Leadership and Managing

This week you reflected upon the difference between a “manager” and a “leader” and discussed this concept with your classmates and professor in the discussion board. In a written essay please answer the following questions:

• What are the differences between leaders and managers? What characteristics are similar and what are different?
• Provide a total of three examples. First, someone who has great managerial skills. Second, another individual with great leadership skills. Third, another person with poor managerial skills. These can be made up individuals or examples you have seen without any identifying information. Discuss how the staff of each individual would be affected by the skills of the leader/manager. Minimum of 1600 words, three scholarly references in APA style writing which include running head.

 

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CASE 1

Kathy McCarthy was the manager of a production department in Alvis Corporation, a firm that manufactures office equipment. The workers are not unionized. After reading an article that stressed the benefits of participative management, Kathy believed that these benefits could be realized in her department if the workers were allowed to participate in making some decisions that affect them. Kathy selected two decisions for an experiment in participative management.

The first decision involved vacation schedules. Each summer the workers are given two weeks’ vacation, but no more than two workers can go on vacation at the same time. In prior years, Kathy made this decision herself. She would first ask the workers to indicate their preferred dates, then she considered how the work would be affected if different people were out at the same time. It was important to plan a vacation schedule that would ensure adequate staffing for all of the essential operations performed by the department. When more than two workers wanted the same time period, and they had similar skills, she usually gave preference to the workers with the highest productivity.

The second decision involved production standards. Sales had been increasing steadily over the past few years, and the company recently installed some new equipment to increase productivity. The new equipment would make it possible to produce more with the same number of workers. The company had a pay incentive system in which workers received a piece rate for each unit produced above a standard amount. Separate standards existed for each type of product, based on an industrial engineering study conducted a few years earlier. Top management wanted to readjust the production standards to reflect that fact that the new equipment made it possible for the workers to earn more without working any harder. The savings from higher productivity were needed to help pay for the new equipment.

Kathy called a meeting of her 15 workers an hour before the end of the work day and explained that she wanted them to discuss the two issues and make recommendations. Kathy figured that the workers might be inhibited about participating in the discussion if she were present, so she left them alone to discuss the issues. Besides, Kathy had an appointment to meet with the quality control manager. Quality problems had increased after the new equipment was installed, and the industrial engineers were studying the problem in an attempt to determine why quality had gotten worse rather than better. When Kathy returned to her department just at quitting time, she was surprised to learn that the workers recommended keeping the standards the same. She had assumed

they knew the pay incentives were no longer fair and would set a higher standard. The worker speaking for the group explained that their base pay had not kept up with inflation and the higher incentive pay restored their real income to its prior level.

On the vacation issue, the group was deadlocked. Several of the workers wanted to take their vacations during the same two week period and could not agree on who should go. Some workers argued that they should have priority because they had more seniority, while others argued that priority should be based on productivity, as in the past. Because it was quitting time, the group concluded that Kathy would have to resolve the dispute herself. After all, wasn’t that what she was being paid for?

Answer all the questions (3 x 10=30marks)

1. Were the two decisions appropriate for a group decision procedure?

2. What mistakes were made in using participation, and what could have been done to avoid the difficulties the manager encountered?

3. Were these two decisions appropriate ones for introducing participation into the department?

CASE 2

Marsha Brown was the new manager of a suburban office of Metro Bank. The branch office was experiencing low morale and lower productivity than expected. One of the difficulties was that the office served as an informal training center for young managers. New hires who needed experience as loan officers or assistant branch managers were assigned here for training. When they reached a certain level of competence, they were promoted out of the branch office. This practice was demoralizing to the less mobile tellers and other assistants, who felt exploited and saw no personal reward in “training their boss.” After some checking with her boss and other people at corporate headquarters, Marsha concluded that it would be impossible to change this program. Her branch was one of those considered to be essential for executive development in Metro Bank. During her first few months on the job, Marsha got to know her employees quite well. She reviewed performance records and met with each employee in the branch to talk about the person’s career aspirations. She learned that many of her employees were quite capable and could do much more than they were presently doing. However, they had never seen themselves as “going anywhere” in the organization.

Marsha searched for a unique vision for the branch office that would integrate the needs of her employees with the objectives of the executive development program, and in the process better serve the bank’s customers. She formulated the following strategic objective: “To be the branch that best develops managerial talent while still offering quality customer service.” From this decision flowed a series of actions. First, Marsha declared that development opportunities for growth would be open to all, and she initiated a career development program for her employees. For those who wanted career advancement, she negotiated with the central training department for spaces in some of its programs. She persuaded the personnel department to inform her regularly about job openings that might interest her employees, including those not involved in the executive development program. Next, she built rewards into the appraisal system for employees who helped others learn, so that even those who did not aspire to advance would get some benefit from contributing to the new objective. To provide adequate backup in service functions, she instituted cross-training. Not only did this training provide a reserve of assistance when one function was experiencing peak workloads, it also contributed to a better understanding of the policies and procedures in other functions. Marsha also used developmental assignments with her own subordinate managers. She frequently had the assistant managers run staff meetings, represent the branch office at corporate meetings, or carry out some of her other managerial responsibilities.

The changes made by Marsha resulted in major gains. By repeatedly stressing the strategic objectives in her words and actions, she gave the branch office a distinctive character. Employees felt increased pride and morale improved. Some of the old-timers acquired new aspirations and, after developing their skills, advanced into higher positions in the bank. Even those who remained at the branch office felt good about the advancement of others, because now they saw their role as crucial for individual and organizational success rather than as a thankless task. The new spirit carried over to the treatment of customers, and together with the increased competence provided by cross training, it resulted in faster and better service to customers.

