The Success of Management: Motivation, Leadership and Team Building - Essay Example

Informative Synthesis Essay Table of Contents Introduction 3 ‘Organisational Behavior’ by Stephen Robbins and Timothy A. Judge 3 ‘Essentials of Management’ by Harold Koontz, Heinz Weihrich 5 Similarities between the two sources 7 Differences between the two sources 7 Thesis 7 References 9 Introduction In the present global business environment there are several elements that determine the success of an organization. But historically there are two main factors namely motivation, leadership and team building that are principle reasons behind the success of any management. This essay includes comparative analysis of two sources that give clear understanding on the theories of motivation and leadership. ‘Organisational Behavior’ by Stephen Robbins and Timothy A. Judge Motivation could be referred to the process which is responsible for a person’s direction, intensity of effort in order to achieve some goals. Motivation is one of the principle factors that determine the nature of performance of an individual. One of the most useful models to explain motivation is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs according to which there are five basic needs in every individual. These five needs are physiological, safety, social, esteem and self actualisation. Both physiological and safety are the lower-order needs and the rest three are the higher-order needs. Physiological needs include thirst, hunger, sex, shelter etc. Safety needs are protection and security from any emotional and physical harm. Social needs are acceptance, belongingness, affection and friendship whereas esteem needs include various internal factors such as self respect, achievement and autonomy. Finally self actualisation needs include drive of achieving what an individual is capable of achieving. Generally lower order needs are satisfied by external factors like pay, contracts, union etc. On the other hand internal factors that are within the individual are responsible for satisfying higher order needs (Robbins, Judge, 2008) Each and every human being experiences these needs at some stage or other in his or her life. These needs direct individuals towards the achievement of any goal or objective. Individual who is already having first two basic needs (physiological and safety) would certainly not look for the two psychological needs (social and esteem). On the other hand if person’s two lower order needs are satisfied, he/she then would definitely look for satisfying the three higher order needs. In the organizational context different level of management have different needs. In case of lower level management (e.g. marketing or human resource executive) physiological needs are satisfied, as a result executives try to satisfy their psychological needs that is they want to satisfy their social and esteem needs. This work as motivating factor for them and make them perform better. In case of middle level management both psychological needs are partially met and they try to satisfy their esteem and self actualization needs. Finally at the top level management satisfying self actualization needs are most important as they want to achieve what they are capable of (Robbins, Judge, 2008) Like motivation, leadership is also essential for directing a team or management towards the accomplishment of objectives and goals. Leadership is the ability of influencing a team or group in the direction of accomplishing a set of objectives or goals. There are several types of leadership. These are charismatic leadership, transformational and transactional leadership. In charismatic leadership style followers recognize extraordinary or heroic leadership abilities while they are observing some behavior of the leader. Starting from John. F. Kennedy to Steve Jobs, they are all charismatic leaders. Charismatic leaders generally have extraordinary but unusual visions which motivate, inspire and lead employees to accomplish certain goals. Steve Jobs is a charismatic leader who had the vision of making products with state of the art technology which could be easily used by the common people. This vision of Jobs, employees of Apple were extremely motivated and made products like ipod and iphone. In case of transactional leadership, leaders motivate their employees by clarifying the task and role. In case of transactional leadership it is assumed that if desired behavior is produced then contracted award would be received. Whereas in case of transformational leadership, leaders go beyond their own interests and focus mainly on organizational interests. They are likely to be intellectually stimulating and inspiring. Generally they have extraordinary and profound effect on the followers. A great example of transformational leader is CEO of Proctor & Gamble, A. G. Lafley. He brought creativity and flexibility in such a company which was slowly moving. He decided to expand the core brands (crest toothpaste) of the company. He set a goal that 50% of the company’s new product would be developed with its outside partners. It was found that he always thought about organization’s interest and this approach of thinking greatly influenced his followers. As a consequence, company’s performance was significantly improved in terms of its revenue and profits (Robbins, Judge, 2008). ‘Essentials of Management’ by Harold Koontz, Heinz Weihrich One of the most contemporary motivation theories is McClelland’s theory of needs. This theory is in contrast with the Maslow’s hierarchy as it talks only about three needs – achievement, affiliation and power. Need for achievement refers to the driving force behind achieving success, whereas need for affiliation refers to the desire of close interpersonal and friendly relationships. Finally need of power refers to the desire of making others behave in a certain. Another motivation theory that could be relevant in discussing the role of motivation in achieving success is goal setting theory which says that difficult and specific goals work as motivating factor and result to enhanced performance. In this theory it is assumed that a person is dedicated in achieving the goal. Different authors have defined leadership in different ways. According to former American president Harry Truman, leadership is the capability of making others do things which they are not willing to do. The core of leadership is all about followership. In simple words, it’s the willingness of individuals to follow another person and this is what makes that person a leader. It is observed that people generally follow those who can help them in attaining their own desires, needs and wants of life. Many studies have been carried out regarding the traits theory of leadership. Prior to the period of 1949, researches mainly focused on the traits and the characteristics that the leaders generally possess. It is found that various researchers have already identified some specific traits that are related to the leadership ability of individuals. It is also found that there are five physical traits, sixteen personality traits, four ability and intelligence traits which are associated with the leadership skills of an individual. Some recent researches have discovered several important leadership traits like self-confidence, integrity and cognitive ability (Koontz and Weihrich, 2006). A recent research on charismatic leadership is conducted by Robert J House. He and several other authors have agreed on the fact that charismatic leaders are usually self-confident. They have strong conviction and they are able to articulate a vision (Koontz and Weihrich, 2006). Furthermore, they are very much capable of initiating changes in the organizations. They not only influence their followers but also support them throughout their journey. Researches show that women use different leadership style when they are compared with the men. Women generally follow interactive leadership style which involves sharing of power and information. Similarities between the two sources Both the sources talk about two important aspects of human resource management and these two are ‘motivation’ and ‘leadership’. Both authors have discussed the key theories of motivation and leadership. They have discussed the importance of these two aspects in the process of achieving success. Differences between the two sources Stephen Robbins and Timothy A Judge have mainly discussed about the theories of motivation and leadership in their book ‘Organizational Behavior’. Whereas, Harold Koontz and Heinz Weihrich have mainly focused on the previous researches along with their outcomes in their book which is named Essentials of Management. They also focused on the leadership style practiced by women. Their book includes a comparative analysis of leadership style practiced by men and the style practiced by women. Thesis Authors of both the books have focused on the theoretical concepts of motivation and leadership. However different authors have focused on different theoretical aspects of these two topics. Both the topics i.e. motivation and leadership are widely researched and there are several strong theoretical concepts on these two. References Koontz, H and Weihrich, H. 2006, Essentials of Management, Tata McGraw-Hill Robbins, S. P. Judge, T. A. 2008, Organisational Behavior, Prentice Hall Read More