Management and Leadership Revision Cards

A relationship through which one person influence the behaviour or actions of other people.

Traditional View

• Command and Control
• Decision making
• Suitable for Theory X or authoritarian leadership

Modern View

• Inspiring employees
• Creating a vision
• Shaping core values and culture
• Building effective teams
• Suitable for Theory Y leadership

Changing organisational structures:

• Flatter hierarchy and greater delegation by giving subordinates higher jobs to do.
• Teamwork and focusing on quality assurance so everyone is in charge of quality.
• Coaching by making experienced staff train youngsters, support and empowerment.

Rapid change:

• Change is becoming a constant feature of business life.
• Soft skills of leadership and management such as compassionate leadership are increasingly important.
• It is harder to be authoritarian in the modern era.

• Strategic leaders are people who influence or control the corportate strategy of a business.
• Leaders control behaviour and are often personally identified with the strategy.
• This occurs in both small firms and large corporates.

Command

• Leaders take direct control
• Used in a crisis
• Also suits Theory X and authoritarian leaders

Vision

• Leaders set the vision and core beliefs

Decision-making

• The leader weighs up the options and decides

Symbolic

• The leader is the embodiment of the strategy but not involved on a day to day basis.
• This style sets a good example 

Leaders

• Inspire people
• Build relationships
• Take risks
• Have followers

Managers

• Enact the plan
• Use their authority
• Manage risks
• Have subordinates

Senior Management

• Set corporate objectives and strategic direction
• The board is responsible to shareholders
• For example, board of directors
• Led by the CEO

Middle Management

• Accountable to senior management
• Run business functions and departments

Junior Management

• Supervisory role and accountable to middle management
• Monitor and control day to day tasks and manage a team of workers

• The way that the functions of leadership are carried out.
• The way that a leader behaves.

• The focus of power is with the manager
• Communication within the business is top down and one way
• Formal systems of command and control
• Use of rewards and penalties
• Little delegation to subordinates
• McGregor Theory X approach

• Leader decides what is best for employees
• Links with Mayo in the sense that it addresses employee needs
• Akin to a parent-child relationship
• Little delegation
• Softer form of authoritarian leadership

• Focus of power is more with the group as a whole
• Leadership functions are shared within the group
• Employees have greater involvement within decision making
• Emphasis on delegation and consultation

• Leader has little input into day to day decision making
• Conscious decision to delegate power
• Managers and employees have freedom to do what they think is best
• Effective when staff are ready and willing to take on responsibility
• Not the same as abdication

Grouped managers into 2 types:

Theory X - Authoritarian

The average worker is lazy and dislikes work. Workers need to be controlled and directed. There is centralised organisation and exercise of authority.

Theory Y - Laissez Faire

Most people enjoy work and workers will take responsibility and organise themselves. Decision making can be delegated.

• Change in society's values
• Better educated workforce
• Focus on the need for soft human resource skills
• Changing workplace organisation
• Greater workplace legislation
• Pressure for greater employee involvement

• A "continuum" of leadership behaviour
• The continuum represents a range of action related to:
  • The degree of authority used by the manager
  • The area of freedom available to non managers
• Links with both Theory X and Theory Y leadership

• Identifies five different leadership styles based on a grid
• Axis measure:
  • Y axis - Concern for people
  • X axis - Concern for completing tasks

• Personal value systems
• Manager's experience
• Confidence in subordinates
• Feelings of security
• Nature of business problems
• Type of organisations (size, structure, etc)
• Effectiveness of teams and groups
• Skills and experience of subordinates
• Pressure (time, costs, etc)

• A business needs the right leader for the right situation.
• Autocratic is suitable when the business is in trouble, for example, if it needs rapid turnaround.
• Autocratic would be inappropriate if the perforance is highly dependent on effective team working and decentralised operation.
• Stage of business: start up vs established and complex.