MS-01-MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS AND BEHAVIOUR

Q.1 Discuss various task of a professional Manager. Describe the survival and growth options which your organization has adopted or any organization you are familiar with. Describe the organization you are referring to.

Profession is 'A disciplined group of individuals who adhere to high ethical standards and uphold themselves to, and are accepted by, the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognized, organized body of learning derived from education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others

Dalton E. McFarland defines professional management as “a process, by which managers create, direct, maintain, and operate purposive organizations through systematic, coordinated, cooperative human effort.”

Introduction

Managers are responsible to supervise and take charge of the activities and productivity of their workers. They play an important role in managing the performance of their staff. They are also involved in employee selection, career development, succession planning and working out compensation and rewards. They are responsible for the growth and increase in the organizations' finances and earnings.

Various tasks of professional Manager

Decision making.

A manager makes organizational decisions and handles a variety of problems that arise on a daily basis. You have to identify the problems, create choices and alternative courses of actions.

The daily routine of making decisions include determining how to approach an employee who is not performing or lacking progress and how to bring about change to the organization and its team. It involves thinking and planning out strategies on how to improve quality and also being cost conscious and effective.

Goal setting, planning and organizing.

In order for you to achieve long term goals and commit to strategies for substantial earnings, you have to communicate the vision of the company to your subordinates. You break down and clarify the goals that each team or individual have to perform and assign work schedules and strategies.

Having goals and planning out the directions allow for effective time management and saves cost and resources.

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Guiding and giving directions.

Your role as the head of an organization is to guide and give direction so that the team can perform effectively. You offer on the job coaching, training and support. In order for individuals to meet the needs and objectives, they may need extra input, information or skills

Empowering others.

The performance of your team depends on your abilities to empower them. How well a person performs depends on his motivation. Your task is to encourage and coach others to improve themselves and the quality of their work. You need to instill in them the desire to excel and accept responsibility and self-management

Communication and people skills.

As the boss, your ability to develop trust and confidence, resolve problems and issues will result in a productive, goal oriented work group. You should encourage your team to ask for help, get involved and participate. Practice empathy and respect their personal values, opinions and ideas. Listen and respond and offer praises and encouragements when they make progress. By doing that you will enhance their self-esteem and they will offer you the cooperation.

A manager is the middle person in between the top management level and the team that reports to him. He has to ensure that communication is smooth and conveyed clearly to avoid misinterpretations and dissatisfaction.

Evaluating and analyzing.

You need to have the capacity to evaluate and examine a process or procedure and decide on the best choice to produce an outcome. You look at the importance, quality and values and then taking the best approach.

You are also expected to track the progress of each individual's activities and effectiveness, review them and offer feedback and counseling.

Provide satisfaction among the staff and the customers.

Your subordinates are happy when they know that their supervisors provide them with the necessary tools and resource. They feel secure if the management puts priority on health, safety and cleanliness issues. You satisfy customers by giving good quality of service or product and take care of their needs.

Being an exemplary role model.

Managers who set high standards or goals and achieve them are great leaders by examples. The ability to tolerate stress and remain poise under job pressures and still maintain a high activity and energy level are contagious.

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Survival and growth in Organization

Survival and growth in the atmospheres of intense competition in the market is due to technology advancement and globalization of business. Consumer awareness and expectation of quality of product and services had increase tremendously. Acquiring and retaining the best talent available in the market and developing human capital. Changing expectation of employee in terms of career, quality of work life and share in companies’ profitability

Introduction

National Real Estate Company (herein after referred to as NREC) is a Kuwaiti Shareholding Company listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange since 1984. NREC was incorporated in 1973 with an initial capital of KD 5 million, which reaches now about KD 81 million as of June 30, 2008.NREC is specialized in developing, trading and managing real estate properties in Kuwait, which is its main core of business, and is considered one of the main lead real estate companies in Kuwait and the whole region. Since its privatization in 1995, at which the Kuwaiti government had sold its stake in NREC, “Mr. Jamil Sultan Al Essa” was elected as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company, who undertakes the mission of growing NREC towards solid and remarkable local presence in Kuwait as one of the main companies in the real estate industry in Kuwait. Such strategy had proved its success very significantly at that time, as NREC had developed the first waterfront project in Kuwait at Sharq area in Kuwait city directly on the seaside, which is currently known as “Sharq Market”, which is considered one of the landmarks of Kuwait, and is still maintain its position as one of the most attractive locations for visitors and shoppers despite the emerging new malls during last period. Also, NREC was managing the Kuwait Free Trade Zone at Shuwaikh Port

