Supply Management professionals are called on more and more to be part of cross-functional teams, but not as much as they should to make a project successful. Today’s supply management professionals are well versed in project management, and can achieve their full potential with strong leadership.
Executive Summary The following paper is an analysis of participative and directive leadership styles in relation to performance in in organizations. The views of different authors are explored and analysed for their strengths and weaknesses. Findings on strengths include empowerment and innovation when applying participative leadership, and channelling people towards a same direction for autocratic leadership. Findings on weaknesses include lack of experience when making decisions for directive leadership and difficulty to reach consensus for participative leadership. Under the theories discussed it is assumed that managers have the ability to choose the right kind of leadership under any situation.
In this essay I aim to explore the meaning of leadership and to examine the relationship and the relative importance of management and leadership in the engineering industry. Discussion There are many theories as to what a leader is. Of these theories Bennis (1989) believes that leadership is about inspiring and supporting people, while Fenton (1990) believes that a leader questions assumptions, is suspicious of traditions and has a preference for innovation. According to Naoum (2005) leadership has also been defined in terms of group processes, personality, power and goal achievement. Though the theories are numerous, those mentioned above cover the assumptions of most.
When things are quite clear, or very chaotic, people respond well to being told what to do - Task Orientation When the situation is moderate, people often need to be convinced or appealed to - Employee Orientation Substitutes for Leadership Jermier & Kerr found that situational variables can actually substitute or neutralise the need for leadership: – Alternative approaches that can at least partially substitute for the need for leadership or can sometimes overcome poor leadership • • • • Professional orientation Direct feedback from the task Cohesive work group (with positive performance norms) Ability, experience and training Limitations of Contingency Perspective States the importance of context, but theories often employ a ‘matching’ framework (e.g. Fiedler) Often focus is more of relationship between follower and leader, making it hard to consider environmental dimensions Can often ignore or silence formal power relation s(such as the importance of hierarchy) 9 28/03/2014 CONTEMPORARY Perspectives on Leadership 1. Transactional 2. Charismatic 3. Transformational 4.
You can see this function in action the way the employee works as a team, the way they communicate openly, and the way the job is designed by managers. The third and final theory is the contingency approach, in this approach it is the results of the system approach, but in this theory it puts emphasis on different variables and then it finds a solution to each key variable. As a supervisor I’m always asking myself what is the right thing to do? There’s no best way to manage this theory, but to be effective the leading, planning, and controlling must be address to a particular circumstance
Best-Practice Integrated Supply Chain Management and its Competitive Advantage Survival of companies in today’s economy requires continuous process innovation. Firms often seek competitive advantage through product features, price, promotion, and advertising, while failing to see the value of an exceptional service operations system. It is best-practice integrated supply chain management that enhances the firm’s marketing effortts to create competitive advantage. Supply chain management is rare in today’s business organizations because of its complexity, but its process intricacy makes it difficult for competitors to replicate a successful system. Supply chain management is the complex process of managing systems to ensure that products are where they should be when they should be there, while minimizing costs and creating opportunities for profit.
Management is about coping with complexity whereas leadership is about coping with change (p. 86). Companies manage complexity by planning and budgeting but leading an organization begins by setting a direction (p. 86). Likewise, management attempts to achieve its plan by organizing and staffing and leadership is about aligning people (p. 86). In addition, management ensures that a plan will succeed by controlling and problem solving and leadership achieves a vision by motivating and inspiring (p. 86). Leadership is about coping with change; therefore, it is essential to get people to believe the message (p.90).
The manager’s job, writes Hackman in a study on teamwork, is to maintain an appropriate balance of authority between himself and the team. On the one hand, managers have to spell out the team’s objectives unambiguously and unapologetically. To authoritatively set a clear, engaging direction for a team, says Hackman, is to empower, not de-power, it. Team members can act as a team only if they have real responsibility—such as determining how to achieve their goals. Even with successful teams, Ruddy says, a manager needs to be involved.
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL consultants share the characteristics of helping their clients address problems and improve business and organization results; they have a passion for the wisdom and expertise they bring to the organization, and they have the ability to galvanize clients into action. Yet those of us who have spent years in both roles know there are significant differences in perspectives, challenges and requirements. External consultants are often brought in because they bring wisdom, objectivity and expertise to the organization. They are seen as gurus or saviors bringing wise counsel. Internal consultants have expertise, but it is valued differently as an organization insider.
The decision making style a leader employs should depend on the situation. The most effective leaders transforms the work/task into something that once performed well, serves more than earning a financial reward or individual recognition; it should serve a greater purpose or mission. Transformational leaders are more active in working with the employee, encourage innovation and creativity; whereas transactional leaders give less and are primarily focused on the pre-established trade. However, the exemplary leader must be both transactional and transformational. Ultimately the management student must learn that, in order to be an exemplary leaders, they much go beyond what is common practice and create new ways of motivating their employees.