Leadership Interview and Analysis of Raj Aswani
Tarun R. Aswani
Florida Atlantic University
Dr. Stephanie L. Castro
Leadership and Organizations
MAN 6296
April 14, 2015
Introduction
When a person desires to successfully lead a group of people, as owner of a business, it is imperative to define which leadership skills they already possess and which skills they may need to obtain. This analysis stems from an interview conducted on June 4, 2014, with Mr. Raj Aswani. He is the President of Sai Prahbat Incorporated, which does business as two different brick and mortar retail stores. Mr. Aswani is originally from Mumbai, India and moved here when he was 21 years old. Mr. Aswani finished three years of college but was unable to finish his last year and obtain his degree due to personal family reasons. Mr. Aswani has been in the retail apparel industry for the last 34 years. At first, he worked with his brother managing a location in Fort Lauderdale. When he outgrew that location, he went on to his first solo venture and opened up a variety store in Fort Lauderdale. This venture stayed afloat for approximately five years, but was not profitable in the end. Finally, Mr. Aswani opened two ladies apparel locations that have been in business for 20 and 15 years respectively.
While there is a lot of competition from neighboring specialty stores and boutiques, Mr. Aswani stresses differentiation through competitive pricing and excellent customer service. He knows many of his repeat clientele on a first name basis and this bond leads to priceless word of mouth advertising.
I selected Mr. Aswani as he has always been either working in or owning a small business. He started off at the very bottom and worked his way up to learn the retail industry as well as the day-to-day technical aspects of an organization. Now, he has obtained two locations and has many employees working under him. It was my hopes that the interview would allow me to gage what type of leader Mr. Aswani was and how he conducts his company culture and then tie it back to an analysis of this course and the Northouse readings.
As there are many theories of leadership spoken about by Peter Northouse and this paper will look at each of these approaches and theories individually. An analysis will be conducted based from these theories and the in-depth interview conducted with Mr. Raj Aswani. Throughout the paper, some comparisons between these theories will be made to tie together the interview, the leadership theories, as well as how Mr. Aswani exemplifies them.
The Interview
The following is a transcript of an interview conducted with Mr. Raj Aswani to obtain knowledge on his business, his leadership approaches, and how he conducts business with his employees and customers.
Interviewer (Q): Tarun Aswani
Interviewee (A): Raj Aswani
Transcription to follow:
Q Today I will be interviewing Mr. Raj Aswani. He owns two ladies apparel retail stores. He has been in the business for 30 plus years. Are you ready to get started Mr. Aswani?
A Yes, sir.
Q What drove you to go in business for yourself?
A I always wanted to be a CPA actually. I never got a chance to finish my last year of college and then sit for the CPA Exam. When I first came to America, this is the business I was introduced to. I found out that I was good at what I was doing, so it was hard to get into anything else.
Q What do you see as your biggest responsibilities and tasks?
A My responsibilities would stem from the fact that I, first and foremost, want to support my family. I need to make sure that the business is always operating at a level so that we can live a comfortable life.
Q Can you see more specific as to the responsibilities of the business?
A First I need to make sure that I carry the right products to keep up with the changing consumer demands. Its not just enough anymore that you satisfy the consumer needs at the given moment, but you need to do so on an ongoing basis so that they will continually come back to my store as opposed to the countless of other retail locations out there.
This stems from excellent customer service and by keeping my prices competitive.
Q Can you give me a background about the business?
A It’s a retail store, 3,000 square feet. The store is located right on the beach so there is an immense amount of competition. I try to differentiate myself by focusing on brands that are made in the U.S.A. This is a selling point for the customers and gives me a piece of mind that the quality is there from a selling standpoint.
Q So quality is something that you stress and stand by?