Situations and styles of leadership | Free essay | Management essays

Situations and styles of leadership | Free essay | Management essays Introduction Leadership has been the topic of discussion and research in the Organizational Behavior literature. A great collection of different theoretical framework has been developed to make out elements of leadership. Incessant self assessment, learning, guidance, experience and never ending process of self-study develops good leaders in a society. Many companies are facing high turnover, absenteeism, low morale among employees and many other such issues related to the job environment. For all these problems companies need proper effective leadership. The purpose of this paper is to have an in-depth insight on the major research findings of an effective leadership styles and situations and their role in organizational performance by reviewing the research literature. In this review paper organizational performance is being judged by the motivational level of the employees and job satisfaction factor. So this review paper gives a clear insight concerning (the theories of leadership) factors that boost leadership among employees which is then linked with organizational performance. This review paper will help managers to look at the major concerns which lead to great leadership and how to handle challenges and unexpected situations occurring in an organization. Effective leadership can be expressed where leaders influence group members, followers or subordinates in a way that this will help them to achieve common goals. Leadership and its Meaning: As this world is changing so is the definition of leadership. Over the years leadership has been described according to the circumstances. Effective leader is the one who is able to match his level of skills to the maturity of the subordinates. The word has been defined in so many terms that giving a single definition will not be justified. In order to understand the true meaning of leadership one has to study the topic itself thoroughly. Todays world is so complex and fast changing that we cannot just stick to one definition of the leadership. As the competition from the other firms comes in the organization so the ideas, so they broaden the meaning of what leadership is. As described by Thomas B. Allen (1988); the word leadership refers to a process of social influence, in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. A more apt and inclusive definition with regard to followers comes from Robert J. House (1996) who states that lea dership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen. Another definition comes from literature which states that effective leadership is the ability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organizational or societal goals. Kirkpatrick Locke (1991) suggested through their study that effective leader is an individual with the capacity to consistently succeed in a given condition and be recognized as meeting the expectations of an organization or society. The analysis suggests that effective leadership can have positive impact on overall performance. Effective leadership can be described as giving a vision to the team-members and developing the path for the followers to achieve the maximum output. In order to gain high level of organizational performance leaders have to adopt new, innovative and challenging techniques to guide, motivate and manage the subordinates. Leadership is all about performance of the subordinates, groups, and organizations; good leadership promotes valuable group performance which in turn leads to high growth and expansion of a firm. A leaders background, life experiences, and daily communications define his or her leadership style. The difference between a good leader and a great leader is his or her ability to adapt to change. In an organization usually leaders and subordinates work together to understand the behavior of each other and try to manage their behavior to produce more beneficial results, Davis RV Tim Luthans. F (1979). According to Avery, G.C. Jing F.F. (2008) due to the complexity of leadership it is broken into five different perspectives: competency, behavioral, contingency, transformational, and implicit. Leadership is a method by which an individual persuades other people in a group to achieve an objective and leads the organization in a way that makes the team members interconnected and coherent. Bass (1989 1990) explains three types of theories of leadership. According to him there is a trait theory which states that in some people have in born traits which lead them to become a leader. Se cond theory is great event theory which is related to the crisis or important event. It states that sometimes some major events or crisis leave their marks on an individual personality which may bring out leadership qualities in an ordinary person, making him an extraordinary leader. Third is Transformational leadership theory which is most widely accepted theory of recent years. In it people by choice prefer the path of becoming leaders through learning and proper education. Leadership has certain set attributes like values, ethics, belief, knowledge and skill etc., which if followed properly can make an individual a good leader. Robert D. Rossel (1970) in his paper argued that there are two kinds of orientations, instrumental and expressive, attached to the effective leadership in an organization. According to him, leadership orientation depends on the nature of organization. Different organizations require different kind of leadership orientation among supervisors and managers. He further stated, if we take an example of organizations like mental hospitals, prisons etc where the environment is more segregated and isolated, the most successful leadership will be informal and expressive. Whereas formal and instrumental leadership will be required in organizations dealing in production and service side. Author explained the instrumental orientation to leadership as one which is more task oriented, the main focus of such type of leadership in an organization is to motivate team members, to maintain product quality. While, expressive orientation to leadership is all about getting along with the group members and the conduct of perverseness, and inattentiveness in leadership may interfere with the goals of organization. Author stated that the orientation to leadership also vary depending upon the labor commitment required for any particular organization. According to the findings of this paper, this can be affirmed that organizations where there is a high labor commitment demonstrate a very definite instrumental orientation in top management (F-Ratio 2.39, Mean 1.25) and an expressive orientation in lower supervisors (Mean -0.17). In terms of superior performance, effective leadership leads to people who find fulfillment in their jobs, work with