MIDTERM 1

Midterm

Michael Inforzato

Excelsior College

BUS 341: Management Concepts and Applications

Dr. John Coy

February 9, 2020
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Midterm

In today’s business world, leaders play an important role that can drive the successes or

failures of any organization. The following paper will discuss the four functions of a

management role and will compare the types of management styles. A discussion will be

provided to note similarities and differences between leaders and managers, and finally two

models of leadership will be described.

Functions of Management

Four main functions of management are as follows: planning, organizing, leading and

controlling (Conkright, 2015). In everyday operations, managers should be able to master these

functions in order to fully embrace their role. In terms of planning, a manager must be able to

assess the current state of operations and plan for future direction. Together, they will assist the

organization in carrying out its mission and goals. The planning function of a manager can set

the framework to carry out future decisions that need to align with company goals. As an

example in daily functions, managers performing budget planning for the upcoming fiscal year

need to assess where the company is currently. Along with this, what growth and changes are

expected, so proper planning for the future is in place (Module 1).

The next function of management is organization. This involves having an overview of

what resources are needed to carry out the plan (Module 1). The vision of the manager needs to

be both broad and detailed, in order to make sure all the pieces are in place to execute the plan

(Conkright, 2015). An example would be a manager viewing the budget plan and organizing all

the appropriate required resources in order to keep within the budget plan. This would involve

the overall picture of the finances within the organization, as well as the details of each operating

unit in terms of desired resources.

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The next management function is called leading which can be described as motivating

employees to execute a plan (Conkright, 2015). Activities of this function would be anything that

pushes employees towards action, in a structured manner, while holding them accountable

(Conkright, 2015). An example in daily activity would be a manager leading a team of

employees through a pilot of a new workflow. The manager would be responsible to keep the

team members motivated to complete the change.

The last of the four functions of management is controlling. This function requires the

manager to evaluate the progress of the change, re-evaluate and analyze progress, and make

changes to the plan as needed to achieve goals (Conkright, 2015). As an example, a manager

would lead the employees through a new workflow. The manager would need to control this by

consistently monitoring results, providing feedback, and making changes when required.

Styles of Management

Managers are responsible for overall work performance for a team of employees within

an organization (Module 2) and there is no one right method in accomplishing this. Though there

are many different styles of management throughout businesses, the focus for this assignment

will be on persuasive and chaotic management styles.

The persuasive manager attempts to control the entire decision-making process of the

team. The benefits of this style would be in situations where a team is a novice level and the

manager has master-level knowledge on a particular topic where a decision has to be made. It

may also be useful when there is very little, to no control, of a decision making that was

previously made by senior executive leadership, but yet must be carried out by front line staff.

One negative aspect could be the lack of control employees may feel in the input into the
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organization. Employees often feel valued and positive when knowing their opinions matter to

their employer (Shea & Solomon, 2014).

The chaotic management style is a style that is very different from the persuasive

manager. The chaotic manger allows team members to have total control of decisions. The

benefit is that this allows employees to feel valued and may result in more creative ideas for

decisions (Module 2). Although both persuasive and chaotic styles have the same responsibility

to oversee job responsibilities of employees, both styles utilize the ideas of employees very

differently. The persuasive style places no value on employee input whereas the chaotic style

places total value on employee input.

Leaders versus Managers

Both leaders and managers are similar in ways that provide benefits to organizations.

Leaders and managers are tasked to achieve the goals of an organization, yet both have

differences in the paths that lead to these achievements (Module 3). In addition, a person could

be a great leader, but a weak manager whereas the opposite may exist as well.

If you are leading a team of employees through a new change, a manager would tell the

employees what to do and a leader would sell the team on what to do. In general, the manager

takes less risk and instructs employees on what to do and a leader takes more risk and

encourages employees on what to do. Managers often think in the short term and meet

expectations, whereas leaders think long term and have a broader vision. Managers tend to

approve tasks that employees complete, whereas leaders tend to inspire employees to complete

tasks in the right manner. In the end, both may be needed for certain teams and some situations

may be better handled on a manager level verses a leader level (McKale, 2016).

Situational versus Servant Leadership

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Situational and servant leadership models are both widespread models commonly found

in organizations. The models are different in a variety of ways, yet both have strengths and

weaknesses and have been well studied throughout the years. There is no universal model of top

choice, and both can be effective models to follow for organizations to succeed (Module 4).

Situational leadership thrives on adaptability as various situations arise as well as various

teams of employees that may differ by levels of experience. The premise calls for an

understanding of employee maturity level and the manager must change the style of

communication accordingly. The lower level or more novice of employee teams, the more

direction the manager would take. The more advanced maturity the team has, the manager may

be able to be less directive and more delegating (Module 4). For example, let’s say there was an

organization where teams started in one section as new employees and progressed through

different teams as years of experience were gained. As a manager that oversees all of these

teams, more time would be spent dealing with the new employee teams in giving specific

direction to complete tasks. The manager would delegate tasks to the senior team as opposed to

directing them. In the various teams in the middle, the manager’s approach would be somewhere

in the middle with coaching or supporting approach. The manager’s style changes as he/she

approaches various groups. A criticism of this approach is that maturity level of the employees

may not be easily assessed, and this approach may lack consistency (Thompson & Glasø, 2018).

The servant model approach is very different in that the top concern is to serve

employee’s needs (Module 4). This module has been described to work best in organizations that

are customer-based or service-based industries. As an example, if a servant model wanted to lead

change, they would do so by first listening to the needs of the employee. They would then

persuade the employee to change, as opposed to control or dictate the employee to change
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(Module 4). As a manager, balancing the needs of the company versus the needs of employees

may be a difficult task and competing priorities may prove challenging in the model of

leadership (Wong, 2014).

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References

Conkright, T. A. (2015). Using the Four Functions of Management for Sustainable Employee

Engagement. Performance Improvement, 54(8), 15.

Excelsior College. (n.d.). Module 1: The four functions of management. Retrieved from

https://mycourses.excelsior.edu

Excelsior College. (n.d.). Module 2: Management roles, styles, and approaches. Retrieved from

https://mycourses.excelsior.edu

Excelsior College. (n.d.). Module 3: Leadership versus management. Retrieved from

https://mycourses.excelsior.edu

Excelsior College. (n.d.). Module 4: Leadership models part I [Course module]. Retrieved from

https://mycourses.excelsior.edu

Gallagher, D., Costal, J., & Ford, L. (2012). Validating a Leadership Model Pinpointed Self-

Awareness as Key to Success. T+D, 66(11), 50–54.

Lloyd, J. (2011). Management Style Important to Results. Receivables Report for America’s

Health Care Financial Managers, 26(5), 9–10.

McKale, L. (2016). Leaders vs. managers; 17 traits that set them apart. Retrieved

from https://www.resourcefulmanager.com/leaders-vs-managers/

Shea, G., & Solomon, C. (2014, August 7). Change Management Is Bigger Than Leadership.

Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2013/03/change-management-is-bigger-th

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Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2018). Situational leadership theory: a test from a leader-follower

congruence approach. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(5), 574.

Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=edb&AN=130287211&site=eds-live&scope=site

Wong, E. (2014). Not Just Simply Looking Forward: An Exploration of Greenleaf's Servant-

Leadership Characteristic of Foresight. The International Journal of Servant-Leadership,

10(1), 89-118.