Leadership Theories and Practices

This assignment delves into the realm of leadership theory, research, and practice. Students are tasked with analyzing a collection of academic articles that examine diverse leadership styles, frameworks, and their implications in various contexts such as global organizations, nonprofits, and public sectors. The analysis should critically evaluate different perspectives on leadership effectiveness, considering factors like gender, organizational culture, and performance measurement systems.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
STUDENT NAME:
STUDENT ID:
UNIVERSITY:
1

'Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Difference between management and leadership......................................................................................3
Theories of leadership.................................................................................................................................5
Behavioral theory........................................................................................................................................6
Contingency theory.....................................................................................................................................6
Effectiveness of selection of leadership and training program....................................................................8
Evaluating the implications of recent and future changes.........................................................................10
Contextualize the selection and training program within the previous theoretical discussion .................11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................13
Reference List............................................................................................................................................14
2

Introduction
The concept of leadership and management is considered as an integral part of an
organization. The skills which are required in this prospect help the overall industry in
performing their daily works and achieving success. In this assignment, the concept of leadership
style and techniques is discussed. Along with that, the difference between the concepts of
leadership with that of management practices is evaluated. There are various theories of
leadership in the current business model. Two distinct theories which are discovered as the most
utilized and highly effective are compared and contrasted in this scenario.
The entity which is chosen in this assignment is British multinational retail industry
based in London UK named Marks and Spencer. This is a very successful firm which has been
operating since 1884 in England and now it has successfully expanded their brand name in the
global sphere. Then an effective analysis about the selection of leadership and the process of a
training program in respect of a chosen firm is discussed. Thereby the possible implications of
those concepts in the current and future changes within that corporate entity are analyzed. Then a
contextual argument is presented in perspective of a transformation of managers into leaders by
providing suitable training. Herein the topic is about leadership and management within the
organization and various related scenarios in this prospect are efficiently presented
(Marksandspencer.com.2017).
Difference between management and leadership
According to Bolman and Deal (2014, p.245) management and leadership practices are
essential for any individual's success as well as for that organization. Leadership is a process to
set up a new way or vision towards its followers so that they may follow him like a spearhead.
Effective leaders develop themselves through never ending processes in training, education,
experience etc. there are many things which do not come naturally but are gained from practical
experiences. Renz (2016, p.50) stated that skills and knowledge enhance the process of
management and leadership. Its process involves aligning and motivating people through
developing a vision by communicating.
3

As per the view of Armstrong and Taylor (2014) leadership and management are
considered as effective terms that assists in executing operations of firm so that desired results
could be attained. Leadership within business is being stated as the crucial part so that
individuals could release their stress and develop appropriate relationship with each other.
However, it also influences business to originate from formal sources and thus help leaders to
obtain crucial position in organization. On the other hand, management is being considered as
the way through which delegation of authorities are being provided in regard to fulfill aims and
objectives. Still there is much confusion among management and leadership within industry.
Both these terms are interconnected to each other. In the current selected industry which is
related to retail sector assesses both leadership and managers as crucial part in order to attain
organizational goals. Also, it could be evaluated that both leadership and management have
certain differences in relation to operational efficiency. Leadership is considered as the quality
that aids in influencing individual to follow their path in order to attain common goals. While,
management plays a crucial role in instruction and directing individuals to carry out the task and
attain business success.
Avolio and Yammarino (2013) stated that leadership is considered as the skill that helps
in leading people and inspiring them so that they could attain targets. However, in retail sector it
is significant for business to obtain effective relationship within leadership and management so
that operations could be carried out. While, management is considered as totally different
concept that helps in incorporating a complete balance of managing business operations so that
retail sector could flourish and thus set targets could be attained. However, Baum (2015) argued
that responsibilities of leaders and managers are also different from each other. They both are
considered as inseperable and thus helps in attaining organizational success. Manager possesses
the qualities of leadership skills so that they could inspire their subordinates in regard to
accomplish the goals. While, managers possessess the quality of managing the task through
instructing subordinates so that success could be attained.
As said by Nahavandi (2016, p.80) management and leadership are inter dependable and
linked complementarily but they are not the same thing and it might cause a problem if tried to
separate them. Leadership includes encouraging people through the virtue of leading them
whereas management manages the activities in the organization. As stated by Solomon et al.
4

