Management Interview - Research Paper Example

? Management Interview Management Interview The People Interviewed The first interview was conducted with Mr. Lloyd of McDonalds. As the manager of the multinational’s local outlet, his main duty is to maintain quality service to his consumers. As a part of it, there is employee and personnel supervision, customer service, and food sanitation and preparation. The second interviewee was Mr. Mark of The Body Shop. Responses to interview questions When the question as to what he perceives as the difference between management and leadership, if any, Mr. Lloyd responded that management, according to him, is about administering the day to day functioning of the firm. This might include developing newer business plans, preparing budgets, and observing day to day functions. One the other hand, he believes that leadership means to guide in a particular direction. In other words, according to him, leadership is the relationship that the leader develops with the followers in order to energize them to take up the required changes. In order to make his statements more digestible, Mr. Lloyd offered an explanation. According to him, if his subordinates follow his orders because they have to do so according to the company rules, he is just a manger. On the other hand, if his subordinates are eager to hear to him and to follow him, or if he can bring in a change in his organization without the support of an order from the above, he is a leader. Similarly, Mr. Mark was of the opinion that subordinates follow leaders out of emotions. He says a leader invokes various emotions in employees ranging from hope, fear, respect, and happiness and so on. According to him, while managers rule out of regulations, leaders rule out of aesthetic sense developed in subordinates. He pointed out the difference between his managerial and leadership roles. As a manger, there is planning, budgeting, evaluating, and facilitating functions. At the same time, as a leader, he identifies talents in various employees, utilize various ways of motivation including rewards, reason, and relationships, resorts to coaching to ensure that the employees remain motivated and convinced, and finally build trust so that implementation of various strategies are met with less criticism and doubt. When Mr. Mark was asked as to what are certain similarities between both, he was able to identify certain important similarities between them. The first one is that both management and leadership aim to achieve certain goals. According to him, the second similarity can be found in the fact that both management and leadership require subordinates to achieve the goals by motivating employees. The last point he could identify was that both leadership and management are ways to link the top management and subordinates. Then the question turned towards the management and leadership style Mr. Lloyd has adopted in his organization. It was surprising to note here that he believed in a combination of autocratic and paternalistic leadership styles. He pointed out the fact that though democratic approach can be much better in an organization where the manager would be able to discuss and decide the future course of action, in such a multinational organization which is highly centralized in nature where all the decisions come from the above, he does not have much room for practicing democratic way of leadership. In such cases, manager only acts as a supervisor to see that the changes are implemented, and there is no provision to discuss with the employees and to get their opinions on the implementation. When I asked the question if he could not adopt bureaucratic approach instead, his reply was that this could make his position vulnerable as there is the chance of the staff challenging his authority. My next question was regarding certain organization development interventions Mr. Mark uses as a part of his OD role. The response was that he has incorporated survey feedback, sensitivity training, team building, and management objectives as ways of intervention. The next query was regarding the qualities required to effectively implement organization development. The response was rather long with a number of skills identified, including the ability to set vision and strategy, good communication skills and communication strategy, understanding the behavioral styles of various people, ability to understand cultural diversity, and the ability to conduct effective meetings. To the last question as to what strategies they adopt to bring in desired organizational changes, both the interviewees provided slightly different answers. According to Mr. Lloyd, the ways are responsibilities and rewards. For example, he pointed out that the leader should be able to engage various people with various responsibilities that match their competence and values. It is pointed out by him that when people are given such tasks that are both challenging and within their limits, they feel more responsible towards their work. Thus, according to Mr. Lloyd, an effective way is to identify the abilities of his subordinates and to engage them with such responsibilities. The second point he developed is the use of extrinsic rewards. He pointed out that when employees are offered rewards and recognition, it becomes easy to promote the kind of behavior that is required. Thus, according to Mr. Lloyd, bringing in change involved two activities; giving responsibilities and recognizing good performances with rewards and recognition. However, Mr. Mark expressed the opinion that introducing organizational development is more about utilizing relationships and reasons. Mr. Mark revealed the fact that he is able to introduce changes in the organization because he has developed a relation based on trust with his subordinates where the relation acts as the catalyst that makes the subordinates listen and obey. Thus, Mark is of the opinion that without this relation, it is rather impossible to change the organization in any way. The second point of organizational development, according to Mark, is reasons. For example, he pointed out the fact that leaders need to keep people interested in the company’s tasks by convincing them that their job is very important for the organization. The scholar points out that this keeps the employees motivated even when they do something that they do not otherwise quite like. In other words, using reason is as important as rewards. Weighing the interviewee perception against that of the interviewer Admittedly, the interviewees shared a view very similar to mine regarding management and organization development. It became evident that as a manager, both of them engage in activities ranging from planning, budgeting, evaluating and facilitating. However, they admit that these activities have little role in motivating employees. On the other hand, they also play the role of leaders where they select talents, motivate, coach, and build trust as a part of their leadership duty. One point became evident from the interviews. Both the managers and leaders consider transparency and involvement important in organizational development in the modern business climate. Transparency means clarifying the reasons behind various business decisions, compensations policies, and market information. Admittedly, the interviewees agreed to a great extent with my view that while management involves laying out the procedures and managing the day to day functioning, leadership involves motivating the employees to move in the required direction. Though I believed that bureaucratic leadership is the best form of leadership that easily motivates employees through participation, the interviewees showed how it is possible to utilize a combination of both autocratic and paternalistic leadership styles in an effective way in such highly centralized organizations like McDonalds, where outlets have little chance to deviate from the directions from the above. From the interviews, I understood the fact that one of the most important aspects of effective leadership is communication and understanding. In addition, it is about informing and motivating. Thus, I have decided to learn more and more about improving communication, effectively utilizing various intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, and showing transparency in management. Important interview questions covered The interviews were conducted face to face and each interview lasted nearly 45 minutes. The questions asked are given below. 1. Name of the interviewees 2. The organizations they work for 3. The duties they perform in their everyday functioning 4. What is the meaning of management in your opinion? 5. What are the differences between leadership and management; if any? 6. What are the similarities between leadership and management? 7. What are the qualities of a good leader? 8. What management style do you adopt in your organization? Why? Read More