Transformational Leadership, Organisations and Behaviour - Assignment Example

TASK Leadership is an old concept as human birth on the earth; multiple leadership theories have been presented by different theorists and numerous leadership styles exist but with the time developments have been made in these concepts. Most familiar styles that have been introduced by Kurt Lewin are autocratic, participative, and laissez-faire. Another leadership style known as transformational style was introduced by James MacGregor and extended by Bernard (Iqbal, 2011). Authoritarian or Autocratic Leadership Style: Authoritarian leaders tend to behave as dictator and take all actions by their own and do not consider any one for decision-making. They supervise employees very closely and limit their participation. People are stick to perform directed tasks and not allowed to do creation (Iqbal, 2011). Democratic or Participative Leadership Style: Leaders who follow the democratic style of leadership tend to behave as a supporter and believe to have input from teams and individuals. Such leaders do not believe on dictation and involve employees in the decision-making process. They work with employees rather to control them (Yukl, 2007). Free Rein or Laissez Faire Leadership Style: Leaders who adopt Laissez-faire style of leadership; they tend to believe on freedom and do not direct their employees. Employees have full freedom to work on their comfort ideas. Maximum independence of subordinates is the core concept of Laissez-faire style. Leaders provide space to employees to design their own policies and methods. In this style, leaders have optimistic role, and they take part in the decision-making process when teams take the initiative for anything (Shelton & Cac, 2006). Situational Leadership Style: This style was introduced by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard. In situational style, leaders or managers try to adjust their styles according to the present situation in order to fit the followers’ developmental level they are trying to influence. Leaders change their own style rather to change others. There may have constant changing in their style in order to meet up the others’ requirements (Lee-Kelley, 2002). Transformational Leadership Style: Transformational leaders inspire their followers to go beyond their own-interests. They have profound and extraordinary effect on their followers (Northouse, 2012). They can change the perceptions, motivations, and expectations of followers in order to achieve common goals. These styles are further divided into four sections by Bass and Riggio (2008) that are: 1. Intellectual Stimulation: Transformational leaders appreciate the creativity and break the status quo. Such leaders encourage people to bring new ideas and allow them to seek for opportunities. 2. Idealized Influence: Transformational leaders are inspiration or exemplar for followers. Followers respect and trust such leaders and try to emulate. 3. Inspirational Motivation: Transformational leaders have the ability to influence followers with their clear vision. They create passion and motivate followers to achieve their goals. Such leaders have an ability to get work done through people on defined goals. 4. Individualized Consideration: Transformational leaders provide support to individuals. They encourage relationship building and allow people to share their ideas. They help employees in the fulfillment of their needs at work. Leadership plays an immense role in the success and failure of an organization; therefore, it is necessary for an organization to determine the impact of each motivational style on the performance of enterprise and then choose accordingly (Kaiser, Hogan, & Craig, 2008). Change is a requirement and continuous; no single organization can avoid this reality and to deal with this uncertainty there must be some leadership qualities that can break the status quo. Leaders with authoritarian style may not able to deal with uncertainty or may have lower ability to deal with it. Egg and Taylor are the service organizations in which communication and relations of management with employees are quite important for the success of the enterprise. At the time of change, both organizations (Egg and Taylor) must not follow the autocratic leadership style because this leadership style will restrict the employees to adopt change and lead organization towards failure and has bad impact on business. Transformational style focuses on the relationship development rather those practical incentives; that may not be a longer motivational factor for all employees. Situational leadership style will have a good impact on the motivation of workforce Egg and Taylor, but it will be time consuming. At the time of change, democratic style is the best for both companies that can have a greater impact on the motivation of workforce because input is taken from teams and individuals, but the leader is the final decision maker. In such way, leader motivates employees to think creatively and allow them to participate in the decision-making process - that increase the morale of employees and motivate them to work hard for an organization to have recognition - but do not take risk letting people do what they want (Northouse, 2013). TASK 2: Motivation is a force that guides, initiates and continues goal oriented behaviors. History is full of motivational theories and many factors that can motivate people have been described by theorists, and some most famous theories from all of them are Taylor theory, Mayo theory, McGregor theory, and Herzberg theory of motivation (Bratton et al., 2010). According to the Mayo theory, money is not the only factor of motivation. Fulfillment of social needs is another motivator. He believes that the working environment creates motivation in employees such as better communication, recognition, manager’s involvement, collective working. Frederick Herzberg concepts are similar to mayo (Robbins, 2001). AH Maslow presented the hierarchy of needs. Maslow identified five needs in hierarchical order as follow (Pinder, 2008): 1. Physiological needs 2. Safety needs 3. Social needs 4. Self-esteem needs 5. Self-actualization Maslow presented these factors, as motivating resources once the lower is fulfilled employee will try to achieve the second and so on. According to Taylor, workers can be motivated by money. They do not have an interest in work; therefore, they must be controlled and supervised. Each employee payment should be based on his or her performance so they will be motivated to work hard. It is close to an autocratic management style (Staw & Sutton, 2000). McGregor presented theory X and Y. Theory X say that employees are not willing to do work and need authoritarian style of leadership. They need supervision, should be threatened to do what required, and if they