(2016, p.143) management calculates statistics, methods, timetables and routine, in short, its
practice of science.
Thus, it could be assessed that leadership and management are two different concepts and
both of these concepts obtain opportunities in order to attain desired targets. It is essential for
leaders to possess clear vision about the goals of M&S so that they could focus upon
accomplishing the targets. While, management possess different objectives to expand the
business, manage workforce etc Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee (2013). Thus, both these
concepts are different from each other and therefore, they also possess effective skills and
capabilities in regard to satisfy the needs of employees. Relationship within management and
leadership is not at all clear as they both follow different direction and path so that it helps in
overcoming inefficiency and thus helps leader to assign different task so that appropriate
solutions could be obtained.
Theories of leadership
The concept of leadership is best discussed as the process which effectively influences
the other persons and helps in achieving the objectives in such a way to make the overall work
structure highly coherent and cohesive. As stated that Miller and Matzel (2014, p.72) in this
process, the individuals make an influence on the subordinates to bring success by achieving
common targets. There are four major factors of this theory of leadership. This includes leaders,
followers, communication process and managing of situations.
In this assignment, the researcher has chosen two of the most common and traditional
style of leadership which is found to be highly effective. Those theories are a Behavioral style of
leadership and contingency style of leadership. Further, analysis of one leadership theory is
being done i.e. contingency theory. As per Wilbur and Myers (2016, p.186) in behavioral theory,
there is a scope for a new perspective and is mainly focused on the attitude and behavior of the
leaders. That body language is reflected among the followers and thereby influences them.
However in the contingency theory is mainly based on a particular situation on which the
effectiveness of the leader is evaluated.
5

Behavioral theory
The behavioral theory of leadership is focused on a specific behavior of a leader in an
organization. Behavior predicts best on the leadership of his/hers success rate. As opined by
Hallinger and Wang (2015, p.12) this approach provides real marketing potentials for a specific
response to stimuli. This theory does not seek for inborn traits or capabilities but looks into the
works of the leader. Success is often described in action that is easy for the rest people to act in
the same way. This assumes that that capability in leadership can be learned and not inherited.
This widens the development in leadership as opposed to the assessment in psychometric that
provides them the potentiality from those who might not get the chance. It's easy to develop as
it views both the actions of the leaders as well as the leadership qualities. The success can be
correlated statistically with its behaviors. There are certain assumptions that state leader's
effectiveness because of the actions they take. Mujtaba (2013, p.23) highlighted that the
limitations are the situational factors that can be ignored; the behaviors do not generalize across
situations and the leaders need to be flexible.
Contingency theory
Contingency theory is closely associated with the situational approach. This theory of
leadership was first proposed by Fiedler. Shattock (2013, p.221) agreed that it emphasizes the
importance of the situation as well as the leader's personality, which he operates. There are the
two related styles one is the relationship motivated and the other is the task motivated. It claims
that no best way can organize in a corporation, to make new decisions or to lead a company apart
from this theory. It is the optimal course of action on the internal and external situation. Its
leader should effectively apply its own style of leadership in the right situation. The model
focuses on the natural leadership style and situations where it will be more effective. The leaders
are either relationship or task focused. It can be matched to various situations making it more
effective to use.
As per the view of Schuhmann et al. (2014) contingency theory could be stated that
success of leader is a function that helps in developing contingencies so that it involves different
subordinates, task or other group in order to develop leaders and thus carry out business targets.
Further, contingency model assists leaders to undertake effective decision that helps business to
6

