Ten Essential Managerial Roles - Essay Example

? Managing ‘Fifteen’ Question Analyse the different roles played by Jamie Oliver as a manager in ‘Fifteen’ using Mintzberg’s ification of ten essential managerial roles. Mintzberg has promoted the view that in the context of each organization a leader is expected to respond effectively to the needs of ten managerial roles. These roles are divided into three categories: ‘Interpersonal, informational and decision’ (Koontz and Weihrich 2006, p.16) and are related to specific skills and qualities of the leader. These roles are analytically presented in Graph 1 below. It should be noted that the view of Mintzberg, as related to the roles of managers, comes to opposition with the traditional management theories that tend to focus on two managerial skills: ‘the ability to plan and the ability to take decisions’ (Koontz and Weihrich 2006, p.16). Graph 1 – Mintzberg’s ten managerial roles (Source:http://www.lmcuk.com/management-tool/mintzberg-s-ten-management-roles) Through the above graph, the following issues are made clear: a) a manager’s role can be quite demanding, being related to a series of requirements that are not easy to be met, b) the high performance of a manager in one of each category’s subsections can hide the potential weaknesses of the manager in regard to the other sections of the same category; c) a manager need to be able to develop simultaneously a series of activities, keeping a balance between the internal and the external environment of the organization. The roles of Jamie Oliver, as manager in Fifteen, could be evaluated using the Mintzberg’s model as follows: A) Informational; a1) monitor: Jamie is continuously informed on the developments of the food industry, meaning not just new ingredients or recipes but also on new trends in regard to food preferences; at the same time, he has managed to develop an extended chain of supporters/ strategic alliances. They were these persons that have helped Jamie in the establishment of Fifteen and, further, in the expansion of the business, as also revealed in the case study, a2) disseminator; in the case of Fifteen, the ability of Jamie to pass information to others has been verified; Jamie has been able to act as a mentor for trainees helping them to understand the needs and demands of the food industry; a3) spokesperson; Jamie has successfully promoted Fifteen through the media; in fact, the particular project has been presented to the public through a TV-series that had the characteristics of a reality show. Through Fifteen, the exceptional skills of Jamie in acting as a spokesperson have been made clear; b) Interpersonal; b1) figurehead; Jamie is characterized by high enthusiasm and passion for his job; developing events for attracting more visitors to the restaurant has been one of Jamie’s strategies for making Fifteen popular to the public; b2) leader; Jamie has managed to transfer to trainees much of his knowledge on food preparation and food quality; in addition, by providing to trainees an example of daily behaviour in the workplace, he has managed to gain their trust and respect; b3) liaison; as noted in the case study, Jamie has monitored the trends and developments of the food industry and has transferred the above information to trainees acting as a liaison between the internal and external environment; c) Decisional; c1) entrepreneur; developing a business project in the context of the modern market can be a risky activity, especially if taking into consideration the current crisis (World Bank 2010); Jamie has been able to take the relevant risk measuring the profits and benefits expected but also the resources required; his estimations were proved as accurate, despite the turbulences in the UK market; as noted in the case study, Jamie decided to cover a key part of the project using ‘his own money’ (case study, p.1); c2) disturbance handler, during the development of the project Jamie had to respond to a series of problems, including the lack of experience of individuals involved, the lack of effective communication between them and the teamwork issues that often appeared during the project’s development. Jamie has managed to resolve effectively conflicts between trainees but also the conflicts appeared in the family environment of trainees; c3) resource allocator; the recession of 2008 highly affected the British economy. When the crisis appeared, the Bank of England acted with no delay reducing its ‘benchmark rate to 3%’ (Ciro 2012, p.122), so that the expansion of the crisis across the UK market was controlled. Initially, in UK the crisis was limited to banks (Zeb 2010). However, the expansion to other industries of the country was not avoided (Davies 2010). In 2008 the UK government spent an amount of ‘856 billion’ (Sun, Stewart and Pollard 2011, p.44) so that the expansion of crisis across UK is prevented, a target that was not achieved. Managers in all firms, including Jamie, had to take appropriate measures for keeping their business intact, as possible, by the particular crisis; Jamie has managed to allocate the resources available for the beginning of the business and its expansion avoiding the exposure to major risks; the strategic alliances that Jamie