Answer all the questions (3 x 10=30marks)

1. What leadership behaviours did Marsha use to change the branch office and motivate employees?

2. Describe Marsha’s vision for her branch office of the bank.

3. Do you think Marsha should be classified as charismatic, transformational, or both

 

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Leadership

Central Intelligence Agency (2016, March 24) CIA Vision, Mision, Ethos & Challenges. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-vision-mission-values/index.html.

• To see an example of a clear mission, vision, and values statement of an organization that uses a learning approach, but is not in the field of learning.

DeCarlo, S. (2010, April 21). The World’s leading companies. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/2010/04/20/global-2000-leading-world-business-global-2000-10-intro.html#22d4306d512b

• To see what could happen when mission, vision, and values are well-aligned and read about leading companies. What lessons could be learned from these examples?

Guillot, W.M (2005).  Strategic leadership defining the challenge. Air Power, 2(1), pg. 113-128.

• Read the document to familiarize yourself with a military approach to strategic leadership. Pay special attention to the questions and answers provided by the author of this text. Note similarities and differences between the military culture and the cultures with which you are familiar. What is different? What is the same?

Horwitch, M. and Callahan, M. (2016) How leaders inspire cracking the code. Bain and Company. Retrieved from http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/how-leaders-inspire-cracking-the-code.aspx  

N.A.  (2012). JISC. Defining and articulating your vision, mission, and values. Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/vision-mission-and-values

Machiavelli, N., & Wootton, D. (1995). The Prince. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co. Available through the Gutenberg Project: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm

• Read Chapter 21

Paine, N. & Masie, N. (Eds.) (2010).  Learning Perspectives. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

• Read part 1 and part 2 only.  Reading Prompt: Pay special attention to the strategic learning approaches described throughout the two chapters of this book. While reading, and instead of making your own notes, consider the existing strategic leadership questions that are based on the text, such as: What problem are we trying to solve?  What are we trying to avoid?  These questions will become your strategic leader toolbox

Simons, R (2010). Seven strategic questions: a simple approach for better execution. Harvard Business School. Retrieved from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6493.html

• To further hone your strategic questioning skill, and read about seven strategic questions essential in the business world. In what way do these questions apply to leaders and organizations at the same time?

Part 1

You have used the process of Appreciative Inquiry to formulate your personal mission, vision and values statements. The Appreciative Inquiry is usually employed for organizations and you will be bringing it into practice now in this written assignment.

Imagine you are a strategic leader who has to develop a mission, vision, and values statement of a NEW (imaginary) company. You will have to decide on a product or service that this new company would like to offer and clearly state it in your essay.

The three statements for the company must be new and original, and NOT a copy of your personal statements.

 DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR WORK PLAN:

1. Revisit your personal mission, vision, and values statement that you wrote for the discussion forum assignment. Re-read the Appreciative Inquiry process as explained in the discussion forum assignment but you now have to read it through the eyes of a strategic leader who has to create a mission, vision and values statement for an imaginary company.
2. You have to decide on a product/service you would like to provide. State it at the beginning of your essay.
3. Go through the Appreciative Inquiry process and write up mission, vision, and values statement for this new company.

The paper should be between 2-3 pages, organized and referenced in accordance with APA format.

Part 2

Appreciative Inquiry is a four-step process conducted in the present of envisioning the future that fosters improved performance and positive relationships. This process is based on positive memory from the past:

1. DISCOVER Recall a moment in your life when you felt the happiest, the most successful and the most fulfilled. Picture it. Describe it—what was it, what were the surroundings, who were the witnesses to your moment of glory? What was the weather? Where were you? What did you do to get yourself to this moment? How did you feel? What conditions were present? Why did you feel so happy, successful and fulfilled? What worked well for you then? Who was there and to whom was it that you could not wait to describe this achievement/experience?
2. DREAM: Answer the following questions: What would you want to happen in the future so that your feelings of fulfillment, success, and happiness could be repeated but with a fresh, future outcome? What is your professional dream? What would you want to achieve?
3. DESIGN: What specific planning and prioritizing do you need to do to get to your dream? Make a detailed list.
4. DELIVER: What steps (tactics) you would need to take to ensure the implementation (execution) of your proposed design? List all the major steps for each and every item from your list composed in step three of this Appreciate Inquiry process (DESIGN).

1. You have created your personal mission, vision and values statements by using the Appreciative Inquiry. Please submit your 3 statements to the discussion forum and explain what your experience was by going through this four-step process in terms of what was easy for you and what wasn’t? Also specify any questions that were especially valuable and helped you in formulating your mission, vision, and personal values statements. How did these questions help you to become strategic? Which of these questions would be of value to help others develop and why? Please also note the questions of other students-especially the ones that are different from yours and write them in your learning journal.

DF post requirements:  

• Minimum of 300-words for your original post, use your own words only and reference your sources.

 

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Leadership confronts you as a controller and questions the need for an internal control system.Write a report justifying the need for this system when controls are already in place with insurance and portfolio approach.Explain why current approaches are valid but why an internal system will be more beneficial.You need provide a practice in validating your proposal to leadership. You gain experience in justifying change and expenditures in order to mitigate risk while validating your ideas. Your responses may vary; they must provide a persuasive argument as to why current approaches are valid but why an internal system will be more beneficial. Responses must be well written and to the point.

 

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