identify the traits of their subordinates so that set targets could be attained. It is essential for
leaders to obtain contingency model that helps in making effective decision so that business
could be attain success. It is significant for leaders to manage, leader and direct other so that set
targets could be attained. It could be assessed that contingency theory involves concept of
situation which obtain different factors such as- Leader-member relations- It is one of the main factor that helps individuals to develop
trust, loyalty and confidence so that leaders could attain desired targets Schuhmann et al.
(2014, p. 25) . Task structure- Further, it is another factor that helps workers to identify the clarity of
task and thus accomplish the same so that needs of individuals could be fulfilled.
 Position power- It is being related to the amount of reward and punishment authority so
that leaders obtain effective power in regard to accomplish the targets Offord et al. 2016,
p.294). .
Analysis of contingency theory
As per the view of Alabdulhadi et al. (2017) contingency theory is considered as suitable
for leaders in order to influence themselves according to situation and also develop good skills
and attributes. It is the best way that helps leaders to make effective and quick decision making
so that appropriate targets could be attained. Contingency theories helps leaders to support the
team and thus possess people oriented style in regard to improve their own skills and capabilities
and obtain successful targets. While, it could also be assessed that contingency theory helps
individual to identify different independent factors and thus predict that leaders are those
individuals who obtains personal traits and thus helps in matching the needs of the situation so
that success could be achieved. However, it could also be stated that contingency theory is
suitable for leaders in regard to use within firm and thus grow and develop business up to a great
extent. It also aim to focus upon set targets so that desired goals and targets could be attained.
The style of contingency theory is mainly focused on the use of leadership techniques and
strategies in a particular situation. Westphal and Zajac (2013, p.656) agreed that the behavior of
the leader is build based on the inherent quality of the person. However, some examples are there
in which it can be seen that the sharpness and attitude of the leader get developed with time.
Thereby the effectiveness gets build. This factor generates an influence on the followers and
helps in achieving success.
7

Moreover, it could be evaluated that contingency theory helps leaders to attain desired
goals. It is considered as the most suitable theory and thus helps business to work according to
different situations and accomplish the task. For instance, leaders of M&S requires to effectively
determine the situation and thus adopt effective leadership styl so that they could make quick
decision making. It helps in encouraging individual and thus helps in obtaining suitable targets.
This theory, however, states that the behavior of the leader which is inherent in nature
helps him in taking decisions of impact during the time of crisis. Thereby it is also effective in
the situational model. Alabdulhadi et al. (2017, p.5) agreed that thus a distinct similarity is also
found in this concept. Both of these theories make an emphasis on the approaches which can be
identified in the actions of the leader and also the capability with a certain situation.
Effectiveness of selection of leadership and training program
It could be identified that in such competitive era, there are various organizations who are
in search of effective leaders and thus help people to identify their talent so that business goals
could be attained. Businesses always look at their managers in regard to provide them leadership
roles and thus carry out assigned task in an efficiency manner. Also, it is significant for firm to
select effective leadership style and thus assists them to plan, measure, monitor and coordinate
leaders so that they could attain desired targets (Das, 2015). Also, management of firm requires
to carry out effective selection of leadership in relation to obtain positive outcomes. While,
selecting effective leadership it helps business to accomplish their goals and therefore enhancing
the efficiency of firm in market. Therefore, at the time of selection of leadership and training
program it is significant for managers to identify the skills and capabilities of leaders and then
provide them appropriate training program so that best results could be attained. As per the skills
and capabilities of individuals, effective training needs to be provided to them so that it would
result in enhancing their efficiency. Through providing training to leaders it assists in gaining
positive outcome and thus achieve long term impact upon business functions.
It is highly considered that the selection of leadership is a crucial aspect of an entity. The
selection procedure, as well as the choosing of the candidates, is based on various factors. The
ability of the person is calculated and also the best possible choice is made. This is very
important because the overall running process of the entity is highly dependent upon this factor.
The process of selection should be biased and free from any partiality and corruption. Otherwise,
8