Decision Making Process on Survival & growth

NREC is a dynamic organization. It enjoys the Trust and Confidence of its investors by continually creating maximum wealth for its stakeholders. Its growth engine is powered by the management’s high thinking and the strategic implementation of its projects & plans.

However, NREC is not aloof to the changing business environment. The current recessionary trends around the world have affected NREC also. The recent projects undertaken by NREC have also come under review under the present circumstances. Though the projects are robust & well planned and are currently under various stages of execution, they are being reviewed amidst the challenging situations being faced by the economy.

Presently, the NREC has shelved its plans to go ahead with the new projects and is concentrating on its present projects. As soon as the time becomes ripe for the new projects; NREC shall again take up the projects full steam and shall continue creating wealth for its stakeholders through its growth-oriented plans.

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Effect of survival and growth decision on different parties in an organization

Conclusion

The above strategic actions taken by the NREC management are based on the principles mentioned below as postulated by management theories

I. Survival is fact of remaining alive or in existence, especially after facing life-threatening danger, or of continuing in a present position or office where as growth is targeted to wards the process of becoming larger and more mature through natural development

II. Survival is to ensure that share holder have safe return on their investment with view of optimum uses of minimum resources of organization. On other hands growth aims towards profit maximization from available resources thus it utilizes opportunity cost of economical resources

References:

1. Management – Henry Fayol

2. Management Reports –National Real Estate Co. Kuwait K.S.C

(Total Words 1,281)

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Q.2 Express various Models of decision making process. Describe the model which is most suitable to your organization or any organization you are familiar with. Describe the organization you are referring to.

Process is "an organized group of related activities that together create a result of value to customers."

A process is a group of activities, not just one. Value is created not by single activities, but by the entire process in which all these tasks merge in a systematic way for a clear purpose.

Activities are related and organized. They present a stream of relevant, interconnected activities that must be performed in sequence – the right things in the right way – to produce the desired outcome.

All the activities in the process work together toward a common goal. "People performing different steps of a process must all be aligned around a single purpose, instead of focusing on their individual tasks in isolation."1

Processes are not ends in themselves. They have a purpose; they create and deliver results that customers care about.

"A business process is the complete and dynamically coordinated set of collaborative and transactional activities that deliver value to customers."

Decision making is a process of first diverging to explore the possibilities and then converging on a solution(s).The Latin root of the word decision means "to cut off from all alternatives". This is what you should do when you decide

The Decision Making Process

We selected a six step decision making process that synthesized the decision making models used in existing training, not just ethics training.

The model is descriptive of how people intuitively make decisions and makes the steps explicit.

The six steps of this natural, intuitive decision-making process are:

1. Define the problem 2. Identify available alternative solutions to the problem

3. Evaluate the identified alternatives

4. Make the decision

5. Implement the decision

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6. Evaluate the decision

Characteristics of Decision making Processes

1. Large and complex, involving the end-to-end flow of materials, information and business commitments.

2. Dynamic, responding to demands from customers and to changing market conditions.

3. Widely distributed and customized across boundaries within and between businesses, often spanning multiple applications on disparate technology platforms.

4. Long-running – a single instance of a process such as "order to cash" or "develop product" may run for months or even years.

5. Automated – at least in part. Routine or mundane activities are performed by computers wherever possible, for the sake of speed and reliability.

6. Both "business" and "technical" in nature – IT processes are a subset of business processes and provide support to larger processes involving both people and machines. End-to-end business processes depend on distributed computing systems that are both transactional and collaborative.

