Leadership in Organizations - Essay Example

The Leadership in Organizations Outline Leadership encompasses the process of influencing managers or leaders and teams to accomplishing organizational objectives through change. Effective strategic leadership for change and team development remains essential in working over the internal shifts in the company’s leadership. However, getting the workforce or customer service team to reality and acceptance of the changes remains a challenge to the senior management of the Mountain West Company. This paper presents a business report with an analysis and evaluation of Mountain West Company’s leadership style and approach adopted by the managers, Evelyn and James, regarding the customer service department. Secondly, it provides an insight into their leadership approach towards individuals and teams. Thirdly, aspects of effective and strategic leadership for change as well as team development and management remain considered in analyzing the company’s leadership style of the two managers. Lastly, a personal judgment on the management styles and recommendations of this case study group would be incorporated in the report. Report on the Leadership Style of Mountain West Company Introduction Leadership styles include autocratic, bureaucratic, laissez-faire and democratic. Democratic leaders believe that staffs can be led while autocratic leaders believe in pushing staffs. Autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leaders exercise low, moderate and high delegation respectively whereas bureaucratic leaders believe in equal delegation for all staffs. Autocratic leader makes decisions and declares them or sells decisions whereas laissez-faire leaders define limits and ask staffs to make decisions or permit staffs to function within defined limits. Additionally, democratic leaders may present ideas and invite questions, present tentative decisions subject to change or could as well present problems to staffs to obtain suggestions and thereby make decisions. However, bureaucratic leaders apply any style in decision making depending on the staffs and the present situation. Evelyn demonstrates democratic leadership while James demonstrates autocratic leadership. Analysis and evaluation of the both leadership styles For several years, Mountain West employed various aspects in the operations of the call centre that gave the company a competitive edge over and above their direct competitors in the industry. Under the management of Evelyn, she ensured the allocation of regular breaks to the staffs of the department. As well, various training opportunities and trainings remained available to the staffs in facilitating an up to date acquisition of knowledge regarding customer service techniques, different products and problem solving skills. Moreover, Evelyn having taken into account her vast experience at the department and the pressure related to the work made provisions for flexible working schedules for the call centre staffs. Furthermore, the team at the customer service department incorporated their operations to integrate customers’ needs. This encouraged staffs to take adequate time in understanding and resolving customers’ problems. This would also be attributed to the ability of Evelyn to foster organizational needs in their activities at the department as they felt part of the company irrespective of their low pay (Lussier & Achua 2009, pp. 404-407). By contrast, a young manager becomes employed following Evelyn’s retirement to manage the customer service department. The senior management perceives the appointment of James to the reduced and controlled costs of the department. With the mindset of attaining the mark, James increased the number of calls per hour for each staff as well as cutting back on the number of training the department received. Under James’ management, performance would be measured in terms of efficient scheduling though not reflecting flexibility and speed. In the face of these changes, the costs of the department reduced while the number of calls per hour increased. Conversely, these improvements resulted with an increased turnover rate at 30% as well as low staff morale and motivation. Additionally, the rise in large amounts of complaints becomes evident in relation to rushed calls and inaccurate information received by consumers. However, this generates concerns for the overall performance of the customer service department as well as the company’s image and goal achievement (Lussier & Achua 2009, pp.434-444). Evelyn’s leadership style reflects strategic leadership for change and team development. The business environment in today’s world necessitates systematic and strategic leadership focused on change towards the future. Evelyn fosters substantial strategic clarity, widens her own and staffs’ viewpoints, and creates stable influences between procedures and strategy in contributing to the long-term achievement of the department. Effective strategic leadership necessitates her to pay close attention on infinite implications of her decisions, actions and ideas. Evelyn also takes into account the correlation between the company’s vision aimed at the future and its managerial history. Thus, she focuses on relating all the information she gathers in giving the company a better opportunity of attaining and upholding a competitive advantage. However, the biggest challenge James faces remains the need to control costs in setting the company’s leadership in management development. Effective strategic leadership ought to uphold a balanced attention in relation to daily planned operations along with a focus on the long term business and management of Mountain West (Lussier & Achua 2009, pp. 421-430). Effective managers must lead as examples. Evelyn, through her leadership, influences