An Analysis and Application of theories of Leadership and Management in a Contemporary Organization
By: Rochelle Fearon
ID Number: 7453149
Leadership and Management Theories
(BS4S16-V1)
1st September 2019
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Assignment about Management Studies, Assignments of Management Theory
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An Analysis and Application of theories of Leadership and Management in a Contemporary Organization By: Rochelle Fearon ID Number: 7453149
Leadership and Management Theories
(BS4S16-V1) 1 st^ September 2019
Introduction This essay will carefully evaluate the different leadership and management theories and critique these theories in order to apply to a leader and an organization. After application, I will then comment on the fit between theory and practice. In order to fully capture the leadership theories, I will analyze the antecedent and contemporary leadership theories, as well as the classical and contemporary approaches to management. To be able to properly critique these theories, I will take an in-depth look at the organization by analyzing the background of the organization. This will include the structure of the organization and the culture. I will also be conducting an interview with the selected leader, in an effort to gain insight into the experiences which shaped them into the leaders they are. After which, I will focus on applying a particular theory in detail, to fit the theory to practice and give me a rich basis for my report, which should give me the scope to be critically evaluative.
Credit Union was officially certified, passbooks were then used to record lodgements. The early years were not easy as the fledging Credit Union needed to find ways to boost membership. Through a strategic decision, a promotions officer role was created and this individual began visiting the various units on camp to advertise and publicize the products and services the Credit Union offered. As the word spread, interest in the Credit Union grew on camp, but numerous servicemen were reluctant to become a part of the movement due to opposition from the skeptics in the military who opposed. Those who were hesitant joined in secrecy and were able to benefit from the many offerings at the Credit Union. Ten years after the formation of the Credit Union, the Union boasts an impressive growth record, with membership growing from a mere 100 at inception to 1,500 in
- Early products offered in the first decade included Loans (educational, marriage, furniture, burial), regular deposits and the share account. A special service to the Military was also offered, in which a member (who is a soldier) had to be granted permission from his commanding officer in order to access a loan which would then be deducted from his salary. Today, Membership in the Credit Union is now limited to members of the Jamaica Defence Force, civilian employees of the Jamaica Defence Force and employees of the JDF Credit Union; members of the local ex-service affiliate organizations; adult members of the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force; and their spouses and children. Children of the members who are less than sixteen years of age may be admitted
as savers. All members of the Credit Union upon leaving the employment of the Jamaica Defence Force or any of the aforementioned affiliated groups may retain their membership. Vision Statement To make the JDF Co-operative Credit Union a “one-stop” financial institution, offering a wide range of products and services in a highly accessible manner. Mission Statement – PRESENT “To enhance the financial well-being of our members
Further to Taylor and Fayol’s theory a sociologist, Max Weber in his theory looked at Bureaucracy and authority structures. Weber looked at the reasons for a person to obey another in authority and labeled it as capitalism. According to Weber, Bureaucracy is divided into three elements:-Rational, Traditional and Charismatic. The rational aspect looks on authority that comes from rules and regulations, to include legal authority. The traditional aspect looks at authority as a result of traditions and established beliefs. The Charismatic aspect looks at authority that rests with a certain exemplary character or a specific individual who holds an act of heroism. Bureaucracy can be identified by clear lines of authority and hierarchy. Bureaucracy, similar to Scientific Management is a part of Contemporary Organisations. It is mainly seen in large standardized organizations, such as Government entities. When looking at Contemporary Management Approaches, certain theorists are highlighted. These theorists are Mintzberg (1973), Heller (1997), Prahalad (2000) and Hamel (2007). These theorists are concerned with effectiveness in the organization, which is derived from doing the right thing. According Mintzberg’s theory, interpersonal, informational and decisional roles, are role a manger should fulfill. They should be equipped to lead workers to the desired goal or outcome, they must be prepared to monitor workers and provide workers with information, be their spokesperson and negotiate on their behalf. Similarly, Prahald (2000) suggests that the focus should be placed mainly on senior managers. These managers should in turn create and lead value and behaviors of workers, they should be able to leverage the company’s resources to be able to take advantage of any opportunity that may arise, focus on influencing worker rather than owning them and chart a path towards a competitive goal. Hamel 2007, further supports Prahalad’s theory as he has a similar view as it relates to developing and assigning talent and amassing and allocating resources. Hamel 2007 similarly believes in the responsiveness of the organization and control from norms