132 management and leadership

Question 1

what is meant by management

Answer 1

managers control/direct workforce to follow principles and values set by the leaders.
leaders preform similar functions to managers but in addition they inspire and motivate the workforce , consider long term strategy, the challenges facing the business and how to overcome them.

Question 2

functions of management

Answer 2

-plan-> resources are where they need to be
-lead-> encouraging employees to carry out tasks effectively
-coordinate -> ensuring employees/departments are working efficiently to complete tasks
-control
-organise

Question 3

what is management by objectives (MBO)

Answer 3

-objectives are defined within an organisation
- objectives are passed down/ divided down the hierarchy
- everyone working together to meet the same objectives
- employees are involved with the goal setting and how to reach them-motivated to carry out responsibilities effectively !!!

Question 4

MBO process

Answer 4

1. managers set organisational objectives
2. tell (cascade) objectives to employees
   3.. monitor employees progress towards set objectives
   4.evaluate performance
3. reward performance eg.bonuses
   6.setting new objectives

Question 5

(+) of MBO

Answer 5

• improved management
• improved financial control
  -motivates workforce- >employees are motivated as they’re involved in the goal setting , employee empowerment, increased job satisfaction/commintment
• improved communication systems

Question 6

(-) of MBO

Answer 6

• time spent on setting objectives rather than working towards them
• managers can end up focusing on short term objectives rather than long term term ones
• unrealistic objectives-> demotivating ->not all levels of hierarchy are involved in setting objectives they may not be committed to them

Question 7

what is McGregor’s theory

Answer 7

he put forward the idea that there are two broad types of manager; theory X and theory Y

Question 8

describe Theory X managers

Answer 8

Theory X managers believe:
- employees are only motivated by money
- employees do not want to be involved in the decision making process
- workers must be supervised /controlled or quantity/ quality of output will fall
- workers have little ambition/wish to be unknown to management

Question 9

describe Theory Y managers:

Answer 9

Theory Y managers believe:
-workers can’t be motivated by money alone -seek more than financial satisfaction from their jobs
-workers are ambitious-willing to train/contribute to improve their chances of promotion
- workers will be more motivated if trusted/left alone
-workers want to be noticed and appreciated

Question 10

consequences of Theory X and Y

Answer 10

X-> demotivated staff if too strict- high staff turnover- damaging business reputation in the long term
Y->too much freedom- stray away from key objectives- less motivated may take advantage of a more relaxed working environment-not do tasks properly

Question 11

evaluate importance of effective management on stakeholders (customer)

Answer 11

-(+) benefit from better customer service as employees are better informed and motivated to provide a better service
-(-)however it might not be that important for inferior products (aldi,lidl) as customers primarily shop based on price
-> therefore good management which might cost more either leads to an increase in price, or is ignored by customers as they are motivated by price

Question 12

evaluate importance of effective management on stakeholders (employees)

Answer 12

-(+) can increase levels of motivation. Mayo would suggest if the employee and manager have strong relations motivation will increase
-(-) however, depends on employees attitude towards the work that they have to do. If the employees are money motivated , managers have little impact

Question 13

evaluate importance of effective management on stakeholders (shareholders)

Answer 13

-(+) there is a direct impact on worker productivity- reducing unit costs and increasing profit margin which leads to increased dividends.
-(-) however, if employees require extra training and costs then this could increase short term costs/short term profit

Question 14

what is meant by leadership

Answer 14

being a good leader involves getting people to understand and believe in your vision to work with you and achieve your goals

Question 15

describe autocratic leadership

Answer 15

This style of leader gives orders which are to be obeyed without question:
- communication is up-down (hierarchy)
- used when employees are unskilled,not trusted or their ideas aren’t valued
- minimum consultations/ rewards
-likely to be theory X

Question 16

describe democratic leadership

Answer 16

This type of leader encourages employee’s participation in decision making

Question 17

(+)/(-) of democratic leadership

Answer 17

(+)employees feel valued (Mayo-better human relations) , employees -more engaged and likely to do the work towards goal that they had a part in setting -making goals realistic (Vroom)

(-) depends on the type of workers-low skilled workers may not be skilled enough to be able to contribute to decisions, slows down decision making

Question 18

what is paternalistic leadership

Answer 18

Similar to autocratic in that they make all the decisions but paternalistic leaders take into account the welfare of employees/convince them that decisions are made in the best interest of all concerned

