Describe three contemporary views of leadership. Which view do you think is the most important? Why?
Leadership is perceived as behavioral, contingency and charismatic (Goertzen). The behavioral theory perceives a leader's personality traits to determine performance as well as other results. The behavior of a leader is the central point in this model of leadership. The situational contingency leadership ties leadership to both traits and behavior. A leader’s traits and their relevance to a particular situation determine the effectiveness of the leader. This leadership model is subject to other factors such as the leader-member relationship between the leader and the members, position and task structure.
The charismatic leader is also referred to as the transformational leader whose personal abilities causes them to have a profound effect on their followers. There are various factors which are a major concern to the charismatic leader (Winkler, 2010). The transformational leader is keen on the status quo, and the goal and objective which they wish to achieve. After the identification of the goals and objectives, the leader proceeds to demonstrate how they can be achieved. A charismatic leader can be close-up or distant. Although the two leaders are different from one another, certain traits are common in the two leaders; self-confidence, sacrifice, authoritativeness and honesty.
The situational contingency leadership is the most effective. An effective leader should be able to adjust accordingly to other variables in their environment (Winkler, 2010). A situational contingency leader is in a position to determine the behavior of his members and use these facts to gain control of the outcomes. The leader is in control of the situation. Variables in the environment of the leader such as their position, member-leader relations, and their tasks can be altered to increase the effectiveness of the leader. The leader can determine their leadership style whether directive or nondirective, to correspond with that of the members. A leader’s behavior is determined by factors such as group support, experience, stress and competency (Goertzen).
2. What are the eight steps in the rational decision-making model? Which steps could a manager use in making a decision? Why? Explain
The eight steps of the rational decision-making model are; definition of the problem, identifying a decision-making criteria, apportionment of weights to the criteria, alternatives, analysis of alternatives, selection of the alternative, implementation of the alternative and the eighth step is the evaluating of the effectiveness of the decision (Robbins, 2009).
Although the eight steps are recommended during the decision-making process, there are those which managers cannot afford to overlook. The eight steps are considered crucial to the decision-making process and are associated with optimal outcomes. However, some of the steps are more relevant than others depending on the urgency of the problem. The six steps model has been used on numerous occasions as an alternative to the eight steps (Heracleous, 1994). These steps include; definition of the problem and desirable outcomes, identification of alternatives, analysis of the alternatives, decision-making, implementation or execution and evaluation of the decision. This model is more flexible and can be employed by most people especially during emergency situations. Creativity is one of the components which define a good decision maker, and manager should be able to put it to good use when the need arises. There are certain instances when the rational decision-making process might become inadequate especially when the problems involved are complex (Robbins, 2009).
A manager can use the eight steps of the rational decision-making criteria or omit some of these steps depending on the type of problem that the manager has been encountered with (Robbins, 2009). A problem can be a crisis which is an emergency in need of immediate action, a non-crisis which does not require immediate action, or an opportunity problem which normally presents itself in the form of ideas that can be sued, and only an effective manager can see beyond the problem to recognize an opportunity embedded in a problem (Heracleous, 1994).
3. What is the holacracy organizational structure? Identify a company that would use this type of model? How could they use it? Explain in detail give specific examples
The holacracy organizational structure organizes individuals in the organization into circles within circles within circles. Certain individuals in these circles have certain roles which put them in charge over their fellow team members. There are misconceptions that this organizational is an attempt to a flat organization. The structure gets rid of the traditional hierarchical structure, but not entirely (Greenfield, 2015). Holacracy organization still have managers, but the difference is that all decisions do not have to go through the manager. Titles have been replaced with roles which change from time to time. The purpose of this organizational model is to ensure that authority is distributed throughout the organization. This model increases innovativeness by speeding up the decision-making process.
This organizational model is more popular with organizations which require high levels of innovativeness so that they can retain the benefits of fast-moving innovations. IBM is one of the companies which could benefit from the Holacracy business model. IBM is well known for its ability to find solutions to various problems, and sharing these solutions with cities, universities and organizations. The company creates revenue by offering major data related service and products. Managers divide tasks to the members of the groups and allocate various tasks to the members. With the holacracy organizational structure, team members will be able to work on multiple tasks without limiting their potential (Greenfield, 2015).
New technology, analytics, and curriculum are part of the major big data and services produced by the company, and these processes could benefit heavily from the holacracy organizational structure which allows the input of multiple members of the group. An example is when the company is presented with multiple problems by clients which are in need of solutions. With the hierarchical organizational structure, the manager will have to divide the tasks into smaller manageable tasks. This will limit the potential of the group members as some members might be burdened with tasks beyond their expertise while others are offered tasks which undermine their competencies. With the holacracy organizational structure, tasks will be open for all members and all tasks are everyone’s responsibility. It is important to note that the holacracy organizational structure is only effective if the employees at the organization are also effective (Denning, 2015).
