Case Synopsys The company presented in this case study is named Longxiang Building Materials. It is a relatively large company with over 800 employees and a good working reputation in its country and region. Longxiang specializes in producing quality construction materials, such as brick, concrete, cement, lumber, tile, metal beams, and other resources required in small and large-scale construction. In recent years, however, the tempo of growth has been slow. The company’s profit growth started to flatten, and all attempts at claiming greater market share within China were unsuccessful. The competition in China is fierce, meaning that any further progress would require extraordinary effort. The company directors chose a different approach. Instead of focusing inwards, their aim for the next five years is to prepare the company for going global. Longxiang is planning to expand its reach to the budding markets of India, Russia, and the Middle East and later use them as a trampoline to expand further into Europe and the Americas. This effort is costly, however. With the company’s current problems, it is doomed to failure. There are several issues in the company, namely its high turnover rates, lack of interaction and understanding between senior and general managerial staff, and lack of qualified personnel. All these problems are common in the Chinese business sector. However, with skilled leadership and effective management, the detrimental effects of the surrounding business environment can be largely reduced. As a manager, there are several goals that you will need to accomplish in order to prepare Longxiang for its expansion to the outside markets. These are:   * Reducing the turnover rate among lower and middle-level managerial staff   * Improving communication between all three tiers of management   * Providing and implementing effective strategies to recruit and grow talent within the company   * Fostering a healthy corporate culture The methodology of the Case Study This case study relies on several methods of obtaining information. The information about the situation within the company was obtained through interviewing numerous employees – from senior managers to bottom-tier workers. A total of 55 interviews were conducted, with 5 interviews among the senior managerial staff, 10 – with mid-level managerial staff, 20 – with junior managers, and the rest – with the bottom-tier employees. The interview featured several open-ended questions, which required elaboration from the interviewee, and followed a certain subject and theme. Here are the questions included in the interview:   * Can you give a general opinion about the situation in Longxiang Building Materials?   * Can you name the issues in Longxiang that affect your work?   * Can you name the issues in Longxiang that affect other employees?   * What is your opinion on the effectiveness of lower/middle/senior managers?   * What is your opinion on the company’s corporate culture?   * What recommendations could you suggest to improve the situation in Longxiang? Aside from interviewing employees, important theoretical information about approaches to leadership was extracted from scholarly sources. This information is used to assemble a coherent and all-incl