Principles and Practices of Effective Management - Essay Example

? Principles and practices of Effective Management al Affiliation) Taking for instance a scenario that has developed in an organizational setting where workers are not communicating effectively, meaning that there is a communication breakdown within the organization. The manager or leader can find it quite confusing and difficult to address this problem (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Systems theory as an approach towards effective leadership can be used to address this problem. Systems theory is defined as a holistic, process-oriented model in which all sections of a whole mutually affect each other (Bryman, 2011). This therefore means that this organization setting, the holistic process has been affected because the chain of communication between the various departments is broken down and ineffective. In brief there is no clear communication channel. To resolve this problem guided by the systems theory of organization, leaders can cultivate their emotional intelligence and behavior change that energizes and motivates the workers to change. This may include aspects such as developing better personal relationships between the workers by giving them collective tasks to perform as a general way of engaging and also participating holistically in the leadership of the organization (Bryman, 2011). References Bryman, A. (2011). The SAGE handbook of leadership. London: SAGE. Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge (4th Ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. How great leader performs and what they do when in leadership all depends on the ability to overcome obstacles through their behavior and response to the internal and external forces which are entirely dependent on their emotional capabilities. The fundamental factors pertaining to the power of emotional intelligence that defines the quality of a leader are grouped into categories which are self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship management, conflict resolution and decision making skills (Goleman, et all, 2007). The core strengths of these categories are the aspects that are inward looking which are self awareness, self management, and conflict resolution. This is so because when a leader is able to communicate and manage him or herself appropriately from within, it means that the leader will respond to externalities effectively and appropriately. The externalities here are social awareness and relationship management, which constitute of organization, profession, country, city or the world in real life. The latter therefore becomes an emotional effective leader because from within himself or herself he/she uses the inward looking aspects within the outward looking aspects (externalities) in decision making and reasoning (Hughes et all,2005). It is true that through one’s lifetime he/she gets to encounter new experiences and challenges that contribute to mold one as an effective or ineffective leader. This makes it crucial for leaders to take a bold step towards understanding and learning the power of emotions, especially the inward looking aspect, in controlling their daily experiences as this is what directs their judgment and decision making. References Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2007). Cram101 textbook outlines to accompany: primal leadership : learning to lead with emotional intelligence, 1st ed.. Moorpark, Calif.: Academic Internet Publishers. Hughes, M. M., Patterson, L. B., & Terrell, J. B. (2005). Emotional intelligence in action: training and coaching activities for leaders and managers. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. Rewards are honors or benefits given to workers for motivational purposes. They are grouped into extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are basically financial tangible rewards given to employees such as bonuses, pay rise and benefits. Intrinsic rewards on the other hand are the psychological rewards given to employees for performing a commendable job. The rewards can be positively used to make employees enthusiastic and appreciated, building relationships, and fostering trust thereby improving employee performance. Negativity can arise when employees are given too many rewards therefore making them become overconfident, and may begin feeling bossed favorite hence slackening their duties. In the past when organizations were in the era of bureaucracy, extrinsic rewards had a special role in motivation as they were so much valued by employees. In the today’s world, where employees are treated fairly and rewarded according to their output, extrinsic rewards are becoming less important (Thomas, 2009). It is essential to note that the day to day motivations within organizations are driven most importantly by intrinsic rewards because it shapes self-management processes of employees such as commitment, decision making, competency and progression. A leader can however also use extrinsic rewards to control the behavior of the employee without affecting the organization goals only if the reward is accompanied by verbal and nonverbal support based on the particular behavior of the worker. It is also important for the leader to inform the worker of his/her contribution to the organization and their ability as well. Finally, the leader needs to work together with the workers in trying to identify the weak points and objectives in a realistic manner. This therefore means that extrinsic rewards complement intrinsic rewards leading to a competent progressive organization under effective leadership (Elliot & Dweck, 2005). References Elliot, A. J., & Dweck, C. S. (2005). Handbook of competence and motivation. New York: Guilford Press. Thomas, K. W. (2009). Intrinsic motivation at work what really drives employee engagement (2nd Ed.). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. In an organization there exist different workers who have different beliefs which can in turn affect the viability of the organization. For effectiveness, organizational leaders need to come up with policies and procedures that help the organization address beliefs and practices of employees at a workplace. These policies and procedures may include respect and dignity, confidentiality, genuine occupational requirement, transparency, equality and fairness, and the principal of importance of all employees (Bishop et all, 2003). These values intensely affect every operation in the organization. The leader should therefore use his or her skills to ensure and understands the fact that employees are diverse, equal and are the most important assets of the organization. The leader can apply these principles, values and approaches to direct the workers in a proactive way in the sense that if the leader maintains and abides by these approaches then cases of conflicts arising are minimal (Hunger & Wheelen, 2003). In addition to these policies in place, a leader can easily recognize elements of frustrations arising from within the organization. It is also important for the leader to use transparency skills in ironing out the several aspects of the company with the works. The leaders should use their empowerment, managerial and motivational skills to drive the workers towards respecting dignity and value of their colleagues, working together and upholding to the policies and procedure of the organization. References Bishop, P., Connors, C., & Sampford, C. J. (2003). Management, organization, and ethics in the public sector. