A Series of Differences between Leadership and Management - Term Paper Example

The terms leadership and management are often used interchangeably where some argued to clear distinction between management and leadership whether is it simply a function of management. 1. Introduction The increase of competition in the international market has led organizations to update their policies in order to face their rivals. The role of managers in the development of effective business plans, especially in regard to the above initiative, is crucial. However, in practice it has been proved that managers are not always able to respond to the needs of their organizations. The main reason of this failure seems to be the fact that they lack the necessary leadership skills. Through this point of view, leadership is differentiated from management even if these terms are often considered as reflecting the same activities. The research on the literature published on the specific field proved that a series of differences exist between leadership and management. This phenomenon is common in all industrial sectors, including the airline industry on which this paper focuses. 2. Leadership and Management – description and relationship Researchers have used different criteria in order to describe leadership and management – as developed in modern organizations. In accordance with Nurmi et al. (1997) the leadership can be characterized as ‘an influencing force’ (Nurmi et al., 1997, p.135) within the organization. It is at this point that leadership is differentiated by management; more specifically, it is noted that ‘a manager can be appointed while leadership can be earned’ (Nurmi et al., 1997, p.135). Moreover, Weihrich (2007) states that leadership can be defined as ‘the art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly toward the achievement of group goals’ (Weihrich, 2007, p.347). In accordance with the above views, leaders need to have increased skills compared to managers. The latter may be appropriately educated but may not be charismatic enough in order to be leaders. In other words, leadership refers to a combination of technical and interpersonal skills while management can be related to specific educational and professional background. In practice, the potential limitation of management towards the leadership may not be identified. This is the case, for instance, where the manager has not to act as a leader, a phenomenon common in mid-managerial positions. A similar approach is adopted in the study developed by the Pergamon Flexible Learning (2007); in the above study it is noted that management is differentiated from leadership at the following points: a) the manager focuses on the administration of various organizational activities while the leader tries to promote innovation across the organization, b) the manager focuses on the control of the organization’s operations while the leader tries to improve communication with employees and customers, c) the manager follows the existing organizational rules while the leader tries to find ways for the improvement and update of traditional organizational practices and d) the manager sets targets that need to be completed in the short term; the leader emphasizes on the value of long-term organizational plans (Pergamon Flexible Learning, 2007, p.2). Under these terms, the differentiation between the leadership and management is made clear. The above issues are of key importance for organizations, which need to improve their performance towards their competitors. These organizations should primarily identify their strategic priorities – as revealed through the points highlighted above; then, emphasis should be paid on the update of management or leadership practices in accordance with the organizational aims and structure. In accordance with Cooper (2005) leadership is more effective compared to management in order to help modern organizations to face the challenges of the future. The ability of leader to predict – even approximately – the future market conditions help to the appropriate preparation of organizations towards the future market challenges. By introducing in advance all necessary changes, organizations will be able to survive in case of severe turbulences in the global or the national market (Cooper, 2005, p.205). 3. Relationship between leadership and management in the airline industry The differences between leadership and management – as explained above – are clear in the case of the firms that operate in the airline industry. In the above industry, the competition is extremely strong mostly because of the budget airlines. Therefore, the ability of firms to survive is directly depended on the skills of their leaders. The use of common managerial practices in these firms would not help them to effectively compete their rivals. The case of Southwest Airlines (US) is an indicative example of the importance of leadership in the airline industry. Managers in Southwest Airlines did not follow the practices used by most other firms in the specific industry. Instead, they introduced a unique plan of action, suggesting trips of low budget in areas where flights were not particularly popular. The specific initiatives proved the leadership skills of the firm’s managers (Davenport et al., 2006, p.346). On the other hand, Hill et al. (2008) note that the potentials for introduction of innovative business practices in the airline industry are limited. Therefore, leadership skills in the specific industry would be of limited value. Innovation – a priority of leaders – cannot contribute highly in the improvement of performance of firms in the airline industry. The reason is that the specific industry has entered its mature stage which can be described as follows: ‘the market is totally saturated, demand is limited primarily to replacement demand and growth is low or zero’ (Hill et al., 2008, p.68). Within such industrial conditions, the ability of leaders to develop their plans is quite limited. The continuous price wars in the industry further threatens the industry’s stability and can lead it to a decline phase (Hill et al., 2008, p.68). In accordance with the above view, leadership skills in the airline industry do not particularly affect the performance of a firm. Instead, advanced management skills would be rather required – in the context described in the previous section. As noted by ‘Barbara Cassani, the founder of the low cost airline Go (UK)’ (Fojt, 2006, p.12), the firms that have managed to stabilize their performance in the airline industry are the low-cost firms. Therefore, price is set as the key criterion for customers to choose an airline carrier. From this point of view also, the value of leadership – as a mechanism for enforcing innovation – within firms in the airline industry is limited. 4. Conclusion Effective leadership involves primarily in the promotion of innovation across the organization. This activity can have different forms: focusing on sectors that have not been adequately developed by competitors – for instance, the emphasis given by Singapore Airlines on the quality of customer services (Beiske, 2007, p.23) – or offering extremely competitive prices – as in the case of Ryanair and EasyJet (Shaw, 2007, p.91). However, the potentials for further contribution of leadership in the development of firms in the airline industry have been decreased. Effective management practices are now required for keeping the growth achieved through the successful leadership plans introduced in the industry in 1970’s onwards – referring mainly to the low-price flight schemes, as highlighted by Hill et al. (2008) and Fojt (2006). [words: 1145] References/ Bibliography Beiske, B. (2007) Loyalty Management in the Airline Industry. GRIN Verlag Cooper, G. (2005) Leadership and management in the 21st century: business challenges of the future. Oxford University Press Davenport, T., Leibold, M., Voelpel, S. (2006) Strategic management in the innovation economy: strategy approaches and tools for dynamic innovation capabilities. Wiley-VCH Delfman, W. (2005) Strategic management in the aviation industry. Ashgate Publishin Fojt, M. (2006) The airline industry. Emerald Group Publishing Harvey, G. (2008) Management in the airline industry. Routledge Hill, C., Jones, G. (2009) Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. Cengage Learning Hill, C., Jones, G. (2008) Essentials of Strategic Management. Cengage Learning Nurmi, R., Darling, J. (1997) International management leadership: the primary competitive advantage. Routledge Pergamon Flexible Learning (2007) Leadership and Management in Organisations. Elsevier Shaw, S. (2007) Airline marketing and management. Ashgate Publishing Weihrich, H. (2007) Management: a global and entrepreneurial perspective. Tata McGraw-Hill Read More