Premium Essay

Leadership in an Organisation

In:

Submitted By fiimen
Words 7639
Pages 31
Leadership in an organisation

1.1 Research Background

The highly competitive market economies have continuously forced majority of organisations around the globe to find various strategies on improving themselves in terms of operations and performance. This is not only vital for meeting their organisational objectives, but also for sustenance (Zheir et al, 2012). Previous researches and studies claim that leadership is the key factor for an organisation or business to survive, operate and perform in today’s competitive market (Ximane,2015);(Bass,1990);( Jung, 2002). Furthermore proper leadership is the strategic element in increasing and achieving organisational goals (Bass &Avolio, 1995) ;( Yousef, 1998). On the other hand, some researches and studies contend that organisational leadership is an embellished concept in that it is not necessary in attaining organisational performance since there are other internal and external factors that come into play ( Ismail et al,1998; (Bass& Avolio,2002;(Munjis,2011).

A number of researches and studies have been carried out to demonstrate that leadership and organisational performance, commitment and innovation go hand in hand (Judge, Bono, Ilies and Gerhardt, 2002; Judge and Piccolo, 2004; Keller, 2006; McGrath and MacMillan, 2000; Meyer and Hepard, 2000; Purcell, Kinnie, Hutchinson and Dickson, 2004; Yukl, 2002). Conversely, some studies for instance, House and Aditya (1997) suggest that is not a key factor in achieving organisational performance, commitment and innovation.

Due to the conflicting findings concerning the role of leadership and organisational performance, commitment and innovation, point out there is a need to study the role of leadership comprehensively. House and Aditya (1997), suggests studying the importance of leadership on organisational performance, commitment and innovation is necessary

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Leadership in Contemporary Organisations

...Leadership In Contemporary Organisations Management Essay Leadership is considered to be the key enabler of organisational performance and competitive advantage by the organisations these days (Burgoyne, 2008). The job of a leader is to lead his/her team to achieve the goal set by the organisation. James MacGregor Burns argues that leadership is one phenomenon on earth that is most observed and least understood (Paul, 2002). The views about a leader and the definition of leadership vary among different people. “Daniel Goleman (2000) says that an effective leader sets strategy, creates a mission, motivates his followers and finally builds a culture in the organisation. Ken Wilber argues that an integral leader is a man or woman who supports people aspiring to move forward. They have to make their own integral map that covers all the area that humans have to deal with” (Volckmann, 2005). The concepts of leadership have been developed years ago though the word is reported to have appeared in English language recently. “An effective business leader is one who is well informed of the latest research which impacts upon leadership and who is also capable of applying this to their own organisation with in an ethical framework”. I personally agree with this statement as it is important for the leader to move along with the changing organisational conditions. He should be updated with the latest trends in the organisation in order to effectively lead his followers. Further part of the...

Words: 2474 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Developing Strategic Management and Leadership in an Organisation

...12 5.References 13 Introduction Leadership and strategic Management have been the most debatable topic in the recent time. Many people have defined argued about Leadership styles and Management. They researched and wrote many books about them and no one reached the common style. the styles depend on the situation present at the time. To be a good leader or a Manager a person has to act wisely in different situations. Strategic Management also an important thing in decision making process. A Leader or a Manager should be able to cope with the future needs of an organization and should keep in mind in the impact of certain strategies on his company in long term. Strategic Management Strategy is described as the way of achieving our objectives. Defining strategy means that you are actually defining a road map for achieving your Goals. Strategic management is the process of establishment and maintaining good strategies. A leader is defined as someone who has the capacity to create a compelling vision, and to translate it into action and sustain it.(Bennis, 1989) There are significant differences between ordinary management and leadership, although functionally they can be combined in the same individual.(John Kotter, 1990) “In business, we see an evolution of the concept of leadership. For decades, the term leadership referred to the people who hold top management positions and the functions they serve...

Words: 2490 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Discuss the Impact That Different Leadership Styles May Have on Motivation in Organisations in Periods of Change

...Leadership, I believe, is the crux of any organisation. Leaders provide the direction and set the standards. In general, most people do not embrace change. With change comes uncertainty and fear of the unknown. Motivation-what is it? “The willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach goals”. Everyone needs to be motivated, regardless of their positon. Poorly motivated staff transcends into an underperforming department. The three main leadership styles are Autocratic, Democratic and Laissez-Faire. Autocratic leaders make decisions on their own-they do not consult their team members. This can be appropriate when decisions need to be made quickly and when teams are unable to come to agreement. This creates high dependency on the leader and can be problematic should the leader be unexpectedly absent. This style would be found in such organisations like the army. However, this style can be demoralising for staff and create de-motivation and alienation especially during periods of change as people like to be fully informed of what is happening. Often high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover come as a result of this. Democratic leaders. These types of leaders make the final decisions. However, they do include the team members in the decision making process. Often team members are encouraged to engage in the decision making. As a result of this teams are considered to have high job satisfaction and productivity leading on to motivation. On the contrary, when teams...

