Managerial Effectiveness and Its Impact on Organization - Research Paper Example

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Managerial Effectiveness and its impact on organization Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..3 Background of the Research…………………………………………………………………….4 Problem Statement………………………………………………………………………………...5 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………………….5 Research Aims and Objectives.………………………………………………………………...6 Literature Review…………………..………………………………………………………….…..6 Management Issues in the Hospitality Industry..……………………………………………...7 An Overview of Managerial Effectiveness …………………………………………………...8 Theoretical Framework ………………….……………………………………………………...9 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………...…..9 Research Approach…………………………………………………………………………….10 Research Design………………………………………………………………………………..10 Pilot Test……………………………………………………………………………………….11 Data Analysis Techniques.……………………………………………………………….11 Data Collection Procedures………………………………………………………………………12 Observer Journal Data……………………………………………………………………………12 Data analysis……………………………………………………………………………..13 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….14 Recommendations………………………………………………………………………..15 Appendix 1……………………………………………………………………………….17 References………………………………………………………………………………..19 Introduction A well-established fact in management research has been that managers faced various tasks, conflicting demands, and challenging expectations frequently that can pose to be as serious barriers to managerial effectiveness. Prior researches did extensively have pointed in the direction of a prominent and significant relationship between managerial behaviours and organizational outcomes, including employees’ job satisfactionp, productivity, performance, job involvement, intentions for voluntary turnover, and likelihood of burnout at the workplace (Andersson and Floren, 2008). Hence, managers need to be highly capable of responding to numerous role expectations and behaviours for them to accomplish a trait that is most important in today’s highly competitive scenario, which is managerial effectiveness (MacMahon and Murphy, 1999). Change is an inevitable feature of workplaces due to several inherent reasons and situations. The presence of change has become a great challenge for companies in trying to achieve long-term success and survival, thus, the need for highly capable and competent managers. In order to efficiently and effectively select managers, competent enough to face organizational issues is one of the most important measures that a company can take as a response to the changing environment. This could be accomplished by enhancing their skills and knowledge continuously, so as to keep up with rapidly change pace (Martynov, 2010). Essentially, while organizations ensure that, only the most competent employees are recruited and trained, developmental efforts are constantly in place to further enhance the effectiveness and overall quality of their managerial workforce. Managerial effectiveness has been described from various perspectives during past years as many researchers have attempted to generate a single definition for this concept. Background of the Research In the hotel industry, managers who have been successful possess a wide range of skills along with specialized knowledge, all of which are directed towards accomplishing organizational objectives. Several of past studies have reported that managers who work in the hotel industry need to demonstrate ideal attitude and be aware of systems being followed in the hospitality industry; have a deep understanding of the expected service quality; be capable of evaluating the work quality to consistently provide satisfactory services; be able to create a work environment that is dynamic; establish seamless interpersonal communications; be capable of analyzing situations and developing cost-effective strategies to increase profits; control circumstances prone to result in a conflicting situation, and effectively manage operations (Soehanovic, Zougaj, Krizoman, and Glavica, 2000). Generally, managers working in the hotel industry are expected to create favourable relationships with employees and guests while running productive operations and achieving organizational goals at the same time. This research focuses on the essential skills and behaviours of managers working in the hotel industry in order to accomplish managerial effectiveness and lead their respective organizations to success. The framework as applied in the work of Chauhan, Dhar, and Pathak (2005), which emphasizes managerial effectiveness through functional and personal effectiveness will be the framework in the current research. Problem Statement This research is aimed at focusing on studying the managers and their respective qualities working in the hotel and the real estate industry in order to observe, analyze and formulate recommendations in relevance with the most viable and suitable style of managing organizational concerns in the respective industries. In an ever-changing business environment from various internal and external factors, it is of prime importance that managers are flexible and patient in dealing with their workforce to make sure that the organizational vision and objectives are successfully achieved. The Problem Statement that is being explored in the context of the research on hand is as follows: What managing practices and styles managers from the Hotel and Real Estate industry must adapt to enhance the level of employees’ performance? Research Questions Keeping in mind