Differentiation between Management and Leadership - Essay Example

?Management and Leadership Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 0Differentiation between Management and Leadership 3 2.0 Roles and Responsibilities of Organizational Managers and Leaders in Creating and Maintaining a Healthy Organizational Culture 5 3.0Evaluation of the Affect of Globalization and Management across Borders 6 4.0Two Strategies That Organizational Managers And Leaders Can Use To Create and Maintain a Healthy Organizational Culture 7 5.0 References 9 1.0 Differentiation between Management and Leadership Leadership is considered as a process where an individual has an influence on set of individuals to attain a definite goal. Management basically refers to certain actions as executive, administrative as well as supervisory roles in a group or organization. Though both managers and leaders perform the task of each other’s role, there is vast difference in their activities (Ricketts, 2009). The leadership activities and that of management are quite different in Wal-Mart. The management of Wal-Mart is generally focused on excellent planning and organizing so that there is attainment of desired success in business. The management has a good responsibility to motivate the employees. The store manager arranges regular meetings with an intention to keep the employees updated (Cheng, 2006). Wal-Mart follows transformational leadership so that the employees of the company can be improved and can approach towards attaining success. This type of leadership can make the company more successful by providing value to its associates. The founder of Wal-Mart regularly visits the associates in order to appreciate them for their support towards the company. The four factors of transformational leadership that has an influence on the employees of Wal-Mart include ‘idealize influence’, ‘inspirational motivation’, ‘intellectual stimulation’ and ‘individual consideration’. The employees of the company are transformed through this leadership style (Hall & Et. Al., 2009). Wal-Mart follows cost leadership strategy in order to attain competitive advantage in the competitive market. This strategy enables the company to acquire consumer goods at the low-price and create benefit for customers. As a result, the company can maintain close association with vendors and suppliers (Walden University, 2010). The management of the company is essentially related to the planning and motivation, whereas leadership strategy is completely based on the transformational leadership for success of the company as it involves transformation of the employees and improves their performance. The company also follows cost leadership style for gaining competitive benefit. 2.0 Roles and Responsibilities of Organizational Managers and Leaders in Creating and Maintaining a Healthy Organizational Culture There is great role for leaders and managers of the company for attaining the performance objectives and maintaining the culture of the organization. The eight competency levels of the company enable it to gain huge success. The leadership competencies are communicated to all the leaders throughout the company. The roles in which managers and leaders have provided prime focus are communication, developing others, motivating, focusing on customers, regular improvement, listening, and team development and organizing or planning (Bergdahl, 2004). The managers provide assistance to the associates by helping, informing and motivating them to operate the business effortlessly. The employees are motivated frequently and provided regular updates regarding the new issues of the store. The managers have the responsibility to communicate the vision to the employees to maintain the culture. The associates are trained for the present task and also are prepared for upcoming prospects. Cross training is conducted throughout the company from various functional areas and it is considered as an excellent method. Motivating the employees is a vital part of the managers. With an endeavor to increase motivation level, to reduce the boredom from the work environment, and to build esprit de corps among the employees at Wal-Mart, ‘cheers’ are performed (Bergdahl, 2004). The company is completely customer oriented and holds the standard of internal as well as external customer services. The leaders of the company spend extra time with the associates. ‘Management by Walking or Wondering’ is followed by the leaders of Wal-Mart. The associates are served effectively as it is the prime responsibility of the managers. The servant leadership policy is followed by the company to maintain the organizational culture and background. The planning and organizing of the company as performed by the managers are excellent. The work environment is controlled smoothly. The managers always focus on managing time as it enables to restrict the approach of chaotic environment in the retail store. The managers with the associates come to a positive conclusion if any dilemma arises in the workplace. The organizational culture of Wal-Mart is essentially based on the roles and responsibilities of the managers and leaders. The company’s managers as well as leaders function differently for maintaining the healthy environment within the workplace (Bergdahl, 2004). 