Words: 1274 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Execute an Analysis of Managers or Leaders in Your Organisation on the Basis of the Leadership Grid as Was Propounded by Jane Morton and Robert Black. the Characteristics-Traits Used to Classify the Managers – Leaders Should Be Established.

...BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION FACULTY OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS STUDIES MASTERS IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP (MBL) NAME OF STUDENT: CATHERINE DOMBO REGISTRATION NUMBER: B1230847 COURSE: STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND ORGANISATIONAL DYNAMICS COURSE CODE: MBL 512 COURSE COORDINATOR: MR MASHAVIRE ASSIGNMENT: 1 DUE DATE 5/09/12 Execute an analysis of managers or leaders in your organisation on the basis of the leadership grid as was propounded by Jane Morton and Robert Black. The characteristics-traits used to classify the managers – leaders should be established. 1. Introduction It is important to understanding how organisations are managed, how activities of people are directed towards achievement of objectives and goals of the organisation. Managers and leaders are different but have complementary activities. Their activities (managers and leaders) takes place in order to make things happen to get results. 1.1 Difference between a leader and a management To manage means to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct. Management is the process of deciding what to do and then getting it done through the effective use of resources. It is about what managers do to make things happen. They define goals, determine the resources – people, finance, work systems and technology – required to achieve the goals...

Words: 3116 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Leadership

...Evaluating Issues and Insights on Leadership Rapid and significant changes in the world today have greatly impacted organisational development in many ways. The accelerating pace of evolution, especially in the field of technology, creates fundamental shifts and gaps in business operations. To address this pressing issue, organisations have to move forward in tandem with the pace of change in globalisation. Organisations go through various cycles in its quest for development. Hence, organisational development has been a widely discussed topic in the business world at large. Organisational change involves a major shift in terms of its operations, strategies, long-term plans and resources. To lead a successful transformation, organisations require competent leaders to provide direction on how to move forward. Effective leadership will ensure that the task will be carried out in a systematic and organised manner so that the business operations of the company will not be negatively affected in the process. However, not all organisations have qualified leaders to lead them at the helm. Some organisations survive the journey, while others struggle and fail miserably. Business transformation needs capable leadership to steer the organisation towards success. A leader must find the best skills in order to provide directions, motivations and purposes. In this context, leadership plays a significant role in the success of organisational change and development. Leaders consistently...

Words: 5630 - Pages: 23

Premium Essay

Leadership

...1.0 INTRODUCTION Organisation exists for a purpose and is formed by a group of people who have different attitudes and objectives. In any organisation, there is a person who designated as the leader to formulate the objectives and lead the organisation. His or her decision on objectives will be the direction and guidance to the people in the organisation to follow. Therefore, the leadership style adopted by him or her has the direct influence to the people and the organisation. The purpose of this infopaper is to highlight the importance of choosing the appropriate leadership style in business. Research is carried out to obtain relevant information through Management and Organisation textbooks, articles in the internet and journals. This infopaper presents the established leadership styles and highlight each style characteristics. Subsequently study how people in the organisation will behave when facing such leadership style. 2.0 LEADERSHIP There are many ways of looking at leadership and many interpretations made by Management experts of its meaning. Leader occurred among the people in the organisation and has his or her own leadership style. Leadership is the form of behaviour adopted by the leader to influence others (Cherrington, 1989). In this context, the definition for leadership refers to the ability to influence people towards the attainment of organisational goals. Leadership is a ‘people’ activity, distinct from administrative paper shuffling or problem-solving...

Words: 1104 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Management vs Leadership

...“Both management and leadership are needed to make teams and organisations successful. Trying to decide which is more important is like trying to decide whether the right or left wing is more important to an airplane’s flight. I’ll take both please!” (Clemmer, 2005, as cited in McLean, 2005, p.16). The aim of this essay is to answer the age old question as to whether management or leadership is more important to an organisation. Organisations, ranging from professional to social, have been in existence for centuries and the sole purpose of any of these organisations is to grow and succeed. Thus, it is without a doubt that any organisation would accomplish much without a source of management or leadership. Even though it is evident that both management and leadership are both fundamental to a successful organisation, a distinction between the two should be made; although they are both similar in definition and function they do differ in importance in and effect on organisations. It is contended that the implementation of good management has a greater benefit, and therefore has more importance, to an organisation than leadership because: leading is considered as an element of the management function; to manage an organisation is to sustain it whereas to lead is to direct it but if there is no management, there is no entity, which leaves nothing for leaders to lead; leadership is focused on the management of people but an organisation is made up of more than just people; and also...