any unwanted individual will be provided with the opportunity and thereby the whole process
will get hampered. In most of the cases, it is discovered that the opinion of the followers is given
priority in the process of selection. The choice made by them is mostly considered as the choice
of democracy and thereby they are given preference. As agreed by Krakowski et al. (2016, p.32)
the easiest methods can be instantly identified in a given situation and thereby an effective result
is obtained. This also helps in overall growth and development of the institution as well as the
mentality of the followers is improved. Sometimes it is found that an experienced leader creates
an impact on his followers by several methods and techniques like a process of appraisal and
motivational process.
It is significant for firm to carry out effective selection of leadership and then undertake
training program so that skills and capabilities of individual could be enhanced. M&S undertake
effective leadership selection so that appropriate targets could be achieved and therefore it helps
in improving the management of people and leadership so that overall targets could be attained.
For instance, M&S operates within retain industry and therefore selection of leadership requires
firm to focus upon effective selection process and thus provide appropriate training program as
per the need of individuals so that specific goals could be attained. Effectiveness of leadership
selection is considered as the best and suitable so that appropriate training program is being
conducted in regard to obtain desired outcomes. M&S also aims to organize training program
that helps in carrying out effective management so that appropriate results could be attained.
Providing appropriate training program to individual helps in enhancing their skills and
capacities so that their could give tough competition to each other.
In this process, it can be said that a good quality training facility is provided to the leaders
of this entity named Mark and Spencer. This helps in the building of a good atmosphere and
develops a level of experience with the leaders. Montano and Kasprzyk (2015, p.35) said that the
performance of the leaders under various situations is paid attention and thereby the buildup of
the leader is maintained. The decisions which are taken by the leaders under various situations
are closely examined. That sector where the leader needs development is also provided and
thereby their performances get sharper from this perspective.
9

Evaluating the implications of recent and future changes
In this respect, it can be seen that the leadership in this particular entity is highly effective
and influential in the activities of the team. The leadership is very influential in their approach
and the impact which they create on the followers and the subordinate workers makes them work
in a very productive manner. As stated by Hardman (2016, p.45) the implications of those
features of the leaders are making the overall production a success. The management of people in
this company is highly systematic. Every aspect of the workers and employees are paid much
attention to the leaders and managers. The needs and requirements of those personnel are paid
much attention. Thereby all those predetermined objectives and targets are successfully achieved
by the company. The leaders are always presented under modernized training facilities in which
they are provided with various types of situations. The leaders are to be tested in this process
because they have to suggest a possible outcome of that crisis situation. Mikes and Kaplan
(2013, p.12) agreed that the leaders who are active in this firm are advised to be bold and
efficient for leading the company towards success. The personality is build and thereby it gets
reflected in the working process of the company employees. The changes which are brought
about in this process have to be highly effective and up to date so that any type of changes in the
overall management can be effectively brought about within the structure. The leaders are to be
trained in a better way so that a sense of goodwill and trust gets surrounded by the workers of the
firm. The calmness should be the factor in the personality of the leaders so that they can be able
to handle any type of situation in context the company.
Apart from that, they should also develop an adaptive mindset. Taylor, A. and Taylor
(2014, p.853) opined that the leaders need to be very comfortable with clear about every
situation for traveling into unexplored paths. This means that the leader should be ready to
encounter any type of situations which they have not experienced in the past. They have to be
ready to tackle with those situations with strong leadership capability. The next criterion which
the leader should have is a clear perspective and vision so that they can encourage the young
leaders with key features for generating success within the company. They should be ready for
embracing different types of situations with a much clear mindset for accepting newer
challenges. The ability to spot the changes, with interdisciplinary actions and a readiness to
tackle several unique problems is required by the leader. According to Rahman and Sharif (2014,
p.28) the next important criterion in this prospect which a new learner must possess is becoming
10