the above mentioned research topic, research questions will be formulated and researched upon to understand the viability of the problem statement. In the research, attempt will be made to address and answer the formulated research questions. Also, the research questions will form the core of research as entire research revolves around studies carried out to try and find out answers to the research questions only. The research is related with management perspectives and thus, the research questions are also based on concepts relating to employee performance and job satisfaction. The questions of this research are as follows: How does an organization get affected by the impact of managerial effectiveness and what the normally practiced styles of management and their impact on the organization? In order to deal with organizational concerns effectively, what are the skills and attributes that equip managers with required portfolio? Research Aims and Objectives The aims and objectives developed keeping in mind the research questions give a direction to the research and provide a framework that is of utmost importance for a successful research. The current study aims to address the following objectives: 1. To understand effectiveness of managers and its impact on the organization. 2. To identify the skills and attributes that managers must possess to cope with organizational concerns. 3. To explore the current managerial practices and styles in the hotel industry and their resultant effects on organizational outcomes. Literature Review Literature review forms a significant part of any research by presenting views of other scholars on the research topic. Here, these views are critically discussed and pros and cons of research study are explored. Thus, literature review is secondary source of gathering information and does not contribute any original thoughts to the context of the research. Nonetheless, it is an important part of the research through a significant contribution in backing the researcher’s point of view while providing current knowledge including substantive findings in terms of theoretical and methodological contribution. It reviews published information in a particular subject area. In context of this dissertation, the literature review includes information about managerial practices and trends. Literature review includes review of numerous journal articles, books, magazines and articles. In its simplest form, literature review is summary of all other sources along with synthesis of those sources. Thus, it gives a new interpretation to old sources. Therefore, literature review provides all relevant and pertinent information in context of the research topic and research questions. While exploring various aspects of any included source, researcher’s both negative and positive views are included. It provides a broad view to the entire research and enhances its scope. Therefore, it makes significant contribution to the entire research by strengthening the researcher’s point of view. Management Issues in the Hospitality Industry Managers pursuing their professions in hotels and other related hospitality industry are confronted with challenges that pose obstacles in successful operations in the rapidly changing present-day highly competitive environment. For instance, need to cope with labour cost issues and any trend that has a significant impact on labour expenses should be addressed by managers from the hospitality industry (Wang and Wang, 2009). Another important part of their duties is to decide about increases on minimum wage keeping in consideration its impact on employees’ behaviour. Multicultural issues are also significant nowadays and are demonstrated through a culturally diverse workforce. Franchises of hotels and the globalization of businesses have become a common trend; this requires that managers are aware of cross-cultural management to avoid conflict and reinforce productivity and performance among employees of different cultural backgrounds. Other issues including, problem of labour shortage and retaining competent professionals have become a global difficulty. Issues in the field of cost reduction, marketing issues and technological issues are posing complex challenges to managers working in this industry. An Overview of Managerial Effectiveness Owing to its complex nature, the concept of managerial effectiveness has been characterized in different ways by various scholars and researchers (Bao, 2009). In past, studies such as that of Reddin (1974) described managerial effectiveness as the ability of managers to achieve the necessary results or output requirements of their managerial positions. According to Kirchoff (1977), managerial effectiveness is manifested in the accomplishment of multiple goals rather than the optimization of a single one. Managerial effectiveness pertains to the relationship between manager’s achievement or performance and the organizational aims/objectives, or what he/she is expected to do when given such position. The qualities, character strengths, and intrinsic capabilities of individuals have also been regarded by Boyatzis (1982) as fundamental components of managerial effectiveness, while Drucker (1988) asserted that such effectiveness is the main factor that contributes to organizational success. Managerial responses to situations, especially conflicting ones, should include positive affectivity, self-efficacy, confidence, acceptance and tolerance for uncertainties, conflict management, risk control, and openness to experience (Judge, Thoresen, Pucik, and Welbourne, 