When in 2016, Nintendo's Japan based headquarters welcomed a new boss, Tatsumi Kimishima, even as he took his seat, one thing seemed clear: fixing the company would be no easy task.

Tatsumi Kimishima replaced Satoru Iwata, the beloved CEO at the company whotragicallydied.

During Iwata's reign, Nintendo had its fair share of ups and downs, watching its business grow to great heights on the back of the 'Wii' game console, and subsequently plummet at the hands of iPhones and Android.

Iwata was widely acknowledged for caring for the people on his team while being focused on getting the job done and achieving set company goals and targets. While he believed in some measure of order and consistency, he embraced change. Although he believed in group decision- making, when necessary, he used the task or boss-centered approach; for instance, he personally decided not to compete directly with Nintendo and Sony and instead focus on creating an innovative product, the Wii. At the same time, he would never lose his focus on his people, always aligning them, motivating and inspiring them to ensure their involvement and support of whatever organizational goals were decided on.

At a press conference, Kimishima said he has no immediate plans to change his company's strategy. His comments reassured investors who believed Iwata's plan was the right path for Nintendo. And while other names had been floated to replace Iwata, Kimishima's history - past work in banking, experience running Nintendo's U.S. operations, and heading up the company'sPokemongiant, suggested that he was the right choice and had all of the tools to fix Nintendo's ailing business. In fact, he made a point that he planned on building on I Wata's

legacy of people management.

"The potential for the new CEO to turn Nintendo around is high, you simply cannot count Nintendo out," Cole, an industry analyst said. "They have a great deal of resources, and we all know on which one the strength of the company has been built".

QUESTION 1

a) Is the nature of leadership the same as being a manager? Expound on your response.

b) Is there evidence in the case that Iwata was both a leader and a manager? Explain by citing one (1) characteristic he consistently displayed:

i. In his role as a leader.

ii. In his role as a manager.

QUESTION 2

In the estimation of Cole, the industry analyst, which of the four types of resources was he most likely thinking that the new CEO, Kimishima, would be relying on most heavily when fighting the competition? Explain with justification.

QUESTION 3

The new CEO obviously had 'big shoes to fill' and would have needed to sharpen his managerial skills. According to the contemporary school of thought on management skills, managers are typically involved with three (3) types of activities and the relevant skills are aligned to these.

Describe the three (3) categories of managerial activities in question to Kimishima and say which single one if any, should he be more focused on.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

a The nature of leadership is not identical to being a manager although there is overlap between the two roles Leadership is about influencing and ins... View the full answer