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate. Hunger, J. D., & Wheelen, T. L. (2003). Essentials of strategic management (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. In daily leadership roles, leaders use power as their ability towards achievement of goals. Power is the ability to influence others towards meeting an objective and facilitating their achievement. Power influences can be categorized as coercive, legitimate or reward and it goes along with leadership roles. Leaders can therefore use the power they have constructively or destructively. Power influences have given organizations and leaders positive titles (Vecchio, & Robert, 2007). For instance business leaders such as the late Steve Jobs of Apple Computer, Bill Gates of Microsoft and Jeff Bezos of Amazon are recorded to have been very influential leaders and had big visions for the future. They were therefore able to transform their organizations based on the powerful influence they have been making them amongst the world’s biggest, renowned and richest organizations, simply by using their influence and applying the required power to advance their ideas. On the contrary, looking at the Enron Company in the U.S., its downfall is attributed to poor leadership and abuse of power by various leaders. More specifically, the leadership of Kenneth Lay and Jeffery Skilling was the main reason of the downfall of Enron (Vinten, 2002). They abused their position as charismatic leaders to abuse power by practicing poor ethical practices and moral responsibility. It is hence important to have policy regulations that limit the actions of leaders in position of power or influence that may be deemed detrimental to the sustainability of an organization. Leaders must also be consistently trained and evaluated on ethics, values and moral practices that are for the sustainability of organizations. References Vinten, G. (2002) Corporate governance lessons from Enron. Corporate Governance. Vol 2, pp 16-19. Vecchio, Robert P. Ed. (2007). Leadership: Understanding the Dynamics of Power and Influence in Organizations (2nd Ed.). IN: University of Notre Dame Press. The seven steps to decision making processes are integrity actions supposed to take to address problems that arise within an organizational set-up. It also encompasses moral reasoning and ethical behavior. The key seven steps therefore are statement of the problem; checking of facts; identifying relevant factors; developing list of options; testing the options; making a choice; and developing a plan of action (Fernandes, 2009). Using for instance a business organization that has constantly been experiencing financial losses instead of profits, to explain this model; the first thing to be done is statement and identification of the problem for example what is the exact problem. After finding the problem, the situation needs to be evaluated and the various factors contributing to the losses must be identified. What follows is the narrowing down on the specific leads contributing to the losses for example if it is poor marketing, poor management, and laws amongst others. After identification of the key factors, options need to be established on the possible ways available for addressing the problem effectively. The options must be comprehensive, problem solving and empirical. After establishing options, they have to be put into test to determine if they would cause more harm, and test aspects such as publicity, reversibility of the option, and, professional and organizational changes. A practicable choice can therefore be picked from the results of obtained, ultimately defining the necessary action plan to be taken. This process hence becomes very significant for decision making because it is an approach that emphasizes on identifying several effective options for responding to organizational challenges which requires excellent decision making (Gru?nig & Ku?hn, 2005). References Fernandes, T. (2009). Strategic leadership and decision making 2. Chandni Chowk, Delhi India: Global Media. Gru?nig, R., & Ku?hn, R. (2005). Successful decision making a systematic approach to complex problems. Berlin: Springer. Organizational change refers to adjustment or modification of a company’s current business operations and activities. These organizational changes can either be planned or unplanned and they affect the businesses differently. Managers and leaders of organizations need to be aware of these changes and their consequences. The planned organization change is done by the managers and leaders by setting up and making changes that improve the prosperity of the organization and involves no major shifts in the way the organization operates (Poole & Ven, 2004). Unplanned change on the other hand is unprecedented and very detrimental to the prosperity of the organization and involves major shifts on the different levels and operational structure of the organization. In a situation where a manager for instance, chooses to change marketing strategies of a company by refurbishing or branding the name of a product or changing the image of a company or even changing the model of a product, this becomes an example of planned change. This is a process that must be well planned, well budgeted for, evaluated and must have contingency plans. When this is done with a product or an organization, the manager does so to improve its image, marketability, and to enhance prosperity. The leaders or managers handle planned change by embracing new operational techniques such as organizational structure, technology, and specialization skills. The leaders also use a strategic planning process to formulate, implement, and evaluate decisions that enable the organization to meet its goals (Senior & Fleming, 2006). Unplanned change on the other hand arises out of unprecedented adjustments. It can be natural such as natural disasters e.g. earthquake, it can be economical for instance due to; inflation, performance gaps, government regulations, global completion, and it can also be due to technological advancements among others. Companies and organizational leaders therefore should respond to such scenarios by employing strategies such as educating employees on some of the unprecedented changes, shopping political dynamics, rewarding constructive efforts, and developing contingency plans (Senior & Fleming, 2006). References Poole, M. S., & Ven, A. H. (2004). Handbook of organizational change and innovation. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Senior, B., & Fleming, J. (2006). Organizational change (3rd Ed.). Harlow, England: Prentice Hall/Financial Times. Read More