Organizational Management

In any organization that is geared towards achieving the overall objective of the organization, employee motivation is of utmost importance. It is through employee motivation that companies are able to achieve benchmark standards in the global market today. There are various models that describe employee motivation in the current business world. Rickards & Clark explain the need for a transformational leader in achieving benchmark standards in the organization.

Q.1                  Among the theories discussing employee satisfaction, Barlet & Ghoshal and path goal models are the major models that clearly portray the leadership approaches that can be applied to employee satisfaction. Below are comparisons and the important elements that define the two models. The stretch approach in Barlet & Ghoshal model in employee motivation works in that in companies, managers are required to commit to put resources together with an aim of building capabilities ahead of expected opportunities. Motivation in stretch approach comes in taking initiative in tension between the stretch and discipline; tension is the supply of energy that is converted into action through discipline according to Bartlett & Ghoshal. This brings about initiative that results to learning, confidence, commitment and the ability to execute, the above four components lead to achievement, and through achievement, employees are motivated to work even harder to achieve more. Employee satisfaction in stretch approach is attained through achievement of goals in achievement.

Support is a motivational factor in Ghoshal & Bartlet motivation model that is attained in that as organizations plan to meet objectives, there is a growing tendency to create an atmosphere that enhances innovation and entrepreneurial services. Yukl argues that the effectiveness in management is measured by the ability of the leader to support strategies and polices geared to achieving the overall organizational goal. Support in addition leads to respect of the individual employees, in their contribution towards the overall objectives of the company (Bartlett & Ghoshal 1995, 20). Innovations and achievement are the best methods that can be used by management to motivate employees to achieve more in their performance. Employees are better satisfied while taking initiatives that are supported by leaders.

Discipline is an approach in employee satisfaction in Bartlett & Ghoshal model. A relational leader is able to motivate and encourage employees to operate at the highest discipline levels. Yukl elaborates that, benchmark performance in organization is achieved through performance that cannot be achieved through formal systems and controls. The instilling of a culture in performance and meeting organizational norms elicits a high level of discipline that results to success. The achieved success is critical in motivating employees. In the nature of leadership Yukl defines a leader as one who through influence is able to instill discipline and other qualities that alter the behavior of the subordinates. Discipline is one way in which a leader can utilize to satisfy employees to perform at higher standards. Discipline according to Bartlett & Ghoshal is the ideal strategy towards achievement. Achievement motivates employees to put more effort in their areas of operations.

Trust is another approach in Bartlett & Ghoshal model that leads to employee satisfaction.  Bartlett & Ghoshal argues that the 3M company encourages employees to take risks in order to achieve better results through ambitious achievements. Risk taking when supported by the leadership in innovations leads to employee satisfaction, as the employee attains more confidence and skills in the innovation process. A relational leader who employs direct approach to team members encourages the employees to take risks through innovations that are embraced by the organization. Such trust on the part of the employee motivates and instills more confidence to the employee to perform better.

Path goal theory

Rickards & Clark explains that the path goal theory is an application of situational management style due to the uncertainties and ambiguities that have negative attitude towards work productivity and motivation of the worker. In case of subroutine jobs, there is a need for the manager to reassure and psychologically motivate employees through clarifying the objectives and expectations of the specific job. This is an approach that is derived from the variance theory. Yukl in classifying the path goal leadership theory argues the four elements of path goal theory as follows: in participative leadership, the leader focuses on using relational leadership by ensuring a good rapport between the employees and the manager. This makes the employees happy and motivated as they are psychologically prepared to work. The leader can also apply supportive leadership, which means that workers are allowed to make certain business decisions after consultations among the group. Rickards & Clark further elaborates that the achievement oriented leadership as leads to the use of bonuses and rewards to the extemporary achieving employees to encourage them to aim higher. These four approaches have a great psychological impact of the employee, and a relational style of leadership would always apply them to ensure employees are motivated. A directive leader on the other hand gives appropriate guidance on what is to be done along the way.

One similarity in path goal and Bartlett & Ghoshal model is that a supportive leader is viewed in both as instrumental in employee satisfaction. The need for a relational type of leader compared to a task leader is more effective in the above two models, with leader playing a central role or being participative along the way. The need to enhance freedom in employee satisfaction though derogating roles or encouraging risk taking in initiatives are common characteristics on the two models with a slight difference of using rewards in path goal theory that  is not stressed in Bartlett & Ghoshal.

