Approaches to Management and Leadership - Term Paper Example

«The Organization and Behaviors» In an organization, a matrix structure is from top to bottom and takes care of the employer-employee relationships which exist within the office place. On the other hand, a functional structure is more related with the functions of a particular employee, the manner in which he specializes or excels in a particular job/task and hence is assigned the very task to perform at his optimum best. The advantages of the matrix structure are that the jobs are assigned with the basis of a hierarchical system in place and hence there is more check and balance within the dynamics of the organization. The disadvantages of the matrix structure include the bottom cadre employees unable to replace the top management even though they have given their best over a long period of time. (Herbig, 1994) Seldom does an employee get the chance to head an organization, starting from the bottom levels or the lower management of an organization. The advantages of the functional structure lie in the fact that it assigns jobs/tasks based on the peculiar functions of the employees. These people are indeed the specialists for these positions. The drawbacks include the manner in which wrong people are hired for technical positions, which require immense consideration on the part of the employers themselves. An organization chosen here is of a retail chain which delivers wholesale items to both end consumers as well as wholesalers of a smaller level within the territorial limits of a metropolitan city. This retail chain has both a matrix as well as functional structure working within its domains. The need of the hour is to understand that both these structures work to the effect of providing value for the clients and customers as well as to inculcate an organizational culture which is in keeping with the norms and procedures as laid down in the standard practices of the retail chain. The reason for the same is that a retail chain has specialized units as well as the usual hierarchical structures working at the same time and thus it is in keeping with the global retail chains if this chain works in accordance with the tried and tested phenomenon. The organizational culture will develop in a very sound and proper manner since each employee would understand the role of the other one. (Diocaretz, 2006) Cultural basis is important as it dictates the way of both the matrix as well as the functional structures. Business performance is dependent on both these structures working with each other and not in vacuum (independent of one another). Working together would bring in better results for the organization in the long run. The organization needs to spell out its ways and means through which it will get in touch with its employees since they are the actual drivers of the deliverables made for the customers and the stakeholders. The work basis is thus deemed as one of significance in the whole context of organization control and planning. The cultural change aspect needs to be embedded in a clear and concise manner within the realms of an organization so as to extract the best possible results, both in the short term as well as in the long run. Organization structure impacts the manner in which work is basically carried out. More than anything else it adheres to the different purposes of the discrete services and the related achievements with the passage of time. This brings to light the notion of discussing the structural basis of the organizations themselves. (Foss, 2005) Pro-activity remains the key for understanding the employee engagement and focus towards the organization itself and the organization must make sure that it documents the same. In the present times, organizations are doing their utmost in order to know more and more about their valued employees and stakeholders. For this, they have devised certain strategies which are in line with the values that their business has set for itself. These values are thus deeply intrinsic within the mission and vision statements of the company. Within a non-profit organization, the element of winning and losing due to different strategies and policies that they adopt, exist. This means that the long term as well as the short term basis owes strongly on the part of the leaders that are leading the team within an organization. However there are certain instances where problems do arise and hiccups are created due to mismanagement or lack of leadership qualities. One of the biggest problems that the non-profit organizations of present times face is the fact that they try to be over complex in nature and try their hands at doing many tasks all at the same time. What this does is to make sure that there is a lot of trouble with regards to various processes and activities working within the realms of the different strategies and tactics employed by the non-profit organization in the first place. (Tracy, 1994) These problems stem from the fact that there is a complete misunderstanding on the part of the non-profit company heads to devise proper and adequate mission and vision statements and the lack thereof suggests a thing or two concerning the enormous predicaments that have thus come up with the passage of time and a major loss of resources on the part of this non-profit organization that we are talking about here, in the general sense. Within the management approaches adopted by such non-profit organizations, one can see that these have forgotten the buzzword of simplicity and doing things as and when they come. What this zig-zag motion of doing many activities at the same time has done is to ensure that there is complete lack of sequence within the organization’s activities and tasks as well as cohesiveness seems to have been lost in all this muddle. On the part of the non-profit company, this is an entirely negative picture that we are discussing here. Leadership is also a skill which is not present everywhere since being under-led means that the leader lacks in more than one quality and this can come as a huge surprise for the organization itself as the leader has to deliver when the need is to deliver. Within a monopolizing industry where there is only one player ruling the roost, authoritarian leadership works to the effect of this organization in essence. However this is not appreciated on most of the occasions. Authoritarian or autocratic leadership is also called formal type of leadership. In this type of leadership, the leader simply tells employees how he wants the work done and what he wants employees to do without getting their views. This type of leadership is effective when the leader has all the information that is important or necessary to solve the problem. This style of leadership is not all about threatening employees or using abusive power. It does not also involve the use of demeaning language. When this is done, it can be termed as bossing around. Leaders’ repertoire need not include this. This style should just be used on rare occasions because when it dominates, the results are normally not the best. When the leadership style has command and control, it always drains off the employees’ ambition. They simply become less motivated. This makes employees perceive manager as being bossy. (Kim, 2002) This leadership style is used when managers in an organization want to have full power in decision making. This leadership style is very essential especially when the time at hand is very minimal to incorporate employees’ views. Authoritarian leadership also includes leaders making all decisions. This means that it includes dominance on the part of the leader. Sometimes the leader gives detailed orders. The followers or employees in this case are simply required to obey. Maslow’s theory could be applied in practice by a sense of ‘doing things the right way’. According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs – physiological, safety, social, ego, and self-actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. A comparison of these results to Maslow's need-hierarchy theory provides some interesting insight into employee motivation. The number one ranked motivator, interesting work, is a self-actualizing factor. The number two-ranked motivator, good wages, is a physiological factor. The number three-ranked motivator, full appreciation of work done, is an esteem factor. The number four-ranked motivator, job security, is a safety factor. Therefore, according to Maslow, if managers wish to address the most important motivational factor of centers' employees, interesting work, physiological, safety, social, and esteem factors must first be satisfied. If managers wished to address the second most important motivational factor of centers' employees, good pay, increased pay would suffice. Contrary to what Maslow's theory suggests, the ranges of motivational factors are mixed in this study. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs basically focuses on the premise that physiological needs are indeed the most significant from the human perspective as these embody the basis for his eventual well-being and stability within this world. The safety needs are one step behind the physiological needs as these are important since the security aspects have been an issue ever since man came into this world. Another step up the pyramid are the love and attachment needs which requires socialization requirements of the people and these are indeed significant in the time and age of today, more so when one requires motivation to remain ahead of one another. The esteem needs come up the cadre of motivational discussion since these join up the basis of his existence within the society, within his close circles and for his own prosperity. The last need is of self-actualization when he feels that he has actually made it to the top and is a very contented and satisfied human being. (Jones, 2004) The problems that organizations face in the wake of implementing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are manifolds. This is because these problems center on the personality tenets of the employees in the broader contexts. Not all the employees have their physiological, safety, love and attachment, esteem and self-actualization needs met in an adequate fashion. Some of these employees are banking for raise in their incomes to look after their physiological needs while others are trying their best to give a boost to their esteem needs. The top management on most of the occasions is looking to self-actualize itself and hence the mixture of these needs is indeed very confusing for the overall goal and objective of the organization in essence. These issues and/or problems could be overcome if there is an earnest effort on the part of the management within the organization to solve the very same. What is important is an effort and an endeavor by the organization to let the people decide for their own selves what they actually want from their respective job positions. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs gives them the room to maneuver their troops in a proper fashion – a manner in which they can have a better grasp of things to shape up within their respective job foci and the interlinked capacity building measures. Thus putting this needs theory into practice is of utmost significance as it dictates the manner under which organizations would be allowed to deal with their employees and in return the employees will develop a sense of understanding and comprehension with the organizational whereabouts. Thus the motivational theories are significant for a proper understanding of organizational undertakings and without these coming to the fore; it would be difficult to understand the psychology of the employees. Groups and teams work within the dynamics of an organization since both of these factions get the work done in an effective and efficient capacity. Groups and teams are more or less the two sides of the same coin and hence differentiation between the two is not an easy proposition. Setting up successful groups and teams is a prerogative of any organization and in the business world of present times; it is very much a need rather than a desire. The businesses have changed so as to create more room for groups and teams than individual working ethos. This has given space to more facilitation within the working environments of groups and teams since these bring combined efforts and usage of more brains than a singular person. (Rees, 2001) The factors that stand important in the wake of successful groups and teams include a commitment towards common goals and a simplistic and solitary objective which must be kept in mind at all times. These factors underline the basis of the groups and teams performing a singular whole than disjointed units within the framework of the organization or the group that they are working under. In a situation where I witnessed lack of effective team performance, I found that there were a number of factors which essentially marked the basis of poor team performance. The responsibility basically lied on the shoulders of the individual team members. They were not motivated enough right from the starting to give their very best and hence their motivational levels spoke all about their commitment. Then there was the aspect of lack of unity amongst the team itself. This meant that the team members did not work as a singular unit, which essentially meant that there were disruptions within the working domains of the team and hence the performance issues resulted due to the very same conflicts. (Katz, 1993) Team effectiveness could have been improved by the leader as he would have instilled a sense of pride and belongingness within the team. This would have asked them to give in their very best and work along side each other to produce quick results – results that would in essence speak about the effectiveness of the composition of the team. The use of technology within the domains of ABC Retail Chain has helped prosper the organization immensely. What this means is the fact that ABC has been able to automate its different processes and be completely reliant on the efficiency which is attained through the sound working regimes of technological basis. ABC has had better results now than ever before and its people-process linkage has developed in a much better fashion than ever envisaged in the past. ABC Retail Chain has seen that its employees are now coming on time, giving in their very best at all times and productivity is coming to the fore for a host of reasons – all of which are due to the proper and adequate usage of technology itself. Technology does bring about a major shift within the working regimes of a retail chain and this is manifested in its different undertakings, actions and policies. (May, 2003) The top management understands the due role of technology within ABC and has relied completely on the conformance of technological standards with the industrial norms, procedures and standards. In essence, ABC has benefited a lot due to incorporation of technology within its regimes and the team performance is one factor that has been helped immensely due to the steps that have been undertaken for a specified period of time. Bibliography DIOCARETZ, Myriam. (2006). The Matrix in Theory. Rodopi FOSS, Nicolai. (2005). Strategy, Economic Organization, and the Knowledge Economy: The Coordination of Firms and Resources. Oxford University Press HERBIG, Paul. (1994). The Innovation Matrix: Culture and Structure Prerequisites to Innovation. Quorum Books JONES, Michael. (2004). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Can Lower Recidivism. Corrections Today, Vol. 66, July KATZ, Jerome. (1993). The Dynamics of Organizational Emergence: A Contemporary Group Formation Perspective. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Vol. 17 KIM, Soonhee. (2002). Participative Management and Job Satisfaction: Lessons for Management Leadership. Public Administration Review, Vol. 62 MAY, Gary. (2003). Group Dynamics for Teams. The Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 40 REES, Fran. (2001). How to Lead Work Teams: Facilitation Skills. Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer TRACY, Lane. (1994). Leading the Living Organization: Growth Strategies for Management. Quorum Books Word Count: 2,541 Read More