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    2 views4 pages

    Leadership

    Uploaded by

    Camila Coppolecchia

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Management and leadership On completing this chapter, you will be able to: = understand the main functions of managers analyse the importance of good management to the success of @ business m= analyse the differences beeen McGregor’s Theory X and Theory sm recognise the key differences in management styles Introducing the topic WHAT MAKES A GOOD LEADER? The question is eternal: what makes a good leader? ‘There is no definitive answer but one thing is certain: as business technologies evolve, new industries come and go and employee demographics change, the best leaders are those who can change with the times. They'te the ones with foresight and adaptability, who don’trule from a manual but customise their approach to suit to each company, its mission and the personality ofits work force, Here are four quotes from, or about, famous chief executives: = Ted Devine, Insureon: Having a completely open plan office says this about leadership: No walls,no barriers, no hierarchy. Everybody can talk to everybody. Everybody can participate in a decision, We work together, and that’s very importantin leadership’ = Shelie Johnson, BET cable network: want every ‘one of my employees to look at me with dignity and respect. | want to be someone they are proud to work for! 1m Jeff Weiner, Linkedin: As a manager, Weiner takes time to acknowledge relatively small Introduction Itis not easy to precisely define the role of management. Itis easier to recognise a business that is poorly managed than itis to pinpoint the specific features of good management in a successful business. Badly managed businesses will be poorly organised, will often have poor staff motivation and resources will be This chapter covers syllabus section AS Level 2.1. evaluate the appropriateness oft business situations understand the significance of informal leadership = analyse the four competencies of emotional mveligence ese styles to different accomplishments by his employees. He often ends. ‘a meeting or speech by asking what he could have done better. His workdays are as long as - or longer than - those of his employees. ‘That allows him to be extremely credible as a leader, says David Hahn, Linkedin’s vice-president '= Tony Hsich, Zappos: ‘Tony's imprintis all over the company’ says Jamie Naughton, a Zappos senior ‘manager. ‘Our culture was inspired by how he does business and the people he hires and how we al. are asa group. He takes @ hands-off approach to leadership that requires effective delegation. ‘Heis more of an architect; he designs the big vision and then gets out of the way so that everyone can make the things happen’ Points to think about: ‘= What do you think ‘leadership’ mears? 1m Doyou think thatall of the quotes above suggest ‘good leadership" Why? m= Doyou think there's a difference between ‘leading’ people and ‘managing’ them? Explain your answer, ‘wasted or inefficiently used. In addition, the business is unlikely to have long-term plans or objectives and will, as a consequence, lack direction and purpose By identifying these common problems of failing businesses, perhaps the following definition of ‘management - or effective management ~ can now be offered. ei a SEE eed 126 Management and managers Managers ‘get things done’ — not by doing all jobs themselves but by working with and delegating to other people. Managers do not all use the same style of leadership and different managers will approach, problems and decisions in very different ways, but the key functions of management are common to all, These are best explained by reference to some of the best-known management writers, such as Fayol and Drucker. By combining the main ideas of these two writers we can arrive atthe following list of management tasks and functions The functions of management - what managers are responsible for 1. Setting objectives and planning: All good managers think ahead, Senior management will establish overall strategic objectives and these will be translated into tactical objectives for the less-senior managerial staff. The planning, needed to put these objectives into effectis also important. ‘Anew production or marketing objective wll require the planning and preparation of sufficient resources. 2 Organising resources to meet the abjectives: Thisis not just about giving instructions. People throughout the business need to be recruited carefully and encouraged to take some authority and to accept some accountability via delegation. Senior managers will ensure thatthe structure fof the business allows fora clear division of tasks and that ‘each section or department is organised to allow them to work towards the common objectives. 3 Directing and motivating staff: This means guiding, leading and overseeing of employees to ensure that “organisational goals ae being met. The significance of developing staf so that they are motivated to employ al of their abilities at work is now widely recognised, This will make it more likely that organisational aims are achieved 4 Coordinating activities: As the average sizeof business units increases - especially true for multinationals - so the need to ensure consistency and coordination between different parts of each firm increases. The goals of each branch, division, region and even all staff must be welded together to achieve a common sense of purpose. Ata practical level, this can mean avoiding the situation where ‘wo divisions of the same company both spend money ‘on researching into the same new product, resulting in wasteful duplication of efort 5 Controlling and measuring performance against targets: Management by objectives establishes targets for all groups, divisions and individuals. tis management's responsibilty 10 appraise performance against targets and to take action if underperformance occurs. tis ust as important to provide positive feedback when things keep going right. Management roles To carry out these functions, managers have to undertake many different roles. Henry Mintaberg (The Nature of Managerial Work, 1973) identified ten roles common to the work of all managers. These are divided into three groups (see Table 10.1) 1 Interpersonal roles - dealing with and motivating staff at all levels ofthe organisation, 1 Informational roles- acting as a source, receiver and transmitter of information 1 Decisional oles taking decisions and allocating resources to meet the organisation’ objectives. Leadership - the importance of it and qualities needed Leadership is a key part of being a successful manager: involves setting a clear direction and vision for an organisation ~ often a new direction and vision if circumstances demand it~ that others will be prepared to follow. Employees will want to follow a good leader and will respond positively to them. A poor leader ‘will often fal to win over staff and will have problems communicating with and organising workers effectively. ‘The best managers are also good leaders of people but some managers are not. Managers that focus so much on control and allocation of people and resources can fail to provide a sense of purpose or focus that others will understand and be prepared to follow. Without clear and chatismatic leadership workers may be very well managed, ‘but will they be inspixed to help the leader and the business take a fresh direction and achieve new goals? What makes a good leader? Many studies have been conducted on this very point ~ some argue that leaders are born with natural assets that create an aura or charisma that others will find appealing. Other research is more inclined to support the view that leaders can be trained to adopt the key attributes of good leadership. A number Peer ay Ghose 1 Interpersonal roles divisions ofthe business and other organisations Figurehead symbolic leader of the organisation undertaking | opening new factories/offces; hosting duties of social or legal nature receptions; giving important presentations Leader ‘motivating subordinates; selecting and training | any management tasks involving subordinate other managers/staff staf Liaison linking with managers and leaders of other leading and participating in meetings; business correspondence with other organisations 2 Informational roles Monitor (receiver) collecting data relevant to the business's operations attending seminars, business conferences, research groups; reading research reports Disseminator sending information collected from external and internal sources to the relevant people within the organisation ‘communicating with staff within the ‘organisation, using appropriate means ‘Spokesperson ‘communicating information about the organisation - its current position and achievements to external groups and people presenting reports to groups of stakeholders (eg. annual general meeting) and communicating with the press and TV media +3 Decisional roles Entrepreneur looking for new opportunities to develop the business ‘encouraging new ideas from within the business and holding meetings aimed at putting new ideas into effect Disturbance handler responding to changing situations that may put the business at risk; assuming responsibility When threatening factors develop taking decisions on how the business should respond to threats, such as new competitors or changes in the economic environment Resource allocator deciding on the spending ofthe organisation's financial resources and the allocation of its physical and human resources

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