staffs in the company to work towards realizing strategic goals even though their pay remains low. Moreover, she influences all customer service staffs by means of combining ambitions and needs of staffs to the projections presented by the management vision. The diversity of perspectives and opinions naturally emerging from teams offers a clear advantage on the elements of a collaborative process of effective leadership in management. Hence, Evelyn remains proficient in every single process entailed in the realization of goals. Team building, as an aspect of management, remains an indispensible skill for today’s managers. In addition, the general good of the company remains significantly important with the ability of staffs to stay functional at an individual level. In this regard, Evelyn adopts a structured leadership approach that fosters positive attitude in developing a unified team which stays motivated towards attaining team goals. As a result, team members achieve more thereby creating a more productive and efficient department. Evelyn also employs skills fundamental to the development and upgrading of her team such as training, trust and commitment, communication, as well as planning and organization. Hence, these skills direct managers with an inclination and readiness in learning and progressing on them. As well, these skills provide managers the incentive to constant support, staff motivation and realistic goal setting (Lussier & Achua 2009, pp. 450-472). Personal judgment An effective leadership style follows on continuous processes that support a company’s decision making, communication and evaluation systems at all levels. In applying this strategy, companies operate as an interactive course setting practice and as a control system. In some organizations, strategic leadership exists entrenched in every part of the company’s leadership style as the company’s outlook and culture, not as formally customized deliberation procedures. Despite the opportunities available for strategic and effective leadership, the projections for success become more probable when the dynamics defining the circumstance and the company’s models for thought remain carefully considered. However, the circumstance may limit the utilization of effective leadership strategies. Furthermore, the results of the customer service department do not emerge from an individual’s talent. Individuals come to be influenced by the activities and attitudes of associated staffs and managers. Consequently, the positive influence prevalent during Evelyn’s leadership in the department made individual staffs more productive. This remains true for departmental team as well. On the contrary, rigid work schedules under James’ leadership in addition to limited training and increased number of hours negatively influences both individuals and the team. With the understanding that personal and team objectives besides knowing their interdependence, the team accomplishes its undertakings through collective support. Having a sense of ownership for their work, Evelyn’s team applies their knowledge and talents to the department’s objectives regardless of their low pay. Recommendations A number of approaches exist by which concerns relating to efficient operation and costs of the department could be improved for the superior performance of the company. The operation framework of Mountain West Company may be improved by seeking continuous upgrading, challenges and customer’s expectations on service quality. The senior management together with the departmental manager should incorporate its customers as a source of inspiration, ideas and opportunity. This could be achieved through baseline surveys and feedback on service delivery made available at the department and thereafter enlisting the results on a grid. The senior managers together with the departmental manager should create a positive work setting that nurtures motivated staffs with the capability of generating procedures. The senior management needs to select detailed and limited procedures since services must include comparable varieties with direct implications for the department’s delivery features. The manger could also focus on one element of the system aimed at achieving consistency so as to discover if changing it contributes to positive or negative effects in the general performance of the department. Similarly, introducing customer task analysts and outreach programs on services offered generates ways in which service encounter becomes simple customer’s role. Conclusion Strategic leadership for change along with team development incorporates collective basics necessary for the accomplishment of company’s goals and staff performance. These basic include team work, clear communication and roles, rewards and motivation, effective decision making, standards and goals. The use of formal management patterns, careful selection of managers and succession planning also constitute effective leadership. In addition, investment in human talents through training would generate benefits for the company through sustainable talent management. By sustaining the direction and impetus for change along with flexibility, staffs withstand changes in the department through the transition period. The process of instituting change involves the establishment of performance measures and prospects aimed at achieving goals. Change management needs to take into account both task and staffs actions so as to effectively minimize resistance to change. Finally, having a deep insight about the company enables managers to translate and initiate changes in tasks and work setting to which the company aligns its staffs. Reference Lussier, RN & Achua, CF 2009, Leadership: Theory, Application, and Skill Development, 4th edn, Cengage Learning, Madison, USA. Read More