7. Dependent on and supportive of the intelligence and judgment of humans. People perform tasks that are too unstructured to delegate to a computer or that require personal interaction with customers.

8. Difficult to make visible. In many companies decision processes have been neither conscious nor explicit. They are undocumented, embedded, ingrained and implicit within the communal history of the organization, or if they are documented or definition is maintained independently of the systems that support them.

Different types of decision making models

1. Rational decision making models

Rational decision making models involve a cognitive process where each step follows in a logical order from the one before. By cognitive, I mean it is based on thinking through and weighing up the alternatives to come up with the best potential result

Some people assume that decision making is equivalent to problem solving. Some decisions however are not problem oriented and I've taken this into consideration when describing the general outline of a rational model below

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Steps in a rational decision making model

1. Identify the situation/decision to be made

2. Recognize the important criteria for the process and the result

3. Mull over all possible solutions

4. Find out all consequences of these solutions versus the likelihood of satisfying the criteria

5. Choose the best option

Pros and cons

A rational decision making model presupposes that there is one best outcome. Because of this it

is sometimes called an optimizing decision making model. The search for perfection is

frequently a factor in actually delaying making a decision.

Such a model also presupposes that it is possible to consider every option and also to know the

future consequences of each. While many would like to think they know what will happen, the

universe often has other plans! These models require a great deal of time and a great deal of

information. And, of course, a rational decision making model attempts to negate the role of

emotions in decision making

2. Tuckman Model

Tuckman's Forming Storming Norming Performing Model (Tuckman Model ) in 1965, Dr. Bruce Tuckman published his Forming Storming Norming Performing model . He added a fifth stage, adjourning, to the Tuckman Model in the 1970's. The Forming Storming Norming Performing theory is an method to describe team development and behavior. The model explains that as the team becomes mature and able, and the leader changes their style, relationships are formed. The team may produce a successful leader, or group members may move on to where they become more comfortable.

Within the model, relationship development progression is:

1. Forming 2. Storming 3. Norming 4. Performing .

At stage one, forming, there is high dependence on leader for guidance and direction. There is little agreement, other than what comes from the leader. Individual roles and responsibilities are

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unclear. Leader must be prepared to answer lots of questions about the team's purpose, objectives and relationships. Decisions may be made with input from individuals, and egos flare when their opinions are not selected. Processes are often ignored. Members test both the system system and leader. The Leader directs.

At stage two, storming, decisions don't come easily within the group. Some of the traditional group decision pitfalls exist, and the leader must guide the team through them. Team members jockey for position as they try to establish themselves in comparison to other members and the leader. Purpose begins to solidify, but this is the strongest and most viable phase for temper flare-ups and disagreements. Sub-teams may form, and members may perceive themselves on the inside or outside. Power Struggles are a daily fact. Compromises begin to show promise and maturity. The Leader continues to coach and attempt to reach consensus.

At stage three of the Tuckman Model, norming, agreement and consensus is used to form the team. The team begins to respond well with the leader. Roles and responsibilities become clear and accepted. Big decisions are now made by the group decisions. Consensus is easier to reach. Smaller decisions come from individuals or small teams within the group. The team may engage in fun and social activities. There is general respect for the leader and some leadership is shared by the team.

At stage four, performing, the team has matured and can function both tactically and strategically. Each team member knows what is going on and who is doing what. The team shares vision and can function without assistance from the leader.

Decisions may be delegates to team members. Tuckman's model indicates that the team may focus on exceeding goals, and can make decisions on their own with criteria set by the leader. Disagreements occur occasionally, but are resolved within the team positively.

Infosys Technologies Limited (BSE: 500209, NASDAQ: INFY) is a multinational information technology services company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It is one of India's largest IT companies with over 100,000 professionals (including subsidiaries) as of Sep 30, 2008. It has nine development centers in India and over 30 offices worldwide. Its annual revenues for the fiscal year 2007 - 2008 exceeded US$4 billion with a market capitalization of over US$30 billion

Organizational Example:

Technology use and its effectiveness: Whether to provide better service experience to clients across geographies or to re-energize the operational processes, technology intrusion has become inevitable. For a business empire spanning geographies, the use of IT to entangle the segregated pieces of organizational governance with holistic risk and compliance management is never more appreciated than under current marketing and trade constraints feeling the glare of a segregated market structure. It is understood by now that a greater amount of synergy is required between these parameters to achieve effective decision-making on issues that impact strategic step execution and directly affect the organization’s market standing, reputation and stakeholder confidence. That makes a

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strong case for an integrated infrastructure, which presents the analytical attributes of the above processes in a cohesive fashion for tangible use at the executive level.  