Q.2.Autehntic leadership

Amedeo  explains authentic leadership to be a method of leadership that incorporates high degree of ethics. The authentic theory leadership is largely derived from self determination and integrity of both the management and the employee. The theory has a high degree of self awareness, regulation and modeling, whereby a relational or task oriented leader has to adhere to strict self discipline and regulations to achieve the required objectives of the organization.  The perceptions and attitudes that followers have on the leader and the ability of the leader to follow strict codes of conduct, greatly impacts on  the culture of operations in the organization. This culture defines the code of conduct of the subordinates.  Thorpe, Mumford & Alan  further argue that symbolic dimension is an important tool in the way leaders operate, they create changes and set key agendas in organizational goals.  Self awareness and increased self regulations Yukl in applying contingency theories is of utmost importance.

            In Bartlett & Ghoshal trust is cultivated as being an important element in leadership. Trust enhances self awareness that leads to better performance in risk taking. The authentic leadership theory stresses on the self awareness or being what truly “one is”. A leader in the authentic theory has to stand on principles and is not swayed by opinions in his or her values or being the voice of others. The theory requires the interior truth of the leader, a quality that is also required in Bartlett & Ghoshal model through trust and having a high degree of self awareness. The authenticity theory in path goal and Bartlett & Ghoshal models require that the leader has to own up their responsibilities as leader and perform accordingly.

In applying the four dimensions of path goal model, authenticity of the leader is achieved in ensuring that each job description limits the ambiguity involved and is clearly achieved through well laid structural guidelines. The leader has to be supportive and directive in ensuring that tasks are handled in the required manner. Discipline that has been recognized as important in both theories requires the leader has to be achievement oriented in that in both theories; the leader has to be achievement oriented in setting goals in task and encouraging personal improvement. The trust that is explained in Bartlett & Ghoshal is important in authentic leadership.  The authentic leader as Yukl elaborates has to ensure offer the freedom required by employees to instill confidence and trust that leads to better performance and risk taking. To achieve the above objectives of motivating employees, the authentic leadership leads to a more specific leadership known directive as well as being supportive and cultivate the culture of trust that is required in Bartlett & Ghoshal model.

An authentic leader in the above theories has to ensure that service to followers and the essence of leadership is the important responsibility of leaders. This means that it is the essence of the leader to ensure that in the path goal theory, the leader offers the required support to employees to perform, and creates the required atmosphere that enhances performance.  Creating of a favorable atmosphere as Bartlett & Ghoshal that is characterized by discipline, trust, support and the necessary stretch conditions, would lead the leader to use rewards in recognizing the performance of hardworking employees. The authenticity of the leader clearly defines and leads employees to the specific goals of an organization; the strategies involved and enhance the spirit of extemporary performance and success in the organization.

 Thorpe, Mumford & Alan argues that leadership is the point of origin of meaning, structure, activity and the core of urgency that works through highly organized systems. In order to be authentic and to critically enhance performance and employee motivation in an organization, there has to be specific structures that the leader would have to follow, in ensuring that either the path theory with all its four dimensions and Bartlett & Ghoshal are well utilized in employee satisfaction. This calls for a well organized achievement oriented leadership that works within well defined structures in setting the goals of the organization and goals to be attained in self improvement. Demand, constraints and choices are the main factors that define the job of a manager, and have a strong impact on any individual who occupies the managerial or leadership seat. Authentic leadership as Yukl elaborates is linked to the ability of the manager to address the highly changing organizational mindset of employees as they seek their affirmation in their work through participation, empowerment, spirituality and involvement. It is the duty of leaders in motivating employees through the above theories to address the need of the employees through participation and open leadership styles that are mostly linked to the relational type of leadership. Through following systematic guidelines, the authenticity of the process in transforming organization and employee motivation can be achieved by leaders and mangers in both relational and task oriented models of leadership.

Q3

 Harsey & Blanchard is a situational theory that specifically focuses on the characteristics of followers and the important aspects in situational and effective behavior of the leader and how it can be determined. The theory explains that a leader can adopt anyone among four specific types of leadership approaches. These are; telling selling, participating and delegating. Through telling as Daft and Lane elaborate, the leader portrays a high concern for tasks and a low concern for the people and relationships. This attribute is better focused in task leadership style. The selling style is more focused on relationships and tasks being more inclined towards the relational approach of leadership. Daft & Lane further argue that in participative style, the leader is inclined to share information with the followers and establish high relationship and low task behavior. This is includes facilitating decision making and encouraging participation.