1999). Managers, who are able to appropriately behave and react towards conflicting situations, are perceived to be highly effective (Page, Wilson, Meyer, and Inkson, 2003). Theoretical Framework This research will utilize the framework used in the research conducted by Chauhan et al (2005) to assess managerial behaviours and how they can impact an organization. The prominent factors identified in their instrument are categorized into personal and functional effectiveness. Methodology Selecting the most suitable research methodology to test the problem statement will be discussed in the following chapter. The primary research method of questionnaire survey will used to ensure an effective quantitative research in order to make sure that the research results are authentic and reliable. Also, a detailed analysis of ethical considerations and limitations of the research method will be covered in this chapter. In this research topic, Research methodology is important as it will help in short-listing the most suitable methods that will help in analyzing information related to the research topic so that accurate information can be gathered. Important and relevant data would prove to be essential and of prime importance in analyzing the research problem effectively and thus, is considered to be a crucial part of the dissertation. A sound and informative platform provided to the researcher assists in conducting the research and presenting the results in an effective manner. Perfect research methodology is one that has a blueprint of the research and contains ample amount of information for the researcher to read, comprehend, and analyze. The information focuses on key areas, which are: what is to be done, how the research has to be carried out and the timeline in which the research will be completed. It is primary for a research to be reliable and valid and that a strong and viable research methodology needs to be adhered to at all stages of the research. Collection of data and its deep analysis by comparing the results with available literature will help gain a deep insight on the topic. Research Approach A qualitative approach will be utilized for the study and data collected under this approach will be used for generating representations that will enable the researcher to establish a more in-depth overview of the results and conduct a thorough analysis of the data (Bryman, 2001).Further, more personal touch will be made with the data through observation. Research Design The research design will serve as a guide for data gathering, measurement, and analysis for the researcher to make the appropriate conclusions (Gall, Borg, and Gall, 1996). The current research will make use of the descriptive-correlation research design to measure the effectiveness of managerial behaviours in the hotel industry on organizational outcomes, particularly of employees. This research design will not allow the researcher to manipulate or influence, in any way, the occurrence that is being observed owing to its descriptive nature. The results will consequently be correlated in order to come up with an apt conclusion on the significant relationships between constructs (De Vaus, 2001). In the case of the present study, managerial behaviours shall be correlated with their perceived overall effectiveness as managers. The research design is based on the research questions and is a blueprint of the research methodology; hence, direct the way. In addition to this, research design deals with what data are relevant, what data to collect, what questions to study, and how to analyze the results. There are two types of research design - qualitative research design and quantitative research design. Pilot Test Pilot test is conducted before the circulation of actual questionnaire among employees. For this, the questionnaire is provided to only 5 or 6 employees in order to comprehend that it is not vague and questions are easily understandable. Data Analysis Techniques Data Analysis approach is an important aspect of a research study as it is helpful in accomplishing practical evidences related to the study leading to valid conclusions. The data analysis approach needs to be clarified and properly implemented for enhancing the accuracy and relevance of results. Improper approach may lead to inaccurate and irrelevant outcomes, hampering the results of the research. Therefore, a well defined approach to data analysis must be followed in order to arrive at proper findings from the research. Data Collection Procedures The procedures for gathering data will begin with the collection of secondary data that is relevant to the study’s main topic. Academic sources ranging from journal articles to online books can be used to obtain relevant data; keywords such as “managerial behaviours”, “managerial effectiveness” and “effects of managerial practices” can be used as keywords for online search engines. The questionnaire will be distributed among employees with relatively similar sphere of work, in order to evaluate their managers. Purposive sampling procedure will be used for selecting the appropriate participants for the study. Consent forms will also be distributed to ensure that participants are willing to take part in the research. Observer Journal Data In total, eight employees from two industries were asked to evaluate their managers. Six of the candidates worked at five-star hotels, while two other candidates are from the real-estate industry. The researcher had an access to complete survey within those two given industries. The candidates are differentiated as much as possible by