enthusiasm passion, and perform quality work, with innovation and creativity. Effective leaders need to be able to endorse ideas and concepts as well as promote ideologies. Another quality seen in efficient leaders is how they can shift their groups attention towards the goals and objectives at hand by providing strategies regarding how to achieve the desired goals. They not only provide the physical resources required for the job such as tools and administrative or technical assistance, but also the psychological ones such as motivation, education and understanding. The most efficient leaders can also adapt to different environments according to the need of the hour and provide their workers with all the support and attention they require in order to successfully fulfill the task at hand. Hogan Kaiser (2005) defined leadership as a process of team building in which every member work well according to the set rules defined by the leader to outperform the competition. They further elaborated regarding the conventional definition of leadership over time, which defined leadership as the person who has the ability to influence others can be a leader but according to the author group performance should be the measure of leadership. They stated that in order to judge and assess the leadership one should look at the team performance. Three implications of this view should be noted. First, leadership involves influencing individuals willingly to contribute to the good of the group. Second, leadership requires coordinating and the guiding group (by adopting the most appropriate way) to achieve its goals. Finally, goals vary by organization and their life cycles. Leadership is the most essential item required for creating a team out of a group of individuals. One of the most im perative qualities of a good leader is that they can make individuals on team a single unit leading to synergy. Effective leaders can convince their team members to concentrate on their role within the team rather than their individual goals. An indicator regarding the success of a leader is the success of his or her followers. The key difference in explaining the long term performances of the firms is mostly attributed to an exceptional leadership. Superior performance is achieved when an organization is generating the maximum level of profitability possible with the help of three key determinants; efficiency, adaptations, and human resources. A business environment is more likely to succeed when it has people with high levels of skills, commitment and mutual trusts. Many times leaders performance is constrained with respect to the nature and size of an organization. Each leader performs within the set limits of an organization, which actually hinder the real outcomes. In other wor ds, the structure and size of a firm basically depicts the extent of leaders performance. Organizational Performance In order to understand the meaning of organizational performance first we have to look at the definition of organization. Aldrich (1979) in his book organizations and environment explained organization in three ways a) goal oriented; b) boundary maintaining, and c) activity system. By goal directed he means that the end objective of all organizations is to earn profit and to maximize the wealth of shares holders. Members of an organization behaves as if they have some defined goal, all of them work to achieve some specified purpose. This means members of an organization are task-oriented do not merely work for social interaction. Goal-directed behavior and deliberate design of activity systems distinguish organizations from other groups, such as families, friendship circles, audiences and mass publics. By boundary maintain he meant that organizations have defined clearly among the members of an organizations and non-members. And all members of an organization work collectively under the supervision of some authority to obtain defined goals. Activity system can be described as a system in an organization where all members are assigned some activities to achieve some predefined goals within boundary of an organization. The major component of effective organization is having a talent management team, which will be headed by a leader. Organizational performance need to be studied in relation to the status of employee satisfaction to assess how good the firm is doing in the market. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of an Organization one has to look at the performance of the workers. Employees perform best when they are highly motivated resulting in increased number of customers and high growth rate. Thomas. B. Alan. (1988) entailed through his study that organizational performance is highly variable term. He further argued that organizational performance depends on various kinds of factors such as leaders styles and behavior, leader-subordinate relation, firm size etc. which definitely has a great impact on the performance of a firm. One of the main reason behind this is that assets like leadership behaviors, organization culture, skill and know-how, and motivation are seen as the most important factors of strength in those firms which involve group, procedures and organizational performance, Avery, G.C. Jing F.F. (2008). Therefore, leaders and their leadership style influence both their subordinates and organizational outcomes. Organizational performance increases if the employees are highly motivated and satisfied with team leader and their work. As per Ohio State University research successful leadership has two behavioral dimensions which play very important role, a. Consideration: in this kind of behavior leader of a group is concerned about the team members. This aspect of leadership is linked with leadership traits of kindliness, discussion with subordinates, appreciation and respect of team members and supportiveness, b. Initiating Structure: this type of leaders behavior is more towards work done. They are more concerned about work and task. Leaders who fall into this category of style are much planned, coordinated, and clear about their goals, criticize poor work, and always pressurize subordinates to work more effectively. Leadership Styles Effective leadership involves the study of different styles of leaders. The literature suggests that some types of leadership styles are preferred over others. This is especially true under different working conditions as well as the subordinates relation with the leader. Rotemberg. J.J Saloner. G. (1993) concluded through their study that leadership style of a firm is selected by the stakeholders to maximize the ex ante profits. According to their study the leader of the group (team Manager) exercises his power in different ways. They considered leadership styles as; a) Locus of control, internal locus of control in which leader feels whatever happens is because of their own strategies and