and peers. Heller (2009), much like Prahalad (2000), believes in the competitive edge. However he focuses on radical change, exploiting the organization, reshaping culture, dividing to rule and achieving total management quality. It can thus be deducted that the contemporary approaches can be seen as more strategic, as opposed to the classical theories which highlights the scientific functions. After having discussed the various management theories, I will now hereby discuss the broad topic of leadership which focuses on an individual who is an influencer. This person will focus on ensuring that things are done properly, goals are met and they are responsible for setting the goal and vision of the organization, not to mention charting and leading workers in the direction they must go. The leader motivates and inspires workers to get the job done whilst management oversees and ensures there are proper structures and systems in place to facilitate this. Traditional Leadership theories began in the early 1900’s,. The focus here was on leadership traits, skills and styles. It was during this period that the Transformational and Transactional Leadership theories were formulated.These theories would’ve focused on the leader and how effective they were. The Great man theory was one of the first theories. It postulated that great leaders are born and not built. You are either are a born leader or youre not a leader at all. The following theory was the trait theory which developed as a result that leadership is actually learnable and this theory actually teaches persons about particular traits they need to pursue, in order to become an effective leader. It had however its disadvantages, as it identified dozens of traits and yet there are no ideal set traits that can be identified
and used in all circumstances. The skills Theory of Leadership is another theory which tries to identify traits, however it focuses on practical skills such as technical skills, people skills and conceptual skills. The style leadership theory focusues on the different styles of leadership that are the key determinants of great achievement. These are autocratic, democratic and participative or laissez-faire. The situational leadership theory believes that leaders should be adaptable. There is no set style for leaders but depending on the situation they would apply certain skill set and styles and act accordingly. The contingency leadership style looks at the fact that the leaders’ style is fixed. The leader is more task oriented than he is people oriented. Effective leadership in this case, is contingent on matching the right leader to the situation instead of expecting the leader to adapt to the situation, as is the case in the situational leadership theory. Transactional leadership and Transformational leadership theories actually usually used together. Transactional leadership focuses on the relationship between leaders and workers. It states that workers will follow leaders if they provide them with incentives and also rewards and punishments and then follow to see the impact. Transformational leadership however does not focus on the reward system but however it looks at inspiring the workers towards a particular goal and caring for the workers. Transformational leadership focuses more on cultivating leadership than buying workers with incentives. So it differs from Transactional leadership. However Leader-Member Exchange Theory looks at is similar to Transactional leadership, as it states there is a fair exchange between the leader and manager. There is a disadvantage to this theory however, as it looks at the leader creating groups in the organization which may cause people to feel alienated and leave. The final theory is the servant leadership theory which is a blend of both the transformational leadership theory and transactional leadership theory. This focuses on leaders focus on meeting workers’ needs then they will develop a sense of trust and workers will co-operate, as the leader is focused on meeting the workers’ needs. This will also lead to a high performance amongst workers.
Application of Critiqued Theory to Evidenced Practice MARCHING FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE Over its 40 year existence the Credit Union has grown impressively opening with only £662.16, 100 members and only 1 staff member. Today the Credit Union has approximately 7,000 members, 20 staff members and a volunteer pool of 21 with an asset size that has exceeded J$200 million. The Credit Union’s growth as a financial institution was recognised in the 2004 Credit Union League Awards, where it was awarded first place out of fifty eight Credit Unions for Credit Union with the highest asset growth. In addition it received honours for being Runner-Up Credit Union of the Year for te Medium Category (Credit Union with asset size of J$ million- J$300 million). In 2010 and 2011 the Credit Union won the Paul Thompson Credit Union of the Year Award in the Medium Category. By 2013 the Credit Union had broken the 1 billion mark in asset-size and was now recognized in the Large Category of credit unions. In that year it was also awarded the Renford Douglas Credit Union of the Year Award. It once again copped this award in 2015. The Credit Union has strived to keep up with the pace of technology and has purchased the technological equipment necessary to conduct its daily operations in a timely and efficient manner.
Evaluation Questions to Manager:
- Would you say that you have Bureaucratic Management Style?
- Would you say you have adopted it since being at the Credit Union?
- Do you think this leadership style has led to greater productivity in the organization?
- If yes, How so?
- Do you believe there are any changes that can be made to the management or leadership of the organization?
