Management Styles of Ursula Burns - Essay Example

? Management: A report on Ursula Burns Table of Contents Introduction and overview 3 2. Management 3 2 History of management 3 2.2 Currentmanagement concerns and challenges 4 3. Who is Ursula Burns 4 3.1 Early years and childhood 4 3.2 Education 5 3.3 Career 5 3.4. Rise to CEO 5 4. Management Style 6 4.1 Ursula Burns’ Management Style 6 4.2 Xerox’s position 7 4.3 Ursula Burns vs. other managers 8 5. Conclusions 8 Works cited Appendix 1. Introduction and overview: Management has been a popular subject in recent times, with its seeds sown centuries ago. The world continues to grow and flourish because of management and its leaders. This report will involve a study of management and its history in brief; further, an attempt will be made to understand management in contemporary times using an example of a current thriving business. A brief study on Xerox Corporation and its evolution under the able leadership of its CEO Ursula Burns will help in understanding the challenges in modern businesses. In this process, management qualities of Ms Burns that helped Xerox will be highlighted. 2. Management: Management may be defined as the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims (Koontz, H & Koontz, H.W, p.5). These individuals and groups accomplish their aims through a systematic approach that forms the main functions of management, such as planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling (p.6). Managers own the responsibility of performing and/or supervising these functions, and hence need specific skills and knowledge related to these functions. 2.1 History of management: The concept of management has existed since centuries back, but it has received much attention only during last century. One important historical development related to the study of management can be traced back to the writings of Walter Puckey’s writings named ‘What is This Management?”(Witzel, p.4). Studies related to this concept were begun at the Harvard Business School by the then dean, Edwin Gay, during 1908 (p.5). The main areas of focus in management study at that time included the terms manager, factor, administrator and executive, with each term having specific meaning based on the functions performed by these individuals. However, the concept of managers is the most cited one in management texts, owing to their functions (pls see appendix 1). 2.2 Current management concerns and challenges: Trends in management have been constantly changing because of technological advancements, changes in attitudes of customers and clients, changes in employee expectations, changes in market, globalization etc. Hence, the most prominent challenge in management field relates to ‘change.’ Managers are under constant pressure from superiors and external entities to bring about improvement in their performance outcomes in every manner. This subsequently challenges skills and knowledge. In most of the cases, managers also own leadership responsibilities besides managerial functions, which necessitate constant interaction, coaching, guidance, supervision and motivation of their team members. Constantly changing circumstances put greater pressure on managers to meet their employees’ expectations in terms of skill upgradation, mentoring, motivation, conflict resolution, etc. Managers should also deliver constant improvement in order to sustain their organization’s good performance, or have to compete against better performance from rivals in the field in order to sustain the organization’s position in the market. 3. Who is Ursula Burns? Ursula Burns, the CEO and Chairman of Xerox Corp, USA, is one of the most powerful women in the world as per Fortune magazine’s list. Her success at Xerox stands as an example of efficient and effective management overcoming all hardships and leading the company to success. A brief study on Burns life and career would help in understanding the underlying reasons for her achievement. 3.1 Early years and childhood: Ursula Burns was born near New York city on September 20, 1958 to a single mother, Olga, an immigrant from Panama, who raised Burns along with her siblings through hardships of life and educated them. Burns attained a bachelor of science degree from Polytechnic Institute of New York in 1980, and subsequently a masters’ degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University in 1981 (FastCompany, para 7). Burns never had the support of her father; however, her mother’s confidence, determination and the ability to face all situations had a great and positive effect on Ursula making her that she is today. Burns has great regards for her mother and owes all her success to the values that she inherited from her mother. She believes that she was brought up in a highly positive environment that was very different from the rest of the world (FastCompany, para 5). Burns had experienced poverty to the core while her mother struggled to get all her siblings educated in Catholic School. This education, Ursula believes had led the foundation to her career and growth. 