actions, external locus of control in which they feel environment is responsible for whatever happening in their lives, b) Flexibility, few leaders are flexible and they are open to new ideas and thoughts, whereas some leaders have been identified as rigid. CEOs whose style is more rigid tend to lead firms with fewer innovations and do not delegate easily. Leadership style includes not only motivating and providing direction to the people but also implementing the plans. The needs of the employees play an important role in identifying the approach that a leader uses. An often overlooked quality within leaders is helpfulness. They not only need to encourage teamwork but also provide all sorts of support required to their team members. Studies also suggest that there is evidence that states considerate leaders tend to perform better. Leaders need to use multiple approaches while dealing with their subordinates, some of which include relationship development, training and professionalism of subordinates and time allotments. The three well known styles of leaderships are authoritative, participative and delegating, James D. Boulgarides William A. Cohen (2001). Authoritative: This is a style where the leader is in complete control and orders his subordinates regarding their duties without any consultation from them. This style is not very popular with the subordinates and is only effective if the leader has complete knowledge regarding the subject as well as definitive plans regarding how to execute the project. This style is looked down upon and should only be practiced on the rarest of occasions when time is of the essence. It can be used within certain limits if the subordinate is unfamiliar with the job in order to guide them more effectively. Participative: This is the suggested style of leadership within organizations as it makes sure all the involved parties are taken into account while making decisions. It is used when the leader knows about the final goal but wants to discuss the different options regarding procedures required to complete the goals. In this style the subordinates are informed of the goal by the leader and then an interactive discussion is carried out regarding how to achieve the stated goals. Even though all the subordinates are taken into consideration the leader remains in firm control and is the one who determines the plan of action based on the input provided by the subordinates. This style is mutually beneficial and ensures an environment of teamwork which leads to better performance. Delegating: This is when the leader leaves the decision up to the subordinates. This style is usually used when the employees are more informed regarding the subject than the leader and can analyze the situation better and come up with a better plan regarding what needs to be done. Even though the employee is the one taking the decision, it is still the leaders responsibility. The leader still has to delegate tasks in this style. This style is only suggested when the leader has complete confidence in the ability of his subordinates. Davis. R.V.Tim Luthans. F. (1979) envisioned a model consisting of four basic styles called the decision style model. These styles included Directive, Analytic, Behavioral and Conceptual. Directive: This is an autocratic style which is usually adopted when the leader has a need for power. Such kind of leadership style is more effective in situations where subordinates are ill informed or ill equipped for the task at hand. The model focuses on technical decisions and leaders do not consult and take very less advice from the subordinates. The leaders who practice this style are very performance oriented and therefore they operate with a lot of control. They tend to be aggressive and tend to achieve their desired results by hook or by crook. They also tend to have very dominating personalities. Analytic: This type of leader is a lot less authoritative than the directive type of leader and has more tolerance for ambiguity. They also tend to have more approachable attitude as they tend to want input from everywhere before reaching a decision. This style is best suited for the ability to cope with new situations which is why this system is an efficient problem solver. These leaders are usually not too hasty with decisions and take their time in evaluating all their options. Conceptual: This style uses data from various sources and analyzes all possible solutions with great details and looks at each and every alternative. It is quite similar to the behavioral style. The relationship between the leader and his team is one of openness and trust. The leaders are usually idealists therefore ethics and values play a key role. They have a long range focus and have high amounts of organizational commitment. They are usually understanding towards their team and adapt well according to different situations. They tend to like to have less control and tend to encourage a team effort and participation on an equal level. They want to see their team develop as a whole and even though they are achievement oriented they value independence as well. Behavioral: The managers who practice this style of leadership are highly concerned with their workers well being and tend to be a great source of support for their employees as they are highly people oriented. They are very open and easy to communicate with. They are also willing to compromise more and can be persuaded and welcome suggestions. All these qualities show that they tend to have lost control. They aim to be accepted and liked and avoid conflicts. They have a low data input. Hunt. J. G. (1971) discovered through his study that an ineffective leader leads to conflicts on multiple levels as well as a highly uninviting work environment both of which lead to organizational inefficiency. The overall environment becomes negative as employees do not take their managers seriously and through study it can be concluded that leadership requirement at different levels of management may vary markedly. It seems likely that when a leader has enough knowledge of two different types of management level then they perform better as compare to managers who have knowledge of only one management level, but definite kind of knowledge is likely to be dependent on various kinds of situations. Many managers use penalties which instill fear of mistakes within the employees. Authoritative leaders may cut days off, yell and demean their workers and abuse their power. They feel that intimidating their employees and increasing their authority will lead to more productivity however wha t happens is that there is more tension, employees become scared, morale falls and the organizational performance is affected. The autocratic style of leadership is greatly discouraged within organizations and should only be used when dealing with new employees who are unfamiliar with the