has established while working in the industry have been proved valuable at the level that not all financing required for the development of the business would be available through the financial institutions (Savona et al. 2011); c4) negotiator; during the project Jamie had often to negotiate with trainees and their family environment, so that problems related to trainees’ professional life, as related to their personal life, are effectively addressed. Question 2 Apply McGregor & Ouchi’s Theories of X, Y and Z managerial types to evaluate the sort of manager Jamie is. Use evidence from the case to support your argument. McGregor’s theory of X and Y managerial types is based on the idea that managers are likely to treat employees in one of the following ways: a) they can focus on offering to employees directions for all organizational tasks, not leaving chances for personal initiatives or b) they may leave employees to act independently, meaning that employees may not follow leader’s directions in regard to daily tasks (Miller 2009). In the context of the first theory, the X theory, employees are considered as ‘disliking work, by nature’ (Koontz and Weihrich 2006, p.288). In opposition, Y theory is based on the view that employees like to take initiatives and to develop themselves in the workplace (Koontz and Weihrich 2006). Mullins (2010) notes that X and Y theory introduces a contradiction in regard to individuals’ perceptions on work. It is assumed that in each workplace employee performance is different, a problem though that it is related to the efforts made by leaders to enhance employee motivation (Mullins 2010). Reference should be also made to the Z theory of Ouchi. In the context of the above theory, emphasis is given on ‘the participation of employees in the decision making process’ (Pride, Hughes and Kapoor 2011, p.285). In fact, in organizations characterized by the Z theory, ‘employees and managers view the organization as a family’ (Pride, Hughes and Kapoor 2011, p.285-286). In Fifteen, a combination of Y theory and Z theory can be identified. Indeed, Jamie highly emphasizes on the personal development of trainees but also on their ability to work as a team. The above two facts are verified through the following practices: a) in the training process, Jamie emphasizes on both classes and practical activity aiming to identify the needs of trainees and provide appropriate support; b) when necessary, Jamie ‘talked with trainees individually and even visited their home’ (case study, p.2), in order to help trainees to overcome critical difficulties; c) in addition, Jamie has offered to cover the travel expenses of trainees so that they can be on time in classes and practical activities (case study, p.2). The above three practices show clearly the following fact: in the context of the above project, individuals are allowed to take initiatives and are provided the support necessary for covering all their professional needs. These facts are related mostly to Y theory of McGregor. The emphasis on individual’s personal problems, as related to their professional life, reflects the use of Z theory of Ouchi in managing employees/ trainees. Question 3 Critically analyse Jamie’s effectiveness as a leader using Adair’s ‘action centred leadership’ model. One of the key characteristics of Adair’s leadership model is the promotion of the idea that leadership is not based on traits, meaning that leadership skills are not inherited but it can be learned through appropriate training (MacKay 2007). The above model is based on three activities that ‘are mutually dependent’ (MacKay 2007, p.52). More specifically, for Adair, a leader should be able to develop successfully the following activities: ‘a) to achieve the task, b) to develop the team and c) to develop individuals’ (MacKay 2007, p.52). The leadership model of Adair is commonly represented using three circles (Nanda 2006). According to Nanda (2006) the key skill of a leader, as described in the model of Adair, is the ability to promote team-work without ignoring the needs of each individual. In this way, tasks are completed on time as the performance of individuals are highly enhanced (Nanda 2006). From a different point of view, Carmichael et al. (2011) note that the leadership model of Adair highlight the value of the following leadership skill: of the ability ‘to keep a balance between the three elements of the model, i.e. the task, the team and the individual’ (Carmichael et al. 2011, p.117). In order to achieve the above target, a leader needs primarily to check whether organizational culture supports the personal development of employees and the use of teamwork in all organizational departments (Burtonshaw-Gunn 2009). Otherwise, the culture of the organization should be appropriately alternated in order for the use of Adair’s leadership model to be feasible. The leadership model of Adair is presented in Graph 2 below. Graph 2 – Adair’s leadership model (Source: http://www.practical-management-skills.com/leadership-theories.html) In the context of Adair’s leadership model the effectiveness of Jamie as a leader would be evaluated by referring to his ability to emphasize on the issues incorporated in the three elements of Adair’s