Management and Leadership Flashcards
(37 cards)
Define a leader
May perform similar functions to managers, but in addition they also inspire and motivate the workforce. They consider long-term strategy, the challenges facing the business and how to overcome them
Define a manager
Control and direct the workforce to follow the principles or values that have been established by the leaders.
Compare manager and leader
Being a good leader involves getting people to understand and believe in your vision to work with you to achieve your goals, whereas managing is more about administering and making sure the day-to-day things are happening as they should.
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
McGregor believed that there are two distinct types of managers. It depends on the beliefs of those managers as to what would
best motivate their staff.
Theory X managers believe - McGregor
Employees are motivated only by money.
Employees are lazy and dislike work – they have little ambition.
Employees do not want to be involved in the decision-making
process.
Employees are selfish, ignore the needs of organisations, avoid
responsibility and lack ambition.
Employees need to be controlled and directed by management.
Employees must be supervised or the quality and quantity of
output will fall.
Theory Y managers believe - McGregor
Working is as natural as rest or play.
The typical employee does not have an in-built dislike of work –
they are ambitious, willing to train and contribute to improve their
chances of promotion
Employees cannot be motivated by money alone – other means
exist to motivate employees rather than control and punishment.
Employees will be more efficient if they are left to their own
devices – trust breeds responsibility.
Employees want to contribute to improving efficiency – they want
to be seen, noticed, rewarded and appreciated when they work well.
Consequences of Theory X management - McGregor
These managers believe that employees have little or no ambition, wish to be left alone, must not be involved in the wider business environment and must be supervised if they are to maintain quality and quantity of work. This has major impacts on job design and control.
* strict control of formal methods of communication
* tasks must be designed so they are broken down into their simplest units
* responsibilities must be clear and unambiguous
* supervisors must maintain quality
* high level of dependence on the decision-making of senior management.
Consequences of Theory Y management - McGregor
Theory Y managers are likely to create an open structure, with both formal and informal paths of communication and delegated powers. Employees will be given responsibilities and a wider range of tasks. Theory Y managers are facilitators. It is likely that managers will adopt a democratic style – this is based on encouraging participation in decision-making.
* requirement for training
* use of cell working – restructuring of production and service methods
* setting up of formal communication channels, with both vertical and lateral communication
* promotion structures
* flexible working practices
Functions of management
- Planning – ensure that the
required resources are where
they need to be. - Leading – encouraging
employees to carry out the
require task effectively. - Co-ordinating – ensuring
that employees/departments
are working efficiently to
complete the task. - Functional – organising
various departments such as
sales and HR. - Organising.
- Control.
Roles of Management
- Interpersonal roles – hiring, firing, training, motivating and organising.
- Decision-making roles – the access to information that managers have enables them to use their formal authority to make decisions.
- Information roles – acting as a channel for information to flow
between divisions/departments within an organisation.
The management by objectives process - Drucker
*Review objectives for the whole business (corporate objectives)
*Set objectives for the management of the different functions of the business
*Set objectives for individual departments and employees
*Monitor progress - managers and employees check to see if the
objectives are being reached
*Evaluate performance and give reward if the objectives were reached
Explain Drucker’s Management by Objectives theory
Objectives are defined within an organisation so that the management and employees agree and understand what they need to do in order to achieve them. It involves breaking down and subdividing the aims and goals of an organisation into targets and objectives for divisions, departments, managers and finally employees. Drucker suggested that by working together to meet the same objectives, owners,
managers and employees would have a clear structure and long-term strategy that give clear goals to all stakeholders in the organisation.
Advantages of Drucker’s MBO theory
☑ Improved management control of the organisation. Managers know who is doing what and what they are supposed to be achieving. Clarity of goals.
☑ Improved financial control. Part of the setting of the objectives process is monitoring expenditure and revenues. Any changes from (variances from) budgeted amounts need to be explained and reacted to.
☑ It allows managers to be aware of their responsibilities. Managers are aware of what they should be achieving and how their role fits in with organisational objectives.
☑ The work of departments and managers are co-ordinated. Everyone is working together towards a common goal.
☑ It can motivate the workforce. When managers at all levels are involved in setting and agreeing on objectives, they will have a commitment to ensuring that objectives and goals are achieved. Involving all employees in the whole process of goal setting will give employee empowerment. This increases employee job satisfaction and commitment.
☑ It can improve communication systems within the organisation. The process of setting and agreeing objectives will itself involve communication both up and down the hierarchy
Disadvantages of Drucker’s MBO theory
☒ Management time is spent on the process of setting objectives rather than managing the organisation.
☒ The ever-changing business environment or context in which the goals are set may change over time, making the objectives unrealistic.
☒ Demotivation and breakdown of working relationships. If all levels of hierarchy are not involved in setting objectives, then they may not be committed to them.
☒ Objectives can be seen as a form of management control.
