2.3 Leadership and Management
Management function’s purpose: ensure that employees are conducting their tasks.
Key Management Functions
Planning: Set strategic objectives, tactical objectives, and even operational objectives.
Organizing: Make sure the business has sufficient resources to achieve its objectives.
Commanding: Make sure all individuals know their duties.
Coordinating: Bring the various resources.
Controlling: Power over a given situation.
Scientific thinking/management: making decisions by gathering necessary information and/or data, then analyzing that information before deciding what to do.
This type of management/decision-making process involves these steps:
Where are we now? Identify the issues to be tackled and the current position of the company.
Where do we want to be? What are the objectives of the organization (mission and vision statements), things they want to improve?
How do we get there? Using the data to determine what the best course of action is to achieve business objectives. (tactics, strategies)
Advantages | Disadvantages |
* Minimizes risk of decision-making and problem-solving | Can be time consuming |
Potential financial costs to collect the required information |
Managers Vs Leaderships
Managers
- Responsible for planning and overseeing a group's work
- monitoring process and moderating in order to ensure the plan is executed correctly
- deals with complexity
- some argue that managers are focused on getting tasks completed timely rather than leading (task-oriented)
- to get tasks done
Leaders
- More emotional role
- good leaders inspire their followers
- spends time and energy building relationships
- relationship-oriented
Leadership Styles
It refers to how decision-makers behave or reveal their behavior. There are five common styles of leadership, which include Autocratic, Paternalistic, Democratic, Laissez-Faire, and Situational.
| Definition | Advantages | Disadvantages |
Autocratic Leadership | The leader simply tells their subordinates what to do and prefers not to delegate any responsibility. | - Fast decision-making. - Mistakes made by employees of delegated work reduces - Minimized conflicts of ideas and opinions - Organized → Provides a clear line of control | - Increases work burden for managers - This leads to demotivation and alienation → opinions and suggestions are ignored - Bad for skilled workers whose talents may be wasted - Create a bad image for job applicants |
Paternalistic Leadership | Treat their employees as if they were family members by acting in their best interests and guiding them with their problems | - Employee loyalty - Motivation is induced - Reduces labor turnover and absenteeism - New opinions and ideas flow into the business
| - Lack of empowerment → limit creativity and innovation due to the limitation of time - Overdependence on the leader - Potential dissatisfaction |
Democratic Leadership | These managers directly involve the employees in the decision-making process. They consult the staff and consider their views before making any final decision. | - Increases motivation and morale - Reduces workload of managers - Delegation can train employees - Many ideas and suggestions flow into the business | - Decision-making is slower - Not suitable for large organizations with a large workforce - Conflicts between ideas and opinions can arise - Costs can increase through wasted time |
Laissez-Faire Leadership | Minimal direct input on the employees and instead allow employees to make their own decisions and complete their work their own way | - High motivation level - Suitable work for specific skills - Workload for the manager is minimized. -Encourage Personal growth - Low labor turnover rate | - Needed well-trained employees - Absence of oversight - Conflicts in methods - Not for decision-making - Mistakes |
Situational Leadership | Determined by the situation at hand |
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The type of leadership will be influenced by
- The subordinates (skill, age, education, expectations, motivation)
- The decision (whether urgent, important, or consequential)
- The leader (behaviors, values, experience, and expectations)
- The environment (whether creative, democratic, or standardized…)
Effects of Ethical Considerations and Cultural Differences in Leadership
Ethical Considerations: influence both leadership styles and management styles.
Leaders: Building relationships and inspiring their employees (people-focused), Will do the “right thing” for the people, and Put the employees’ interests ahead of their own.
Managers: Will manage for efficiency and profitability, Ethical obligations are for the organization/business, not for their employees.
Cultural differences
Cultural influences relevant to business have five dimensions (Hofstede)
Power distance
Individualism
Uncertainty avoidance
Masculinity
Long term orientation