their gender, age and nationality, which may provide more valuable results. The questionnaire is designed in a way to make possible visualizing it on a scale and graph. The first five questions are assessing manager’s technique and the last question shows candidate’s opinion on how effective the management is (Appendix 1). As such, the first five questions’ aim is to see the manager’s technique in freedom that they give to employees, such as: promotion of ideas, time and task management, discipline, employee relations and responsibility given. The first five questions have accumulative points from one to four, for instance: answer “strongly disagree” in questions one, two and four are worth one point; and answer “strongly disagree” in question three and five is worth four points.. By choosing to evaluate real estate managers, the researcher differentiates the data. Even though real estate industry is different from Food and Beverage or Hotels industry, the touch with a client happens on almost the same level and frequency. Thus, comparison line can be drawn from the evaluation of management techniques and their effectiveness in real estate and hospitality industries. Data analysis Data Presentation and Analysis forms a very vital part of the research as foundation laid down in the literature review and methodology adopted in the research methodology section paves the way for findings. The collected data is analysed as well as presented in a well-articulated form in this section. During this stage of the research, the collected data is inspected, transformed and modelled so as to derive a meaningful result which supports the decision making. In the context of this research, data is collected through the sample and sample is the employees of Hotel and Real Estate industry. By looking and investigating the data collected, the first two conclusions come clear, as in hospitality industry managers tend to be stricter with employees, secondly both extremes of management techniques can be effective. Although, results show that both management techniques extremes contribute well to the overall productivity of the employees; however, employees under managers who encourage more creativity and give more responsibilities, feel that their productivity is higher more commonly. In respect to the studies, MacMahon and Murphy’s (1999) investigation showed similar tendencies, where employees’ performance was restricted because of managers’ refusal on delegating with employees and following very strict hierarchy. At the same time, analysing the data results, we see that two candidates from real estate agency consider themselves more productive in correlation with amount of freedom and encouragement their manager is giving to them. Thus, according to Andersson and Floren, (2008), type of business and its location must be taken into account. Reflecting on researcher’s personal experience, hospitality industry must work fast and efficient, with fast response rate. On the other hand, industries such as real estate, can allow waiting for a day or even a week before problem solving. Therefore, comes up a logical question, whether it is better to give more responsibilities in hotels, thus minimizing the time spent on problem solving; while real estate managers can take more time to personally investigate the problem. Conclusion This chapter concludes the research work. Also, this chapter will provide recommendations and limitations of the research. On the basis of above discussion, it can be concluded that managerial style concept most suited varies in the context of the type if industry the organization is operating in. Even though, there are several other factors that affect the nature of managerial practices being followed by managers, the scope of this research has been limited to the hotel and real estate industry and with the available and collected data, it can clearly be seen that the employee productivity directly depends on how effective the managers are, but at the same time there is no single managerial style that can be pinpointed as being equally effective in the two different industries i.e. hotel and real estate. It can be said about the best manager practices forms the foundation of any organization by making sure that the employees are made to feel as a part of the organization by delegating responsibilities, encouraging creativity and extending a balanced and reasonable amount of freedom to employees so that they do not feel threatened and rather take the onus of overall performance of the organization. However, too much of freedom can influence employees’ performance both negatively and positively and thus can have direct impact on organization’s success. Recommendations Developing and managing a friendly environment of trust is crucial for managers, so as to encourage employees to perform to their best of capabilities. Management should try to win the trust of employees by making them believe that they are a part of the team and have certain set of responsibilities that are important for the organization and that they are important and form the core of managerial decision making. Managers need to encourage creativity and allow freedom to employees so that they do not feel restricted and give their best to the organization. Participative leadership, where managers delegate jobs and responsibilities to their subordinates is expected to work well in any type of industry as long as a required level of discipline is maintained. In addition to this, results of the data analysis indicate that the relationship between the dimensions of the