Leadership and Management Theories in KPMG: A Case Study

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MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
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Executive Summary
In the given report, a thorough study of leadership and management has been provided. The
differences, advantages, and disadvantages are discussed. Different management and
leadership theories are evaluated, and the factors affecting the organisation are thoroughly
described.
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Table of Contents
LO2 and LO4.............................................................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
Reference List..........................................................................................................................10
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LO2 and LO4
1. An introduction to your selected organisation
KPMG is a company in the United Kingdom that provides audit, tax, and advisory services.
The word KPMG stands for “Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler”. The chairman of this
company is Bill Thomas, who was the former CEO and senior partner of KPMG LLP,
Canada. It is one of the best companies in UK to work.
2. An explanation of your department including the role in operations
The role of a personal assistant is to undertake the administrative tasks. The role it plays in an
organisation is to deal with phone calls and correspondence. It manages diaries and organises
appointments and meetings, organises conferences and many other tasks.
3. Discuss the background of your management team in this department
The management team in KPMG Company has some priorities that include the global
strategy and dynamic arrangement in the KPMG network.
4. Discuss two strengths and two weaknesses of your manager / leader approaches
Leadership and management are not the same though it seems so. The organisation needs
both of them to prosper. Management produces the results that keep things working
effectively and the leadership makes changes. There are both advantages and disadvantages
of management and leadership approaches.
 The strength of a manager is reliability. This feature builds trust and is necessary for
the tasks of the management. It organises the team and connects the staffs.
 The weakness of a manager is that he can often forget what he is doing and why he is
doing. He is resistant to transform. A manager tends to defy any changes in the
system.
 The strengths of the leader are that he inspires and encourages people. He always
searches for some new approaches and is quite innovating in his ideas.
 The weakness of the leadership is that he often follows the ideas without prior
contemplation. This can lead to failure (Chaudhry, 2018). The leaders often caught up
in the ideas and tended to forget that the mission is reasonable or not.
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5. List three specific roles and duties your management in your organisation
 A manager role is to develop the structure of the company.
 He communicates the purpose and objectives of the company to the other members.
 He develops the employees through training and guiding.
 He also assesses the results and provides feedback to them for improvement.
 He creates an organisational chart and develops visions (Baldoni, 2019).
 Managers do enjoy an important position and are followed by his subordinates.
 The leaders’ group only followed him. His job is to influence people.
 Both of them have specific duties to work. A manager has concern for the goals of the
organisation.
6. Provide one real occasion where the role of management was excellent to apply
different theories and models of management approaches as shown during the lectures
During the changed business environment, different theories should be incorporated.
Contingency theory of leadership emphasises the significance of the leader’s personal and
the circumstance in which he functions (Daft, 2015). Two styles in this theory of leadership
are motivation theory and motivation through relationship. The factors of the situation are:
Leader and affiliate relations- These pacts with the common ambience of assembly and
judgments like loyalty, assurance, and trust.
Task Structure- It is related to the lucidity of the task as well as the ways needed to the
achievement of it.
The Power of Position - This related to the quantity of recompense and castigation power that
the leaders have upon the group members.
This theory establishes the power of the leader among the team members. It helps the leader
to achieve the goal and gain respect from the employees. The contingency theory can be
applied to the organisation’s subunit level for improving the behaviour of the workforce.
According to the situational leadership theory, a mixture of different styles of leadership is
best. The leaders should adopt the style as per the situation requires; this can only make the
work done (Thompson and Glasø, 2015). The different styles that are used in this theory are:
Telling- The leaders should tell the employees what is to be done and how it is to be done.
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Selling- This includes the selling of the ideas to the members of the group.
Participating- The leaders provides not much direction to the employees. The workers are
allowed to take part actively, make decisions and bring new ideas.
Delegating- In this style, the members of the group make most decisions and are responsible
for the task.
This theory helps the leader to change the roles according to the situations. The changes in
the functions let the employees take part in it enthusiastically. This theory makes the leader
gauge the situation and acts according to it. It enhances the growth of the business and
provides appropriate techniques to follow during the time of crisis or urgent need.
System theory approach is the analysis of the organisations as the “open social systems” that
should cooperate with its environment to survive. The systems get input, information or
resources from the environment, process them and then release the outputs in the
environment to restore the balance. The system also looks for the feedback to confirm that the
outputs are efficient in restoring the balance. This theory aims at the ways and approaches to
maintain the survival of the organisation and stress on the long-term goals. It helps in the
progression of any business.
