Production Manager Leadership: Steve Arnold's Errors and Solutions

This report provides a detailed analysis of Steve Arnold, the production manager of Acme Manufacturing Company, and his leadership style, which is identified as laissez-faire. The report highlights Steve's roles, responsibilities, and the errors he commits, such as lack of involvement, poor time management, and over-reliance on employees. It discusses the negative impacts of these mistakes, including communication gaps and decreased production quality. The report suggests several steps for Steve to become a more effective manager, including departmentalization, employee training, improved communication, and a focus on quality control. The analysis draws on relevant literature to support the findings, offering practical recommendations for leadership development and improved management practices. The report emphasizes the importance of active participation, technical knowledge, and client interaction for a successful production manager. Overall, the report aims to provide insights into effective leadership within a production environment.

Running head: LEADERSHIP
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Leadership
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Executive Summary
This paper has carried out an in-depth analysis of the role of Steve Arnold who is
a production manager of a company. The roles and responsibilities of Steve are
also discussed in the paper. The various errors which are committed by Steve in
carrying out his duties and the steps to mitigate them are also discussed in the
paper. It will be beneficial to get an idea of the job roles and duties of a
production manager. The leadership quality of Steve is also reflected in the paper.
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Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................3
Discussion................................................................................................................3
Mistakes done by Steve and the actions which should be taken to correct those
errors....................................................................................................................3
Steps that must be taken by Steve to become an effective manager...................5
Conclusion...............................................................................................................6
Reference.................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
This paper will highlight the leadership quality of Steve Arnold who is the
production manager of Acme Manufacturing Company. The type of leadership
carried out Steve can be referred to as laissez faire leadership. This type of leaders
depends on the high level of communication from the co-workers and the
management to meet their particular goals (Bottomley et al. 2014). Steve could
not carry out his duties without the help of the employees. He only motivated the
employees and thus it has helped in increasing the efficiency and productivity of
the employees through better communication. Moreover, this type of leadership
also requires the management to meet their particular goals (Wong and Giessner
2015). Steve as a leader has focused on the organization and he has delegated
upon his employees and co-workers. As a leader he was very careless and on his
employees. He had no idea of how then work was being done in the company and
thus relied on his employees. There are certain instances in the case where he was
questioned from the management team but still he transferred his responsibilities
to his employees and made them answer to undertake his job efficiently
Discussion
Mistakes done by Steve and the actions which should be taken to correct
those errors
Steve was not bothered about his job and he did not reach his office on
time. On an important day, he reached his office late and he was focused only on
the production report rather than the quality. He was such kind of leader who
always relied on his employees and assigned them his work. When there was
several urgent meeting, he could not reply or participate in those discussions as he
was not aware of the happenings in the company. The biggest mistake of Steve
was his irresponsibility towards his job. The employees took advantage of the
situation and they did not perform their duties properly. The management
committee used to blame Steve as he was assigned with the designation. He did
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not take care of the office documents and trusted his employees blindly. When the
Sales vice president enquired him about the status of a particular order, he could
not answer to the vice president immediately. Moreover, he was not aware that
whether the job which was assigned to Lucy was completed or kept pending. He
was not able to keep a track of the employees and thus always found difficulty in
communication or there was communication gap among the employees and Steve.
Steve also did not possess managerial skills and he was not capable to monitor the
employees. He did not have proper idea of the different departments and when the
management enquired him about the task, he could not answer them timely. As
Steve was not from technical background, it became difficult for him to keep a
track of the sites and the changes that were needed in those particular sites. His
greatest mistake was that he never tried to get the work done by him. He was so
dependent on his employees that when the management enquired him about the
various production processes, he was not able to answer them. He mentioned that
his top priority was to maintain the monthly production report rather than
focusing on the quality information. Instead he should focus on the quality and
thus this would provide satisfaction to the client. It was the fault of management
as well as Steve as they could not manage the employees properly.
Steve must try to allocate different members for different job roles and he
must also keep a track of the jobs that were assigned to them. He must keep a
close monitoring on them so that the employees become bound to do their duties
efficiently and diligently. It would also become easier for Steve to keep a track of
the production as well as maintain the quality of production if there was proper
work division. Moreover, another mistake which was Steve was he did not carry
out his duties in a systematic way. As he was the production manager of the
company and he was assigned with different jobs. It was also his duty to handle
the task at the same time. He must possess such skills or he must keep a note of
all the duties that are assigned to different employees (Buch et al. 2015). He must
also keep the status of the work every day and this will make his work easier as
well as it will become easier for him to carry out his duties properly.
