Leadership Scenario - Coursework Example

?Leadership Scenario of the (a)Introduction The topic leadership has been a of heated debacle and interest for over centuries and has evolved since the time of Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates. Leadership is important for the changing global marketing environment and is responsible for the success of the organization. The productivity of the organization is largely affected by the leadership skills exhibited by the managers at the various levels. Leadership skills help in improving the existing business process and procedures. The managers can handle various difficult managerial situations with the guidance of leadership theories filled with real vigor. Various leadership theories will help in increasing the productivity and maximizing the benefits of innovation and gaining competitive advantage over its competitors. The study will try to solve various managerial issues related to the case study with the guidance of varied leadership theories and models. The case study deals with the complexities faced by two employees in departmental store working under two separate heads. The author of the study will also lay emphasis on the different working procedures of the managers and its impact on the performance of the employees. The study will give an insight into components of leadership theories like transformational, path goal, equity and need goal theory. Finally, the study will conclude recommendations of leadership theories which will help in improvement of performance of the employees and also increase their morale. (b) Case 1: Transformational leadership It is observed that the two departmental store workers Alex and Stephanie work under different managers. It is also observed that the leadership and managerial traits exhibited by these two managers are absolutely distinctive from each other and their impact on the work performance of the employees is absolutely different from each other. Firstly, it is observed that Alex and Stephanie work under separate managers Dan and Jonathon who have completely different views about their work procedure and completely different managerial styles. Stephanie works in culinary section and enjoys her work considerably because she is allowed to change her job to in test marketing section. This allows her to test her creativity skills and also improve her interaction skills communicating largely with the customers and colleagues. However, Alex has been working continuously in single department for weeks which has increased his dissatisfaction and lowered his morale considerably. It is evident from the case study that Dan exhibits an autocratic leadership style which has not only promoted a non congenial work atmosphere but also has lowered the moral of Alex. Transformational leadership style will help the employees to become more active due to their inner motivation, which is triggered by the managers (Hautala, 2006). Transformational leadership theory is directly related to higher productivity, lower employee turnover rates and increasing the morale of the employees. Transformational leadership includes components of charismatic, inspirational leadership, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation (Ozaralli, 2003). This theory would serve purposeful in enhancing the personality of the managers by enhancing their personality and improving their attitude. Transformational leadership would help in improving the managerial situation and help Dan to portray a positive attitude (Godwin, Neck & Houghton, 2000). It would help Dan to improve his mentality and also he may think of providing rewards, incentives to the employees working under him including Alex. (c) Case 2: Goal Setting Theory Alex has been working in the stocking department since a long time, which has not only created monotonous, dissatisfaction within him but has also instilled negative attitude in him. Unlike, Stephanie, Alex is dissatisfied with his work procedure and is reluctant to resolve his potential issues with his immediate manager. It is evident from the case study that there is lack of reward and incentive system prevalent in the departmental store to act as a motivator. Goal setting theory would serve purposeful in developing a process, which will help in evolving the personal characteristics of the managers and the employees. It would also serve purposeful in overcoming the shortcomings and focusing on the motivational effect of the goals or target actions. The goal setting theory would help Dan and Jonathon to implement effective managerial systems which will help the employees to improve their focus of attention, increasing their efforts and persistence, encouraging the development of strategies. Difficult specific goals which help in simplifying the tasks and improving the strategies (Grant & Shin, 2011).Furthermore, expectancy beliefs would moderate the effect of goal difficulty on performance and setting difficult goals would motivate the employees to take actions if they believe that such an action has the potential to achieve the goals. (c) Case 3: Equity Theory It is evident from the case study that Alex and Stephanie put in the same amount of hard work and yet the outcome differs from each other to a large extent. Equity theory would help the managers to communicate with their employees honestly, which can also lead to brainstorming sessions and evaluation of creative ideas. The main crux of the theory would be that employees get motivated with their inputs and also create a sense of equity fairness among employees (Grant & Shin, 2011).These act as a motivator to employees because when outputs do not match with inputs then it helps in creation of an equitable pay system. When employees feel less motivated then they may restore perceived equity by reducing their inputs or attempting to reduce others inputs or aiming to decrease the outcome. On the other hand when employees feel over rewarded they might be successful in perceiving equity by increasing their input and hard work. The equity theory assumes that both the over performing and underperforming employees are detrimental to motivation (Grant & Shin, 2011).An important controversy in motivation research concerns the competing predictions between expectancy and equity theory in situations are characterized by the combinations of perceived and under reward inequity (Grant & Shin, 2011).In equity theory when instrumentality is high the employees who feel that they are under rewarded will be disturbed by the in equity and imbalance and they may reduce their effort in order to create a suitable continuum between their inputs and outcomes. (c) Case 4: Need Goal Theory It is evident from the case study that Alex puts in the same amount of hard work as his colleague Denise and yet gets paid less. The immediate managers of Alex are impartial towards him and do not recognize his efforts and the inputs given by him and this has instilled dissatisfaction towards the employees. Although, Alex and Denise work in the same department it is observed that Denise is paid $2.00 per hour more than Alex, which reflects the practice of partiality in the departmental unit. Moreover, Dan’s behavior towards Alex has not been formal and profession and is solely responsible for the lowering of his morale. This theory proposes that the rewards at the end of behavior and tasks act as a motivation for the increased performance of the employees. The rewards should be clearly stated and at the end of the day the employees should be satisfied. The need goal theory is largely responsible for the organizational change and also the development of an employee. This leadership theory enables the creation of a friendly environment and giving strong attention to the employee needs and wants (Silverthorne, 2001). The need goal theory is almost similar to the participative leadership theory (Silverthorne, 2001). The participative leadership theory facilitates a smooth decision making process and also allows achievement oriented decision making and also seeks in improving the work environment and the work procedures (Silverthorne, 2001). The role of the subordinate is very clearly defined by the manager and helps in providing a structured environment to the organization, which will help in giving clear path to the work goals (Xenikou & Simosi, 2006).This theory will enable the Dan and Jonathon to look at the overall organizational goals and objectives instead of the departmental goals and objectives in isolation. Conclusion Thus, it can be said leadership theories would enable managerial effectiveness and also lead to initiation of structure (Dunkerley, 2000).Leadership theories would help in solving the complex interrelationships among employers and employees. In this context the suggested leadership theories would enable the employees to work in unification. Transformational, path goal, need goal and equity theory would help the managers to increase their performance levels and outputs. The suggested leadership theories would ultimately focus on four key points 1) Improvised leader member relations determining the influence of the leader to a degree to which the subordinates like the managers and they can follow the guidance 2) It will also help in the construction of a strong and formalized organizational structure in the departmental store and the policies will be applicable to each and every employee equally (Erkutlu, 2008). 3) It will help the managers feel develop positional power of the organization irrespective of the personality of the leader. However, it should be understood that leadership theories act only as a guide and do not serve purposeful while implementation of the rules, regulation and also improving the existing managerial system. Reference Dunkerley, D. (2000). Leadership styles and leadership effectiveness. Personnel Review , 2(4), 57-62. Erkutlu, H. (2008). The impact of transformational leadership on organizational and leadership effectiveness. Journal of Management Development, 27(7), 708-726. Godwin, J.L., Neck, C.P., & Houghton, J.D. (2000). The impact of thought self-leadership on individual goal performance. Journal of Management Development, 18(2), 153-169. Grant, A. M., & Shin, J. (2011). Work motivation: Directing, energizing, and maintaining effort(and research). Oxford University Press: Oxford. Hautala, T.M. (2006). The relationship between personality and transformational leadership. Journal of Management Development, 25(8), 777-794. Ozaralli, N. (2003). Effects of transformational leadership on empowerment and team effectiveness. Leadership & Organizational Development , 24(6), 335-344. Silverthorne, C. (2001). A test of the path-goal leadership theory in Taiwan. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 22(4), 151-158. Xenikou, A., & Simosi, M. (2006). Organizational culture and transformational leadership as predictors of business unit performance. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(6), 566-579. Read More