Question 19

(+)/(-) of paternalistic leadership

Answer 19

(+) more effective than autocratic-employees welfare/interets taken into account -improving human relations (Mayo), leads to better decision making as employees experience are considered

(-) demotivating as these is less employee involvement in decision making (Mayo, Maslow), slows down decision making-need to consider employees long term development, disagreements on what are the employees best interests

Question 20

what is laissez-faire leadership

Answer 20

The leader has minimal input and employees are left to get on with their jobs, carry out activities freely

Question 21

(+)/(-) of laissez-faire leadership

Answer 21

(+) allows greater innovation due to the empowerment passed to employees-increases self esteem (Maslow) as they are trusted to complete the job with less supervision and pressure

(-)depends on the ability of the worker to deal with the extra responsibility-some employees might feel overwhelmed and under-supported. employees might loose productivity and quality of output may fall

Question 22

what is bureaucratic leadership

Answer 22

Leadership where decisions can only be made if rules and procedures are followed (hierarchal, co-ordination, strong chain of command , controlled)

Question 23

(+)/(-) of bureaucratic leadership

Answer 23

(+) allows for stricter legal adherence preventing legal actions from being taken if decisions aren’t made in correct manner, increases attention to detail when ming decisions-not acting repulstivey

(-) extremely slow- opportunities may be missed, customers may be frustrated-slow customer service, little autonomy for staff

Question 24

describe F.Fiedler’s leadership theory

Answer 24

• studied the personality and characteristics of leaders.
  -his model states there is no one best style of leadership, instead a leaders effectiveness is based on the situation .
  -two factors: -leadership style, situational favourableness

Question 25

what are the 2 leadership styles of F.Fiedler’s theory

Answer 25

-relationship oriented- these leaders care much more about emotional engagement with the people they work with, but sometimes to the detriment of the task and results.

-task oriented-leaders are focused on getting the job done without worrying about the rapport with their followers

Question 26

what are the situations found in F.Fiedler’s theory

Answer 26

-leader-mentor relations- the level of trust and confidence the team has in you-> a leader who is more trusted and has more influence with the group is in a more favourable situation

-task structure-refers to the type of task your doing(unclear/unstructured) ->these tasks or where the team leader has little knowledge of how to achieve the tasks is viewed unfavourably

-leader’s position power- the amount of power you have to direct the group and provide reward/punishment-> the more power, the more favourable

Question 27

describe Wright and Taylor’s theory

Answer 27

They believed it was possible to improve a leader’s performance by education-> they were concerned with improving leadership skills so provided a checklist for improving work performance

Question 28

checklist for improving work performance (Wright V Taylor)

Answer 28

1. what is the individuals doing/not doing which is influencing performance (behavioural problem)?
2. is the problem really serious-enough to spend time and effort on?
   3.reasons for the performance problem?
   4.actions taken to improve problem?
3. sufficient info to choose good solution?
   6.select most appropriate solutions
4. solution worthwhile in cost benefit terms?

Question 29

conclude Wright V Taylor’s theory

Answer 29

-They did not expect the checklist would find the solution to the problem , as more information would be needed
-purpose- provide a means of thinking over a problem systematically /cost benefit considered

Question 30

importance of leadership to a business

Answer 30

Good leadership means that:
-employees are motivated/productive->better output and happier->low labour turnover
-order are likely to to be followed
-most suitable style will be used in particular situations (Wright and Taylor)

Question 31

importance of leadership to a business depends on

Answer 31

-the leadership style adopted may not be suitable for all employees
-many factors which affect the success of the business eg.good marketing mix, financial control
-the leadership style might not be appropriate in all situations eg.a crisis

Question 32

appropriateness of various leadership styles/theories

Answer 32

. leadership styles are all appropriate in different circumstances->the use of an inappropriate style can lead to a workforce that is insufficiency directed/ or frustrated by too much control

. Fielder believes that leaders should match the leader to the task-> difficult to see how one individual can have the appropriate leadership style for several types of business situations

. Wright V Taylor believe leadership can be taught and it might be appropriate for one individual to have the appropriate style for different types of business situations

Question 33

appropriateness of leadership will depend on

Answer 33

-the business situation
-skill level of workforce