Leadership styles

Is a leader different from a manager? It is often said that a leader looks further ahead than a manager. McGregors theory x and theory y managers. An attempt to reconcile the views of Maslow and Taylor. It is important Douglas McGregor identified two styles of management, which he called theory X and theory Y. IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A THEORY ABOUT MANAGERS AND NOT WORKERS. It is about how managers view their workers, and treat them not what actually motivates theworker. Theory X: Who believed that their workers were basically lazy, could not be trusted and had to be controlled, as they would avoid work if they could. Theory Y: Believe that their workers do enjoy their work, and are willing to contribute ideas and effort. This means a Theory Y manager is more likely to involve their workers in decision-making. His conclusion was that this was a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you treated workers in one way then they would respond by becoming like that. Theory Y managers would be pleasant and interesting to work for. Theory X managers were more common when they had a large part time, perhaps student work forces, workers who do not see a long-term future with the firm. OUCHI Following on from McGregors work, Ouchi contrasted Japanese firms with more bureaucratic Western firms. He added a theory Z, which focused on the whole organisation. A theory Z organisation was charecterised in the following ways Long-term employment (often for a lifetime) Fairly slow process of promotion Development of company specific skills Participative decision-making by consensus Collective decision-making BUT with individuals ultimately responsible. Broad concern for welfare of co-workers. Generally, there are 5 main styles of leadership although it is important to remember that everyone manages in slightly different ways. Democratic Often delegates authority, they like to involve their workers in the decisions, ask for opinions, and often use two-way communication. It does not mean that they always take a vote. It means they ask for opinions, it is still the manager who decides. One of the drawbacks of this style of leadership is that people can get fed-up if they are asked their opinion, but it never gets acted upon. It can also take time to make a decision. Autocratic Autocratic managers know what they want doing, and how they want it done. They do not ask for advice or opinions, they tell people what to do. They tend to communicate in a top down, one-way fashion. It does not sound good for motivation, but it does mean the manager has control over what is happening, and different parts of the organisation respond in the same way. Management by Objectives (MBO) The leader agrees clear goals with the staff, provides the necessary resources, and allows the day-to-day decisions to be made by more junior staff. This means that authority can be delegated, and yet control is kept. Workers now what is expected of them, and the resources available to do. So they can get on with it, and feel trusted. The manager knows what they want from the workers, and is therefore happy letting them getting on with it too. Laissez-faire means let it be. The leader has only minimal input, and the staff take the majority of decisions without reference to the leader. This can mean that the organisation can lack direction, and can be uncoordinated. Laissez faire may occur because of a weak leader, or it may be an intentional; brave
IB Business & Management Leadership theories/styles notes Neil.elrick@tes.tp.edu.tw

decision to give workers as much responsibility as possible. It is particularly appropriate in a team of creative people. It leads to independent employees, who are not afraid to voice their opinions. Situation Leadership The idea that the best leaders are those that can adopt a range of styles of leadership depending upon the situation that they are dealing with. This model was first developed by Victor Vroom. This has a number of implications for firms. Firstly, that managers will require much more training, to allow them to deal with people in ways that are not their natural way. People may have trouble dealing with a leader who changes their style of leadership. They will not know where they stand. They may resent being asked their opinion on some things, and being instructed what to do for others. There are numerous theories on leadership. Blakes grid: A means of describing, and evaluating different management styles. He stated that managers could be placed on a 9 by 9 grid (giving a total of 81 different management styles.), with concern for production (the emphasis placed on accomplishing the task in hand) on the x axis, and concern for people (the emphasis placed on the needs of workers/subordinates), on the y. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Country club manager Team manager

Middle of the road

The Impoverished Manager 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The authority/c ompliance manager 9

The impoverished manager, low concern for production and the needs of the employees. They will do the minimum to avoid the sack. Too much attention to production will annoy the staff, too much attention to the needs of staff will stop production getting done. The authority/compliance manager, Dont care about the goals of staff so long as the work gets done. Tend to be autocratic, with staff regarded as a means of production. Country club manager, believes that contented staff will get the work done, will avoid conflict. Often good ideas are rejected if it is felt that they it will cause bad feeling. Middle of the road, Sways between concern for people and production. Under pressure they will revert towards authority, and then swing back towards concern for staff. Team managers; create an environment where workers goals are in line with those of the company. Problems will be discussed, and directly confronted to find solutions. Rensis Likert Took the work of McGregor and of Blake a stage further. He developed a four stage model of management. 1. Exploitive authoritative, where decisions are imposed, motivation is based upon threats, there is little teamwork, and responsibility is centred at the top of the organisation. 2. Benevolent authoritative, a condescending form of leadership. Motivation is based upon a system of rewards; there is only limited teamwork and communication. 3. Consultative, leadership involving some trust of subordinates, motivation is based upon both reward and involvement in the decision making process. Communication takes place both horizontally and vertically. Responsibility for achieving goals is spread more evenly through out the organisation.