- What would be the impact of those changes?
- Would you say the top management has a bureaucratic, autocratic or laissez fare approach?
- Are there any changes that can be made? Policy States that: Voting Process: Also the members are the ones who elect the board of directors. View the AGM book and Rule Book.
References JDFCU Annual Report JDFCU Website Kotler and Keller Ebook Leadership Styles
- Your (brief) introduction to: a. Introduction to your assignment (scope, focus, methodology) b. your leader/organisation (general information to set the context, organisational structure, culture etc. (here you may wish to use theoretical constructs to support your discussion)); Your Theoretical Topic As with any assignment, this will drive your learning and you will be working on this independently for several weeks. You will become an expert in this area so find something in which you are interested. Also, in developing your theoretical understanding, you will also develop your own personal paradigm in relation to this area which is likely to underpin your practice as a manager in the future (essentially this is the whole point of doing a masters’ as a practising professional). Do you have enough information to apply this particular theoretical topic to your leader, manager or organisation? Are you able to place your topic within the broader context of the development of leadership or management theory? Do you understand the origins of this particular theoretical topic? What seminal works relate to this topic and are you able to show your understanding of its origin and development over time? Are you aware of the contemporary theoretical debates and which key authors are writing in this area (note that this will be usually found in journal articles)? Are there different perspectives on this theoretical topic? You need to synthesise the literature and show that you understand the different perspectives? Which aspects of the theoretical topic are you actually going to apply to the organisation you have chosen? Have you “funnelled down” to look at a particular area in detail to give you a rich theoretical basis for your report? You need to start off broadly but funnel down in particular areas to give you the scope to be critically evaluative. A broad based approach will lead to description which will not give you a good mark. Have you critiqued the theory i.e. compared and contrasted the views of different authors in relation to your topic, noted the different strengths and weaknesses etc.? (see the Open University Ladder to Criticality” (2013) and ask yourself which stages of the ladder are represented in your work. Remember that description (i.e. understanding) will only achieve low marks; Have you produced a rich, detailed conceptual framework which is appropriately focused to apply to practice? Remember, that the richer the framework, the more scope you have for in-depth the application and commentary. Do you have sufficient depth of understanding in this theoretical area to apply it to practice and then comment on the fit between theory and practice? Have you fully referenced your academic sources using the Harvard referencing style as stipulated by the University? Have you read the Unilife guidance in relation to this? Have you summarised your work effectively so that your key
messages are effectively communicated in a critically evaluative but succinct way? Have you submitted your report to Turnitin and checked the originality score to ensure that you are writing in an appropriate academic style and not unintentionally plagiarising?
- Contextual discussion of the broader development of leadership and management theory as appropriate to the chosen topic for critical evaluation;
- Your critical evaluation of your chosen leadership and management theory but you should constantly “funnel down” so that you can show your ability to be critically evaluative in your approach. Remember to try and show that you understand the theory as it has developed from seminal work over time.
- The practice in relation to your organisation (specific, precise examples not generalisations); Are you providing tangible, detailed evidence (e.g. something your leader has said, quotations from policy documents, extract from the company website? Do not fall into the trap of simply making assertions based on your opinion or that of others particularly if you are focusing on your own organisation. If at times you are giving your opinion as a member of staff then make it clear that it is your opinion but this should be the exception and not the rule; Have you appropriately referenced your sources of information? Do you have sufficient information about organisational practice in relation to your focused theoretical area? Do you have a richness of information so that you can effectively apply your theory to practice and comment on the fit between theory and practice? Remember you should be looking for nuanced practice to fit with your nuanced discussion of theory.
- Your commentary on the fit between theory and practice. This should be explicit. This is a key element of your work as it shows your critical ability to understand where and how theory does or does not meet practice. As a practising leader or manager you may seek formal guidance for how to approach a particular issue as well as using your experience and your intuition/judgement. However, it is also important that you understand that theory can be useful but also limited and that the approach adopted will usually have to be adapted to the particular context faced. Does the practice fit with the theory (note that this is likely to be the case for the majority of time as you have selected the topic and practice so that they do fit); Do elements of practice not fit in a nuanced way? Do elements of practice contradict the theory? Remember that you are NOT making recommendations to your leader or your organisation about how to improve practice you are simply carrying out a theoretical exercise to ascertain where/how theory does/does not meet practice.