Business Management Homework

Leadership and management

Question 2.3.2

a) Using examples, comment on how the roles of a manager and leader differ in an organization
such as schools.

The differences in an organization such as school include

The school Principal is the leader of the organization because she/he determines with the
senior management team the vision and direction of the school
e.g. The principal may decide whether IB courses (PYP, MYP AND DP) should be adopted to
the benefit of the students.
By contrast, managers like Head of the year and Head of Department deal with daily tactical
and routine sessions of the school.
Leaders are accountable for a much broader range of responsibility. The senior leadership
team will be collectively responsible for all the staff (teaching and non- teaching) whereas
managers will be responsible for the people in their teams.
e.g. The department head of English would be responsible for all English teachers
As a leader, the Principal strives to inspire and motivate the staff, he/she encourages and
entrusts creative and talented staff to help the school move forward.
Managers follow predetermined rules and policies set by the school and the senior leadership
team. Their focus tends to be on accomplishing all tasks and efficient management of the
people within their own teams.
Middle managers do things right, i.e. teaching and administration. By contrast, the SLT and
Principal do the right thing, e.g. devising school policies and contingency plans to manage
crises.

The Principal and the senior leadership team focus on inspiring staff to achieve organizational
aims and objectives via delegation and empowerment. By contrast, middle managers focus on
control (managing and directing) subordinates within their teams. They focus on completion
of tasks within predetermined deadlines.

b) A range of leadership/management and motivation theories could be used.

Autocratic management/leadership (e.g. McGregors Theory X)

Can demotivate highly creative and skilled employees (such as high school teachers)
who dont want to be told how to do their jobs.

Can be effective/appropriate in failing schools where examination results and/or

discipline are a cause for concern.

Can also motivate staff who want clear leadership and direction. Such an approach
may also help to keep staff on their toes, i.e. it reduces the likelihood of slack and
complacency.

1
 Could negatively impact on staff retention levels in the long term.

Democratic management/leadership

Suitable if staff want to participate in decision making; otherwise it could be seen as

a burden on their time.

seen as rather superficial and this breaks down the trust between management and
staff, thereby causing demotivation.

Democratic leadership and foster trusting and professional relationships at work,

thereby helping to meet peoples social needs. However, this style tends to lead to
slower decision making, especially in large organizations. This can therefore have
some detrimental effects on staff morale and motivation

Laissez-faire management/leadership

Appropriate in schools where the Principal and SLT have upmost faith in the

professionalism and ability of their staff to get on with their jobs. The SLT will
set the objectives but then it is up to the employees to decide how best to achieve
the objectives using the resources available to them.

This style can lead to high levels of motivation as staff may feel trusted and
highly valued by their employer. Staff also feel that they have control over their
work and can contribute to the success of the school. This helps them to achieve
esteem and ego needs, to some extent.

However, coordination and decision-making can be very time-consuming since

there is a lack of overall supervision or control. Furthermore, laissez-faire
management relies heavily on peoples goodwill and teamwork to achieve the
organizations goals. Thus, it can lead to slack in the workplace unless there are
systems set in place to make staff fully accountable for their work.

Question 2.3.3

a) A small local restaurant with 13 employees

Situational leadership is probably most suitable for a small local restaurant with just 13
members of staff. Being a small firm, there may be no need for an autocratic leader.
However, key decisions need to be made with clear management and leadership, so

2
 democratic and laissez-faire leadership might also not be suitable.

b) The armed forces (military)

An authoritarian/dictatorial leadership style will probably prevail in the armed forces. This is
because military personnel need to follow strict procedures, routines and orders in order for
there to be any chance of success/survival. Decision making comes from the top and there is
little time (or point) in negotiating strategies with the workforce.

c) A typical IB World School that offers the IB Diploma programme

A typical IB school will probably be run in a democratic manner (although this will clearly
depend on the situation, the type of school, its teachers and support staff and the nature of the
students). The teachers are likely to be highly skilled professionals so senior management is
unlikely to ignore or to disregard the input of its teaching staff.