An authoritarian style of management allows two things to happen. It makes people work harder and it allows less room for mistakes. When you have an autocratic leader, they generally rule by fear which makes people work harder to not let these leaders down as they are constantly reminded of the punishment for not working hard. This ensures that they do not slack at any point and for a company as successful as Marks and Spencer’s, keeping ahead of the game and other competitors is vital.
Using an autocratic style, you assume your workers are all “theory x workers” and you give them all the information possible to ensure no mistakes are made. An autocratic leader would tell employees what to do, where to do it and how to do it to make sure they had no responsibility of their own and that there were minimal mistakes made. These are two viable reasons why some Marks and Spencer’s managers might have adopted an authoritarian style of management.
From delegating authority, Marks and Spencer’s will gain many different things. From the shop manager’s point of view, it provides them with more responsibility which is a motivator, therefore increasing the productivity and innovation provided by the shop managers. This new found responsibility makes the shop managers feel more in touch with their shops and makes them work harder for them as it becomes more personal, and this benefits Marks and Spencer’s in many ways. This decentralisation can motivate and empower junior managers and supervisors and can lead to greater innovation and enthusiasm. It also reduces the need for tight control and communication between shops and head office. It takes a lot of pressure of head office when decentralising as they no longer have the whole responsibility for the shops and they no longer have to communicate as regularly. This allows head office more time to work on other things. This