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Steps that must be taken by Steve to become an effective manager
Steve must try to make two departments and engaged the employees
accordingly. There must be some employees who will be responsible for the
production processes and the other group of employees must try to maintain the
quality of production. As the employees are under pressure, they try to finish their
job within the stipulated time and they do not pay attention to the quality of
production. The employees must be given proper training so that they can carry
out their job efficiently. Steve must make a rule that the employees must send the
report to him at the end of the day to keep a close monitoring of them. The
employees must also send the report to the other concerned managers and thus
they can also consult Steve and keep a track of the employees. This procedure
will help Steve and thus he can carry out his duties efficiently. Moreover, there
must be two managers or the senior team members so can assist the two
departments in the absence of Steve. There must be an assistant who would visit
the different production sites and thus help Steve in keeping a track of the
production processes.
Steve must also not rush to anything deliberately when the higher
authority pressurizes him. He must look into the matter carefully and take
necessary time to solve the matter carefully. The memos and the vouchers must be
kept in separate files and arranged accordingly so that it becomes easier to keep a
track on them. This will help me to keep a track of all the vouchers and thus his
time will be saved. There must be separate person engaged in keeping a track of
the orders and thus managing the entire process (Batool 2013). Moreover, there
must be a proper schedule of the meeting so that it does not become hectic for
Steve to carry out his regular duties in a proper way. He must also try to get an in-
depth knowledge of the various departments so that it becomes easier for him to
monitor them accordingly. He must conduct timely meetings with the employees
to know the progress of the work. He must not only assign the duties and
responsibilities to the employee’s but he must communicate with him properly to
get a proper garb of the business dealings.
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It is not feasible on his part as a manager to get all the works done by the
employees rather than him getting involved in all those work. To hold such a
responsible position in the office, it is necessary for Steve to interact with the
engineers and also gather some technical knowledge. This is necessary so that he
can provide proper explanation to the management or take some steps so as to
improve the process (Aithal 2015). Moreover, Steve must also carry out regular
meeting with the employees on a weekly basis so that it becomes easier for me to
get the current status and updates of the production process and maintain the stock
accordingly. Steve must also co-operate with the assistant managers and the
higher authority and it is necessary for him to get proper training so that he can
lead the team effectively. The production report must be taken to the managers on
a weekly basis and this will also help them as well as Steve to work for the next
target accordingly. Steve must also interact with the clients and this will help him
to get a better idea of the needs and demands of the customers. There must be
proper co-ordination between the employees, Steve and management for the
smooth and efficient functioning of the company.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be said that Steve as a production manager must have proper
knowledge so that it become s easier for him to lead his team successfully. He
must try to focus on the quality of data rather than focusing on the production
process. As the company is facing steep competition, it is necessary and vital to
keep a track of the production processes as well as maintaining the quality of
production. Before assuming an important charge in a company, it is necessary to
get proper training, but this was not done in case of Steve. As he did not have
proper knowledge of the data quality, he could not answer the managers when he
was asked several questions. Moreover, he must actively participate in all the
dealings of the company which will help him to become a successful production
manager. Thus, it can be said that it is not easy to hold a responsible position
without proper knowledge and skills.
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Reference
Aithal, P.S., 2015. How an effective leadership and governance supports to
achieve institutional vision, mission and objectives. Browser Download This
Paper.
Batool, B.F., 2013. Emotional intelligence and effective leadership. Journal of
Business Studies Quarterly, 4(3), p.84.
Bottomley, K., Burgess, S. and Fox III, M., 2014. Are the behaviors of
transformational leaders impacting organizations? A study of transformational
leadership. International Management Review, 10(1), p.5.
Buch, R., Martinsen, Ø.L. and Kuvaas, B., 2015. The destructiveness of laissez-
faire leadership behavior: The mediating role of economic leader–member
exchange relationships. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 22(1),
pp.115-124.
Wong, S.I. and Giessner, S.R., 2015. The thin line between empowering and
laissez-faire leadership: An expectancy-match perspective. Journal of
Management, p.0149206315574597.
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