Leadership and Management Concepts in Corus Group Plc

Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers to help students succeed.

Leadership and Management Concepts
1

Executive Summary
In this study, there has been done a thorough discussion on how leaders and managers work for
Corus Group Plc, their differences, similarities. In addition, using various methodologies of
leadership like situational leadership, system leadership and contingency leadership different
approaches in different scenarios have been discussed along with different analysis of their
business operations. Therefore, it is also witnessed how these work in favour the leader and
managements. After the discussion, the various factors, which are important for Corus Group
Plc, have been witnessed. Based on the findings, the further approaches of the company will
ensure their success in the long run.
2

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Part 1................................................................................................................................................5
Part 2..............................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................21
Reference List................................................................................................................................22
3

Introduction
In this era of globalisation, every organisation is competing with each other to stay ahead of their
rivals. In order to keep up in the market every establishment needs a great leader and a manager
for proper operation of the company. In this study different theories of operation management
will be discussed such as the six sigma and lean production theory. The operational management
approaches of total quality management and the concept of continuous improvement will be
focused to enhance the effectiveness of leaders and managers of Corus. There will be a detailed
discussion about the role of leaders, managers along with their skills. Corus Group Plc is world’s
sixth largest steel producing company. It is also a part of Tata Steel Group, provides employment
for around 42000 people across the world. Total revenue of Corus Group Plc is £12 billion on an
average (as per the case study).
4

Part 1
Provide two academic definitions of both leaders and managers.
Leader: According to Wildavsky (20180), a person who can hold a group of people under him
and can lead the team towards achieving the target of the company is known as leader. For
Corus, leaders anticipate the possible result of a given target. They influence the people under
them and motivate them to achieve the goal in a very controlled manner.
Manager: A manager is a person who is in charge to carry out a number of different tasks,
manages and coordinates the people working in the organisation. For Corus they are responsible
for setting plans for different departments and they keep track of the operation to make sure that
the goals are achieved.
Explain (with relevant examples) the similarities and difference characteristics between a
Modern Leader (of your individual choice) and a Manager.
For this part of the study, as a Modern Leader example of Henrik Adam who is CEO of Tata
Steel, UK has been taken.
Factors Leaders Managers
Flexibility Henrik Adam is always into
extracting something new, tries to
improve their conventional way of
working in order to see if there is any
chance to do better that what are
doing currently. Henrik Adam is
more flexible than managers are.
Corus Group Plc has a group of managers
having high vision. They always keep on
working in order to improve the system to
provide hassle free working culture so that
the employees can work smoothly.
Risk The CEO is never afraid of taking
risks. In the context of Corus,
Henrik Adam tries and executes
innovative ways to carry out
operations. The agenda is to get the
Risk factors may cause uncertainty in the
business operations as well in the market.
In case of managers of Corus, they try to
minimize risk factors
5

job done no matter what risks they
take. For instances, the individual
closed the pension scheme in order to
help de-risk business.
(content.wisestep.com, 2016).
Approach In context of Corus Group
Plc, Henrik Adam is always open to
learn and implement new ways
(businessworld.in, 2019). According
to him, if the workers are not learning
new things, the company might have
been falling behind in comparison to
the market.
Managers here, tend to rely on the proven
methodologies by which they have
achieved success in the past. Their
approaches are simple and straightforward.
Way of
work
CEO of Corus is highly motivated.
They also keep their subordinates
motivated while the task is going on
and reaches their targeted milestone
(keydifferences.com, 2014).
They set short-term goals and keep on
monitoring them on a regular basis if each
segment have completed in the stipulated
time.
How
distinct
they are
The person works rigorously to
achieve their target, communicates
with different employees, and learns
from their way of working. Hence,
the person adopts their unique style
of leading the team, which ensure
better performance.
Managers are not leaders. They learn from
different leaders, managers working under
the banner of Corus and develop their
style.
Nature Henrik Adam cares for the people
working under their supervision and
thinks for opportunities, facilities so
that the subordinates remain
A manager only cares about numbers.
Their only focus is to achieve the target. In
order to achieve they even warn
comparatively less efficient workers of the
6

motivated. This helps in achieving
the goal.
company, if required they do hesitate to
take action against them
(Cornerstoneondemand.com, 2019).
Focus The person builds coordination with
other employees working with the
organisation. This helps to get help
in their work whenever needed
(Forbes.com, 2019).
In Corus managers are more on building
system, rules and regulations so that the
employees work properly and do not get
involved in any adverse situations.
Argument Henrik Adam uses argument as a key
factor for reaching a goal, as query or
argument shows different possible
approaches to do a single task in
different ways.
They intentionally avoid arguments; this
is because they do not want their works to
be done peacefully.
Role In Corus Group Plc, Henrik Adam
plays the role of a coach, a guide who
contributes equally to help their
subordinates to work efficiently.
Leader is humble and friendly.
Managers only assign jobs. They monitor
the outcome and nothing else.
Type The individual deals situations with
soft management skills. They
consider the wellbeing of their
subordinates. It is of transactional
type (keydifferences.com, 2015).
They are strict only care about target. It is
of transformational type.
Table 1: Difference between a Modern Leader and a Manager
(Source: Created by Learner)
Similarities between Henrik Adam and a Manager
Corus Group Plc is a part of Tata Steel Group, one of the leading steel production companies
across the world. The main agenda or goal of the company is to do business, earn revenue. In
7