 In order to build a solid foundation for a strategic decision-making process, it is important that the financial services business appreciates these processes, visualizes their interrelated significance and presents them to decision-makers, as depicted in Figure 2. While doing so, there are some challenges to be expected, but those are welcome if we analyze the long-term dividends to the organization.

References:

1. Management theory – Howard Smith and Peter Fingar

2. Information Management Services Report- INFOSYS

3. Decision making model By - Dr. Bruce Tuckma

(Total Words 1,465)

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Q.3 Explain the process of conflict. Discuss the impact of conflict on the performance of an organization you are working in or any organization you are acquainted with .Describe the organization you are referring to

Conflict: “A battle, contest of opposing forces, discord, antagonism existing between primitive desires and instincts and moral, religious, or ethical ideals.”

Conflict occurs when two or more people oppose one another because their needs, wants, goals, or values are different. Conflict is almost always accompanied by feelings of anger, frustration, hurt, anxiety, or fear.

Conflict management is the practice of identifying and handling conflict in a sensible, fair, and efficient manner. Conflict management requires such skills as effective communicating, problem solving, and negotiating with a focus on interests.

Conflict and Its Causes

Many people try to avoid conflict at all costs. Others tend to blame someone or something else For causing it. These responses do not resolve conflict and may make the situation worse. Conflict is a normal part of life and there are many issues that could cause conflicts to arise within community organizations. Conflict can occur between employees, committee members, ordinary members, volunteers, clients or the community.

If not resolved, conflict can be highly destructive. However, committees can take steps to minimize potential situations of conflict before they arise or to resolve conflict constructively.

1. Misunderstandings The nature, aims and objectives of a job Differing expectations about how things should be done Work conditions and wages The different responsibilities of management and employees Differences in values, beliefs, needs, or priorities

2. Poor Communication

Communication relies on clear and complete messages being sent as well as being received. Problems can be reduced by paying attention to how well you send messages and how well you receive them. Both managers and workers are responsible for ensuring that these issues are considered. There are many ways to improve information flow and communication. Here are some suggestions:

Keep message books/day books Keep policy books which include all policies as decided at meetings Hold regular staff/management meetings for passing on information

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Have frequent employee meetings Ensure correspondence is available for everyone to see

Unclear communication from staff to clients is another common source of conflict. It is vital that "house rules" are written down for clients, and that there are no variations in the interpretation of those rules. Distressed clients can very quickly become confused and angry if they feel that they are not being listened to - especially by those who say they care.

3. Lack Of Planning

Lack of planning often means an organization moves from one crisis to the next. This sense of disorganization and lack of direction can be stressful and can create many problems including misunderstandings. The time spent in planning will be recouped many times over in the more efficient use of workers' time, and in real and long-term benefits to clients.

4. Poor Staff Selection

Inappropriate selection of staff can result in ill-feeling and conflict. Feelings of ill-will may be increased by dismissing staff members.

While staff conflict problems can never be entirely avoided, they can be minimized with good staff selection procedures.

Process of Conflict or Dispute

"Disputes of right", where people or groups are entitled by law, by contract, by previous agreement or by established practice to certain rights. Disputes of right will focus on conflict issues such as employment contracts, legally enforceable matters or unilateral changes in accepted or customary practices.

"Disputes of interest", where the conflict may be a matter of opinion, such as where a person or group is entitled to some resources or privileges (such as access to property, better working conditions, etc). Because there is no established law or right, a dispute of interest will usually be solved through collective bargaining or negotiation.

