Business Introduction to Management: Analyzing Ineffective Leadership at Imperial Hotel

Business Introduction to Management
1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the individual problem..................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference List..................................................................................................................................9
Appendix........................................................................................................................................10
2

Introduction
Managing all the business functions in the organization is the key to its expected success. In
order to do this, organizations are undertaking several business activities and strategies.
Adoption of right leadership facilitates the overall organizational management and commitment
of the employees towards the organizational objectives. Therefore, the leadership is a key
component that is directly influencing the organizational performance in travel and tourism
sector (Bratton and Gold, 2017). In this context, the following assignment is focusing upon the
case study of Imperial Hotel, where significant issues related to employee management has been
raised. The new General Manager Peter Farnsworth has revealed that the previous HOD and
supervisory staffs were using ineffective leadership skills, which lead to poor staff performance
and reduced guest satisfaction. Thus, the key management theories for controlling the situation
would be analyzed for understanding the situation as well as for offering appropriate solutions.
Analysis of the individual problem
Review of management theory related to the specific problem in Imperial Hotel
The new general manager of Imperial Hotel, Peter Farnsworth has identified some key issues for
the organizational reduced performance; one of which is ineffective leadership and management
by the previous HOD and the supervisory staffs, including poor monitoring and control process.
The issue can be understood with the help of the following management theories.
Leadership theories
Reviewing leadership theories would help the manager to identify the most appropriate leaders
for the organization or would be able to shape the existing leader’s potential.
Trait theory – This theory depicts that besides the functional attributes, the leaders possess some
personality, social and intellectual traits, which makes them different and efficient compared to
others. However, these traits were lacking among the HODs of Imperial hotel. Some of these
traits identified by the author are “ambition and energy, desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self
– confidence, intelligence and job relevant knowledge” (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). Thus, it is
crucial for the HODs in Imperial hotel to develop these skills.
3

Behavioral theory – Unlike the trait theory, the behavioral theory of leadership claims that the
definition of leadership is developed by the effective role behavior of the leaders. According to
this theory, leader’s behavior makes them different from others, not the characteristic traits. This
leadership theory promoted the categorization of different leadership styles, which are
“autocratic, democratic, transformational, transactional and laiseez faire” (Gulati et al., 2016). In
case of Imperial Hotel, the existing HODs and supervisory staffs were not following an
appropriate leadership style. The HODs were following autocratic leadership style, which
hinders the engagement of workers in decision making. On the other hand, the supervisory staffs
were following laiseez faire leadership style. It is because this leadership style includes least
supervision or control upon the employee’s activities, which has been evident in the Imperial
Hotel’s case.
Contingency theory – The contingency theory depicts that leaders must always be adaptive to
the situation, where they are working. For instance, instead of working based on some universal
rules and behavioral attributes, the leaders must analyze the contingency in the organizational
environment, based on which their action must be driven. According to this theory, leaders’
ability to lead is contingent upon the contextual factors, including their preferred style, behaviors
of the fellow workers, capabilities as well as other situational factors (Gutierrez-Gutierrez et al ,
2018). It is indicating that at any context, the HODs and supervisory staffs at Imperial Hotel was
not analyzing the contingent prior representing their leadership behavior; their leadership skills
are also inefficient to deal with any contingency situations.
Situational leadership theory – According to the theory of situational leadership, the “best
action of a leader is dependent on a range of situational factors”. Therefore, it can be said that the
situational leadership theory is similar to the assumptions or the philosophy of situational
leadership theories. The key factor affecting the situational decisions of the leaders include
motivation and fellow’s capability, which is dependent upon the situation, where the leaders are
working. This theory also highlights the relationship among the leaders and fellow workers as
another key factor affecting the leaders’ behavior. In this context, the perception of fellow as
well as the situation would significantly affect what leaders do, instead of the truth of the
situation. Further, the perception of leaders about themselves along with the other factors like
4