3.2 Education: As explained by Neffendorf in his blog, Ursula was good at studies and regarded as an ace in mathematics, which not only helped her tutor other students during her higher education but also was accepted into the Higher Education Opportunity Program. Likewise, she received many other programs that helped her complete bachelor’s degree and enter into Masters’ Program in mechanical engineering. 3.3 Career: Ursula Burns started her career with Xerox in 1980 as a Mechanical Engineering intern and took up activities related to research, engineering, marketing and manufacturing at the company. She was one of the group members that helped Xerox out of bankruptcy during 2001 and eventually took the company to greater heights by changing its management and business approaches. 3.4. Rise to CEO’s position: Ursula’s rise to the CEO was quite obvious for many during that time owing to the results she was able to achieve for Xerox. Although she was not the typical executive type, her work ethics, performance outcomes, attitude and personality made her the obvious heir to Xerox, as quoted in the NewYork Times by Deutsch. Besides this, her superlative performance and problem-solving abilities helped her rise to the head of many teams within seven years after her internship with Xerox. She was also chosen to work as executive assistant to the CEO and also worked as the corporate vice president in 1999. In 2000, when Xerox was undergoing financial difficulties under the leadership of Anne Mulcahy, Burns was promoted to be the first President of Xerox’s business group operations. At this time, Burns had the responsibility of the engineering center along with five other divisions. During this tenure as the President, Burns brought in maximum change in the management, strategies, business plans etc. The results that were produced during this tenure also indicated Burns as the obvious CEO of Xerox despite her weaknesses (Deutsche, para 14). Thus, Burns took over as the CEO of Xerox in July 2009, and as the Chairman in 2010. Burns was named in the Fortune magazine’s list of 50 most powerful women in Business. Besides her role at Xerox, Burns serves on professional and community boards, including American Express, Boston Scientific Corp., CASA - Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, FIRST - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, National Association of Manufacturers, University of Rochester, and the Rochester Business Alliance (Burns, para 9). 4. Management Style: Literature highlights various management styles such as autocratic, participative, laissez-faire etc., depending upon the manager’s personality. It is difficult to judge the management style of Burns with specific type due to her nature, involvement and strength. However, her management style has been successful. 4.1 Ursula Burns Management Style: Burns came to limelight of the world only after she was named the CEO, and as the only Black woman to take up such a role in the United States. Inside Xerox, Burns was recognized by most of them during 2004 after she was named the President at Xerox. Based on the former CEO’s comments, it can be deduced that Burns was a silent leader that was technically sound and strived to achieve the best outcomes in hardest of times and situations. Burns involved herself in every aspect of the business, which many people believed was a drawback in the Executive level role; however, her passion, involvement and commitment, that was perceived as micromanagement, had actually helped Xerox out of its hard times and led to high performance. Fulfilling the theoretical role of a manager, Burns has proven her mettle and skills throughout her career. One of the studies on Burns refers to six leadership lessons that could be learnt, such as her power of communication, culture, vision, people, customer, and leadership. Throughout her career, Burns has focussed on self-improvement through introspection and reflection. Ursula is known to be an ardent supporter of performance and merit than anything else, and has stood as the best example for rest of the world (Hayes, p.108). This quality that Burns used in managing Xerox probably comes from her own life experiences that resulted in her efforts trying to prove herself at every step through performance and hardwork, owing to the notions attached to her community and ethnic background. Her affirmative action and decisions related to business are also derived from this nature. She is a visionary leader and possesses the ability to think futuristically. This is evident from the fact that she was able to understand the technological advancements and changes and how they could affect Xerox’s existence (Miller, para 4). Due to her background and upbringing, Burns was less authoritative than what was required for her post as the CEO. Many people complained of her micromanaging, which was the result of her background as an engineer; this indicated lack of managerial skill of getting things done by others. She successfully overcame this drawback; however, she continued to speak her mind despite criticism from others as she felt that was the only way to make people listen to her (Hicks, para 4). Burns very well understands the risks to the business that she was responsible for, and hence encouraged transformation in order to thrive in the market. In fact, the root cause for Xerox’s hardship was the nature of their business that was being challenged by advancing technologies. Like any other good leader, Burns had an ear and heart for everything related to her business. She is a good listener and works with great passion. 