organizational culture as it does not work well with the more experienced employees as suggested by research. A separate style of leadership is a laissez-fare style in which the leader does not manage his employees and only guides them. This happens only when the employees themselves select an informal leader for guidance. All these different styles of leaderships are suited to different environments. A behavioral style might be very successful in a certain environment yet might fail abysmally in another so a good leader adapts to these different environments with different styles. Therefore not all leaders are successful in all environments which is why certain leaders are chosen for certain situations. Spillane. J.P., Halverson R Diamond. B. J (2004) proposed this approach is not a viable option in the current day scenario as there is constant change. He suggests that leaders should now be chosen for their ability to deal with a wide range of tactics and that leaders should become more efficient in applying tactics rather than approaching different styles of leaderships. He also states that extremes of flexibility and rigidity are the least efficient styles. According to Fielder (1967) almost anything is easier to change than a managers style which is why a leader should not pretend to be something they are not. Leaders who act as facilitators are most liked among the followers and are most easy to understand. Flexible leaders also tend to adapt more easily to new situations compared to rigid ones. Efficient Flexibility doesnt mean a change in personality, all it is, is a change in tactics. Situational Leadership The objective of this review paper is to explain effective leadership in different situations and its role in a firm. It is essential to elaborate few theories which have substantial importance in Organizational Behavior literature. Situational leaders are those who can coordinate, guide, handle and direct his team members in all kinds of known and unknown situations (situational factors). There are few aspects which lead to situational decisions such as motivation and capability of followers. This, in turn, is affected by factors within the particular situation. Another factor which may affect leaders behavior is the relationship shared between followers and leader. According to the situational theory purposed by Hersey and Blanchard (1969) leader should be able to motivate his followers in order to make them perform their task efficiently and effectively. Leaders should work in a way that they will motivate their followers and increase their development level. On the basis of these lines they have come up with four leadership styles that are consistent with the four development levels for followers. 1) S1: Telling / directing: when in a team followers are unable to understand the task and afraid to perform their duties then the leader will guide and coordinate them properly. Leaders in this situation identify the real problem occurring to the follower and try to solve it. Leaders uphold the position of boss so that all assignments will be done properly within time. 2) S2: Selling / coaching: when the follower is able to understand his task to some extent and he looks confident in this, then telling him will be equal to discouraging them. So in this type of situations leaders have to guide his team members very carefully and instead of telling, the leaders have to sell the techniques of working, explaining and clarifying decisions. First two styles are more leader oriented. 3) S3: Participating / supporting: when followers can perform and they dont show the results then leaders have to be very patient and deal this situation with expertise. Leaders should find out different ways to motivate the followers and if reasons of not showing performance would have been found then leaders should tackle them properly. 4) S4: Delegating / Observing: in this type of situations followers know their jobs and they dont need any guidance but still its important for leaders to keep a check on the performance of the followers in order to ensure that everything moving according to the set plan. Bruno Leo F.C. (2006) explained the profile of leadership styles of Brazilian supervisors or CEO based on the situational leadership styles purposed by Hersey et al (1969). In his paper he elucidated that results showed that most of the executives are seen accepting the styles S2 (48.29% frequency distribution) and S3 (28.60% frequency distribution). So this shows that they have capabilities of working with followers of average level of willingness. Though they sometimes face problems regarding discipline and work with groups. Management theorists of the past tried to discover the best form of leadership for all situations however modern day researchers have realized that different environments lead to a significant impact on the effectiveness of a leader. Fielder (1967) carried out extensive research regarding how different situations affect leadership effectiveness. According to his research the relations motivated manager is most effective where the leader doesnt need much power whereas the task related manager performs well when his relations with his employees are good and when he has a strong control. In an unfavorable condition neither of the leaders would be effective so an alternative solution would be to replace the leader. In order to provide a solution for the style-situation issue Vroom Jago, Arthur. G (2007) found an approach that dealt with the interaction between the leader and his subordinates. The model suggested that situation played a great role for a style to be effective. It also concluded that subordinate motivation and technical effectiveness play a key role in sharing of leader power and if neither of these are important than the leader himself takes the decision. If motivation is low but technical difficulties are still important then the leader tries to gain more information and if technical difficulty is not important and motivation is high then delegation might be the answer. Lastly if the problem level is high and a need for acceptance is present then the decision is shared within the group. This shows that there is a consistency in the behavior in different situations. Sometimes interpersonal behavioral patterns are also transferred when work performances change in order to meet ne w requirements. Different task demands also lead to changes in leaders. Another point of view regarding styles of leaders is one of Fiedler (1974). Fenwick F Jing, Avery, G.C. (2008) found out trough their research that it is very difficult to define the relationship of leadership-performance. After doing concentrated research they accepted the four leadership paradigms as a tool of measuring the concept of leadership, (visionary, transactional, classical and organic paradigms).Avery (2001) identified 13 indices to measure