The delegated approach as Daft & Lane further argue has less concern for both tasks and relationships and the followers have greater responsibility. This theory establishes a culture where employees are offered more space to make decisions involving their operations, which is the best way to create a motivational atmosphere as earlier explained. This situation theory is flexible and can adapt to any leadership situation making it a versatile tool in management that establishes a culture of performance and responsibility in the organization as Daft & Lane elaborate. The theory portrays a mixture of both relational and task oriented leadership approaches to obtain the best performance from followers. The power of Harsey & Blanchard rests in that a leader can utilize different approaches to different employees performing the same tasks. The leader can effectively integrate both task and relational leadership approach in leading same group as each employee is approached according their confidence and performance. This theory would lead to more employee satisfaction as skilled and more confident employees are led through deragative approach which gives more freedom and leads to confidence in operations.

In the Vroom –Yetton model of management, the model recognizes that test structures have varied demands for both routine and subroutine activities. The leadership behavior has to change accordingly, to adapt to these task structures. This model largely provides the strict procedures that are to be followed in determining the form and amount of participation that are to be followed in decision making in different set ups. Largely, this is a situational theory that requires the leader to apply certain management approaches as per the demands of the situation at hand. Yukl largely explains the theories that lead to effective leadership, one of the theories being situational leadership theory. The above situational theory largely determines the extent to which a team is organized and attainment of goals facilitated. The theory provides a culture where performance of the manager or the leader depends on the specific requirements of the goals, and this enables the leader to adjust to the rapid changing operation environment. The culture of performance in different operational situations and effective leadership is therefore attained through this theory. This theory is more task oriented theory due to its focus on the situation at hand in implementing tasks and the relationship with employees. Vroom –Yetton model has its strength in decision-making in large organizations. While it is possible to deal with individual employees in Harsey & Blanchard theory, Vroom –Yetton is involved in the overall decision making process in team work and is not possible to deal with individuals. Being a situational application theory, it might be helpful especially in large organizations where a leader has to enforce decisions to many different departments, or where prompt decision has to be made.

 Influence in leadership and management is the most aspect in an organization. A leader influences his followers to great lengths in achieving the objectives of the business through strategic ways in which the leader chooses to utilize regarding the situational analysis or the task at hand. Transformational and change theories are two important theories that portray a lot of influence on the part of the leadership to followers. Mills, Dye & Albert (2008, 125) argue that transformational leadership is a trait based leadership theory that targets at changing the perception of the employees on a particular approach or issue. A leader has to be charismatic, self motivated, humble among other attributes. Yukl largely stresses on the attributes of a charismatic leaders as the one who influences the followers through his or her strategic behavior and approach. Yukl future argues that the transformation leader has to use behavioral theories in changing the perceptions that the subordinates have on a particular issue. This applies also in change leadership theory. Mills, Dye & Albert argue that for the change leader to have an effect on influencing behavior of the subordinates, a relational approach on leadership is required and the change leadership has to be based on trust, ethics and non adversarial relationships. The leader has to cultivate the highest caliber of personality as a leading example that has to psychologically influence the subordinate to follow through such lines of action. Transformational and change theories should not be based on a win-win situation but have to focus on excellence which is more conducive to success. This theory creates a culture of relational leadership, where the leader has to closely associate and relate with the employees to change their perceptions and behavior.

Other theories in leadership with ethical dimension that stresses on the need of using ethical approach in motivating employees is the ethical spiritual and servant theories. Yukl (2009, 420) argues that a leadership style that puts forward the needs of the servant ensures that the highest priorities have been met fast hand. The servant theory stresses on influencing followers through emphasizing on the kneed of enhancing trust in followers. Portraying some degree of trust in followers motivates them to achieve as per the required end and this influences their lines of action accordingly. Kimberling further argues that the spiritual theory approach in leadership comprises of values, attitudes and behaviors that intrinsically motivate one’s self and others to make them to have sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership. This creates the aspect of caring and portraying the sense of concern for others in leading followers towards the objectives of the company. This approach of influence integrates the body mind, heart and spirit, which defines the essence of humanity.

Ethical theory on leadership on the other hand requires that the leader has to use the highest caliber on ethics and behavior in aligning with the followers. This may include honesty, straight forwardness, impartiality and other attributes that portray sarong personality case. Yukl argues that an ethical approach to leadership involves dispelling strong characters that the leadership believes could lead to attainment of the goals at hand as well as have a positive impact on the followers. It is through the spiritual, servant and ethical theories of influence that a leader portrays the strongest personalities that define the body, mind, heart and spirit, and which have direct influence on the part of the followers, in applying similar behaviors as passed on through a relational type of leadership. This approach instills a culture of high integrity and corporate values on the part of the employees and leaders. As Yukl elaborates, it is through acting in strict and strategic modes of action rather than the normative actions that organizational goals have to be achieved. The above ethical theories are much important where a leader has to lead through influence rather than through directive leadership. They enhance behavioral and attitude change in an organization, and leads to formation of a culture ion behavior codes in such an organization.

