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Name of the Subject: An introduction to managerial style

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Number of words : 3000

Table of Contents

Introduction................................................................................................................................1

Task 1.........................................................................................................................................1

1.1 Models identifying the human nature and behaviour at work.....................................1

1.2 How attitudes and assumptions can influence managerial behaviour.........................4

Task 2.........................................................................................................................................4

1.3 Models of managerial style.........................................................................................4

Task 3.........................................................................................................................................7

2.1 Styles of management.......................................................................................................7

2.2 Measures of managerial effectiveness..............................................................................8

2.3 Links between the management style and managerial effectiveness and efficiency........9

Task 4.........................................................................................................................................9

3.1 Situations and circumstances that will that will require different management styles and behaviour................................................................................................................................9

3.2 Relationship between the individual managerial performance and the organisational managerial performance.......................................................................................................10

Conclusion................................................................................................................................10

References................................................................................................................................12

Web References.......................................................................................................................13

Bibliography.............................................................................................................................13

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Introduction

Human resources can be identified as the main critical resource for any organisation as all the

operational activities within the organisation will be carried out by the employees of the

organisation. In that light managing the human resources becomes very much important for

the organisations as their interests should be aligned with that of the organisation in order to

achieve their strategic objectives. So usage of proper leadership and managerial styles as

appropriate becomes very much important in that regard. Under this assignment the different

behaviour patterns of the team members and the impact of the managerial styles will be

discussed in detail with regard to different contexts. The different models that can be used by

the team leader in order to identify the different behaviour patterns of the team members will

be analysed paying attention on the different management styles and the measures to identify

the effectiveness of the different management styles. And also the situational theories of

management will be discussed under this assignment identifying the effectiveness of them

with regard to the organisational situation.

Task 1

1.1 Models identifying the human nature and behaviour at work

According to Shields (2007:p.148) in managing the employees or the human resources of the

organisation it will be very much important to identify the different behaviour patterns of the

different employees and groups of employees. The Unilever production manager has advised

his employees to increase the daily production of a soap product up to 800 units. But after

three weeks of work the manager identifies that the required level of performance has not

been achieved by his employees. In this scenario, it is important for the production manager

to identify the motivating factors of the his employees, group dynamics, conflicts with each

other and even the factors that will affect productivity and efficiency of them. Identification

of these characteristics of the employees will allow the team leader to properly manage the

team motivating them to perform their duties well. As the individual performance is

measured by Unilever it is very much vital for them to perform well as a group as well as on

an individual basis. The production manager can use the below models in identifying the

human behaviour of his employees in attempting to manage them properly.

Maslow Hierarchy

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As explained by Rakowski (2011:p.14) Maslow identified the human behaviour with regard

to the different factors that will motivate them at work. According to that model the

motivation of production floor employees will depend on the achievement of the different

needs of them which they attempt to fulfil by working for the organisation. Production

manager in trying to improve the productivity of his employees in order to achieve the

expected output level he should properly identify the different levels of needs of the

employees as follows.

Image 1 Maslow hierarchy

Source : (http://www.businessballs.com/images/maslow_hierarchy.htm )

According to the above hierarchy the production manager can identify the different factors

that will motivate the team members. In order to identify the different needs of his employees

the production manager will have to maintain a close relationship with his employees where

he should identify the different situations of the employees which can be identified as

follows.

Whether the employees are payed an enough salary for their work which enable them

to fulfil their basic needs.

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Whether a safe working environment is provided which is convenient for the

employees.

Whether the employees are overloaded with work and whether the set target is

attainable by the employees.

Does the production employees are given enough recognition within the

organizational environment.

Identifying the unfulfilled needs of the employees will then allow the production manager to

provide them the opportunities to fulfil those needs that will motivate them to perform their

tasks well as explained in the Maslow hierarchy(Steinberg, 2007:p.22).

Herzburg dual-factor theory

This theory basically identifies that there will always be two factors within the organisational

environment namely the motivating factors and the hygiene factors. In trying to identify the

factors that may have lead to the demotivation of the employees the production manager

should identify whether the employees are provided with an enough salary, with a convenient

working environment, whether the employees are satisfied about the job and the recognition.