these above mentioned leadership paradigms out of which 9 were used in the research of Fenwick F Jing, Avery, G.C. (2008). Many researchers who are constantly working on defining the leadership concept in groups have been able to link it with functional approach. In functional approach the main target of a leader is to get the job done and increase the level of performance. Thus, in such kind of approach leader ensures that every task should be completed in time. All team members actively participate in order to accomplish the task. The main objective of a leader behind this approach is to complete the functio ns, while leadership can be categorized as a way of problem solving achieved by common responses to social problems. In order to understand the functions four broad types of functions have been identified: 1) well informed and structured team, 2) proper use of information in hand to solve the problems, 3) managing and control human resources, and 4) proper usage of resources. Burke, C. S., Stagl, K. C., Klein, C., Goodwin, G. F., Salas, E., Halpin, S. M. (2006). Several studies show that the leader faces few obstacles regarding the organizational life cycle. There are five different stages of an organization and the changes which include, changes in management focus, organizational structure, top management style, control system and reward emphasis. Things that added to these changes and made the decision process harder included the size and age of the organization, its stage of evolution and the growth rate of the industry. Substantial numbers of management scholars have debated the effectiveness of leadership styles, behaviors and situations when selecting measurements of performance there is a correlation between financial performance and customer satisfaction. Several reasons indicate that there should be a relationship between leadership and performance. The first reason relates to practice. Todays intensive, dynamic markets feature innovation-based competition, price/performance rivalry, decreasing returns, and the creative destruction of existing competencies therefore effective leadership behaviors can facilitate the improvement of performance when organizations face these new challenges. Lumijà ¤rvi.I. (2007). Understanding the effects of leadership on performance is also important because leadership is viewed as one of the key driving forces for improving a firms performance. The Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness In this section contingency theory has been described which was actually originated by Fiedler. Fiedler. E. Fred (1972). Contingency theory helps executives and leaders to motivate and guide their followers in order to get better results for an organization. This theory is all about how leaders lead their groups in different situations, which predict followers capabilities and behaviors. There are few similarities between Contingency theory and situational theory. Former deals with the ability of leaders and see how they handle their followers to achieve high organizational performance in all kinds of situations. Also there is an important difference between the two theories. Situational Theory is more focused towards the behavior of the leader, depending upon the situations (often about follower behavior); whereas contingency theory talks about the bigger picture and it embraces group aspects about leader competence and other variables within the situation. This model was purposed by Fiedler in (1964) and (1974). According to this model they have explained two categories of motivational oriented leaders i.e. one is the task-motivated leaders and second category is relationship- motivated leaders. Author described that whenever some unexpected situation occurs in an organization both types of leaders react or respond to the situation differently. Many researchers have worked on this model and proves that leaders with task-motivated orientation mostly perform effectively in all types of situations, whereas leaders which fall into the second category (relationship-motivated) perform best in situations in which their control and influence is moderate. They further elaborated that leaders performance is l Management Leadership Styles: Tesco Management Leadership Styles: Tesco Executive Summary The retail organisation whose management and leadership styles will be investigated is ‘Tesco PLC. One will be analysing the management and leadership styles that are currently used by Tesco and whether these styles are effective, and also recommend if they could change or adopt any new styles which may be of more benefit to them. 1.0 Introduction Tesco PLC is one of the leading retailers in the United Kingdom and one of the largest food retailers in the world. Tesco has diversified by also selling non-food goods, such as electrical and also clothes in their stores. The initial size of the company indicates that the types of management and leadership styles and the way these are handled are crucial for the success of this firm. Similar to most companies, the management and leadership styles adopted within Tesco are likely to have continuously been adapted in correlation with the growth of the company over the years. Although the current management style has evidently been successful here in the UK, it is highly likely that they would not be able to use this same management style in certain countries overseas, namely Japan and China. The primary reason for this is due to the different cultures and values which have been adopted by these respective countries and this is something that will be taken into account. The management and leadership styles analysed below, are approaches which are likely to be implemented by Tesco. 2.0 Management Leadership definition Management is the organisational process that includes strategic planning, setting; objectives, managing recourses, deploying the human and financial assets needed to achieve objectives, and measuring results (Stuhlman Management Consultants, 2007). Boddy (2005) defines management as ‘the activity of getting things done with the aid of people and other recourses. Mintzberg (1973) makes this definition even simpler by stating, ‘if you ask a manager what he does, he they will most likely tell you that he plans, organizes, coordinates and controls Hannagan (1995) states that ‘Leadership can be seen as performing the influencing function of management, largely involved with establishing goals and motivating people to help achieve them. Leaders decide ‘where we are going rather than describe ‘how we are going to get there. House (2004) states that leadership is ‘the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members. For a manager to make his/her subordinates work effectively, the have to be motivated. Motivation is a key factor that must be held by a manager or a leader because; a de-motivated workforce leads to lower productivity. A manager keeping his workforce motivated is ensuring that his/her subordinates are working at a high level of productivity. Masterson and Pickton (2004) define motivation as ‘†¦the complex relationship between needs, drives and goals†¦ It is therefore ideal for a manager or leader to identify the needs, find out what drives workers, and subsequently, set them goals. 