Leadership Development - Dissertation Example

Chapter 1Introduction1.1. Purpose of the study "Leadership development needs organization managers," Whilst in the past, as our research shows, most observers and experts had tended to view Leadership, and leadership development, as an independent area of consideration within the corporate structure, over the past two decades it has been increasingly seen to be an integral part of the total organization management system itself. Consequently, research often links the two areas together. There are an abundance of studies and research documents confirming this fact.

These include that of Zaleznick (1977), who defined the leader as the person who brings about change, with the manager being the controller of those changes. Kotter (1990, p. 103) projected the view that "management is about coping with complexity. Leadership, by contrast is about coping with change". The purpose of this report is to examine the validity of the hypothesis. 1.2. Specific Objective This central objective of this report is to examine the opening hypothesis in order to arrive at a conclusion as to its validity and importance. 1.3.

DelimitationsFor the purpose of this report, we have limited our study to the subject as it relates to a commercial organization, in preference to organizations in the public or charitable sector, although in reality the same principles would form the basis for measuring the successful future growth pattern for all of these structures. 1.4. SignificanceOur study covers the current thinking and research in respect of the leadership developments and its application in the corporate environment, including an analysis its importance and relevance.

At the same time, we have reviewed and studied the research available regarding the. The literature will reveal how changes have occurred between these three elements, with the initial concept of management, which has been around since the early part of last century, is seen as the driving force behind the business. Later management was to lose its significance, giving way to the relatively new concept of leadership, with this taking a prominence in the thoughts of corporations and researchers alike.

We will see how the views of business analysts and researchers for a period separated leadership and leadership development from management and conducted studies of these in these areas as almost diverse entities, emphasizing the differences between the two. For example, the School of Engineering and Electronics at the University of Edinburgh (1997), in their study on the subject, concluded that – “Managing and leading are two different ways of organizing people. The manager uses a formal, rational method whilst the leader uses passion and stirs emotions.” Dr. Paul Harborne (2001) and Stormy Friday (2002) within their respective papers also emphasized differences that exist between these conceptions, stressing the importance that this represented in business terms.

However, more research has moved away from these theories, suggesting now that in fact, there is an interrelationship between the leadership and management, and that a competitive and successful business is best achieved in an environment where leadership development and the organization's managers work in partnership.