IB Business & Management Leadership theories/styles notes Neil.elrick@tes.tp.edu.tw

4. Participative group, leadership involving trust and confidence in subordinates, motivation is based upon rewards for achieving agreed goals. Responsibility is spread through out all levels of the organisation. Contingency theory (Fielder) Fielders model ranked managers leadership depending upon their response to a questionnaire on how they ranked their least favourite co-worker on a number of qualities. For example, Helpful/frustrating, friendly/unfriendly, distant/close. Each category was given a score of 1 to 8. With high scores being better A leader with a low score gained satisfaction from achieving targets. Establishing good relations with subordinates was not important. One with a high score gained satisfaction from building good relations with subordinates and acted in a supportive and considerate manner. This has been now reconsidered, and the better style of leader is now thought to depend upon how favourable the leadership situation is. This would depend upon the how much the leader is trusted; how clear the task is; and how strong the leaders position is within the organisation. The more favourable the leadership situation is, then the manager with the higher score will be more effective, and vice versa. Tannerbaum and Schmidt Suggested that leadership is dependent upon a trade off between the use of authority by the manager and the amount of freedom given to subordinates. A range of manage styles can be seen from this.

From this they identified 4 main types of manager. Tells Tells subordinates what to do Sells Tells subordinates what to do, but realises there may be some resistance, and so tries to persuade them he is right. Consults Looks for advice before making a decision. Joins Manager defines problem, and then joins in with the team to make a decision. T&S suggest that there are three forces in deciding what type of leader is desirable and practicable. Forces in the manager, personality, values, confidence etc Forces in the subordinates, need for independence, readiness for responsibility, interest in work etc Forces in the situation, type of organisation, group effectiveness, nature of problem, and time pressure.

IB Business & Management Leadership theories/styles notes Neil.elrick@tes.tp.edu.tw

Management Styles
The exploitive - authoritative system, where decisions are imposed on subordinates, where motivation is characterized by threats, where high levels of management have great responsibilities but lower levels have virtually none, where there is very little communication and no joint teamwork. The benevolent - authoritative system, where leadership is by a condescending form of master-servant trust, where motivation is mainly by rewards, where managerial personnel feel responsibility but lower levels do not, where there is little communication and relatively little teamwork. The consultative system, where leadership is by superiors who have substantial but not complete trust in their subordinates, where motivation is by rewards and some involvement, where a high proportion of personnel, especially those at the higher levels feel responsibility for achieving organization goals, where there is some communication (both vertical and horizontal) and a moderate amount of teamwork. The participative - group system, which is the optimum solution, where leadership is by superiors who have; complete confidence in their subordinates, where motivation is by economic rewards based on goals which have been set in participation, where personnel at all levels feel real responsibility for the organizational goals, where there is much communication, and a substantial amount of cooperative teamwork. This fourth system is the one which is the ideal for the profit oriented and human-concerned organization, and Likert says (The Human Organization, Mcgraw Hill, 1967) that all organizations should adopt this system. Clearly, the changes involved may be painful and long-winded, but it is necessary if one is to achieve the maximum rewards for the organization. To convert an organization, four main features of effective management must be put into practice: Features of Effective Management The motivation to work must be fostered by modern principles and techniques, and not by the old system of rewards and threats. Employees must be seen as people who have their own needs, desires and values and their selfworth must be maintained or enhanced. An organization of tightly knit and highly effective work groups must be built up which are committed to achieving the objectives of the organization. Supportive relationships must exist within each work group. These are characterized not by actual support, but by mutual respect. The work groups which form the nuclei of the participative group system, are characterized by the group dynamics: Members are skilled in leadership and membership roles for easy interaction. The group has existed long enough to have developed a well established relaxed working relationship. The members of the group are loyal to it and to each other since they have a high degree of mutual trust. The norms, values and goals of the group are an expression of the values and needs of its members. The members perform a "linking-pin" function and try to keep the goals of the different groups to which they belong in harmony with each other. Factors influencing leadership style Personality of the leader. A good communicator would be well suited to a democratic style, whilst a decisive individual who likes being in control is better suited to an autocratic style. Type of workers. Highly trained workers will not like an autocratic style. Do workers see a long term future with their employer? For example, part time student workers in a supermarket are more likely to be treated in an autocratic way because they have no real long term interest in the success of the business, so do not care if they do the job well or not. The larger the group the harder a democratic style is to implement. The nature of the task, and the time available to do it in. The longer the time, the more likely consultation is. Creative input is better suited to laissez-faire. The culture and tradition of a business. Workers will have learnt ways of behaving and of how their organisation works. A new comer will find it hard if they do not conform to this. Also, many managers are promoted from within, so they will follow the culture already established in the business. Payment method
IB Business & Management Leadership theories/styles notes Neil.elrick@tes.tp.edu.tw