self-aware and be agile for the new learner. The rapidly changing environment is highly
demanding. The business competition is becoming stern and thereby the managers of this firm
have to be cautious and be very aware of this demand. They have to keep a close eye on the level
and demand of competition. The rival companies have to be kept under constant supervision so
that they do not fall back in competition. This required demand for collaboration with the
changing trends and expectations has to be kept both within as well as outside of the
organization. Paustian-Underdahl et al. (2014, p.55) highlighted that the mindset should be
focused on the locality and the society for engaging and nurturing the purposeful business. This
can be maintained by the usage of social media and various other modes of communications.
Hence it can be said that by successful adoption of this trend this chosen entity can generate
success both within the infrastructure as well as outside it.
Contextualize the selection and training program within the previous
theoretical discussion
It could be assessed that selection and training program helps in carry out effective results
in terms of providing training to selected individuals. Thus, selection and training program
results in enhancing their skills and capacities so that effective results could be attained.
However, it is the best way through which appropriate results could be attained. As per the
previous discussion it could be assessed that selection and training program plays a vital role
within business and therefore it results in improving business performance so that appropriate
targets in the form of skilled leaders could be attained. However, training is another factor that
helps in enhancing individual's skills and capabilities so that performance could be enhanced of
organization.
It is found in most of the business entities in the world that most of the managers get
promoted as senior managers only because of their skills and experiences as well as seniority.
However, it is also discovered that their roles and duties within the company get changed
whenever this change takes place. This change requires them to generate much more soft skills
than technical skills. It is the duty of the managers to learn those required skills very quickly so
that the productivity and efficiency do not get changed. This will create several difficulties and
the situation will get adverse because the company will lose its ground in the market
competition.
11

In various articles it can be seen that there is a common proverb that all leaders are
successful managers, however, all managers are not very effective leaders. It is, in fact, true
when it is surveyed on various major companies in the world. About 80% of the managers who
get promoted fail to become a successful leader. This is because the fails to assess and execute
things mainly because they fail to maintain a similar standard with the upper and lower grade of
the firm. They blindly execute all the orders when they were subordinates but when they become
a leader they have to create a personal instinct and by that instinct, they have to generate their
own effective methods for acquiring success within the organization. Du et al. (2013, p.161) said
that this blind following of all the directives makes them mere puppets in the hand of the
supervisors and this is why they fail to deal or negotiate with the current situation.
A leader, however, is the one who creates an influence among its subordinates
irrespective of his positions. This influence and inspiring of the subordinates by the leaders
proves to be beneficial in building up of things which are aligned to him as well as the targeted
goal of the company. The goal may be hard to be achieved but staying in frontline is the main
target which is achieved in this respect. The guidance, emotional and logistical support which is
reflected in the performance of the leader highly influences their subordinates in acquiring
success within the entity. Another essential quality which a leader possesses and which is found
to be lacking in any manager is that they fail to inspire people. This inspiration building quality
which is missing in the manager helps the leader to influence the subordinates as well as the
supervisors alike. Clarke (2013, p.33) stated that a sense of charm gets spread within the overall
workforce due to the influencing personality of the leader. They do not force an individual to do
something like the manager. They only inspire their co-workers for performing the jobs so that
the overall management, as well as the company, gets the benefit out of this. Selection and
training program could be evaluated as effective process and thus it results in improving their
performance so that success could be attained. Leaders are required to adopt effective approaches
that helps in adopting effective training program so that individual could be trained and thus
enhance their skills and capabilities. Also, it is the best way through which training could be
provided to workers that would help them to improve their performance so that set results could
be attained.
12

Conclusion
It is concluded that the effectiveness of leader and manager both are required for
acquiring success in a company. The concept of leadership and management is a totally different
perspective in a firm; however, both are linked with certain essential criteria. Both of them hold
some specific roles within the working structure of the company. The side by side functioning as
well as effective collaboration is highly required for obtaining the desired success. However, it is
not an easy task to be an effective leader within an organization. There are several theories and
methods in this respect which is mostly followed for achieving success. The leaders should be
provided with effective training facilities and programs so that their skills get developed and
sharpened in this respect. This chosen firm has been very effective in distributing their
managerial goals as well as developing a good and efficient leadership.
13