Words: 2476 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Strategic Management

...Link between Strategic management and leadership A leadership is the bridge between strategic management and their target. It’s because of a leadership that organisation gets their desired tasks and targets. Management is responsible for people and resources in a unit according to the rules or values that have already been set while the leadership set a direction to the people in the group. The aspect of leadership assumes importance in this age of cut throat competition as effective leadership paves the way by which an organisation achieves its various objectives. In this regard roles of the leader are important as they seek to exhort the employees to increase their participation in the management and effective evaluation of strategies in regards to the organisational goals (Barney and Barney, 2009). We can understand the link between strategic management and leadership by this example that good leadership and effective management are always the of success in any organisation so both of these are the skills which going side by side without management a good leadership can only satisfy for the time being not in a long term same as an effective management is nothing without the good leadership. When great leadership is jointed with effective management, you are able to set a direction and be able to allocate the resources the way you want. Not only that, you will achieve your goal the way you have thought and the way you want to achieve. When seen in the context of Qualbank...

Words: 11653 - Pages: 47

Premium Essay

The Role of Different Approaches to Management and Leadership

...THE ROLE OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP HND Business Level 5 21rd June 2012 THE ROLE OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP AC2.1: Leadership Styles Introduction Concisely, leadership refers to the process through which a person manages to influence others in a coherent and cohesive manner so that they can accomplish a certain objective. Leadership practice depends on four factors namely leader, followers, communication, and situation. To a certain extent, leadership practice is closely related to management but there are certain differences that set the two organisational necessities apart. In the traditional thinking present in all organisations, leadership separates the roles of a manager from those of a leader. The rationale behind this is that managers are people who operate under control; they administer through focusing on already existing structures and systems. However, there must be a balance between both management and leadership demands for the optimal survival of any organisation. Both leaders and managers are vital for the positive performance and success of an organisation. Leadership skills model a way forward while management skills enable arriving at a set target. This means that striking a balance between leadership and management demands in an organisation requires an effective leader to carry good management skills and similarly, an effective...

Words: 3724 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Critical Concept of Strategic Leadership

...Strategic Leadership Critically evaluate the concept of strategic leadership | Introduction Every business, especially within our current and very intricate global settings, is subject of an extremely challenging venture in terms of features which may influence the function of an organisation (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995; Yli-Renko and Autio, 1998). The achievement or an eventual fiasco of a business is ascribed to these features (Gulati et al., 2000; Möller and Rajala, 2007). Therefore, strategic leaders aptitudes ought to be advanced perpetually and accurately in order to prepare them to face todays challenges as they might be eventually harder in the forthcoming (Hitt et al., 2009). Within the context a lucrative organisation, it is clearly acknowledge that the organisation ought to attempt and reach the level of customers’ contentment in order to be on top of the industry competition as well as generating benefits. In this way, to be capable to achieve its corporate objectives, the management of actual organisation must be directed by the principle of strategic leadership. Principally, the core intention of this paper is to critically evaluate the concept of strategic leadership. In this, possible advantages and restrictions of the execution of strategic leadership will be argued by the author of this paper. Moreover, this paper will attempt to provide a number of understanding information regarding the basic features of strategic leadership for instance strategic...

Words: 3909 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Cmi Leadership

...1. Understanding the links and differences between management and leadership 1.1 Discuss the concept of leaders as effective managers Leadership and management go hand in hand but is not the same thing, but are linked and compliment each other. There has been debate about the difference between leadership and management. With some believing there is no distinction, while others that they should be separated in two defined roles. A common definition is: Management is about the day to day running of a function and getting the right people and resources in the right place with a focus upon implementation. Leadership is about creating a vision for that function and gaining peoples commitment by strategic direction. (NHSBT 5013 Workshop booklet) Effective management deals with resources, finances, time management and the coordination and control over these elements. Managers set goals and focus on reaching their targets. Have good organizational skills and will place people in roles to get the job the task complete. Have detailed planning taking into account adverse events that could prevent them completing task or achieving target. If the outcome gives worse results than expected an effective manager will look to provide a solution. Effective leadership deals with the people their opinions, behaviour and attitude. They will inspire and engage people to follow them and vision. Focus is on building relationships with people around them, can be an effective...