Stages of conflict

The handling of conflict requires awareness of its various developmental stages. If leaders in the situation can identify the conflict issue and how far it has developed, they can sometimes solve it before it becomes much more serious. Typical stages include:

Where potential for conflict exists - in other words where people recognize that lack of resources, diversity of language or culture may possible result in conflict if people are not sensitive to the diversity.

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Latent conflict where a competitive situation could easily spill over into conflict - e.g. at a political rally or in the workplace where there are obvious differences between groups of people.

Open conflict - which can be triggered by an incident and suddenly become real conflict.

1) Signs of conflict between individuals

In the organization leaders and members should be alert to signs of conflict between colleagues, so that they can be proactive in reducing or resolving the conflict by getting to the root of the issue. Typical signs may include:

colleagues not speaking to each other or ignoring each other contradicting and bad-mouthing one another

deliberately undermining or not co-operating with each other, to the downfall of the team

2) Signs of conflict between groups of people

Similarly, leaders and members can identify latent conflict between groups of people in the organization or the community and plan action before the conflict becomes open and destructive:

cliques or factions meeting to discuss issues separately, when they affect the whole organization

one group being left out of organizing an event which should include everybody

groups using threatening slogans or symbols to show that their group is right and the others are wrong

Resolve conflict situations

1. Collective bargaining

Especially in workplace situations, it is necessary to have agreed mechanisms in place for groups of people who may be antagonistic (e.g. management and workers) to collectively discuss and resolve issues. This process is often called "collective bargaining", because representatives of each group come together with a mandate to work out a solution collectively. Experience has shown that this is far better than avoidance or withdrawal, and puts democratic processes in place to achieve "integrative problem solving", where people or groups who must find ways of co-operating in the same organization, do so within their own agreed rules and procedures.

2. Conciliation

The dictionary defines conciliation as "the act of procuring good will or inducing a friendly feeling". South African labour relations legislation provides for the process of conciliation in the

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workplace, whereby groups who are in conflict and who have failed to reach agreement, can come together once again to attempt to settle their differences. This is usually attempted before the more serious step of a strike by workers or a lock-out by management is taken; and it has been found useful to involve a facilitator in the conciliation process. Similarly, any other organization (e.g. sports club, youth group or community organization) could try conciliation as a first step.

Conflict between reliance brother & effect on business

The Reliance Group, founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest private sector enterprise, with businesses in the energy and materials value chain. Group's annual revenues are in excess of US$ 34 billion. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest private sector company in India.

Backward vertical integration has been the cornerstone of the evolution and growth of Reliance. Starting with textiles in the late seventies, Reliance pursued a strategy of backward vertical integration - in polyester, fiber intermediates, plastics, petrochemicals, petroleum refining and oil and gas exploration and production - to be fully integrated along the materials and energy value chain

Conflict/dispute

Reliance is owned by a clutch of 14 companies, which in turn are owned by a complex web of investment outfits. The company has been witnessing unprecedented acrimony at the top with the differences between Anil and Mukesh, sons of the late Dhirubhai Ambani, the group's founder having reached a point of no return. Anil has been criticizing the corporate governance practices in Reliance Industries and Reliance Infocomm, companies controlled by Mukesh. In particular, Anil is unhappy with some share transfers that have taken place after Dhirubhai's death. Meanwhile, Mukesh is upset by Anil's stance over the infusion of funds into the Reliance Infocomm project. Mukesh also objects to Anil's lavish lifestyle, his association with film stars and political ambitions, which he feels are detrimental to the group. The class is asked to discuss three different options which have been suggested by legal experts to settle the matter, and figure out where Dhirubhai had gone wrong. This case brings out the importance of how and excellent firm can be badly hit by interpersonal conflict.

Effect of conflict on business

1. Resulted in immediate collapse in market share price2. Fatalities the shareholder and investor confidence 3. Leads to uncertainty & ambiguity in employees mind about the job security4. Division of Mega organization

References:

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1. Conflict Management Skills By- Gregorio Billikopf2. Conflict Resolve model By Roger Fisher 3. Time of India Article Reliance brother conflicts

Total words (1,482)

Q.4 Explain the various channel of communication. Describe the importance of grapevine communication. Illustrate from an organization you are familiar with. Describe the organization you are referring to

Communication “Any act by which one person gives to or receives from person information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes” The art of communication Julia Scherba

Communication as process “of transferring information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by both sender Communication is the process of transferring information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by both sender and receiver.”

