2.1 Understanding management, leadership and decision making

Question 1

What are managers responsible for?

Answer 1

Ensuring tasks are completed in the day-to-day running of the business

Question 2

Characteristics of managers in a small business

Answer 2

The leaders and managers are often the same people

Question 3

What happens to leaders and managers once a business grows

Answer 3

Their roles become distinct from one another

Question 4

What is the role of a leader in a growing business

Answer 4

Provide a focus on long-term vision and direction is often needed

Question 5

What is the role of a manager in a growing business

Answer 5

Focus on ensuring tasks are completed, and deadlines are met, in such way to support the long-term vision and direction of the leader

Question 6

Roles of a manager, as a decision maker

Answer 6

• Set objectives so that success criteria are available to later establish whether or not a task has been completed successfully
• Review and analyse data so that adaptations to current processes ca be made if required
• Select strategies and implement these to ensure processes are working efficiently and are supporting overall objectives
• Review the impact of their decision and use this review to inform the setting of future objectives

Question 7

Factors which influence styles of management and leadership

Answer 7

• External environment ( appropriate for the business)
• Culture of business (best suited to the business’ needs)
  e.g = in businesses with a very clear and well-defined culture, a change of leadership style may be difficult to introduce without resistance from the majority of employees
• Skill level of workforce (may or may not want workforce to be in decision making process = value the knowledge of skilled and qualified staff)

Question 8

Autocratic leadership

Answer 8

An approach by leaders or managers to keep control of decision making and ensure that employees are closely supervised

Question 9

When is an autocratic approach most suited

Answer 9

If a business has a largely unskilled workforce so a manager or leader may wish to maintain decision making powers

Question 10

Democratic leadership

Answer 10

An approach by leaders or managers to discuss and consult with employees, delegate decision making authority and empower employees through their involvement

Question 11

When is a democratic approach most suitable for a business

Answer 11

In businesses which employ highly skilled and highly qualified employees, such as universities, Google & Microsoft, a manager or leader may decide that the contributions of such staff could be highly valuable to the business. Employees can contribute their expertise to the decision making process

Question 12

What does Blake Mouton’s Theory grid classify

Answer 12

Styles according to whether a manager or leader places more emphasis on concern for people or concern for task completion

Question 13

Blake Mouton’s Grid:
Low Concern about task, Low concern about people

Answer 13

Impoverished

Question 14

Blake Mouton’s Grid:
Low Concern about task, High concern about people

Answer 14

Country club

Question 15

Blake Mouton’s Grid:
High concern about task, low concern about people

Answer 15

Produce or perish

Question 16

Blake Mouton’s Grid:
High concern about task, High concern about people

Answer 16

Team leader

Question 17

Blake Mouton’s Grid:
In the middle

Answer 17

Stuck in the middle

Question 18

What is country club leadership

Answer 18

Real focus on business’s employees, though this may be an enjoyable place to work, it can be detrimental to the business’s levels of production

Question 19

Example of a business with country club leadership

Answer 19

Virgin- some employees have unlimited holidays - ensures employee satisfaction but comes at cost in terms of production and efficiency

Question 20

What is team leader

Answer 20

Values both the importance of task completion and people. People are satisfied, feel valued and production is also a focus.

Question 21

What is produce or perish leadership

Answer 21

So focused on production that the effect of this on employees is of no concern to the business in any way. e.g call centres- accused of focussing heavily on no. of outbound calls made p/h with no concern for staff well-being

Question 22

What is impoverished leadership

Answer 22

Ineffective - often difficult to find examples for this type of leader as leaders in this category usually fail and do not become well known

Question 23

What is middle of the road / stuck in the middle

Answer 23

some focus on task completion and people; neither gains the advantage of a full focus so there will be a poorer performance in each area

Question 24

What did Tannenbaum and Schmidt make to show theories on management

Answer 24

The management continuum

Question 25

What is to the left of the management continuum

Answer 25

• managers maintain full authority and decision making power
• managers communicate such decisions to employees who have to comply
• similar to an approach of autocratic leadership

Question 26

What is to the right of the management continuum

Answer 26

• employees are given authority ad decision making power
• democratic leadership

Question 27

Stages of the continuum (left - right)

Answer 27

• manager alone makes a decision and tells employees
• manager sells their decision to employees
• manager presents decision t employees and asks for questions
• manager presents decision to employees and is open to change
• manager presents an issue and asks for suggestions
• manager outlines limits of an issue and asks employees to make a decision
• manager allows employees to make their own decision, within limits

Question 28

What leadership focus increases from left to right on the management continuum

Answer 28

employees (freedom)

Question 29

What leadership focus decreases from right to left on the management continuum

Answer 29

manager (authority)

Question 30

When is appropriate to change style of leadership

Answer 30

• state of emergency = managers/leaders may prefer to retain decision making and authority
• fast communication required = e.g BP’S Deepwater Horizon oil spill (killed 11 people, 2010)
• if employees’ views are valued, managers/leaders may adopt position on right so these views can be gathered