addition, the company wants to maintain their brand value in the market. As a CEO of the
organisation Henrik Adam and other managers have the same common goal - the success of the
company. They both work in order to maintain the reputation and the brand value. Both
managers and Henrik Adam work hand in hand to maintain a great work environment so that the
target can be achieved.
Analysis of the different roles of management and leadership in application to different
organisational situations, supported by theories and concepts
Managers’ role
Within work environment of Corus, the approach and the role of the managers are different for
every individual market scenario. The managers need to analyse a number of factors to know
what factors are responsible to keep the work environment stable. This helps them to understand
the key factors that are said to be responsible for a steady workflow. Once again, the managers’
responsibility is to maintain a proper balance in the work environment. This will make sure that
the employees stay motivated through this stage. In this way, the company can keep up with the
situation. Finally, when the situation changes rapidly the managers need to be brave enough to
take decisions that might work in favour of the organisation.
Leaders’ role
According to Northouse (2018), leaders’ role in case of any of the aforementioned scenario arise
within the organisation can be described using Path goal theory. It has four styles which explain
the operations and approach in different cases.
8

Figure 1: Path Goal Theory
(Source: Northouse, 2018)
Directive style- The Leader gives a clear view of what the company is expecting. This helps the
employees to understand and work efficiently.
Supportive style- This style leader creates a friendly environment so that maximum productivity
can be gained from the employees.
Participative style-The leader here is supportive and consults with subordinates in order to
decide what is best for both the company and the workers.
Achievement style-In this style of leadership the leader sets the company’s target and hope that
the employees will carry out the task and ensure the growth of the organisation.
Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational context.
Corus Group Plc, being a huge company is dependent on various situations, such as the decision
of approaches taken by managers and leaders along with their strategies. They all ensure the
credibility of the establishment. These different situations are discussed below,
Fast changing scenario
Every company has to face a situation in there tenure where there is a risk in the market causing
harm for the company, threatening their brand values a situation rises. The decision and strategy
taken are stayed in a huge risk for the organisation (Hayes, 2018). This kind of situation arises
9

when the company fails to fulfil the requirements of the customers. This causes a situation where
the employees in the company is not said to be happy or satisfied, as they keep worrying for the
future of the company. In the context of Corus, they need to be prepared with some contingency
plan to cope up with the situation.
Slow to moderate scenario
In this type of situation, the company faces moderate dilemma in preparing plans and strategies.
These kind of slow and moderate situations create an intense environment within the
organisation as customer preferences are changing gradually. The company remains unable to
prepare proper strategies. For Corus group, they need to stay in continuous updating process, so
that this kind of situation does not affect their operations. It ensures their steady business
operation.
Stable situation
In this situation, the probability of arising complexity in such scenario is minimised. The
company is said to be under stable situation when they need to apply least number of changes in
order to carry out certain tasks. In order to achieve such type situation, Corus group plc needs to
be efficient and active in order to stay in favour of the customers’ choice so that they do not have
to face any adverse situation.
Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency.
According to Schedlitzki and Edwards (2017), there are a number of theories and approaches,
using which leaders and manager of Corus Group Plc are operating in the market, anticipating
the upcoming problems or situations to improve the status of the establishment as well as to
maintain the brand value. The several major theories are discussed below:
Situational Leadership
In this theory, it is discussed, if the leaders are able to achieve the given target irrespective of the
situation or any other external or internal factor, it is known as the efficiency of leaders. This
shows how much active and competent leaders are. In case of Corus Group Plc, the leader has
proved effectiveness and readiness by continuing their work without being dependant on the
market scenario.
Systems Leadership
10

This is a kind of leadership, in which the leaders need to be multifunctional and optimistic so that
they can create an environment and work condition to improve the productivity. The leaders
need to be flexible enough to meet the criteria of global market. In context of Corus Group Plc,
the leaders appreciate the new thoughts and always prepared to keep up with the latest
requirements in the international market.
Leaders must be at the driving seat in order to control the emotions. They must have a clear
vision of the goal that they are approaching. This ensures the focus and proper implementation of
the resources. In Corus Group Plc, the leaders have a good vision and clear goals to operate the
business.
Another important part is the trust. Leaders of Corus Group Plc need to ensure that their statistics
stays right so that they do not disappoint the stockholders.
Contingency Leadership
According to Antonakis and Day (2017), contingency theory is one of the strongest theories that
explain how managers and leader of an organisation execute and perform their roles efficiently.
Contingency means emergency, therefore it allows the officials of Corus Group Plc to research
market conditions and anticipate any threat that might affect the business. This also helps them to
do planning, to prepare strategies and to set targets for upcoming time.
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and
management to situations within the work environment.
Strength
In case of situational leadership leader, leaders and managers try to find a common solution,
which serves both ends. This makes the operation flexible. It creates a comfortable environment
for workers. In addition, it helps to work as a team, hence improving their bonding. In case of
contingency leadership, management remains flexible, and due to this, their scope of
improvement increases. In addition, the managers also understand the depth of the situation.
Weakness
In situational leadership, leaders and management focus more on short-term goals rather than
long-term goal. It actually affects to stay on track to achieve their long-term goal. In this
scenario, their focus remain task oriented, therefore it become scattered; no uniformity in work
can be seen. In contingency leadership, the company has to invest a lot in order to cope up with
11

the situation causing more expense, time wasting and so on. In addition, it is also a complex
approach, creates confusion.
12