Communication Channels (Organizational Communication) there are different ways of circulating or transmitting communication. Types of communication may be different according to the media and means adopted. Communication is the flow of messages from communicator to receiver. In a. Very tall network and flat network information flows in different directions. The organization is concerned with 'the flow of communication. CLASSIFICATION

Thus the total communication set-up may broadly be classified as' follows:

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1. According to Organizational Structure and Function

Formal Communication. Informal Communication.

2. According to 'Direction of flow

Downward Communication

Upward 'Communication

Horizontal Communication or Lateral Communication or Cross-Wise

Formal Communication :

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An official communication having official backing and sanction.A precise communication channel following a fixed pattern rather than occurring without control. Under formal system of communication the message flows according to a fixed and prescribed way. Formal. Communication is both oral and written, but mostly black and white. They originate from the formal organizational structure. They are related to the position in the organization. As such they are linked to all sorts of formalities, rules, procedures etc, Opposed to grape wine or informal communication.

Reasons for Rules: Rules are framed and enforced, in formal system. There are a number of causes for formulating formal rules and formal channels of communication. According to Myers and Myers formal rules and systems of communications exist in an' organization at least for the following reasons:

To control and measure outputs and to articulate the rules them selves. To coordinate complex activities in the system and relate the subsystems to each other

and to the organization. To regulate responses to other systems outside to the environment, and to competing

systems so a high level of predictable behavior may be maintained and consistency encouraged.

To coordinate resource allocation of people money and things.

Merits of Formal Communication

1. Correct Information: There is no place in formal communication to spread incorrect information as well as rumours. The dangers, which arise on account of incorrect information, would not take place in formal communication. By definition formal indicates sustentative evidence or facts. It may not be damaging when circulated and acted upon it.

2. Official Banking: The formal communication is always an official communication having official support and sanction. This method may not lead to distracted information because there is official sanction and may not even turn into gossip and rumours.

3. Existence of Authority: Formal communication through channels and commands promotes respect by subordinates to their superiors. In other words it maintains authority of the line officers – subordinates. Under this system there are officially recognized and fixed positions associated with duties and responsibilities. The deliberately created communication rules help in exercising control over subordinates. The superiors can command subordinates to get the things done.

4. Efficient Communication: Prompt and accurate flow of information is the function of sound communication. This can be achieved under formal communication method. It is sound and proper method of channelizing information. There is always direct contract between the parties and relationship is always formal and official.

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Demerits of Formal Communication

1. Delay: The formal network of communication takes more time to pass information. Thus formal channel is not a spontaneous and flexible and hence it. Would take more time in transmitting information.

2. Internal Means Only: Formal Communication represents natural desire of the management in the organization to interact and communicate with each other. In this superior directs the subordinates.

3. Information Overload: Information overload represents overload of work with heavy information. In a complex business organization there is always many series of messages and information to be tackled.

4. Absence of Outside Interface: Interface with other sources of information about the organization external to the organization also usually taking place in the real world situation. In a formal communication there is no interface with the outside in any way. Formal communication is transmitted only by virtue of one's position in the organization structure. It is concerned between superior-subordinate relationships arising out of officially recognized positions. .

B. Grapevine Communication or Informal

Informal communication is also called as grapevine. This type of communication arises on account of Informal relationship between the persons. Informal communication grows up spontaneously from personal and group interest. In, such circumstances communication is said to be only informal. Informal communication is characterized and may be conveyed by a simple glance, nod, smile, gesture and even mere silence. Informal channel is the most effective one and transmits information with considerable speed. It can pass both correct information as well 'as rumours. It all. Depends upon group leader and his honesty and, credibility and trustworthiness. Informal communication network is formed to transmit, messages quickly. H. Koontz and O Donnell

Small informal groups are formed based on work and social relationship. In this there are no formal organizational hierarchies of superior and subordinates. They are not formed based on positions and lines of authority. The organization chart or structure does not determine the informal relation. In this type of communication there are no formalities, procedures, rules etc. It represents the absence of official backing and there is no authority and control. It is called grapevine because which denotes informal means of circulating information or gossip.