do not deliver, would not be rewarded or provided incentives. Whereas, theory Y says that employees are motivated and responsible. The management style is participative, but the final decision-making authority is of management, employees are suggested and encouraged to enhance the expertise and provide employees opportunities for promotion (Robbins, 2001). David McClelland’s motivational theory is based on three needs that are (Robbins, 2001): Need of achievement, which is to do extremely well to gain in relation to a set of standards, and to struggle for accomplishment Need for affiliation - is a desire to achieve close and interpersonal relationship Third and last is the need for power, which means to make people behave in a certain way in which they do not behave otherwise. Egg’s motivational style is based on the concepts of McClelland, Felton Mayo, and Frederick Herzberg motivational theories. In Egg, management prefers to develop such environment in which employees are involved in performance, planning, and self-achievements. Egg’s management focuses to build good relation with employees. Employees have the authority to bring change and deliver their expertise in order to deliver excellent services to their customers. Egg provides its employees opportunities to advance their role and capabilities and give them such environment so they can enjoy their work. Employees who are hardworking and giving their best are rewarded and encouraged. Woodrow’s motivation style is based on the concept of Taylor. At Woodrow performance, based pay approach is used to motivate employees. Company set standards that are need to be met by employees and those who have good performance and have greater participation in company’s success are rewarded accordingly. The Woodrow’s style of motivation is close to the autocratic style of management. TASK 3: Egg is an online bank where the timely and accurate service delivery is a crucial factor for organizational success. Egg allowed its employees to be free and creative in their ideas and create an environment where people can unleash their powers. Egg looked its people as an asset, believed on their powers, and believed that people having the best performance will deliver customers more, and satisfied customers buy more and bring others that lead to higher business growth. Egg put motivation in DNA of the organization and continued this practice. Company involved its people in planning, presentation, and achievement; company allowed people to have good relation with managers through which they can share ideas and give suggestions. Egg created such environment in which employees feel empowered and due to this feel, they become able to bring change, reach at their potential, and serve customers in best ways. Egg motivates its employees through rewards and recognitions and gives them opportunity to improve their role and selves through training and development. Company just not focuses on motivator but also put its consideration on those factors that can de-motivate employees at work, and for the evaluation of these factors company provides training to its managers. They commenced that good relation among employees and managers are in favor of the organization and bring satisfaction and appreciation in employees’ attitudes. People are free to choose the work they are comfortable with that ultimately enhances their performance. These motivational practices made Egg a successful organization. Taylor Woodrow’s workforce does not have an advantage of exploring their capabilities; they are restricted to the objectives of the organization. The focus of the company is to hire those who can be trained to become managers. Woodrow share objectives with its employees and then manage or develop them in such way that targets can be met properly, which shows authoritarian style of management. Tasks are allocated to employees by mutual understanding of managers and employees. Company follow the performance and development review process through which current performance and prior performance of employees are reviewed, and future objectives are allocated accordingly. Bonuses and salary are solely based on performance level. These practices reflect the theory of Taylor and due to these practices company achieved motivation and commitment at all level of the organization. TASK 4: Group is a combination of people who work together to attain a specific targeted goal. These groups help organizations in the attainment of different task and maintain the high quality of employees through satisfying their needs. Explanation of groups can be done in term of interactions, motivation, organization, perception, and interdependencies. People who work at one place and do not interact with each other are not the group; people who work together and their acts influence each other are called groups. Classification of groups can be done into formal and in-formal groups. Command group, affinity group and task group that are formal in nature and formed by the organization, to get the work done (Robbins, 2001). 1. Command Group: Command group is based on functional reporting relationship and permanent in nature. For example, managers and employees who are responsible to report them both are part of this group. These groups are part of an organization chart (Robbins, 2001). 2. Task Groups: Are temporary in nature and designed to resolve problems such as quality related issues or to complete. These groups usually are part of company’s important decisions and these sorts of groups carry individuals that are from diverse divisions and departments. Their goals and roles are defined, and communication is the key of their success (Griffin and Moorhead, 2014). 3. Affinity Group: Is permanent in nature and designed to share the information, resolve problems, and identifying potential opportunities. These sorts of groups carry people from the same level of the organization. Such groups help in basic planning and decision-making processes to better execution. Affinity group brings people together before working on task and playing a role of communicator, facilitators, liaison and spokesperson (Robbins, 2001). Understanding the behavior of workforce means the understanding of forces affecting employees in organization (Griffin and Moorhead, 2014). The outcomes of groups are solely dependent upon the performance of individuals working in it. Performance of an individual can affect and be affected by a group. People working in groups have a great impact on groups’ behaviors and vice-versa. People working in Egg are self-motivated people, and they have a profound impact of organization’s environment on their behaviors. All group members always tend to be a part of any decision making process. People work together to resolve issues and serve best to their customers (Griffin and Moorhead, 2014). Groups