4. There are several controls a manager can use to affect change in the goals for the organization. List three of these controls. Which do you think is the most important for the manager? Why?
There are several controls that managers can use to effect change and goals for organizations among them; behavioral controls, bureaucratic control, and organizational culture and clan control (Ajzen, 1986).
A manager’s most important control is the behavioral control. The behavioral control is important since it enables the manager to manage the employees. A manager achieves this by using objectives as a tool in management, direct supervision and the use of standards and rules. Through direct motivation, a manager is able to monitor, teach, observe and correct employees (Ajzen, 1986). During direct supervision, managers often act as an example for their employees. Management with the use involves a three step process which involves identification of clear goals and objectives, involving the employees to identify subordinate goals, and reviewing these goals periodically (Ajzen, 2006). In some companies, responsibilities are decentralized to improve the performance of the teams. Managers set goals for these teams, and the members are then requested to make an input on the final goals and the budget they will require to achieve these goals. Achievements are attributed to teams and not to individual members of the team.
A manager's greatest asset is their employees. It is through the subordinates that the manager is able to achieve their goals and objectives for their organization. The behavior of the employees determines if the manager is going to achieve the organization's objectives or not. It is important to note that the behavioral control is most effective with small teams as supervision can be hectic when the team is large. Complex jobs are hard to supervise as the manager might experience difficulties assessing performance (Ajzen, 2006). In cases of large teams, the manager can adopt output control. The manager should be keen not to demotivate employees during direct supervision.
5. Describe the major components that determine group performance and satisfaction? What is the best way to analyze the performance of a group and satisfaction? Describe
Group performance is influenced by components which include, the external conditions which affect the group such as, group structure, roles, resources, norms, status systems, conformity, size, cohesiveness, processes, decision making, conflict management and tasks (Wiener, Kanki, & Helmreich, 1993). Group performance is important to a company’s success in achieving its goals and objectives.
External factors such as the relationships between employees and the authority, organizational culture, formal rules and regulations, physical layout and strategy will influence the performance of employees. Resources from other members of the group such as personality traits, skills, abilities and knowledge will influence the effectiveness of other members of the group. Conflict of roles between members in a group is likely to influence the performance of the group negatively (Kanki, Helmreich, & Anca, 2010). Conformity improves an individual’s ability to adapt the organizational culture which has a positive impact on their performance. Small groups complete tasks faster than larger groups. Group processes which enhance decision making and conflict management can influence satisfaction and performance negatively or positively. The interdependence and complexity of tasks have an impact on the effectiveness of a group.
An employee’s performance can be understood through the assessment of their attitudes. An attitude is either cognitive, behavioral or affective. Job-related attitudes are involvement, satisfaction, commitment and engagement. Job satisfaction can be accessed through factors such as absenteeism, turnover, productivity, customer satisfaction, citizenship behavior and organizational commitment (Kanki, Helmreich, & Anca, 2010). Organizations with more satisfied workers are more effective. Satisfied employees demonstrate lower levels of absenteeism as compared to employees who are dissatisfied. Satisfied employees have lower levels of turnover. Customer satisfaction and loyalty is a sign of satisfied employees. Playing on the computer during working hours, quitting and abusing coworkers are signs that the employee is dissatisfied.
References
Ajzen, I. (1986). Prediction of goal-directed behavior; Attitudes, intentions and perceived behavioral control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 453-474.
Ajzen, I. (2006). Perceived Behavioral Control, Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control, and the Theory of Planned Behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 665-683.
Denning, S. (2015, May 23). Is Holacracy Suceeding at Zappos. Forbes.
Goertzen, B. J. (n.d.). Contemporary Theories of Leadership. Jones and Barlett Learning, 83-100.
Greenfield, R. (2015, March 30). Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh offered his 4,000 employees an ultimatum . Fast Company.
Heracleous, l. T. (1994). Rational Desicion Making; Myth or Reality. Management Development Review, 16-23.
Kanki, B. G., Helmreich, R. L., & Anca, J. M. (2010). Crew Resource Management. Burlington: Elsevier.
Robbins, S. P. (2009). Organisational behaviour : global and Southern African perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson Education South Africa.
Wiener, E. L., Kanki, B. G., & Helmreich, R. L. (1993). Cockpit resource management. San Diego: Academic Press.
Winkler, I. (2010). Contemporary leadership theories : enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity and dynamic of leadership. Berlin: Springer.