managerial practices and their resultant effect on employees’ perception regarding their own productivity is crucial for organizational success. Every dimension of managerial practice is somehow affecting the efficiency of the employees. If any of the dimension is not working in the favour of employees then their motivation level deteriorates and hinders their performance. Similarly, they do not like to stay in such organisation for long and may leave the organisation any time (Saunders and Thornhill, 2003). APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire Section: A (Please choose the one best answer that best represents your views by placing a tick in the appropriate box) Employer Evaluation Please fill the following questionnaire table, in which you evaluate your manager and his management technique. My manager… Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree … encourages creativity and is opened to my ideas … allows me to organize my time, and gives me freedom in my tasks preferences … takes organization behavior very seriously, and encourages strict attendance and punctuality … makes me feel valued and appreciated for the work I am doing I am satisfied with his technique, and my performance is better this way. Name: Sphere of work: Position: Comments, if any: References Andersson, S. & Floren, H. (2008) ‘Exploring managerial behavior in small international firms’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 15, pp. 31 – 50. Bao, C. (2009) ‘Comparison of public and private sector managerial effectiveness in China: A three-parameter approach’, Journal of Management Development, vol. 28, pp. 533-541. Bryman, A. (2001) Social research methods. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Boyatzis, R.E. (1982) The competent manager. New York, NY: Wiley. Chauhan, V.S., Dhar, U., & Pathak, R.D. (2005) ‘Factorial constitution of managerial effectiveness: Re-examining an instrument in Indian context’, Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 20, pp. 164-177. De Vaus, D. (2001) Research design in social research. London: Sage Publications. Drucker, P.F. (1988) The Effective Executive, London: Heinemann. Gall, M. D., Borg, W. R., and Gall, J. P. (1996) Educational research: An introduction. White Plains, NY: Longman. Judge, T.A., Thoresen, C.J., Pucik, V. and Welbourne, T.M. (1999) ‘Managerial coping with organizational change: a dispositional perspective’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 84, pp. 107-122. Kirchoff, B.A. (1977) ‘Organizational effectiveness and policy’, Academy of Management Review, vol. 2, pp. 347-355. MacMahon, J. and Murphy, E. (1999) ‘Managerial effectiveness in small enterprises: implications for HRD’, Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 23, pp. 25–35. Martynov, A. (2010) ‘Agents or stewards: linking managerial behaviour and moral development’, Development and Learning in Organizations, vol. 24. Page, C., Wilson, M., Meyer, D. and Inkson, K. (2003) ‘It’s the situation I’m in: the importance of managerial context to effectiveness’, The Journal of Management Development, vol. 22, pp. 841-862. Reddin, W.J. (1974) ‘Managerial effectiveness in the 1980s’, Management by Objectives, vol. 3, pp. 6-12. Saunders, M. N. K. & Thornhill, A. (2003) ‘Organisational justice, trust and the management of change: An exploration’, Personnel Review, vol. 32, pp.360 – 375. Soehanovic, S., Zougaj, M., Krizoman, D., and Bojanic?-Glavica, B. (2000) ‘Some characteristics of women managers in the hotel industry’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 12, pp. 267 – 270. Wang, J.-Z., and Wang, J. (2009) ‘Issues, challenges, and trends that face the hospitality industry’, Management Science and Engineering, vol. 3, pp. 53-58. Self-Evaluation The research that has been conducted for this paper is defined by the search for meanings and understandings in relationship with the managing styles in hotels and the real estate business as it relates to enhancing employee performance. In conducting the research on this topic, it became clear that that a more creative environment with employee empowerment and the distribution of responsibilities so that employees became more specialized and could create meaning within the organization was more valuable than strict, authoritative styled management. In evaluating the data available, the relationship between managerial practices and how they affect employee’s perceptions is crucial to building relationships within the company that become synergistic so that outcomes are enhanced and the overall use of employee capacities is at its best possible level (Saunders and Thornhill, 2003). There is some evidence to support the idea that strict managerial styles can be highly effective. Following strict hierarchies and being given specific tasks that are restricted to the tasks required can promote focus on those tasks can create high level outcomes (MacMahon and Murphy 1999). This was dependent upon location and the tasks that are required of the worker (Anderson and Floren 2008). In general, however, it is clear that management that is based upon empowering employees and encouraging some independence of thought and task accomplishment provided for a higher level of outcomes and for better job satisfaction (Saunders and Thornhill, 2003). Management styles in hotels and the real estate industry can vary in the ways in which the topic is discussed, but it is clear that similar a similar approach for each industry results in similar results. Creativity and empowerment are key to successful managerial experiences. Read More