According to Herzburg the absence of these factors will lead to the demotivation of the

employees. If any of the hygiene factors are not provided then the manager should take

immediate steps in allocating those factors that will motivate the employees to improve their

productivity. Then the production manager can communicate with the employees about the

importance of achieving the expected productivity level for the whole company which will

motivate the employees to achieve the given productivity level.

McGregor Theory X and theory Y

McGregor identified that there are two types of employees and managers in an organisation.

As Unilever encourages diversity in the company the production team will consist of

diversified members. According to the model the production manager should properly

categorize the team members as Theory X employees and theory Y employees. As per Miller

(2011:p.44) the theory X employees will not be willing to take up the responsibilities and

they will be rather reluctant to perform their own duties. But on the contrary theory Y

employees will be willing to take up responsibilities and will be motivated to perform their

allocated duties. So the production manager will have to clearly identify the theory X and Y

employees in the production team where he should use an authoritarian leadership style in

managing the theory X individuals getting the work done through them. And he can use a

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democratic and a consultative leadership style in managing the theory Y employees of his

team.

Hawthorne studies

According to Jex (2002:p.13) the Hawthorne studies identify the group dynamics and the

factors that will lead to the group motivation. According to the theory the production

manager in this scenario should properly allocate work among the employees closely

monitoring their performance which will make the team cohesive improving its performance.

Unilever will always try to provide their employees with a convenient working environment

closely monitoring them considering this impact.

1.2 How attitudes and assumptions can influence managerial behaviour

As explained by Mullins (2006:p.270) the different attitudes and assumptions of the

managers will affect the managerial behaviour of them which in turn will affect the

performance of all the employees who are under the managers. As explained by Armstrong

(2002:p.33) the negative attitudes of the production manager will affect the attitudes and the

behaviour of his employees. So it is important for the production manager to have a positive

attitude about his production team. According to the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts

(2011:p.18) they are undertaking leadership development programmes that will deliver high

quality training to its managers. That will allow him to be closer to the employees in

identifying their requirements and issues. Through that the leader will be able to identify the

negative attitudes and assumptions of the employees that affect their behaviour and

performance. Then the leader will be in a position to help the team members to develop

positive attitudes in them by clarifying their doubts and issues that will motivate them to

perform their duties well. In generating positive attitudes in his team members the team

leader should properly allocate work among them, should provide them with a convenient

working environment with proper salaries and rewards which will help the production

manager to obtain their maximum contribution in upgrading the machines.

Task 2

1.3 Models of managerial style

In managing the employees or the team members the leaders or the managers can adopt

different managerial styles depending on the different situations. The production manager at

M&S has appointed a team with a respective team leader in order to design and develop a

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prototype of a product within one week's time. As per Egner (2009:p.24) the models of

managerial styles in this scenario identify the different management and leadership styles that

can be adopted and followed by the team leader in effectively managing the team members.

There are different types of managerial styles such as Kurt Lewin styles, Likert management

systems, the managerial grid and etc. The managerial grid developed by Blake and Mouton

identifies different managerial styles depending on the task cetnerdness and the person

centeredness of the managers. According to Griffin (2010:p.554) the concern for the

members and the concern for the work allocated will be the main factors that will affect the

leadership style of the team leader in this situation. The different leadership styles explained

by the managerial grid can be identified as follows.

Image 2 The managerial grid

Source : (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_73.htm )

In the above scenario the team leader can identify his leadership style by applying this grid in

his context. The leader should identify his concern for the situation of the members and his

concern for the achievement of the work allocated. The different managerial styles can be

identified as follows.

Country club

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Here the team leader will pay a high attention to the satisfaction of the team members. Here

the leader believes that the performance of the team depends on the satisfaction of the team

members and the perfect convenient working environments where the leader will pay a high

attention on satisfying the members with facilities. But in this situation the lack of control

over the members will lead to a reduction the productivity levels where the team will not be

able to achieve the set target in two weeks time(Borkowski, 2009:p.183).

Impoverished

This can be identified as a poor leadership style where the team leader will have a low level

of concern for the achievement of the work allocated and as well he will have a low level of

concern for the satisfaction of the members.