3.0 Evaluation of the Affect of Globalization and Management across Borders Wal-Mart has expanded globally in various dimensions. In spite of the economic instability in international market the company is highly based on globalization for its growth. Wal-Mart follows regional strategy. The worldwide division is regarded as the fastest developing business division of the company. The first global presence of Wal-Mart was in Mexico, but the company developed wrong product mix for the place. The products in the US were also sold in Mexico. The globalization has enabled it to make its global presence in various countries. The company adopted the marketing strategy and product mix by analyzing the entire local market. The localization of the product mix was the main fault by the company out there. The company after learning mistakes from the markets of Mexico and Brazil developed effective global marketing strategies in other places. The associates of the company are valued highly by the managers and are provided with various programs and policies. With an intention to expand globally the company entered in various international markets. The company was successful in various places, but due to its faults in strategy formulation it faced certain difficulties in its global operations (Business, 2010). 4.0 Two Strategies That Organizational Managers And Leaders Can Use To Create and Maintain a Healthy Organizational Culture The managers and leaders of Wal-Mart can utilize two important strategies such as conflict resolution strategy and knowledge management strategy for maintaining healthy organizational culture. The conflict management strategy is a vital approach for the managers because this strategy facilitates the managers to be aware of the employees regarding the organizational conflicts and train them to overcome those effectively. There are various conflict management tools that may assist the organization to be in the right path. The conflict in the workplace is a challenge faced by both employers and associates. The useful strategic solution regarding the conflict may reduce various negative issues within the organization. Conflicts can be reduced if managers can actively participate in educating the employees to the process of listening and speaking. Certain negative issues regularly occur in the organization, thus managers’ primary role is to control the conflicting issues by keeping the culture of organization extremely feasible (Rady, 2011). The other strategy such as team building strategy for negotiation can be developed by managers for organizational benefits. This strategy will enable the managers to reach the higher goals of the organization by maintaining its culture. The leaders as well as the managers of the company must develop team so that subject of negotiation can be taught to the employees. Regular coaching helps the employees to set objectives and to use the proper techniques of negotiation. Consistency is required in this aspect from the part of managers and leaders, otherwise the employees may get perplexed and the appropriate negotiation style may not be learnt by them. Therefore, training the concept of negotiation to the employees based upon teams may improve the moral standard of the employees. As a result, the employees may become capable to learn both negotiating style as well as the team based work (Harvard Law School, n.d.). These two strategies will be highly beneficial for improving the culture of the organization if the managers and leaders of Wal-Mart take initiatives in formulating the strategy. 5.0 References Bergdahl, M., (2004). What I Learned From Sam Walton: How To Compete And Thrive In A Wal-Mart World. John Wiley and Sons. Business, (2010). Walmart’s Strategy through the World. Magazine Extra. Retrieved Online on June 15, 2011 from http://business.in.com/article/magazine-extra/walmarts-strategy-through-the-world/6042/1 Cheng, S., (2006). Extra Credit Assignment—Why Wal-Mart is So Successful. Introduction to Business. Retrieved Online on June 15, 2011 from http://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/ePortfolios/Intermediate/sze.cheng/documents/AMM1 Hall, J. & Et. Al., (2009). Transformational Leadership. Transformational Leadership: The Transformation of Managers and Associates. Retrieved Online on June 15, 2011 from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr020 Harvard Law School, (No Date). Negotiate Your Own Role. Team-Building Strategies. Retrieved Online on June 15, 2011 from http://www.westga.edu/assetsDept/adr/NEW_Prem_Team_Building_SHORT.pdf Rady, (2011). Program Overview. School of Management. Retrieved Online on June 15, 2011 from http://rady.ucsd.edu/exec/open/conflict-resolution/ Ricketts, K. G., (2009). Leadership vs Management. University of Kentucky. Retrieved Online on June 15, 2011 from http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/elk1/elk1103/elk1103.pdf Walden University, (2010). Management. Examples of Companies That Use Cost Leadership Strategies. Retrieved Online on June 15, 2011 from http://thinkup.waldenu.edu/management/leadership-and-decision-making/item/11889-examples-of-companies-that-use-cost-leadership-strategies Read More