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Management can utilize this channel for, effective and speedy communication. Certain messages are not suitable to calculate by formal means.

According to H. Koontz and O Donnell "The most effective communication results when managers utilize the informal organization to supplement the communication channels of the formal organization.

Merits of Informal Communication

1. Morale Uniting Force: Grapevine acts as a driving force to unite the work force in cases of common matters. The grapevine serves as a morale uniting force when there are high interest in new policies, innovations in procedures or personnel, and sufficient data about the organization without any value judgments.

2. Save Time: The informal communication helps to save time in circulating information. Grapevine is spontaneous and flexible; it would not take more time in circulating message.

3. Immediate Response: Response from informal communication can be interacted immediately; immediate response from given information transmitted to the receiver is necessary to the management to take decisions. The advantage of immediate response can be obtained from informal communication.

4. Public Relations: Public Relations are another wing of the management function. Informal relations are essential for effective public relations. Public relations fail because lack of informal relations and informal communications. Thus informal communication is the key to the successful public relations.

5. Creation of Ideas: Informal communication generates ideas and offer appropriate suggestions that are proved more helpful. This advantage is not available in case of formal communication. In a formal set up interactions must take place according to prescribed rules, procedures line and authority.

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Consistency of communication in an Organization (General Electrical Group -GE)

As one of the largest and most diverse companies in the world, GE has flattened its management structure in order to improve communication and build a more cohesive culture around its values.Employees are schooled from day one about the values and GE approach to business“People get the message very early. You might be in Australia, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have the same focus on the same values. So we try to get that message to them very early on so there is no confusion about what we mean when it comes to values versus execution.

This is particularly important when it comes to acquisitions. In such instances, GE firstly brings all employees into the fold and communicates with them about the GE values and approach to business. In some cases the business CEO may send their own local communication on a weekly or monthly basis to further update their employees on the status of the business and key values and behavior they are reinforcing.

Consistency in the values is also important when communicating across different countries and cultures. “Depending on where you’re located in the world or which business you’re in, there can be considerable differences from a public or commercial perspective. But there is no difference in terms of our common and global policies and how we run the business – particularly when it comes to compliance,”

References:Organizational Communication Part –I by H. Koontz and O: DonnellCommunication Management by M. T. Myers and G. E. MyersConsistency of communication General Electric Company (GE)

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Total words (1,497)

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Q.5 Explain different leadership style. Is there any difference between successful and effective leader? Discuss with suitable example from an organization you are familiar with. Describe the organization you are referring to

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience.

Leadership can be define as “the capacity to establish direction and to influence and align others toward a common goal, motivating and committing them to action and making them responsible for their performance” F.W. Taylor’s

Leadership is the process of influencing others towards the attainment of certain pre-defined goals. Leadership style refers to the methodology adopted by the leader to carry out the roles and responsibilities of the leadership process. The paper examines leadership and discusses trait, behavioral, contingency, and contemporary approaches to leadership

Principles of Leadership

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have to

understand your b e , k n o w , and d o , attributes. Seeking self-improvement means

continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-study,

formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.

2. Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid

familiarity with your employees' tasks.

3. Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, and

planning tools.

4. Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the

importance of sincerely caring for your workers.

5. Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with not only them, but also

seniors and other key people.

6. Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good character

traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.

7. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished - Communication is

the key to this responsibility.

8. Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization, department,

section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a group of people doing their

jobs.

Factors of leadership

There are four major factors in leadership:

Follower

Different people require different styles of leadership. For example, a new hire requires more

supervision than an experienced employee. A person who lacks motivation requires a different

approach than one with a high degree of motivation. You must know your people! The

fundamental starting point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs,

emotions, and motivation. You must come to know your employees' b e , k n o w , and d o

attributes.

