Research Study on Leadership and Decision-making
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Added on 2019-09-16
Research Study on Leadership and Decision-making
Added on 2019-09-16
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Running Head: Masters DissertationResearch on Leadershipand Sustainability
Masters Dissertation 1ContentsIntroduction:...............................................................................................................................2Background of Research Topic:.............................................................................................3Background of the Organization:...........................................................................................8Thesis Statement:...................................................................................................................9Aims and Objectives:.................................................................................................................9Research Objectives:..............................................................................................................9Research Questions:.............................................................................................................10Scope of Research:...............................................................................................................12Limitations of Research:......................................................................................................13Literature Review:....................................................................................................................14Methodology:...........................................................................................................................30Data Collection Methods:....................................................................................................30Data Analysis Methods:.......................................................................................................31Results:.....................................................................................................................................35Conclusions:.............................................................................................................................50References:...............................................................................................................................55
Masters Dissertation 2Introduction: Contained in this report are the findings from a research study that has been undertaken on the topic of leadership, decision-making and their impacts on sustainability of an organization. The research has endeavoured to determine the various traits and characteristicsof leadership in terms of the ways it differs between the managers in the public and private sectors. The research has also attempted to determine the impacts of leadership traits on managerial decision-making along with finding out the impact of managerial leadership on the sustainability of an organization. For this particular research study, the case of a medical device group has been investigated. The company manufactures and sells various emergency drugs and medical devices in Israel. The organization also markets its products in various other countries like the US, China and a few other Asian countries. Three years back, the company has entered into a merger with one of its suppliers and after that some issues have emerged related to the quality of some of the medical products those needed to be recalled. There was some lack of managerial leadership and effective decision-making that was observed after a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was appointed as the head of the newly formed company. This decision was later on speculated to be non-effective and counter-productive for the organization. This was because the current CEO belonged to a governmental organization that was a part of the non-profit seeking sector of the industry. Naturally, he lacked the managerial leadership and decision-making skills required in a much competitive private sector. Moreover, he was not a person from the medical background and therefore it was quite obvious that he would not be able to provide an impactful and goal-oriented leadership in this newly formed organization because the leadership skills nurtured and developed in the public sector are quite different than those needed to direct a private sector organization that
Masters Dissertation 3is much more competitive, dynamic and has a totally different work culture. The research hasrevealed that qualities and traits of leaders tend to differ across the public and private sectors because of several factors like difference in business objectives, work culture, employee relationships and others. This makes it challenging and difficult for a person coming from thepublic sector to provide effective leadership in a private sector organization. This is the same scenario with the organization referred to in this test case. Background of Research Topic:The research has delved into various concepts of leadership, organizational decision-making and organizational sustainability. It has tried to establish a link between the management leadership, its impact on decision-making and the organizational sustainability. This part of the research discusses all those concepts in details.Organizational Leadership:Leadership is one of the key elements that determine the future of an enterprise. Every enterprise requires effective and strong leadership for achieving optimum effectiveness. Organizational leadership encompasses human psychology along with prudent business tactics. The leadership that is provided by the management personnel or the managers within the organization needs to be relevant to the current business dynamics. Leadership should ensure that it is able to guide and motivate the subordinates in tough times of the organizationand yet be able to make the business grow and sustain amidst such crisis [ CITATION 16P14 \l 16393 ]. An effective leader should be able to implement proper control and coordination among the group members such that they obey the instructions. In this regard it should be understood that organizational leadership is not about dominating and dictating the subordinates. It is more about offering guidance and direction to the subordinates such that they are able to understand their respective job responsibilities and able to achieve their
Masters Dissertation 4individual goals and objectives along with those of the organization. Therefore, an efficient organizational leader should be a selfless individual with the focus on being the mentor, role model and the one that leads from the front. This will inspire the juniors to look up to him and respect him as an able leader in the organization [ CITATION Man1715 \l 16393 ].Different forms of Leadership:Leadership in organizational context can be of various types depending on the personality and attitude of the leader. The most popular types of leadership are as follows:Autocratic- This type of leaders want to take the final control of taking their decisions. They do not believe in consulting with others. This type of leadership encompasses use of power and authority on imposing decisions on subordinates[ CITATION Man1716 \l 16393 ].Democratic- The democratic leader is exactly the opposite of autocratic leader. He wishes to consult the others before taking the final decision. He is the one who alwaysinvolves his subordinates in decision-making so that his juniors feel empowered and motivated.Transactional- Transactional leaders believe in the policy of giving and taking. As for example, if the outcome of a job of a subordinate is positive for the department, then that employee will be rewarded. On the contrary, if his performance is poor and objectives have not been achieved, then he might be penalized for such performance.Transformational- A transformational leader can be regarded as a facilitator of change in the organization. This type of leader mixes with his subordinates in a way that it culminates into building of a strong and trusted relationship. This ultimately leads to higher levels of motivation for the employees and helps to bring changes in their behaviour and attitudes to suit with the organizational change strategies.
