Chapter 4

Leadership, management and supervision

Chapter objectives

Theories of management

Authority&

responsibility

Leadership theories

Leadership styles

Leaders?

Nature and importance of leadership

Leadership is an interpersonal influence directed toward the achievement of a goal.

Conscious activity, concerned with setting goals and inspiring people to provide commitment to achieve the organisation’s goals

Management

‘Effective use and co-ordination of resources such as capital, plant, materials and labour to achieve defined objectives with maximum efficiency’

Overall aim: getting things done

Delegating to other people rather than doing everything themselves

Management can be considered as a:

Function – responsibility for directing & running an org

Process – activities by which internal & external resources are combined to achieve the objective of the org

Discipline – body of knowledge (science & art) Profession – ‘a type of higher grade non-manual

occupation with both subjectively & objectively recognized status, possessing a well-defined area of study or concern & providing a definite service after advanced training & dev.’

Supervision

A supervisor is a type of manager whose main role is to ensure that specified tasks are performed correctly and efficiently by a defined group of people, none of them managers.

Duties & responsibilities

Allocating the tasks to, & organizing the work of those people for whom he/she is responsible

Supervising the work of subordinates & being responsible for achieving targets in the most efficient way

Introducing newly appointed employees to their section

Maintaining discipline Handling personal problems & settling grievances Dealing with unsatisfactory performance Informing mgt Conveying to, & interpreting for, mgt the feelings &

views of employees.

Functions of a supervisor

Planning Organising Controlling Communication Problem-solving and decision-making Motivating and maintaining discipline

Manager vs. leader

A leader can be a manager, but a manager is not necessarily a leader.

Manager Leader

Administers Innovates

Relies on control Inspires trust

Eye on bottom line Eye on the horizon

Theories of management

Classical writers on mgt: mainly concerned with efficiency FAYOL: Universality of mgt principles: proposed

universal rules TAYLOR: Principles of scientific mgt: efficient

methods

Human relations school: MAYO: Reaction to scientific mgt: Human behaviour

Modern writers: Drucker, Mintzberg

Classical school

‘One best way’ To organise the firm To do the individual job

Emphasis on the task rather than the person doing it Main features

Belief in one controlling central authority Specialisation of tasks Fair pay and good working conditions, decided by mgt Clear lines of command

Taylor

Underlying principles of scientific mgt are:

The development of a true science of work. Standard method for performing each job Carefully select workers with right abilities for the

job Carefully train the workers to the job Provide proper incentives Support workers by planning their work and by

smoothing the way as they go about their jobs

Implications of Taylor’s scientific management

Workers should be set high targets, but should be well rewarded for achieving them.

Working methods should be analysed ‘scientifically’, including the timing of work.

Management should plan and control all the workers’ efforts, leaving little discretion for individual control over working methods.

Fayol: The functions of management

To plan – examining the future and drawing up a plan of action – the elements of strategy

To organise – build up the structure, both material and human, of the undertaking

To command – maintaining activity among the personnel

To co-ordinate – binding together, unifying and harmonising all activity and effort

To control – seeing that everything occurs in conformity with established rule and expressed command.

Fayol – 14 rules of managerial conduct

Division of work Authority Discipline Unity of command Unity of direction Subordination to the

general interest Remuneration

Centralisation Scalar chain Order Equity Tenure of personnel Initiative Esprit de corps

Human Relations School – Elton Mayo

Hawthorne Experiments: effects of the changes in physical working conditions

The human relations movement emphasized: Social factors at work Groups Leadership Informal organisation Behaviour of people

Human Relations School – Elton Mayo

School explicitly recognised the role of interpersonal relations in determining work behaviour, and it demonstrated that factors other than pay can motivate workers.

Modern writers

Behaviouralism Concerned with personal adjustment of the individual within the work organisation & the effects of group relationships & leadership styles.

Contingency approach (‘no one best approach’) Takes into consideration other schools of thought, however emphasises the need to adapt to suit particular circumstances.

Modern writers cont.

Systems approach

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

ENVIRONMENT BOUNDARYENVIRONMENT

Modern writer – Peter Drucker

Establish yardsticks

The Manageracc. to Drucker

Motivate & communicate

Develop people Organise

Set objectives

Mintzberg

Like Fayol, Mintzberg observed what managers actually did at work. What he found however was different from the 5

functions that Fayol had suggested. He built up a model of typical managerial

behaviour, which looked at different roles. These roles came from different tasks involved His model identifies the skills the manager needs

in order to develop greater effectiveness. 

