethically, he scores highly due to the mode of treating his customers, employees and all stake holders.

As a transformational leader (Weiss, 2010), Putera has engineered the need to cultivate excellence among Indonesians with a focus on a main goal of improved nation. The philanthropic foundation is bestowed with the role of transforming social, economic and education arena of Indonesians into iconic fields of excellence (Sampoerna Foundation, 2013). The driving force in this has been availing chances, opportunities and providing life changing education. The foundation targets to deliver compassionate relief on challenging issues in the society. In his leadership at the business arena, Putera maintained the need for consistent and careful management of the business resources. This is benched on the ethical principle of consistency where the projects initiated have to be supported till they are completed.

Putera has proofed to have a well-established ethical performance in his business learning. His firm hand in transforming Indonesia through both his investment and his philanthropic nature is a proof strong will in achieving the best for the many. All areas that he targets to strengthen have been on a steadfast acceleration laying a sound foundation for the benefit of the community. He has gained popularity through his vast investment in improving the community living standards, which can be termed as servant leadership. The business is also entrenched with interest of rewarding the community (Dion, 2012); thus setting a platform for strong social responsibility. These facts can be arguably presented to support a good ethical performance of Putera in his business leadership.