☒ A situation may arise where managers ‘cannot see the wood for the trees’. This loss of focus means managers concentrate on short-term objectives at the cost of
ignoring the long-term goals.
Character Traits of Effective Managers
- inspirational
- empathetic
- self-aware
- enthusiastic
- hard-working
Role of leaders
- creating visions and aims
- empowering and delegating
- establishing objectives
- deciding on structure
- creating new roles and jobs
- anticipating problems
Characteristics of leaders
- intellectual skills
- interpersonal skills
- realistic aspirations
- vision
- communicative skills
- creativity
- innovation
- commitment
- identify and respond to changes.
Explain Autocratic Leadership
An autocratic leadership style is one where the manager sets objectives, allocates tasks and insists on obedience.
* Group may be dependent on the leader.
* Employees are not involved in decision making.
* High levels of supervision characterise this leadership style.
* Often linked to poor levels of motivation amongst employees.
* Most suitable in a crisis situation.
* An example would be the leadership of troops in the Army.
Occasions and circumstances where strong authoritarian leadership may be required - Autocratic Leadership
☑ If the workforce is not performing as it should if there is a crisis.
☑ Some employees respond well to authoritarian leadership and do not want to take on any extra
responsibility or may not be capable of doing so.
☑ Unlikely that all employees will respond in a similar fashion. Some may well be willing to work under an autocratic leader, as they know exactly where they stand and do not wish to act on their own initiative.
Consequences of Autocratic Leadership
☒ The employees can often become dependent on such a leader. This tends to stifle initiative amongst the workforce.
☒ Those managed in such a way are often dissatisfied with the leader – this would seem to be the case here as many employees are leaving to work elsewhere.
☒ Autocratic leaders often insist on high levels of supervision and this can cause resentment as employees will tend to lack cohesion and may not therefore all pull in the same direction to achieve the business’s goals.
☒ Talent is often not recognized by autocratic managers and therefore a valuable human resource may be lost or underutilised.
☒ Two-way communication does not occur and good ideas that may help the business may well be ignored.
☒ People who may possess great potential are not used in the best way and may leave to achieve their
ambitions
Explain Bureaucratic Leadership
Controls w, tight limits on decision-making and has many guidelines and restrictions. Used when leadership skills cannot be developed in subordinates, subordinates need to be closely controlled, a high labour turnover is not too much of a disadvantage and when it is important to back up every decision with relevant paperwork. Employee participation is not actively encouraged.
However:
☒ Decision making is stifled by paperwork and excessive checking and re-checking of decisions and outcomes. The leader manages “by the book”.
☒ Effective if employees performing routine tasks but employees lose interest in their work and only do what is expected of them.
Explain Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership styles encourage participation by employees in the decision making process:
* A democratic leader delegates a great deal, discusses issues, acts upon advice and explains the reasons for decisions.
* Democratic leadership means running a business or a department on the basis of decisions agreed among the majority.
* Can be persuasive - leader makes a decision and then persuades others in the organisation that it is a good idea.
* Can be consultative - leader consults others prior to making a decision and takes account of their views.
* Good communication skills are required to lead democratically (“we love talking…”).
Possible benefits of Democratic Leadership
☑ Research suggests that better decisions are made as managers are able to utilise the experience and knowledge of those working in the organisation. They can adopt the ideas of a whole variety of employees.
☑ Employees involved with the decision making process are likely to be more highly motivated and are more likely to accept the decisions that are made. Motivated employees are likely to be more productive, have lower absenteeism and be more committed to their work.
☑ Employees appear to trust democratic leaders and are more willing to volunteer new and creative ideas (“We are so happy that we have offices brimming with experts…”).
☑ Requires good two-way communication – the leader needs to be able to explain ideas clearly and understand any feedback they receive.
☑ More effective because managers are able to ‘tap into’ the ideas of employees who may be innovative, knowledgeable or experienced. This results in better decisions.
☑ More effective because employees are likely to be more committed and motivated to accept decisions made with their help.
☑ More effective because employees are more likely to volunteer new and creative ideas without fear of criticism or repercussions.
☑ More effective because it empowers employees and leads to, potentially, better decision making
Consequences of Democratic Leadership
☒ Democratic decision making may take a lot longer to make as lengthy consultation may take place.
☒ Democratic leadership may not be helpful if a business were to find itself in a crisis, when swift autocratic decision making may be required – it may result in decisions taking much longer to be reached as lengthy consultations may take place.
☒ Whilst a more highly skilled workforce may be more productive when their opinions are sought, they may even prefer a laissez-faire leadership style, having even more responsibility for making their own decisions.
☒ Democratic leadership styles can lead to confusion the greater the size of the group, as communication can be more difficult.
☒ Some groups of employees prefer to be directed rather than contribute, due to lack of interest or because they believe management are paid to make decisions and shoulder the responsibility.
☒ Democratic leadership may not be suited to certain circumstances – an emergency may require an autocratic approach in order to get tasks done quickly to avoid the situation escalating further