Reference List
Alabdulhadi, A., Schyns, B. and Staudigl, L.F., (2017). Leadership as journey: implicit leadership theories.
Open University Press.
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers. pp. 322-323.
Avolio, B.J. and Yammarino, F.J. eds., (2013). Transformational and charismatic leadership:
The road ahead. Emerald Group Publishing.
Baum, T., (2015). Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change?–A 2015
reprise. Tourism Management. 50. pp.204-212.
Bolman, L. and Deal, T., (2014). Leadership and management. Christian Youth Work in Theory
and Practice: A Handbook, p.245.
Clarke, S., (2013). Safety leadership: A meta‐analytic review of transformational and
transactional leadership styles as antecedents of safety behaviours. Journal of
Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86(1), pp.22-49.
Das, S.C., (2015). Emerging socio-cultural perspectives of implicit leadership theories related to
Indo-Pak enterprises. The Business & Management Review, 6(5), p.51.
Diep, C.S., Chen, T.A., Davies, V.F., Baranowski, J.C. and Baranowski, T., (2014). Influence of
behavioral theory on fruit and vegetable intervention effectiveness among children: a meta-
analysis. Journal of nutrition education and behavior, 46(6), pp.506-546.
Du, S., Swaen, V., Lindgreen, A. and Sen, S., (2013). The roles of leadership styles in corporate
social responsibility. Journal of business ethics, 114(1), pp.155-169.
Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A., (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of
emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
Hallinger, P. and Wang, W.C., (2015). Assessing instructional leadership with the principal
instructional management rating scale. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Hardman, M., (2016). The effectiveness of leadership characteristics in varying situations
displayed within a half-time speech in football (Doctoral dissertation, University of
Chichester).
Hattie, J., (2015). High-Impact Leadership. Educational Leadership, 72(5), pp.36-40.
14

Krakowski, S.M., Martignoni, D. and Raisch, S., (2016), January. Does Unfair Regulation
Benefit Companies? A Behavioral Theory of Regulation and Firm Performance.
In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2016, No. 1, p. 16734). Academy of
Management.
Marksandspencer.com. (2017). Welcome to Marks & Spencer. Available at:
http://www.marksandspencer.com/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2017].
Mikes, A. and Kaplan, R.S., (2013). Towards a contingency theory of enterprise risk management.
Miller, R.R. and Matzel, L.D., (2014). Contingency and relative associative
strength. Contemporary learning theories: Pavlovian conditioning and the status of
traditional learning theory, pp.61-84.
Montano, D.E. and Kasprzyk, D., (2015). Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior,
and the integrated behavioral model. Health behavior: Theory, research and practice
Mujtaba, B.G., (2013). Managerial skills and practices for global leadership.
Nahavandi, A., (2016). The Art and Science of Leadership -Global Edition. Pearson.
Offord, M., Gill, R. and Kendal, J., (2016). Leadership between decks: a synthesis and
development of engagement and resistance theories of leadership based on evidence from
practice in Royal Navy warships. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 37(2),
pp.289-304.
Paustian-Underdahl, S.C., Walker, L.S. and Woehr, D.J., (2014). Gender and perceptions of leadership
effectiveness: A meta-analysis of contextual moderators.
Rahman, F. and Sharif, M.Y., (2014). The Effectiveness of Leadership Development Programs: Developing
a Research Framework for the Oil Exploration Companies in Abu Dhabi.
Renz, D.O., (2016). The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John
Wiley & Sons.
Schuhmann, R.J., Magarian, J.N. and Huttner-Loan, E., (2014). A method for assessing
engineering leadership content in the engineering curriculum: A first look at civil
engineering project management courses. In 2014 ASEE Conference, June.
Shattock, M., (2013). University governance, leadership and management in a decade of
diversification and uncertainty. Higher Education Quarterly, 67(3), pp.217-233.
Solomon, I.G., Costea, C. and Nita, A.M., (2016). Leadership versus management in public
organizations. Economics, Management and Financial Markets, 11(1), p.143.
Taylor, A. and Taylor, M., (2014). Factors influencing effective implementation of performance
measurement systems in small and medium-sized enterprises and large firms: a perspective
from Contingency Theory. International Journal of Production Research, 52(3), pp.847-
866.
15

Westphal, J.D. and Zajac, E.J., (2013). A behavioral theory of corporate governance: Explicating
the mechanisms of socially situated and socially constituted agency. Academy of
Management Annals, 7(1), pp.607-661.
Wilbur, D. and Myers, D., (2016). The NFL and Its Concussion Crisis: Adapting the
Contingency Theory to Examine Shifts in Publics’ Stances. Journal of US-China Public
Administration, 13(3), pp.181-188.
16