Interpersonal roles

Information roles

Decision-makingroles

1. Figurehead

2. Leader

3. Liaison

4. Monitor

5. Disseminator

6. Spokesperson

7. Entrepreneur

8. Disturbance handler

9. Resource allocator

10. Negotiator

 

INTERPERSONAL ROLES-LEADING

ACTIVITIES

1. Figurehead Symbolic role, manager is obliged to carry out social, inspirational, legal & ceremonial duties

2. Leader Manager’s relationship with subordinates, esp. in allocating tasks, hiring, training & motivating staff

3. Liaison Development of a network of contacts outside the chain of command

INFORMATIONAL ROLES-

ADMINISTRATING

ACTIVITIES

4. Monitor Manager collects & sorts out information which is used to build up a general understanding of the organization & its environment as a basis for decision making.

5. Disseminator To spread the information widely

6. Spokesperson Managers transmit information to various external groups by acting in a PR capacity, lobbying for the org., informing the public about the org’s performance, plans & policies

DECISION ROLES-FIXING

ACTIVITIES

7. Entrepreneur Managers should be looking continually for problems & opportunities when situations requiring improvement are discovered.

8. Disturbance Handler A manager has to respond to pressures over which the department has no control e.g. strikes

9. Resource Allocator Choosing from among competing demands for money, equipment, personnel & mgt time, e.g. approving exp. on a project.

10. Negotiator Managers take charge when their org. must engage in negotiating with others. In these organizations, the manager participates as figurehead, spokesperson & resource allocator.

 

Managerial authority and responsibility

AUTHORITY: Is the right of a person to ask someone else to do

something & expect it to be done. It is another word for legitimate power Fayol’s definition of authority is: “the right to give

orders & the power to exact obedience” It is the right that an individual has to require certain

actions of others, i.e, it is the right to use power.

AUTHORITY

It can arise from any of the 3 main sources: FORMAL: where the org. bestows the authority

upon the individual by means of their job title – goes with the job.

TECHNICAL: where the authority arises due to personal skills/special knowledge/training – goes with the skill/knowledge.

PERSONAL/ INFORMAL: not recognised by any org. chart. It exists because the person is accepted, respected, & popular.

AUTHORITY

When analysing the types of authority which a manager/department may have, the following terms are often used: Line Authority Staff Authority Functional Authority

LINE AUTHORITY

Is the authority a manager has over a subordinate. Line of authority & responsibility are Direct &

Vertical. Rigid relationship between superior & subordinate

throughout the organisation.

STAFF AUTHORITY

Authority one manager/department may have in giving specialist advice to another manager/department, over which there is no line authority.

It does not entail the right to make/influence decisions in the advise department.

E.g. HR dept advising the accounts manager on interviewing techniques

FUNCTIONAL AUTHORITY

A hybrid of line and staff authority, whereby a manager setting policies and procedures for the company as a whole has the authority in certain circumstances, to direct, design or control activities/procedures of another department

E.g. finance manager has authority to require timely budgetary control reports from other line/departmental managers

RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibility is the obligation a person has to fulfill a task, which he has been given.

Responsible: ‘liable to be called to account, answerable’

Because responsibility is an obligation owed, it cannot be delegated.

No superior can escape responsibility for the activities of subordinates, for it is the superior who had delegated authority & assigned the duties.

POWER

It is the ability to get things done. It is a useful concept to explain why different

people exert different degrees of influence. As with leadership or management, power is the

relationship between the more and the less powerful.

The exercise of power is a social process.

POWER

The essence of power is that the persons exercising power are enabled to assume that power by their followers.

So, although a person may not have any formal authority, he is able to assume power over others through the willingness of those to act as followers.

A manager may have formal authority but having lost the respect of his staff, is unable to exercise power/influence over them.

Leaders and power

Five Sources of PowerFive Sources of Power

CoerciveCoercive RewardReward LegitimateLegitimate ExpertExpert ReferentReferent

Leadership power refers to the capacity of a leader to influence work actions or decisions

TYPES/BASES OF POWER

LEGITIMATE/POSITION POWER Derived from being in a position of authority

within the organisational structure – according to the position they hold within the organisation

TYPES/BASES OF POWER REWARD POWER

A person has power over another because they can mediate rewards for them such as promotions, recommendations.

PHYSICAL/COERCIVE POWER This enables a person to mediate punishment

for others: for e.g, to dismiss, suspend, reprimand them, or make them carry out unpleasant tasks.

TYPES/BASES OF POWER REFERENT POWER

It is based upon the identification with the person who has the resources or the desire to be like that person.

EXPERT POWER It is based upon one person perceiving that the

other person has expert knowledge of a given subject & is a recognised authority in a given situation.

TYPES/BASES OF POWER

PERSONAL POWER A person may be powerful simply by force of

personality, which can influence, inspire people.

NEGATIVE POWER This is the power to disrupt operations, such

as strike…

Theories of leadership

Trait theories Action-centred approach (Adair) Contingency approach (Fiedler) Transformational leadership (Bennis) Managing change (Kotter) Leadership to mobilise (Heifetz)

Trait theories

Leaders are born not made

Lists of leadership qualities include: Physical traits Personality traits Social traits

Adair's Action-Centred Leadership Model

Setting objectives

Planning tasks

Allocation of responsibilities

Setting performance standards

Coaching

Counselling

Development

Motivation

Communication

Team building

Motivation

Discipline

Achieving Tasks

Building the Team

Developing Individuals

Contingency-based theories

The overall situational leadership approach suggests that the leader must act in a flexible manner to be able to diagnose the leadership style appropriate to the situation, and to be able to apply the appropriate style.

No one right way to lead that fits all situations

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory

Two leadership styles were proposed: Task-oriented (PDMs) Person-oriented (PCMs)

Whether the person-oriented or task-oriented is expected to be more effective depends on the favourableness of certain factors: The relationship between the leader and the group (e.g

trust, respect, etc.). The degree to which the tasks performed by the group

were structured. The leader’s position/power.

Transformational Leadership (Bennis)

Transactional leaders View relationship with their followers in terms of a

trade: they give followers the rewards they want in return for service, loyalty & compliance.

Transformational leaders View their role as inspiring and motivating others to

work at levels beyond mere compliance. Only transformational leadership is said to be able to change org culture & create a new direction.

Transformational Leadership cont.

Bennis identified 5 avenues of change:1. Dissent & conflict

2. Trust & truth

3. Cliques & cabals

4. External events

5. Culture or paradigm shift

Managing change

Kotter set out the following change approach to deal with resistance to change: Participation & involvement Education & communication Facilitation & support Manipulation & co-optation Negotiation & agreement

Leadership to mobilise (Heifetz)

Heifetz argued that the role of leader is to mobilise people to change

Leaders have 2 choices when resolving a situation:

1. Technical change – the application of current knowledge, skills & tools to resolve a situation

2. Adaptive change – required when the problem cannot be solved with existing skills and knowledge and requires people to make a shift in their values, expectations, attitudes & habits.

Leadership to mobilise cont.

Heifetz suggests 4 principles for adaptive change:1. Recognition that change requires an adaptive

approach2. Adaptive change causes unhappiness in the

people being led3. Keep focused on the real issue of realising the

change4. Ensure the people who need to make the

change take responsibility & face the reality of doing the work for change themselves.

Leadership stylesBlake & Mouton

Researched managerial behaviour

2 basic dimensions of leadership: Concern for production (Task performance) Concern for people

Blake & Mouton’s Managerial Grid

Ashridge Management College

Suggest 4 distinctive management styles: Tells – autocratic dictator Sells – the persuader Consults – partial involvement Joins – the democrat

Strengths and weaknesses of each style

Chapter summary

Introduction•Leader

•Manager•Supervisor

Theories of mgt

Authority and responsibility (French & Raven)

Leadership styles

Classical school (Taylor, Fayol)

Human Relations school (Mayo)

Modern writers (Drucker, Mintzberg)

Blake and Mouton

Ashridge

Theories of leadership:

Trait theories

Situational approach

Contingency approach (Fiedler)

Transformational leadership (Bennis)

Managing changer (Kotter)

Leadership to mobilise (Heifetz)