Q.4      The Harsey and Blanchard theory of situational leadership model has a large bearing towards the maturity and performance of specific employees. Though there are perceptions that leadership is hard to change, this model suggests that leaders can effectively adjust their leadership styles. This is however achieved according to the maturity and task readiness of respective followers, based on the follower’s readiness to perform specific tasks. Schermerhron argues that the Harsey and Blanchard approach involves the following approaches:

- Delegating, which allows the group to take responsibility for decisions and tasks and this is a low task- low relationship style of approach.

-  The participatory approach emphasizes on the need to have shared ideas on tasks direction, and this counts as a low task - high relationship style of approach.

-  The selling approach explains the task directions in a persuasive and supportive manner and this is a high task-high relationship approach of leadership as Schermerhron elaborates.

- The telling approach requires that the leader give specific tasks directions and closely supervises the work. This is high task - low relationship style approach in leadership.

 According to Yukl the situational approach in leadership strives to moderate the relationship of leader attribute and the effectiveness of the specific approach. The success of the above approach in leadership largely depends on the psychological and job maturity of the particular employee. Psychological maturity according to Landy & Conte is the self confidence and respect of the subordinate. A highly matured subordinate would tend to have a high ability to perform the task and the confidence required to achieve. A low maturity employee would have neither of the above attributes. Landy & Conte  recommend that for an employee with low maturity would achieve best with a structured style and as the maturity for the employee increases, the leader should gradually decrease the structuring approach and increase  the considerate behavior in dealing with the employee. Achouri further elaborate that  in the Harsey and Blanchard relational approach the four styles of leadership should be applied and adjusted accordingly, as per the gradual change of the employee’s  maturity.

-           A follower with a high maturity requires a purely delegative style of leadership which translates to offering minimal intervention in the leadership approach. This requires followers with high task readiness, confidence and willingness to achieve results.

-           The telling style is on the other hand the best style of leadership to be implemented with a follower with low level of maturity Schermerhron. This involves giving direct instructions to the follower, due to insecurity and the inability to be self independent and regulating as in the case with high maturity followers.

-          The selling style is more suited for the moderate to high readiness situation, where the followers lack the capability to perform but have the willingness and confidence to perform the specific task. Its aim is to impart both skills and to encourage such followers to utilize their confidence in performing tasks.

-          Landy & Conte  elaborate that participatory approach is best suited to  low to moderate readiness cases  where the follower are capable but are unwilling or too insecure to perform the required tasks. This approach is more relational and seeks to enable the followers to share ideas in order to instill understanding and confidence to the weak followers.

 Generally, the Harsey and Blanchard situational approach seeks to clarify that leaders can adjust their leadership approach to make them more flexible according to the followers, and situation of the followers at the specific instance.

Q. 5     Yukl argues that the main aspect behind change in organizational culture is influence. Influence is a powerful tool that changes the way people perceive particular phenomena. The social media in the current organizational framework has a large bearing towards social influence or changing the perceptions of people. Brown argues that one aspect of social media is the power that the media has in the corporate world. In the current market organizations are heavily relying on the social media through web media to advertise and market products. The social media is further used in passing information to employees or interdepartmental communication through teleconferencing and other related methods. Evans argues that it is through the social media that people become attached to certain brand products, due to the influence of others who have previously used the same make reviews and recommendations concerning the effectiveness of these products.

            The social media gets information closer to people. Getting information closer to people enhances them to achieve power that is used to bargain their needs and likes in the global market. An employee can learn their right from the social media. Such an employee would be more informed and ready to bargain for their rights in their working place, changing the employee-leader perceptions and relationship. Such is the enormous power that social media has

Safko argues that the influence of social networks clearly depends on the trust that people have for these networks. An organization by developing networks can create influence among consumers through trust, and this would result to more sales. Social media influence and power has been growing drastically as more people seek the latest information from these sources. This has led to transformation of perceptions both negatively and positively. The readily available information in any field and the speed in which such information obtained, in addition to the reviews and perceptions made concerning the information have a huge effect towards the perception of the reader. Through the social media, the organization can earn more profits and increase its revenue base. This makes the social media powerful tool in today’s globalised market for private or organizational use as a powerful tool of influencing perceptions.