3.0 McGregors Theory X and Y One of the most influential theories on the understanding of leadership is created by the work of Douglas McGregor (1960) in developing theories X and Y. He believed that managers took two different views of their subordinates and conducted practices that would best suit their assumption of the workers they were in charge of. Theory X managers, take the thinking that people dislike work, and only work as it is a necessity for survival. They perceive workers to be lazy people who want to avoid responsibility, who lack ambition and would prefer to be directed, rather then use initiative to take roles of responsibility. Mainly, these managers believe people want security from there jobs, therefore the managers take a very directive approach to leadership and are very strict and controlling with their subordinates. Organisational goals already established and workers are pushed in a certain direction so that these goals can be fully achieved. On the other hand, Theory Y managers take an immensely different view to the theory X style of management. Theory Y managers believe that people see work as a daily occurrence and actually accept and strive to have some responsibility. They believe that if workers are in the right conditions, they will work hard their own will, helping the organization achieve the set out goals, and in return, being rewarded for this hard work and effort. In this scenario, managers will work together with subordinates, deciding work objectives and by developing strategies designed to achieve these goals. They will encourage team working and also delegate decision making when and were possible. In relation to Tesco, the management are likely to take a theory X approach in running their organisation. Due to the enormity of the number of subordinates a manager is likely to be in supervision of, it would be almost impossible to use the latter approach. Furthermore, the tasks needed to be carried out by workers do not require many skills, for example shop floor duties such as shelf stacking, checkouts and sales assistants carry out basic duties. As a result, these workers would need constant supervision and direction to ensure consistency and continuity in order to achieve the firms goals. Therefore, for Tesco, a theory X approach to management in their stores is the most effective management style. 4.0 Ohio State University Model The initiating structure is the pattern of leadership behaviour that emphasises the performance of the work in hand and the achievement of production or service goals. Boddy (2005) states ‘This behaviour involves the managers concern for directing subordinates in order to achieve production targets. It is a task-oriented approach, where managers tend to be highly directive and emphasise completing a task according to plan. This behavioural approach to leadership relates to Tesco in that, managers at Tesco are more concerned with getting the job done and reaching store targets rather then taking a ‘consideration dimension which involves more the concern for people. Boddy (2005) states that typical behaviours included: Allocating subordinates to specific tasks Establishing standards of job performance Informing subordinates of the requirements of the job Scheduling work to be done by subordinates Encouraging the use of uniform procedures 5.0 Blake and Moutons Management Grid ‘The management grid identifies a range of management behaviours based on various ways that task-oriented and employee-orientated styles can interact with each other. When looking at Appendix 1, in relation to Tesco, the management would identify themselves mostly to an Authoritarian management style (also known as produce or perish style), which has a high concern for production and efficiency and concentrates less on people. They take a task oriented approach which takes in hand the needs of the task in hand rather then the wants of subordinates. This is again, similar again to the Theory X approach stated approach, and is effective to Tesco where there is a larger amount of lower-skilled employees. 6.0 Herzberg Two Factor Theory Herzberg was interested in discovering how need satisfaction occurs in a workplace and the impact of motivation on behaviours and attitudes. Fincham and Rhodes (2005) stated that Herzbergs two factor theory involved, firstly the ‘motivators and secondly the ‘hygiene factors. Hygiene factors involved supervision, salary, work environment, company policies and relationship with colleagues. The absences of these were seen as dissatisfying aspects of a job which can affect the morale of workers. Herzberg stated that this is followed by several motivators, which include; responsibility, achievement, promotion and recognition. In relation to Tesco, subordinates of the managers such as shop floor employees, are unlikely to achieve the motivators stated by Herzberg, therefore are likely to be dissatisfied and de-motivated in their jobs. This can be very negative for a firm like Tesco as a de-motivated workforce is obviously more unproductive then a motivated workforce. Taking thi s into thought, it is vital for managers to tackle motivational issues of the workforce and see that the hygiene factors of employees are met, making it an effective approach to adopt. 7.0 Conclusion and Recommendations All in all, the evident success of Tesco shows that the management and leadership styles they are using are immensely successful. Management styles used such as the Theory X approach and authoritarian management are undoubtedly operating well. However, a 2007 DataMonitor Company report based on Tesco states that Tesco are looking to diversify into foreign countries such as Japan and China, and as a result, they may well have to reconsider the management and leadership strategies which they have in place. The reason for this is that the world of work differs in Japan and China compared to that of the UK as they place a large amount of emphasis on Total Quality Management (TQM), also know as Kaizen. This is a well renowned strategy in these countries and has become some what of a norm for workers there. As a result, it maybe wise for Tesco to implement a similar strategy to adopt and emulate already successful strategies used in Japan and China. Total Quality Management ‘is an op erational philosophy that stresses commitment to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement, TQM is committed to quality and excellence and to being the best in all functions. Hunger Wheelen (2003) state that in order for TQM to succeed in a company, ‘the program usually involves a significant change in corporate culture, requiring strong leadership from top management, employee training, empowerment of lower level employees (giving people more control over their work), and teamwork. In order for Tesco to implement such a strategy, they may have to discard the autocratic management approach and may have adopt a more democratic style of management, in which the ‘wishes and suggestions of the members are incorporated into those of the leader, as stated by Huczynski and Buchanan (1991). Although it may be hard to change from a management style which has been ever so successful for the firm, it may be crucial to adopt a new strategy in order for Tesco to be successful in their foreign ventures. 