7. Evaluate the theory of leadership styles as applied to you manager on this occasion
 Transformational Leadership- This theory inspires the employees through
communicative methods, thus creating the environment for intellectual benefits
(Anderson and Sun, 2017).
 Transactional Leadership- It focuses on the group organisation and establishes a
link of order in the activities of management. The leaders reward good employees
and punish the bad ones.
 Servant Leadership- This style prefers authority power and encourages decision
making among employees.
 Autocratic Leadership- This style controls the employees and does not consider
their opinions or suggestions (Northouse, 2017).
 Laissez-faire Leadership- This theory allows the employees to choose the task as
per their skills and intelligence.
 Democratic Leadership- In this style, the leader allows the employees to take part
in decision making before giving a final verdict.
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 Bureaucratic Leadership- In this style of leadership, the rules is strictly followed,
and any changes are not allowed in any condition.
8. Discuss with examples the type of transformation process is common in your
company
The factors within the business environment that affect the organisation are:
Human Resources- The skilled and responsible employees influence the company positively,
whereas incompetent labourers negatively affect the growth of the business. This factor
influences the wider environment as well.
Capital Resources- Appropriate budget is necessary to survive in the market for any
company. It is necessary to flourish the company as well as for the progression of the living
status.
Operational efficiency- The factors that affect the operations are employees, products, and
customers. Every arena of the organisation should be considered, and proper adjustments
should be provided for the effectiveness of the company.
Organisational Structure- The system flow should be considered, and suitable regulations and
rules should be applied to make sure that the workers are performing well. This benefits the
company as well as the employees (Quain, 2018).
Infrastructure- A high quality and modern infrastructure are needed for the smooth running of
the business. An adequate supply of internet connection and wifi is necessary for better
performance.
Innovation- Development is needed in the company for the sustenance of the business. The
world is rapidly changing, and the company needs to make innovation in the process of
manufacturing, infrastructure, and organisational structure for survival.
Communication- Communication is necessary among the team members to flourish the
business (Gleeson, 2019). Sufficient discussion about the task is necessary to avoid wastage
of time and resources.
Solution transformation is common in KPMG Company. It focuses on resolving the
challenges of the customers in the best possible way. The managers rethink about how the
products and services are bundled, built, and traded. This process is necessary to address the
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challenges of the customers. The company should divert away from usual services and focus
on providing better services to the customers. Operational transformation develops
effective changes in the organisation in the field of marketing and sales. Performance
improvement is necessary to manage costs, expand the business, and growth of the
company.
9. Discuss the impact of two adjustments for Capacity Management on the organisation
The capacity planning is measuring what steps have been taken in the company that provided
the result and what steps should be taken to get the desired result (Gardner, 2019). It helps in
understanding the infrastructures of the company. It also gauges the progress of the system
(Levy, 2018). Capacity Management in KPMG Company would help in reducing wastage
and extra effort in any task. This method helps the business to prioritise the most important
ventures and evaluate the planning and actions. The strategic planning of capacity
management helps in restructuring scenarios of the company. It changes the management
activities and provides new measures to the employers to remain active.
10. Provide two operational recommendations to management for future improvements
It can be recommended that KPMG Company should use different leadership styles to
manage the business. Transformational leadership style is best in the changed context of any
company. The future improvement of the company is dependent on the leader. He must
follow the trend and should be aware of changing laws, economy, and the state of the
industry. Regularly checking the condition of the industry helps the leader to improve the
existing situation. Trends do inspire innovation; this will help the company to improve
services and products.
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Conclusion
It can be concluded that the roles of leaders and managers are equally important for the
success of a business. The progress of the business depends upon both the leaders and the
managers. The contingency, situational and system theories are important in KPMG
Company. Capacity management and solution transformation are equally important to
manage difficult situations in the business.
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Reference List
Anderson, M.H. and Sun, P.Y., 2017. Reviewing leadership styles: Overlaps and the need for
a new ‘full‐range’theory. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), pp.76-96.
Baldoni, J. 2019. The Role of Leader-Manager. American Management Association.
Chaudhry, S., 2018. Leaders or managers?.
Daft, R.L., 2015. Organization theory and design. Cengage learning.
Gardner, K. 2019. The Benefits of Capacity Planning. Chron.
Gleeson, P. 2019. Internal & External Factors That Affect an Organization. Chron.
Levy, L. 2018. Capacity management: What is it, and why do you need it?. ITProPortal.
Northouse, P.G., 2017. Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. Sage Publications.
Quain, S. 2018. Internal & External Factors That Affect an Organization. azcentral.
Thompson, G. and Glasø, L., 2015. Situational leadership theory: a test from three
perspectives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(5), pp.527-544.
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