Masters Dissertation 5Laissez Faire- This type of leader does not believe in exercising direct control over his subordinates. He does not offer continuous feedbacks as the employees are expected to be committed towards their own responsibilities and it is expected that they do not require continued supervision. This can often lead to under-performance of team members due to lack of adequate control and supervision.Situational- This type of leader believes in providing leadership based on the prevailing situation. This form of leadership considers the characteristics of the team members in the group those have to be led. It also accounts for the context of the functioning of the group in order to offer effective leadership depending on the situation [ CITATION Mar1714 \l 16393 ].Differences of Leadership in Public and Private Sectors:Leadership traits are found to differ across the private and the public sectors. This is because there are differences in the goals and objectives of public and private sector organizations. Some of the major differences include the strategies such as, for a private sector firm, the emphasis is on generating the maximum possible financial returns on investments for the benefit of the stakeholders [ CITATION Get17 \l 16393 ]. Whereas, in case of the public sector organizations the main business motive is to offer various products and services for thebenefit of the public and profitability is not the primary objective of this type of organization.Apart from this, the private sector organizations are found to have more clearly defined objectives those are focused on enhancing profitability as compared to the public sector enterprises where the clarity of goals and objectives of the employees is much lower. This is one of the prime reasons behind the form of leadership varying between the private and the public sectors. The other major area of difference between leadership traits in public and private sector organizations is the stakeholder expectations. In case of the public sector organizations the major stakeholders are the public or the citizens of the country. Their
Masters Dissertation 6expectation is to make the most efficient use of the tax money that they are paying to the government. They expect products and services designed to suit their needs and demands directly from the government. On the contrary, there are several stakeholders in respect of a private sector firm such as investors, suppliers, employees, customers, etc. So, handling the demands of the stakeholders is much challenging and requires much intricate and varied strategy to satisfy the demands of each one of them. Thus, leadership traits and characteristicsneed to differ in case of handling stakeholder needs in case of public and private organizations [ CITATION Joh132 \l 16393 ].Organizational Decision-making:Decision-making is one of the key functions of a manager in an organization. Some key strategic decisions are undertaken by the management personnel and the others have to be undertaken by the managers on a regular basis in their respective departments within the enterprise. This decision-making process needs to be undertaken in several phases sequentially in order to ensure that it culminates into a prudent strategic decision in the end. There are seven steps involved in a prudent decision-making process. These can be enumerated as follows:Identifying the decision- This is the first step which involves the realization of the manager that a decision needs to be taken and then clearly defining the nature of such decision.Collecting relevant information- Before taking the decision it is prudent to gather some relevant information regarding the particular decision in terms of its consequences and impacts on the organization and team members. Information can becollected from both internal and external sources.
Masters Dissertation 7Determining the alternatives- In the process of searching for relevant information, itis possible to come across several alternatives. These alternative strategies need to be listed so that the best one can be selected at a later stage.Weighing the evidences- It is necessary for the manager to use his understanding andemotions for imagining the final outcomes of each of the alternatives as if they were carried out from the beginning till the end. The alternatives those look to be the most profitable should be arranged as per their importance. Selecting the best alternative- At this stage the manager has to identify that alternative that he thinks to be the best out of all those he has listed. He can even choose a combination of strategies if that is perceived to be the best strategy to undertake.Taking action- At this stage the manager is ready to execute his planned strategic decision through implementation.Reviewing and evaluating the decision- In this final stage of the process of strategic-decision making, the manager has to evaluate the outcomes of his chosen strategy. If it is observed that the strategy has not been able to achieve its desired objectives then the manager might have to repeat some of the earlier phases in order to implement the next best alternative [ CITATION UMand \l 16393 ].Leadership and Organizational Sustainability:Modern organizational leadership should culminate into achieving long-term sustainability ofnot only the organization but also its various stakeholders. Therefore, managerial leaders should play the role of sustainable leaders. It refers to the managerial decision-making and strategies those are focused on the well-being of the various stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors, suppliers and others. The objective of this form of leadership is not restricted to profit making and achieving of personal objectives only, but also achieving a
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