8.0 References Academic Textbooks Boddy, D (2005). Management: An Introduction. 3rd Edition. Essex: FT Prentice Hall. House, R; Hanges, P; Javidan, M; Dorfman, P; Gupta, V. (2004) Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks Hannagan, T (1995). Management Concepts and Practices. 2nd Edition. London: Pitman Publishing. Hunger, J; Wheelen, T (2005). Essentials of Strategic Management. 3rd Edition. Essex: Pearson Education Inc. Huczynski, A; Buchanan, D (1991). Organizational Behaviour. 2nd Edition. Hertfordshire, Cambridge University Press. Fincham, R; Rhodes, P (2005). Principles of Organisational Behaviour. 4th Edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press Mintzberg, H. (1973) The Nature of Managerial Work, Harper and Row, New York Masterson, R; Pickton, D (2004) Principles of Marketing, Berkshire, McGraw Hill Lecture Notes Meyer, M: CORP 2463, Week 4 Lecture Notes: Leadership, Influence and Power (2007), De Montfort University

goals :: essays research papers

Goals! How to Get Everything You Want – Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible T[here] they are, the twenty-one most important principles of goal setting and goal achieving ever discovered. Your regular review and practice of these principles will enable you to live an extraordinary life. Nothing can stop you now. Good luck! Chapter 1 – Unlock Your Potential – Always remember that your true potential is unlimited. Whatever you have accomplished in life up to now has only been preparation for the amazing things you can accomplish in the future. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Imagine that you have the inborn ability to achieve any goal you could ever set for yourself. What do you really want to be, have, and do? 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What are the activities that give you your greatest sense of meaning and purpose of life? 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Look at your personal and work life today and identify how you own thinking has created your world. What should you or could you change? 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What do you think and talk about most of the time—what you want or what you don’t want? 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the price you have to pay to achieve the goals that are most important to you? 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What one action should you take immediately as the result of your answers to the above questions? Chapter 2 – Take Charge of Your Life – You are completely responsible for everything you are today, for everything you think, say, and do, and for everything you become from this moment forward. Refuse to make excuses or to blame others. Instead, make progress toward your goals every day. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Identify your biggest problem or source of negativity in life today. In what ways are you responsible for this situation? 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  See yourself as the president of your own company. How would you act differently if you owned 100 percent of the shares? 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Resolve today to stop blaming anyone else for anything and instead accept complete responsibility in every area of your life. What actions should you be taking? 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stop making excuses and start making progress. Imagine that your favorite excuses have no basis in fact, and act accordingly. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  See yourself as the primary creative force in your own life. You are where you are and what you are because of your own choices and decisions. What should you change? 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Resolve today to forgive anyone who has ever hurt you in any way. Let it go. Refuse to discuss it again. Instead, get so busy working on something that is important to you that you don’t have time to think about it again.

Mgt 521 Week 1 Paper Channels of Communication

MGT 521 Channels of Communication According to our readings, â€Å"There are two main forms of communication channels; oral communication and written communication. † (Robbins & Judge, 2011). Within these two channels, there are 10 different types of communication. In the communication process, it is important for the sender to clearly convey the meaning of the message for the receiver to be able to interpret. In order to achieve this goal, the correct communication channel and style must be used. Scenario I To interact with your team about the best beverage strategy, I would use an informal communication channel.According to our readings, an informal communication channel would â€Å"provide feedback to upper management, which would lead toward progress in achieving higher goals and relay any issues that may occur in help resolve these issues† (Robbins & Judge, 2011). Further, face to face communication would be the best form of oral communication to be used as an info rmal communication channel. The team only has one week to develop a global marketing strategy, so the meetings must be more informal and be able to work out the possibilities in a live face to face series of meetings.Other forms of communication such as phone calls, voicemail, or emails could result in slower and shorter discussions. The team needs to be as efficient with their time as possible to deliver this strategy. To convey the strategy to the VP of Operations, I would use a more formal and upward communication channel. According to our readings, a formal channel of communication is â€Å"established by the organization and transmit messages related to the professional activities of members. They traditionally follow the authority chain within the organization† (Robbins & Judge, 2011).Since formal communication follows the chain of command, it is more proper for the team to put their strategy in a written presentation for initial review I would send the VP of Operations an electronic communication (e-mail) that would present the