The Leadership Styles of Patricia and Philip - Case Study Example

MM105 Organizational Behavior Course: Professor: Date By looking at the leadership styles of Patricia and Philip, a great contrast is seen. Patricia uses a transactional style of leadership while Philip is a transformational leader. The main difference between a transformational leader and a transactional leader is the way they manage their employees. Leadership has to influence others so that they can perform their tasks. The relationship between the leaders and their followers determines the results that are obtained. Transactional leadership that is utilised by Patricia has many shortcomings as compared to transformational leadership as practiced by Philip. Patricia lacks good communication to the employees which makes it hard for the employees to trust her. She is so self confident that she cannot divulge her intentions to the employees. The employees are in a situation which they are not sure whether they will maintain their job position or not (French, 2013). Through this situation of uncertainty, the employees loose interest in their work. The firing procedure is abrupt and unexplained creating fear among the employees. This punitive behavior in the transactional leadership leads to lack of job satisfaction among the employees. Under her leadership style, the employees have lost their interest in their job and works just tom meet their goal without motivation. Some of the employees have even started looking for new employment (Tepper, 2000). This leadership style contrasts sharply with the Philip method of leadership. When he joined the company, there was low morale among workers due to the leadership style of Patricia. His transformational leadership helps him build a good relationship with workers through communication. When Philip was appointed to the IT department, the team was barely performing due to the leadership style of Patricia. His task seemed unachievable due to poor work morale. Through his transformational leadership, he is able to make the group more active and accomplish the task. His leadership style is more open as compared to Patricia’s. He is ready to listen to others and create teamwork. The leadership style that Philip uses makes it possible for the employees to forge close relationship and trust each other (Tepper & Taylor, 2003). By looking at both leadership styles, it’s evident that transformation leadership as practiced by Philip is more fruitful. Patricia leadership style is more transactional. She has instilled fear among the employees who fears being sacked. Their morale has reduced and they are more concerned with their survival in the company rather than attaining the goals. The advantages of using Patricia style are that the employees will try to work hard to avoid being laid off. The disadvantages are poor morale, distrust and fear. Her system would be more appropriate in a system which is not performing as it can make workers improve themselves to avoid loss of job. Philip mode of leadership makes it possible to work as a team. The style leads to trust among workers and a high output. This style of leadership is suitable for use in institutions where the employees’ output has gone down as in the case of ServCorp (French, 2013). According to case study, they re various values of group members as well as various types of conflict, communication styles, power and politics among them. According to the case study, the group members are qualified and hardworking. This is evidenced by the fact that Philip noted that he was working with a highly qualified team of IT professionals. The team was composed of people who valued their job as they are seen afraid to lose it. The main problem with the workforce was that the corporation had been having a traditional comfortable family fee. This made the employees not to work hard for the commercial success of the corporation. One of the best values of the corporation employees is the fact that they liked working with ServCorp. The corporation communication style was better before Patricia started her strategy to commercialize the corporation (French, 2013). The leadership used by Patricia led to internal conflicts where there was distrust and lack of teamwork. The conflict was between the CEO and workers who could not trust her. One of the initiators of the conflict within an organization is lack of communication as seen in this case study. Use of transactional leadership as in the case of Patricia may lead to the employees having a communication breakdown. This is due to the fact that most of the employees fear losing their jobs and rarely communicate with each other due to distrust. The employees develop internal conflict if they are insecure about their job. This is because they are not comfortable with the management and are looking for a way in which they can get another job and avoid being laid off (French, 2013). Leadership in the government corporation is directly influenced by politics and powers of the time. This is evident from the fact that changes in government lead to the change in policies of Servcorp. These changes that are brought by the government have a direct effect on the employees. The employees have to conform to the new policies so as to remain relevant in the corporation. The leadership has to transfer the instructions from the government to the employees through their type of management (Yukl, 2002). From the case study, lessons concering how to make changes brought by government can be learnt. The leadership style used determines the way in which policy change will succeed. The case shows that the employees had developed distrust and lacked cooperation. It’s through the use of Philip’s leadership style that they are able to work together (French, 2013). The case is a good example of how the leadership can utilize their leadership style to effect change. Change can be achieved through use of the right type of leadership in the organization. This is due to the fact that employees’ values are instilled through good leadership which enhances team work. Internal conflict can be eliminated through communication. Employees at ServeCorp source of conflict are leadership methods used by CEO and by change of leadership, their attitude and communication improvement. The case also gives insight on how politics and power affect the employees (French, 2013). The current level of effectiveness of the team management in ServCorp based on team dynamics is also analyzed below. Group and team dynamics refers to the way employees can work together in attaining a set goal. Through use team dynamics, an organization is able to have employees work together by using their talent in the right manner. Prior to Philip joining Servcorp, the corporation lacked team and group dynamics. There was poor communication, wrong leadership, poor relationship and reluctant to change. It’s through the efforts that were made by Philip that the corporation was able to fully utilize team dynamics. In his first month at work, Philip managed to make the employees work as a team through change of leadership. There were consultation and teamwork that led to the corporation being on the leading position among the government owned enterprises. The management team as shown by Philip example, have managed to have a high level of effectiveness among the employees. The employees have more trust in the Philip leadership style, making the corporation have the best output (French, 2013). As seen in the IT group improvement, there is need for the corporation to initiate transformational leadership in their entire department. This will make it possible for the organization to attain a high level of team functioning. The staff departure has a direct effect on the way the team performs. The poor performance is sometimes due to the fact that the management had been terminating employment of their workers in short notice and without the right communication. The management has to realize that the employee has potential to deliver the best and they can only do that through encouragement of positive team dynamics (Yukl, 2002). One method that can help improve the team work in another department is through emulation of what Philip did in the IT department. He made sure that the teams held meetings and communicated with each other. The management must encourage the employees to give their views and agree with each other in the company. The CEO should be aware that being too strict to the employees may demoralize the workers leading to poor output. From the case study, the employees are not comfortable with the CEO who is more bent on making the organization make profits without communicating to the employees. The laying off procedures are not well organised. Patricia strictness in managing the employees has led to the employees being more depressed and lacking in cooperation. There is a need for the CEO to understand that every employee has a method of performing the task. The employees should be allowed to perform their tasks in their own way provided they achieve the results. This can help the employees have a free space in which they can interact and consult each other (French, 2013). Management must be aware that having a good team requires employees who are content with their jobs. The employees should be highly motivated so that they can work together as a team and solve the problems that may arise. There is a need for the organization to motivate their employees and make them more comfortable with their work. The laying off procedure for the employees should be open and more organised. References French, J. (2013). ‘A Challenge for Mann Case Study’, in S. McShane, M. Olekalns and T. Travaglione, Organisational Behaviour: Emerging Knowledge. Global Insights. 4th Edition (pp. 514-16). McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd. Tepper, B. J. & Taylor, E. C. (2003). Relationships among supervisors' and subordinates' procedural justice perceptions and organizational citizenship behaviors. Academy of Management Journal, 46(1), 97-05. Tepper, B.J. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 178-190. Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership in Organizations, 5th ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Read More