Leader

Leader must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can

do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader who determines if a leader is successful. If

they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful

you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being

followed.

Communication

you lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, when you "set

the example," that communicates to your people that you would not ask them to perform

anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or

harms the relationship between you and your employees.

Situation

All are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must use

your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each

situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if

the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove

ineffective.

Various leadership styles

Autocratic

In the autocratic style, the leader takes decisions without consulting with others. The decision is made without any form of consultation. In Lewin's experiments, he found that this caused the most level of discontent.

An autocratic style works when there is no need for input on the decision, where the decision would not change as a result of input, and where the motivation of people to carry out subsequent actions would not be affected whether they were or were not involved in the decision-making.

Democratic

In the democratic style, the leader involves the people in the decision-making, although the process for the final decision may vary from the leader having the final say to them facilitating consensus in the group.

Democratic decision-making is usually appreciated by the people, especially if they have been used to autocratic decisions with which they disagreed. It can be problematic when there are a wide range of opinions and there is no clear way of reaching an equitable final decision.

Laissez-Faire

The laissez-faire style is to minimize the leader's involvement in decision-making, and hence allowing people to make their own decisions, although they may still be responsible for the outcome.

Laissez-faire works best when people are capable and motivated in making their own decisions, and where there is no requirement for a central coordination, for example in sharing resources across a range of different people and groups

Participative Leadership

A Participative Leader, rather than taking autocratic decisions, seeks to involve other people in the process, possibly including subordinates, peers, superiors and other stakeholders. Often, however, as it is within the managers' whim to give or deny control to his or her subordinates, most participative activity is within the immediate team. The question of how much influence others are given thus may vary on the manager's preferences and beliefs, and a whole spectrum of participation is possible, as in the table below.

< Not participative Highly participative >

Autocratic decision by leader

Leader proposes decision, listens to

feedback, then decides

Team proposes decision, leader

has final decision

Joint decision with team as

equals

Full delegation of decision to team

 

There are many varieties on this spectrum, including stages where the leader sells the idea to the team. Another variant is for the leader to describe the 'what' of objectives or goals and let the team or individuals decide the 'how' of the process by which the 'how' will be achieved (this is often called 'Management by Objectives').

The level of participation may also depend on the type of decision being made. Decisions on how to implement goals may be highly participative, whilst decisions during subordinate performance evaluations are more likely to be taken by the manager

Successful versus Effective Leader

Successful leadership has been defined as the ability to get others to behave as the manager intends them to behave. The job may get done, and the coach’s needs may be satisfied, but the players’ needs are ignored.

In effective leadership, the athletes perform in accordance with the coach’s intentions and, at the sometime, find their own needs satisfied. The positive feelings of the subordinates usually contribute to long-term benefits such as team loyalty, support, and enjoyment of participation, an

important component of intrinsic motivation. For instance, team captains might feel better about their role if the coach gave them a sense of importance, perhaps a significant responsibilityLike calling team members to remind them about an upcoming event. Resolving conflicts in the privacy of a coach’s office rather then in the presence of teammates contributes to team and coach loyalty and is an effective leadership technique. Effective coaches are con-

Leaders who are Successful but not effective

Leaders who are Effective

Leadership within GE

GE’s global CEO Jeffrey Immelt takes one month out of the organization each year and travels from business to business to assist in the strategic HR planning process. Sheppard believes this is testament to the emphasis that GE places on its people planning processes and their importance to the management of the company.

“A leader can energies others – they can create an environment that propagates vision, and their team will execute on that vision. More importantly they inspire and motivate others, they are constantly listening to others in order to empower employees, and they’re expected to follow through on what they require of their teams,”

“But the real difference for the cream of the leadership crop is in those who are prepared to listen to feedback and act on it. Everybody gets feedback within GE, but the people, who want to be successful, regardless of their background, are those who actually hear what the organization, employees and peers are telling them, and they change their behavior. This is critical at the senior level, as some people will start with strength in one particular area and need to grow in another.”

References:

1. Bass, Bernard (1989). Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research. New York: Free Press

2. Leadership in organization by F.W. Taylor’s

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