strategy because this is the quickest way to send a lot of information for review. Once the e-mail has been received and reviewed, I would follow up with a video conference to achieve a more face to face communication channel and make sure that all business plans are clearly hashed out and analyzed.This would also be a good solution is the VP is at another location and would not have to travel to have a final meeting. Scenario II In this scenario I would use a formal communication channel with e-mail communication to contact the IT department. This email can be marked with high priority and be received immediately by the IT department. Also, formal e-mail would follow company procedure and allow a written, documented channel of communication for their records and verification.I would also use e-mail communication as a type of downward communication to inform my employees about what happed as well as provide them with the n ew login name and password. This type of downward communication is best for employee communication or when the management wants to inform a large number of employees. This type keeps employees informed and offers security by allowing each employee the opportunity to click and create a new login name and password. In addition, I would use a memo as a second form of communication, to make sure that all employees have another form of written communication in case they have not checked their e-mail.As always, if employees have additional questions or concerns, they can always use verbal face to face communication and simply approach their manager for more information if the written communication is not clear. Scenario III For this for this difficult situation, I would first use oral communication through an all employee meeting. I would inform about the difficulties of the company, and the overall tough decision to let some employees go in order to keep the business afloat. I think that oral communication is more sincere, and employees can see the nonverbal body language of the employer as they explain this difficult situation.Also, an important aspect of a face to face meeting is that it avoids rumors or the grapevine affect that would most likely occur if the employer simply sent a memo or e-mail to the employees. I would want the employees to have the equal opportunity to this information and avoid hurtful rumors or gossip that would likely occur from a simple electronic written message. To inform the affected employees, I would use both oral and written communication. I would first approach them in person and ask to talk to them in person (in private) in my office.If I sent an e-mail or other form, this would create anxiety and be unfair to the employees. I would be as respectful and to the point as possible. In the oral line of communication, I would show my sincerest efforts to show apathy for the situation and also offer any help with a reference for future employment opportunities. I would also be businesslike and explain the last day and other important information that will be completed to confirm the termination. I would follow up with written communication for both sides’ records.I would send a private email for the privacy of the recipient and mark a high priority with a recipient’s confirmation attached to the email upon its opening. This line of communication would have all of the details and state the date all of this will come in effect. An e-mail can also have an attachment with any paperwork that needs to be signed before the last day. This final written communication is more formal and brings closure and hopefully less emotion to the communication process. Works Cited Robbins, Stephen P. & Judge, Timothy A.. (2011). Organizational Behavior. Fourteenth Edition; Published by Prentice Hall

Voting--The Pinnacle Of Democracy, Suffrage For All. While

Voting--the pinnacle of democracy, suffrage for all. While it took a couple of centuries for the United States to guarantee universal suffrage, we now have it, regardless of sex or race. The struggle of acquiring suffrage is a long history, one that we as Americans paradoxically praise and condemn, but it is history, and now we must look towards the future. Yet, Harvard Professor Dr. Judith Shklar argues otherwise in her lecture â€Å"Voting† where she navigates the history behind the long battle for universal suffrage in the United States. More importantly, she provokes the audience when she presents an unorthodox history of the struggle for suffrage: They[Americans] have seen them [voting and earning] as attributes of an American citizen†¦The†¦show more content†¦As a result, while both social status and standing are relative, the latter is seemingly more feasible than the other to obtain, especially with natural-rights theory as the foundation of American democracy. Later, Shklar mentions that â€Å"natural-rights theory makes it very difficult to find good reason for excluding anyone from full political membership† (Shklar 395). The result of having the theory of natural rights as the backbone is that anyone who is denied the vote would naturally be deprived of exercising their voice, or in another word, a slave. Eventually when the white manhood suffrage movement used the word slave, they would often not simply just refer to â€Å"reduced political independence†¦[but] the actual condition of most American blacks† (Shklar 396). Shklar highlights the fear and apathy that white men and consecutive suffrage groups had towards being a slave, one who is stripped of rights and humanity which are both synthesized into the vote. As she describes the fights for suffrage, Shklar will often bring up primary sources that shed light to the atmosphere at the time. Of course, this reflects the common characteristic of any academic, but this is not an academic paper where she is including her citations; this is a lecture that she is giving. She raises direct sources from historical figures and historians to highlight behaviorShow MoreRelatedThe American Election Process Is Good For The Country1807 Words   |  8 Pagestheir basic right to vote, and it helps always elect a new candidate over having a single leader for life. Throughout the history of America, a lot of things have happened for Americans to be able to elect their leader. The Revolutionary war was the pinnacle point as it was the war that separated America from the control of Great Britain and is what landed America as a country of its own and not to be controlled by any other country. But a downside to this war was that even though it let people electRead MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesHughes−Ginnett−Curphy The Art of M A: Merger/Acquisitions/Buyout Guide, Third Edition Reed−Lajoux and others . . . This book was printed on recycled paper. Management http://www.mhhe.com/primis/online/ Copyright  ©2005 by The McGraw−Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval