Employee Relations Management Style adopted by ACME Engineering - Essay Example

?Critically Assess the Employee Relations Management Style adopted by ACME Engineering Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Overview 3 Management Style Used By ACME 3 Reasons behind the Use of the Approaches 8 Influence on Management Style Due to Changing Context of British Employee Relations through the 1980s and 1990s 10 References 12 Bibliography 15 Overview ACME Engineering is a company which operates from Japan and UK and the company deals with operations of sales and manufacturing unlike other Japanese companies, which only deal with manufacturing. ACME Engineering was established in the year 1980 with a small scale of sales and small centre for technology. The major objective of the study is to highlight the management style of the company, ACME Engineering. The paper would also involve the reasons or the causes behind the selection of the particular management style within the company. The study would also involve the evaluation of the particular style, based on the changing perspective of the British employee relations through 1980s and 1990s. Management Style Used By ACME Management style is one of the most important and vital aspects of an organisation. Management style is the process of interaction in between the superiors and the subordinates of any organisation. Management styles are the featured ways to take necessary decisions and to relate to the managers, and the subordinates of an organisation. Management styles involve various formal as well as informal practices regarding open communication and close supervision with the subordinates. Management style assists in taking decisions by incorporating the views and opinions of the members and the people of an organisation (Ison & Kempton, 2007). Different types of management styles can be implied in an organisation based on task, business culture and personality, characteristics of workforce and leadership skills among others. Almost every management style has certain nature, methods, deficiencies and strengths (Bolton & Bolton, 1984). There are certain basic forms of management styles such as autocratic, paternalistic and democratic. These different types of management styles have different characteristics. The different management styles are as follows: Autocratic In an autocratic management style, the managers take decisions independently and they do not consider the subordinates in the decision making process. This management style reflects the personality and the perspectives of the manager. In this style of management, the subordinates become dependent over the leaders and they require more supervision from the leaders. These autocratic managers give orders to the subordinates and the subordinates are less trusted by these managers. This management style follows the McGregor’s X theory related to motivation towards workers. The autocratic management style also can be divided into two categories i.e. directive autocrat and permissive autocrat (Williams & Smith, 2010). Paternalistic The nature of the paternalistic management style is also dictatorial and the managers take decisions considering the benefits of the business as well as of the employees. In this form of management, the communication among the subordinates and the superiors is descending, but certain feedbacks related to the management, motivates and encourages for the better performance in the workplace. In this style of management, the managers pay more concentration to the need of the society. These are the managers who consider the employee opinion and they get influenced with the employee feedback for the management. In spite of the employee participation, the paternalistic managers feel that the employees need directions from the superiors to perform. This management style is related to the Maslow’s motivation theory (Lussier, 2011). Democratic In the democratic management style, the employees are allowed by the managers to participate in the decision making process. In this style of management the decision are taken based on the majority of the opinion of the participants. The communication in this management style has two way flows, i.e. leaders to the employees and from the employees to the leaders. This management style encourages the employees to take part in the decision making process. The empowerment is the key factor in this management style. Due to the large number of participants, the decision making process is comparatively time consuming than the other two management styles (Warner, 2003). In relation to the case study, it can be stated that the management style that has been taken by ACME Engineering is informal. The management style in the organisation is also based on the term of ‘individualism’, which describes the value and the independence of an individual. In ACME Engineering the relation between the leader and the employee is non-threatening. In the organisation the employees are free to talk to their leaders or managers. The managers also feel free to provide their opinions towards any of the company member. The managers consider various problems and issues of the employees and try to resolve such problems, and at the same time the managers do not hesitate to provide their views and feedbacks towards the employees if they have done any task wrong within the organisation. The managers of ACME have focused on the appraisal procedure to ensure the development and the improvement of the employees. They have focused on the process of giving feedback to the employees for their poor performance or behaviour within the company for both employees and business organisation. The management style used in the company relates to the democratic as well as with that of the paternalistic management style. In the democratic management style, managers in the organisations generally take decisions based on the participants opinion, and it allows every member of the company to take part in the various decision making processes of the organisation. Alike in the paternalistic management style the decisions are finally taken by the manager to make the business process uninterrupted, but the managers consider the opinion and the feedback of the employees to get influenced for future better performance by the management. In ACME, the employees are free to take part in any process to maintain a healthy relationship among them and at times the managers are accountable to take the decision for their employees and employee related issues within the organisation. Almost in every organisation, a healthy and a strong bond between the employee and the manager enhance the flexibility as well as the effectiveness of the organisational activities and the performance of the employees. ACME Engineering has also focused on the relationship factor and its benefits related to the business and the employee of the organisation. Reasons behind the Use of the Approaches Management styles’ that have been taken into consideration in the study are democratic and paternalistic. The democratic management style has its own features, which reflect on the procedures of managing an organisation and its employees. The democratic management style involves each and every member of an organisation to take part in the decision making process. Within the democratic management style, the organisation and the managers of the organisation allow their subordinates to put their opinions and perceptions regarding various organisational matters. In this management style the opinions given by the subordinates are respected by the managers (Blacksacademy, 2005). There are certain benefits of the democratic management style such as; democratic management style is more participative, managers delegate the orders, subordinates are trusted regarding the given responsibility to them, managers are the link between the management and various departments, a healthy work environment is proposed through this management style, members of the company are highly satisfied and this management style motivates the employees to a large extent (Blacksacademy, 2005). The study has involved a few management styles based on different situations and democratic management style is one of those management styles. In the case study, it has been noticed that the company and the managers of the company treat their employees very well. The managers have focused on the flexibility of the workers to perform better. The company has an informal management style within the organisation, which assures the employee to have a non-threatening and relaxed relationship among the workers and the management. The paternalistic management style is the other management style implemented within ACME Engineering. Paternalistic management style involves the employee and the subordinates of a company to participate in the organisational activities. This is the management style, which is effectively dictatorial. This is the management style which focuses on the organisational benefits as well as the employee benefits. The communication flow within the management style is downward. Though the final decision is taken by the higher authority, the management entertains the feedback from the employees and workers (Tsutsui, 1997). In the paternalistic management style, the higher authority, the leaders and the managers usually perform as father like figure, where the managers listen to problems, demands and opinions of the subordinates and they take necessary actions regarding those issues. With the help of the perspectives and the feedbacks of the employees, the management takes the final decision regarding specific matters. The paternalistic management style boosts the morale of the management and its people. This management style helps to reduce the rate of employee turnover and it also helps the management to stimulate the employee loyalty (Fleming, 2005) In relation to the case study, it was found that the company, ACME Engineering has implemented paternalistic management style at certain places. Within the organisation, the managers have assured their employees to have an open communication flow with the superiors. The leaders or the managers of ACME Engineering have focused on the employees and their needs, which include providing small amount of loan to the employee, connivance facilities in need and a few other facilities within the organisation. Influence on Management Style Due to Changing Context of British Employee Relations through the 1980s and 1990s Before the time period of 1980s-1990s, the employee relationship within an organisation in Britain had gradually declined. The organisations had faced varied conflicts. In that period of time, the numbers of organisation had reduced and the rate of employee turnover increased significantly. The management style within an organisation was not effective enough to satisfy the employee needs. In most of the times, the organisations had faced problems due to strikes by the employees and due to the negative attitudes of the employees (Forth, 2009). Due to all these issues and problems the organisations had decided to conduct certain surveys regarding the problems of the employees and the surveys were conducted within a sample of employees as well as within certain managers of various companies. The result or the outcome of the survey had shown that the employee relationship within the organisation were very poor, which had caused random turnover of employees, strikes and poor performance within the organisations. To enhance the relationship among the employees and the employers, the organisations had proposed certain collective bargaining processes with the employees. In that period of time the employee relationship within an organisation faced various changes. The changes or the reformation had involved different activities such as better recruitment and training for the employees, employee benefits, employee representation, workplace flexibility, employees’ attitudes in the workplace and workplace environment and performance among others (Edwards, 2012). Due to the poor relationship among the employers and the employees the turnover rate had increased and the number of workplaces had decreased. To avoid all these factors the organisations had decided to provide the employees with wages, job security and reduced conflicts within the organisation. The reformation happened during the period of 1980s-1990s (Forth, 2009). In relation to the case study, it can be stated that ACME Engineering is an organisation which has also focused on an effective employee relationship, by providing several facilities and cultivating positive attitudes within the employees. The company, founded in the 1980s, has also faced the reformation related to the employee relation. ACME Engineering has involved their employees to take part in various decision making activities (Oxford University Press, 2012). ACME Engineering has assured the employees to satisfy their needs in case of money or any other assistance, may it be an official purpose or personal. ACME Engineering has also focused on the open communication flow so that the employees can anytime put their opinions in front of the management, and it would also help them to feel valued. The managers of the company have involved the employees to take part in the organisational activities and they have also made the employees to amend their mistakes when they have felt the requirement within the company. This reformation of employee relationship had effectively influenced ACME Engineering and its members (Forth, 2009). References Bolton, R. & Bolton, D. G., 1984. Social Style/Management Style: Developing Productive Work Relationships. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Blacksacademy, 2005. Leadership & Management Styles. Leadership and Motivation. [Online] Available at: http://www.blacksacademy.biz/ba/civ/XG9hg1anx/1Y5NLpsqc6.pdf [Accessed January 25, 2012]. Edwards, P., 2012. The Employment Relationship and The Field Of Industrial Relations. Content. [Online] Available at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Content_store/Sample_chapter/9780631222576/Edwards_C01.pdf [Accessed January 25, 2012]. Forth, J., 2009. 25 Years of Change in British Employment Relations. Overview. [Online] Available at: http://www.ose.be/conf_ETUI2009/slides/Session4_Forth.pdf [Accessed January 25, 2012]. Fleming, P., 2005. ‘Kindergarten Cop’: Paternalism and Resistance in a High-Commitment Workplace. Introduction. [Online] Available at: http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/courses/B600/Kindergarten.pdf [Accessed January 25, 2012]. Ison, M. & Kempton, K., 2007. The Impact of Management Style. Assets. [Online] Available at: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/179185/the-impact-of-management-style.pdf [Accessed January 25, 2012]. Lussier, R. N., 2011. Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development. Cengage Learning. Oxford University Press, 2012. Managing Employment Relations. Introduction. [Online] Available at: http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199545438/WilliamsAdamSmith_ch05.pdf [Accessed January 25, 2012]. Tsutsui, W. M., 1997. Rethinking the Paternalist Paradigm in Japanese Industrial Management. Publications. [Online] Available at: http://www.thebhc.org/publications/BEHprint/v026n2/p0561-p0572.pdf [Accessed January 25, 2012]. Williams, S. & Smith, D. A., 2010. Contemporary Employment Relations: A Critical Introduction. Oxford University Press. Warner, M., 2003. Culture and Management In Asia. Routledge. Bibliography Legge, K., 2005. 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