working in Egg have supportive (show concerns for employees’ needs) and participative behavior (consulting with employees and taking their suggestions before making any decision) and have a good relationship with individuals that show organization workforce lies in affinity group. In contrast, Woodrow’s workforce is temporary in nature and task based. Groups have a profound impact on employees. Group’s behavior is directive (directing followers and asking to do what is expected), and achievement oriented (setting higher goals and asking to meet them at employees’ highest level). Employees do not behave as initiators they work on defined tasks and shared visions. The management group is committed to the performance and development review and manages people to work on stated goals (Osland et al., 2007). TASK 5: Numerous factors are presented as determinants that can enhance the effectiveness of the team such as trust, job security, effective group interaction, fairness, respect, support, predictability, and competence. If people have trust on the ability, character and integrity of management they can work in their best ways because they know that they will be rewarded fairly. Communication is another factor that drives the effectiveness of team, timely and accurate feedback and explanations of policies and methods allow teams to work in focused ways so they can deliver in correct manners (Robbins, 2001). Fairness is another important factor. Managers who treat their people fairly and praise them on their efforts have more effective teams than others. For example, if individuals are aware that they will be recognized according to their efforts then they will not rely on the other team members and will give their best. Managers who behave as a supporter of their team encourage, help and coach them and available to them when required tend to have excellent results. For example if people have reach to the manager they can consult with him before taking any new step. Respect is equally important factor that contributes in effectiveness. If people respect their leader, then they will follow his instructions and will believe that assigned task is based on fairness. Predictability is a factor that encourages employees to work hard organizations that are consistent and keep their promises have efficient teams. Moreover, competency is a factor that contributes in the team’s success (Kreithner, 2009). Team performance can be affected due to the absence of these factors. These factors can be divided into three categories people related factors, organization related factors, and task related factors. (Robbins, 2001) People related factors: if people are satisfied, have trust, good relations with management, and fewer conflicts, have a good job security and freedom to unleash their power then they can perform their duties effectively, and this is the case with Egg. People have job security and freedom to use their powers and these factors played significant positive role in Egg’s success. If these factors were not present in the organization, then people were not able to serve customers in their best ways. Organization related factors: if people have job security, proper reward system, recognition is provided to employees for their performances, organization have stable priorities, and goals then teams will be productive. These factors play optimistic role in the teams success, and all these factors are present in Woodrow’s workforce; but, people are not free to bring change that restrict organization for innovation. Task related factors: In Woodrow and Egg people have clear objectives and plans; they have challenging work that encourages them to perform productively. Both organizations have team leaders and experienced people and have visibility of tasks and all these factors enable organizations to have greater accomplishments. If these factors do not exist in an organization so organizations, cannot deliver their customers and achieve stated goals. Each factor is important in both organizations if any of them is not there organizations will suffer from failure. TASK 6: Technology plays a significant role in all organizations such as logistics, service, and manufacturing. Technology maintains the data flow, maintain records of employees, do contact management and speed up the workflow. Business can be more effective and efficient by reducing waste and minimizing the cost. Technology establishes a connection among sellers, manufacturers, and retailers. The best example of technology use is the healthcare sector. Due to the advancement of technology, the data of the patient can be shared with all units at the same time. It helps in the improvement of decision making through electronic medical records of patients, provide support through data management, and enhance the effectiveness of the team. Through the implementation of ICT, hospitals are able to mitigate the shortage of staff and can make services effective and available at the time. This enables hospitals to maximize the utilization of minimum resources and scare knowledge. Technology has a positive impact on the performance of Woodrow’s success. Company has a team of highly qualified engineers that provide best and innovative solutions to company (Taylor Woodrow International). In Taylor Woodrow, company technology is used to deliver the best business performance, and improved projects and ICT system enable the company to do collaborative working. The Egg bank is purely an online bank, and its success is totally based on technology. Technology allows customers to interact with their banks online and they can transact their account. Technology allows teams to focus on targeted customers and providing offerings by maintaining the history of customers. Egg does not rely on price only it believes to be genuine in development and building relationships with its customers. Egg exploits opportunities that are offered by technology. References: Bass, B. M and Riggio, R. E (2008) Transformational Leadership. 2nd Edition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Bratton, J., Sawchuk, P., Forshaw, C., Callinan, M. & Corbett, M. (2010). Work and Organizational Behaviour, 2nd edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Griffin, R and Moorhead, G (2014) Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. USA: Cengage Learning. Iqbal, T. (2011). The Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Effectiveness. Nordersted Germany: Grin Verlag. Kaiser, R. B., Hogan, R., & Craig, S. B. (2008). Leadership and the Fate of Organizations. American Psychologist, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 96. Kreithner. R (2009), “Principles of Management.” 11th Edition. Cengage Learning. Lee-Kelley, L. (2002). Situational leadership: Managing the virtual project team. 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