Words: 2562 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

The Trophy Project

...Analysis 3 1.2 Lack of Organisational Strategy 3 1.3 Poor Leadership 4 1.4 Lack of Learning 5 1.5 Lack of Systems 6 1.6 Poor Communication 6 2 Leadership at the Top and Functional Management Levels of the Organisation 7 3 Reichart’s Leadership and Managerial Abilities 10 3.1 There is no blame 11 3.2 A Shift of Mind 11 4 Recommendations Regarding Transformation and Change to Ensure Effective and Efficient Functioning of the Organisation 12 4.1 Managing Organisational Change 13 4.2 Apply Leadership 14 4.3 Design Effective Organisational Structure 16 4.4 Managing Resistance to Change 17 Bibliography 20 Executive Summary While analysing the case study of the Trophy Project the findings will show the major problems identified and to determine the root cause of the problems. The findings will show how the lack of leadership has resulted in poor or no organisational strategy. Through analysing the lack of behavioural, structural and operational strategy we see the effect it has on the overall organisation and its inadequacies’. It will show the importance of these strategies together with effective leadership and how executing the strategic goals in an integrative manner can lead transformational change, continuous improvement and the building of a learning organisation. The group identified the major problems within the Trophy case as the absence of effective leadership, the dearth in communication, the lack of organisational strategy...

Words: 5219 - Pages: 21

Premium Essay

Organization and Behavior

...Unit 3: Organisations and Behaviour Learning outcomes Explore organizational structure and culture Examine different approaches to management and leadership and theories of organization Examine the relationship between motivational theories Demonstrate an understanding of working with others, teamwork, groups and group dynamics Assessment criteria 1.1 Compare and contrast different organisational structures and culture 1.2 Analyse the relationship between an organisations structure and culture and the effects on business performance 1.3 Analyse the factors which influence individual behavior at work Organisations and Behaviour OB: The study of human behavior, attitudes, and performance in organizations. Value of OB: Helps people attain the competencies needed to become effective employees, team leaders/members, or managers Competency : an interrelated set of abilities, behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge needed by an individual to be effective in most professional and managerial positions Organisation Structures All businesses have to organise what they do A clear structure makes it easier to see which part of the business does what There are many ways to structure a business Types of Organisations Hierarchical Flat Tall Functional Product based Geographically based Matrix Centralisation Decentralisation Hierarchical structure Organisation employees are ranked at various levels within the organisation Each level is one above the other At each stage in the chain, one person has...

Words: 1319 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Leadership

...Strategic leadership – what does it mean? Defining strategic leadership has proven a difficult task, due to the complex nature of the term, and also vast amount of literature to date. Davies et al (2003:303) argues that a strategic leader “can see the future, bigger picture for organisation as well as understand the current contextual setting of the organisation”. However, Rowe (2001:81) describes strategic leadership “as the ability to influence others to voluntarily make day-to-day decisions that enhance long-term viability of the organisation while maintaining its short-term financial stability”. Consequently, strategic leadership was quantified as the “ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically” (Hitt et al. 2003, cited in Rowe 2001:83). In light of the above, strategic leadership can be seen as the direct influence on organisational processes that achieves performance outcomes. It requires both flexible, adaptive capabilities and the need to engage in managerial ethos; essential features according to Boal and Hooijberg (2001). The need for strategic leadership The global economy can be seen as a fluid entity, constantly changing and moving in different directions. With this comes uncertainty and the need for leaders to think strategically in today’s organisations. “Mobilising an organisation to adapt its behaviours in order to thrive in new business environments is critical” (Laurie 1997:124). This was an early opinion about leadership and organisational...

Words: 1482 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Business

...Unit 3: Organisations and Behaviour Learning outcomes Explore organizational structure and culture Examine different approaches to management and leadership and theories of organization Examine the relationship between motivational theories Demonstrate an understanding of working with others, teamwork, groups and group dynamics Assessment criteria 1.1 Compare and contrast different organisational structures and culture 1.2 Analyse the relationship between an organisations structure and culture and the effects on business performance 1.3 Analyse the factors which influence individual behavior at work Organisations and Behaviour OB: The study of human behavior, attitudes, and performance in organizations. Value of OB: Helps people attain the competencies needed to become effective employees, team leaders/members, or managers Competency : an interrelated set of abilities, behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge needed by an individual to be effective in most professional and managerial positions Organisation Structures All businesses have to organise what they do A clear structure makes it easier to see which part of the business does what There are many ways to structure a business Types of Organisations Hierarchical Flat Tall Functional Product based Geographically based Matrix Centralisation Decentralisation Hierarchical structure Organisation employees are ranked at various levels within the organisation Each level is one above the other At each stage in the chain, one person has...

Words: 1319 - Pages: 6