Produce or perish

Under this leadership style the team leader will have a high level of concern in order to

achieve the duties and tasks allocated while the concern for the team members will be low.

So in this situation the leader will use an authoritarian leadership style to manage the

members using punishments as the motivating factor. In this situation the team members will

not be satisfied to perform their duties(Achouri, 2012:p.180).

Team Leadership

Under this leadership style the leader will have a high level of concern for the members as

well as for the achievement of the duties allocated. Here the leader will create an effective

working environment by motivating the employees where the employees will be satisfied and

motivated to perform their duties well which in turn will increase the productivity of the

team.

Middle of the road

Here the team leader will have a moderate level of concern for the members as well as for the

achievement of the work allocated. The leader believes that this is the level of performance

that can be normally expected from a team(Smoke, 2009:p.141).

So in the above scenario according to this grid the team leader should identify his position in

the grid which will enable him to analyse the effectiveness of his managerial style. Then as

per the grid the team leader can improve his leadership style improving his concern for the

members as well as for the duties allocated which will make the team efficient and effective.

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M&S will always encourage the leaders and managers to pay equal attention to the

satisfaction of the people as well as on getting the work done which will encourage and

motivate its employees while improving the efficiency and productivity.

Task 3

2.1 Styles of management

There will be different management styles that will be used by the management of the

organisation. The marketing manager at TESCO has appointed a team in order to identify the

potential areas within the UK in order to start up new retail stores. This is in line with their

expansion strategy where the success of the strategy will depend on the decisions undertaken.

The different management management styles that the team leader can adopt in this scenario

can be identified as follows.

Autocratic

As per Pollock (2009:p.240) in the above scenario if the leader follows an autocratic

leadership style the leader will take all the decisions within the group without paying

attention to the ideas and views of the team members. This leadership style will be effective

if the team members are not skilled enough to make the relevant decisions and as well when

team members are not experienced enough. This leadership style will allow the team leader to

make quick decisions but that will in turn lead to the de-motivation of the team members.

Paternalistic

According to Adizes (2004:p.204) if the team leader follows a paternalistic leadership style

he will be closer to the employees and he will make decisions after considering all the views

and ideas of the team members. That will motivate the team members to make effective

decisions together. But if the team members are not competent enough to make the decisions

that will lead to weak decisions to be taken by the team that will adversely affect the team

behaviour.

Democratic

Under this leadership style the leader will allow the team members to come up with their own

decisions in performing the team activities. The team members will be motivated as they are

allowed to make decisions and sometimes that will lead to ineffective decisions to be taken

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by the team members. Here the team leader will follow a democratic leadership style(Gaspar,

2005:p.260) .

2.2 Measures of managerial effectiveness

As explained by Scholl (2010:p.269) in measuring the managerial effectiveness the

organisations can use different measures. The senior management at Unilever requires to

identify the most effective and efficient departmental managers in order to provide them with

training under their new training and leadership programme in order to further enhance their

performance. In the above scenario the performance of the managers can be measured by the

achievement of the set objectives and based on the satisfaction of the employees. The

following steps can be used effectively by Unilever in evaluating the performance of the

managers.

Identifying the goals of the different departments- The performance of the manager

should be evaluated based on the achievement of the departmental objectives. So in

order to measure the managerial performance the departmental objectives should be

identified first.

Identifying the indicators for measuring management success – This will identify the

different performance indicators for the managerial performance and these indicators

should be based on the objectives of the team.

Conducting the periodic assessments – The performance of the managers should be

evaluated based on a periodic basis such as on a daily or a weekly basis.

The ability of the manager to balance the internal needs of the department and the

external requirements of the company - Here the performance of the team leader

should be measured based on his ability to link the organisational objectives with that

of the needs of the employees(Berger, 2004:p.121).

Feedback from the employees– the performance of the department managers can be

evaluated based on the feedback from the employees where they will indicate their

level of satisfaction when working with the managers.

Subordinate feedback – the performance of the managers can be evaluated based on

the feedback from the other managers that are there.

The above steps can be effectively followed in evaluating the performance of the managers

where Unilever can carry out an appraisal exercise in order to gain the above information

about managerial performance.