4.2 Xerox’s position: Xerox’s success can be owed to the strategies and transformations that Burns brought keeping in mind its future and changes happening in the market. Her vision that Xerox must thrive even after 20 or 30 years has led her and her team to think innovatively and introduce strategies that will help in their mission (Miller, para 5). One breakthrough idea that helped Xerox is the introduction of services to help companies manage their business processes. Besides printing, Xerox now offers a variety of services like consulting, application development, infrastructure, solutions and cloud services in the IT field; has established business processes in customer care, finance and accounting, HR, application etc to improve their efficiency and quality; and has is presence in a variety of industries like energy, financial services, government, healthcare, higher education, high tech and communications, insurance, manufacturing, retail and consumer products, transportation and logistics and travel (Xerox). Xerox’s presence in such diversified business arenas and its transformation from a print manufacturing business to diversified businesses has been the result of Burns’ leadership. 4.3 Ursula Burns vs other managers: Burns comes with a very different learning due to her upbringing and the societal perceptions of her community. Her strength of mind is a result of both these aspects. Despite all the odds, her focus, determination and skills are commendable. Most of the managers in contemporary businesses come from reputed business schools, with very few exceptions. Burns’ learning has been real time; and her attitude has instilled an interest to continuously learn and grow; moreover, her involvement and passion towards improvement have led to Xerox’s current status. Her leadership and management stand as examples for future leadership team and businesses. To opine her management style, it is the one required for contemporary businesses considering the pace of advancement and changing attitudes. 5. Conclusions: To conclude, management concept has always been the most critical aspect of any business; and it has deeper functions than the core activities mentioned in theory. As deduced from Xerox’s story, strategizing, transforming, visionary outlook and skill development are critical components of management in current situations. Ursula Burns fulfils these requirements and hence considered as an example. With the difficulties she had to face, hard work, passion, learning, and emotional attachment to work have become her habits rather than qualities. Her ability to take Xerox from melting trend to profit-making diversified business exemplifies great managerial qualities. Works Cited Burns, Ursula M. Blackprofiles. 01 December, 2012 http://www.blackentrepreneurprofile.com/profile-full/article/ursula-m-burns/ Deutsch, Claudia, H. Private Sector: An Apparent Heir at Xerox. Business Day. The NewYork Times. Published June 01, 2003. 01 December, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/01/business/private-sector-an-apparent-heir-at-xerox.html Hayes, Cassaundra, "Life atop the Crystal Stair," Black Enterprise , February 1998, pp. 107–112. Hicks, Michelle. CEO’s management style a lesson in leadership. Idaho Business Review. Published 1 March 2010. 3 December 2012 http://idahobusinessreview.com/2010/03/01/ceos-management-style-a-lesson-in-leadership/ Koontz, Harold and Heinz Weihrich Koontz. Essentials of Management: An International Perspective. Edition 7. New Delhi: TataMcGrawHill Companies, 2006. Miller, Claire Cain. Xerox C.E.O. on the Company’s ‘Earth-Shattering Transformation’. Bits. The NewYork Times. Published 2 October 2012. 3 December 2012 http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/xerox-c-e-o-on-the-companys-earth-shattering-transformation/ Neffendorf, Brett. From the Projects to the Business World- Ursula M. Burns. Brett Neffendorf’s Weblog. 3 December 2012 http://bneff10.wordpress.com/from-the-projects-to-the-business-world-ursula-m-burns/ Witzel, Morgen. Management History: Texts and Cases. Oxon: Routledge, 2009. Xerox. At-A-Glance November 2012. 3 December 2012 http://www.xerox.com/downloads/usa/en/gdo/brochures/at-a-glance-monthly.pdf Appendix 1 Functions of managers Source: Witzel, p.6. Read More