Why is Leadership an important but controversial area of Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example

Why is Leadership an important but controversial area of Organisational Behaviour? of Introduction This paper seeks to discuss why leadership is an important but controversial area of organisational behaviour. More particularly, this paper will attempt to justify the importance of leadership in relation to the attainment of organizational goals. This will also try to overcome arguments about the claims that leadership is irrelevant to organizational effectiveness. 1.1. Leadership and Organization Behaviour, defined Leadership for the purpose of this paper refers to managerial process in which the manager of an organization guides, supports, motivates subordinates so the latter can fulfil their duties accordingly to the plan and goal of the organization (Andersen, 2013). In short, it refers to the process of accomplishing organizational goals through others. Organization behaviour, on the other hand, is about studying the impact of individuals including leaders, groups, and structures on how people behave within organizations. Its roles includes promoting organizational performance, organizational development and also the satisfaction and performance of people in the organization (Barling & Cooper, 2008). 3. This paper then asserts that leadership is important to promoting organization effectiveness or organization performance because of the important functions that a leader would do to attain goals and objectives. 3.1 It is the leader that defines that tasks and how to do the same through other people in organizations (Northouse, 2010). In doing the same, he would most probably need followers or group of individuals who would have to work with the said leader. It is clear that the leadership must be very if tasks need to be done by people, who would have to influenced, directed and motivated to action. Without a leader who calls the shots, it is hard to see a group moving towards a direction. 3.2 A leader has to perform the group function of maintaining discipline (Northouse, 2010). To do this is one of most critical way of influencing behaviour. There are rules on behaviour that must be obeyed. Even the simple requirement to wear uniform is way to impose discipline in the organization. If employees may not be directed to follow certain office rules like wearing the proper uniform, it would be harder to cause these employees to move towards organizational objectives. 3.3 The leader needs to build team spirit (Northouse, 2010). The need to maintain discipline is balanced by the need to build team spirit. The leader will cause his followers to be doers or sub-implementers of what said leader desires to happen because the followers believe on the importance of the cause, vision or mission. Commonality in interest would make sure that team effort is required to be successful. It is hard to move people without setting the direction. By setting the direction, the leader will have to influence how people would behave in manner that would support the move. 3.4 Leaders motivate people in the organization (Northouse, 2010). To keep followers motivated towards the goal is the mark of transformational leader. The followers must believe the cause, the fulfilment of which will lead to their own self-fulfilment and benefits. In a business organization, whose objective includes profitability, stakeholders would be properly directed if they are made to understand the wastage of resource must be prevented and keeping the business liquid, solvent and profitable will be a common interest of these stakeholders including the employees. 3.5 A leader needs to have the appropriate style in management (Northouse, 2010). If leader has the appropriate style under given organizational circumstance, it would be easier to cause his/her people to move. As to whether employees would support the same would come in how the organization runs in terms of its philosophy and business model. For example in an environment that puts customers first, then the a corresponding style of sensitivity to customers’ feelings and comments is consistent to the operation of the business 3.6 A leader is necessarily a manager who would make things happen (Northouse, 2010). If he is to make things happen he has a strong way to controlling performance of subordinates towards the goal set. In an organizational setting, employees are paid their salaries in exchange for the services rendered to the company. As leadership has set the objectives, it would be easier to follow that services rendered by employees should add value to the customers that the company serve. It is expected that goals must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. The fact that goals are specific would mean leading followers to do what needs to be done. Measuring the performance of everyone in relation to required tasks is the responsibility of an effective managerial leader. 3.7 Leaders are to communicate to subordinates (Northouse, 2010). To communicate is the only way to tell them how to attain the goals set for the organization. Decision is made from available options and these things must be communicated along with reason for choosing such the preferred option... 3.8 The long-term view of organizations requires leaders to lead people to vision (Northouse, 2010). Corporations make long-term investments which would take years to realize. To see what will happen twenty years from now is not easy. Thus when corporations make commitment to put up a big building that will last for years, it is committing resources to be tied up. It is an expansion and could mean financing the same from either the shareholders of long-term creditors. To cause stakeholders in the organization to see the long-term benefits which would sustain the life of the organization, is leadership. This is the reason why leaders need to be visionaries or have long-term view of the future. In organizations, shareholder value is never meant to be realized in the short-term. It would take a leader to articulate how to attain the target over periods of time to subordinates. Claims for irrelevance of leadership to organizational effectiveness are actually trying to connect profitability with leadership (Andersen, 2013). But profitability may be just being a periodic goal. Shareholder value is better measure as reflected in the price per share and whether the company could sustain its life over many years. A company may be profitable for five years yet it may not be enough to say that the leader who was there at the helm was effective if the stock price of the company is not increasing as well over time. 3.8 Arguments against the claim for irrelevance. Andersen (2013) argued by irrelevance of leadership or organizational effectiveness citing previous researches on the connection of leadership and organizational effectiveness. He mentioned about the reviews of outcome studied (citing Richard et al., 2009; Hiller et al., 2011) where it was shown that the question of how leadership has caused changed in organizational outcomes. In his own study, he manifested that less than half or 105 articles out of 282 researchers failed to address the impact of leadership on organizational effectiveness. In other words, his finding is not conclusive and failure of previous researchers to emphasize the strong connection does not mean that leadership is irrelevant and no organizations have existed without leaders. It must be readily evident to see CEO being paid more than ordinary employees simply because they produce results. The experiences of companies especially publicly listed ones can overcome this claim of irrelevance. 4. Conclusion This paper found the strong connection between leadership and organizational behaviour. Leadership is important because it is one of the factors that would strongly influence how people in the organization behave towards a direction – the attainment of goals and objectives. The apparent lack of strong evidence that would show the direct relationship of leadership and organizational effectiveness cannot be anchored alone on failure of previous researches on leadership, which failed to really connect the same with objective measures of organization effectiveness such as profitability. Moreover, supporters of irrelevance could not rebut the favourable inferences about the influences made by leaders on the success of attainment of goals of organizations by presenting a more solid research or evidence that organizations could function without leaders. Good leaders may not have done alone the positive changes experienced by organizations as the decisions could have been mainly caused by circumstances including the recommendations and analysis of subordinate, yet the need to make decision by the exercise and predominance of leadership is undeniable. References: Andersen, J.A. (2013). Leadership Research: Where Irrelevance Prevails. Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, November 2013 Barling, J & Cooper, C. (2008). The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Behavior: Volume One: Micro Approaches (Google eBook). SAGE, Jul 24, 2008 Hiller, N. J., DeChurch, L. A., Murase, T., & Doty, D. (2011). Searching for outcomes of leadership: A 25-year review. Journal of Management, 37, 1137-1177. Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE Reilly, C, et al (2010). How leadership matters: The effects of leaders alignment on strategy implementation. The Leadership Quarterly 21, Elsevier. Richard, P. J., Devinney, T. M., Yip, G. S., & Johnson, G. (2009). Measuring organizational performance: Towards methodological best practice. Journal of Management, 35, 718- 804. Read More