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2.3 Links between the management style and managerial effectiveness and efficiency

As per Knapp (2000:p.369) the managers can use different management styles based on

different situations of the organisations and depending on the nature of the work that will

have to be carried out. The managerial grid, Likert four systems of management, Kurt Lewin

management styles will be among the different managerial styles that can be adopted by the

managers. In this scenario of Unilever requiring its employees to increase their productivity

levels there will be a relationship between the different leadership styles of the production

manager and between the effectiveness and the efficiency of the employee performance. For

example if the manager adopts ‘country club’ leadership style he will pay a high concern for

the satisfaction of the members but on the other hand the low concern for the duties and the

performance will decrease the managerial effectiveness and efficiency. On the other hand if

the manager adopts the ‘produce or perish’ leadership style he will pay a high focus on the

achievement of the allocated work. According to Brown (2006:p.523) that will de-motivate

the production workers whereas managerial effectiveness will diminish. If the production

manager adopts the ‘team leadership’ management style will pay a high attention the

members as well on the duties allocated where as the effectiveness and the efficiency of the

overall production department will improve. So as the departmental performance will indicate

the performance of the production manager. The manager should pay equal focus on the

employees as well as on the achievement of the allocated work which will improve the

managerial efficiency and effectiveness. Unilever pays a high attention on this regard in

training their managers(Unilever Annual Report and Accounts, 2011)

Task 4

3.1 Situations and circumstances that will that will require different management styles

and behaviour

The management styles will always be situational where the managers will have to adopt the

different management styles based on the situation of the organisation. That will depend on

the internal situation as well as on the external situation. In TESCO’s situation the marketing

team will have to make effective diversifying decisions that will support its strategy. When

considering the above team the team leader can follow different management styles based on

the different circumstances that the team will have to face. As per Dransfield (2004:p.168)

there will be strict deadlines set out by TESCO for the team to carry out the market research

then the team leader can follow an authoritarian leadership style where the leader will make

the decisions. As the situations are strict the members will have to follow the instructions of

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the team leader as he will have more experience in tackling such situations. And if the Team

leader is not aware about some areas the he can make decisions through the coordination of

different members where the leader can follow a paternalistic leadership style where the team

members should be allowed to participate in the decision making process. And if the team

members are competent enough to make certain decisions with regard to a given situation

then the team leader should follow a democratic leadership style where the power of making

decisions should be delegated to the relevant team members. So depending on the different

situations the leadership styles that are adopted may the managers and team leaders will have

to be changed in order to to ensure a proper control of the organisation or the team.

3.2 Relationship between the individual managerial performance and the organisational

managerial performance

The managers and the team leaders will be using different management styles based on

different situations. As per Krausert (2011:p.204) the managerial performance will basically

depend on the management style adopted by the manager. The team performance will

ultimately lead to the positive or negative organisational performance. In the scenario of

Unilever they have found that the production team has not been performing efficiently where

they require to find solutions to overcome the situation. So in order to improve performance

if the production manager follows a ‘country club’ leadership style that will make the

employees happy but the departmental performance will be low. When the team performance

is low and the production team will not be able to achieve the set objectives for them that will

adversely affect the organisational performance whereas they will not be able to achieve the

required productivity level. On the contrary if the production manager adopts a ‘team leader’

management style that will make the departmental performance effective which will lead

Unilever to increase the performance. So if the production manager adopts appropriate

leadership styles based on the different situations that will ultimately lead to the

organisational performance to improve.

Conclusion

Human resources will be the most valuable asset in any organisation. So the managers should

pay a high focus on managing the human resources. In managing the human resources the

team leader should follow different management styles and leadership styles depending on

the different situations. Adopting proper management styles based on different situations will

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enhance the team and the organisational performance where the members will be motivated

and satisfied in carrying out their duties. So ultimately the appropriate leadership styles of the

team leader will make the organisation to perform better which will enable them to be ahead

of the competition.

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References

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Adizes, I. (2004), Management/Mismanagement Styles: How to Identify a Style and What to

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Pollock, J.M. (2009), Prisons Today and Tomorrow, 2nd Edition, Jones & Bartlett Publishers,

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Web References

Unilever Annual Report and Accounts, (2011), (Online), Available from:

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2012-12-19]

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