leadership model, as described above. Reference should be made primarily to the ability of Jamie to promote teamwork. According to the case study, Jamie has believed in the potentials of unskilled people to enter the food industry as chefs (case study, p.1). In this context, Jamie has decided to recruit 15 unskilled individuals, as trainees, and to train them for becoming chefs (case study, p.1). In the context of this project, trainees would have the chance to be trained by Jamie so that they become capable of entering the job market (case study, p.1). A series of tasks were assigned daily to the members of the group. Trainees had to develop these tasks on their own but often the cooperation with other members of the group has been necessary. In other words, in Fifteen, the restaurant where the above project was developed, teamwork has been a core element of daily operations. Jamie has managed to effectively promote teamwork in the following ways: a) by assigning tasks that often required the cooperation with other members of the group, b) by promoting activities in all trainees participated, as for example the visit in fields for assessing the production process of ingredients used in cooking and so on. At the same time, Oliver has emphasized on the personal needs of trainees. Indeed, as revealed in the case study, Jamie used a training process that incorporated both ‘classes and practical activity’ (case study, p.2). During the practical activity of trainees, Oliver had the chance to check the progress of each trainee and ‘to understand clearer the ability of each individual to do the job’ (case study, p.2). At the next level, suggestions could be made to each individual according to his needs in terms of theory and practice (case study, p.2). Thus, Jamie has been able to respond effectively to the second element of Adair’s leadership model, i.e. the understanding of individual needs and the provision of appropriate support so that these needs are fully covered. The ability of Jamie to perform the task should be also evaluated. The specific ability of Jamie should be judged using the following criteria: a) the success of trainees, as individuals and b) the success of the project in general. As noted in the case study, ‘not all trainees managed to complete the course successfully’ (case study, p.4). Still, there have been trainees who were able to continue their work in the industry (case study, p.4). Certain trainees decided to continue their studies for becoming chef (case study, p.4). In this context, at the level of individuals’ development the leadership skills of Jamie can be characterized as important. Failures could not be avoided but this problem is mostly related to the project’s structure; as already explained the project required that only unskilled individuals were asked to participate, a condition that included the risk of failure in regard to the choices made. On the other hand, the success of the restaurant has been high (case study, p.4). In fact, Fifteen became one of the most important restaurants in London. Soon, the use of franchising for developing the business in the national and international market has resulted to the significant growth of the organization (case study, p. 5). From this point of view, Jamie can be characterized as a quite successful leader, being able to support the achievement of his organization’s targets, a requirement incorporated in the third element of Adair’s leadership model. References Burtonshaw-Gunn, S., 2009, The Essential Management Toolbox: Tools, Models and Notes for Managers and Consultants, Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Carmichael, J., Collins, C., Emsell, P. and Haydon, J., 2011. Leadership and Management Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ciro, T., 2012, The Global Financial Crisis: Triggers, Responses and Aftermath, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Davies, H., 2010, The Financial Crisis, London: Polity. DuBrin, A., 2008, Essentials of Management, 8th ed., Belmont: Cengage Learning Koontz, H. and Weihrich, H., 2006, Essentials Of Management, 7th ed., New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. MacKay, A., 2007, Motivation Ability And Confidence Building In People, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. Miller, K., 2009, Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes, 5th ed., Belmont: Cengage Learning. Mullins, LJ, 2010, Management & Organisational Behaviour, Harlow: Pearson Education. Nanda, J., 2006, Management Thought, New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. Pride, W., Hughes, R. and Kapoor, J., 2011. Business, 11th ed., Belmont: Cengage Learning. Savona, P., Kirton, J. and Oldani, C., 2011, Global Financial Crisis: Global Impact and Solutions, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Sun, W., Stewart, J. and Pollard, D., 2011, Corporate Governance and the Global Financial Crisis: International Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. World Bank, Measuring the Impact of the Financial Crisis on Business Creation: Entrepreneurship Snapshots 2010, Washington: World Bank Publications. Zeb, J., 2010, Impact of Current Financial Crisis On Banking Sector, Munich: GRIN Verlag. Read More