A look at Leadership vs Management.

A Business Excellence / Performance

Management view.

By: Erika Giraldo

The reading wants to clarify the differences between leadership and management.
These terms are constantly defined as equals; however, and according to the author
"Management is a process that is used to accomplish organizational goals" and leaders for its
part "set a direction, align people, motivate and inspire". On the other hand, the reading is
clear and is accurate in listing the intercultural competences for global managers and
highlights the important role of managers in all levels and leaders in different contexts to
develop a successful project.
The success of a multinational company for example, depends on the attention given
to the social and cultural conditions of the host country. As Urbanek (2013) clearly exposes,
the same management style is not effective in all cultures. On another hand, the normativity
to which the theory has aspired is built on references to abstract universalisms in which
Eurocentric preconceptions are almost always hidden and that, as Marx and de Gramsci
propose, critical theory always understood by hegemony the ability of the ruling classes to
transform their ideas into dominant ideas (Santos, 2003). As is the case with interculturality,
that outlined absolute principles based on a western hegemony, which is little related to the
alternative values of ancestral or oppositional leadership cultures.
The current theories are based mainly on Anglo-American influence, which cannot at
all give an explanatory model to the characteristic cultural patterns of each society; and it is
evident in the text that measures management in indicators such as Total Quality
Management (TQM), the Australian Quality Award Leadership Criteria, Malcolm Baldridge
Award and European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), and the Strategic
Measurement Analysis and Reporting Technique (SMART) built by Western culture and
under universal principles about what could be a good Performance or Excellente and
leadership-management.
 Globalization has increased complexity and ambiguity in organizations. Global leaders
need to develop their skills, knowledge and abilities about leading in a multicultural
environment with different groups to be competitive. Asmuni, A., Hassanzadeth, M., &
& Wahiza, N. (2015) in the same way that Urbanek (2013) and Bohoris and Vorria (s.f.)
enlist the characteristics of an efficient global management. Authors argue that “leaders
should have some essential attributes such as vision, integrity, trust, selflessness,
commitment, creative ability, toughness, communication ability, risk taking and visibility”
(Bohoris and Vorria, s.f., p. 1).

Finally, the reading is clear. The way of writing is easy to understand for the reader.
Graphs are a practical way to illustrate the argument of each of the indicators. It is consistent
with the central argument of the deference text between the concepts of management and
leadership. However, I consider that they should not be taken as vs. since both are useful in
different contexts and within a company the role that each one plays for the achievement of
the objectives and its consequent success is supremely necessary.

References

Asmuni, A., Hassanzadeth, M., & & Wahiza, N. (2015). Developing Effective Global
Leadership. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 5(3), 14-24.

Bohoris, G.; Vorria, E. (s.f.). A look at Leadership vs Management. A Business Excellence

/ Performance Management view. Lund university.

Santos, B. (2003). Crítica de la razón indolente : contra el desperdicio de la experiencia.

Bilbao: Desclée de Brouwer.

Urbanek, P. (2013). A look at Economy Today. An Interdisciplinary Approach to

Contemporary Economic Challenges. Łódź: University of Łódź.