Strategic Leadership and Management: Theories and Practice Analysis

This report analyzes strategic leadership and management within organizations, focusing on leadership development, theories, and styles. It begins by distinguishing between leadership and management, emphasizing their interconnectedness and the importance of leadership in effective man...Read More

Leadership and Management
Talat Yalcinsoy
10/01/2018
Introduction
In this assignment I’m going to analyze strategic leadership and management in organizations.
Leadership development helps in developing qualities like confidence, flexibility, effective
communication and in motivating employees which helps the companies in achieving the goals
and objectives. This assignment is about based on a case scenario which mainly focuses on
leadership and management development. I will discuss some of the leadership theories, as we
all know leadership means different things to individual people. I analyze the leadership and
management in a named organization the leadership style.
1.1 Analyze strategic leadership and its links to management in organizations
In order to understand the links between leadership and management, it is required to understand
the basic concepts and the difference between the two terms. Leadership is the capability of the
person to design a path for his followers and made them learn to follow the same (Bryman,
2013). On the other hand, management is about regulating and monitoring the activities of the
subordinates in order to evaluate whether they are following the set values or not (Low, 2013).
This clearly distinguishes the actual concept of leadership from management but both of these
terms are linked because both have to play each other’s role at times.
Being in the management team in the last 4 years of my opinion leadership and its link to
management is leadership and management are the terms that are often considered synonymous.
It is essential to understand that leadership is an essential part of the effective management. As a
crucial component of management, remarkable leadership behavior stresses upon building an
environment in which each employee develops and excels. Leadership defined as the potential to
influence and drive the group efforts towards the accomplishment of goals. This influence may
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originate from formal sources, such as that provided by acquisition of managerial position in an
organization. The level of strategic leadership can be referred to as one of the major issues that
the business organizations face in the contemporary market. Various empirical evidences have
thus emerged on the effects of leadership at the strategic level on the processes of a business
organization with specific strategic importance. It is a matter of fact that in today’s world
leadership can effectively make a major difference in the competitive landscape.
A manager must have traits of a leader, he must possess leadership qualities. Leaders develop
and begin strategies that build and sustain competitive advance. All organizations require strong
leadership and strong management for optimal organizational efficiency.
1.2 Evaluate key leadership and management theories
Leadership Theories
Leadership is the concept that has its roots for decades. Following are some of the traditional
theories of leadership that are stull followed by some of the leaders.
 Great man theory:
It is the first theory of leadership that assumes that leaders are born and the traits of the
leadership are intrinsic in nature.
 Trait theory:
This is the theory that contrasts the great man theory that suggests that leaders have some
specific types of traits that makes them a great leader.
 Behavioral theory:
This theory gives a new perspective to leadership and suggests that leaders are made and that
behavior of being a leader can be developed by the people.
 Contingency theory:
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This theory suggests that leadership does not have any specified process; it needs to be
changes as per the situations.
 Transactional leadership:
It is the leadership style that follows the exchange theory. In this leadership style the leader
motivates the followers to do something by showing their benefits in the same.
 Transformational leadership:
It is the style of leadership that deals with transforming the nature of the followers by the
leaders.
With the transformation in the requests and the environment of the companies, the leadership
theories also get modified. Some of the contemporary leadership theories are:
 Servant Leadership Theory
This conceptualization of leadership reflects a philosophy that leader should be servants first. It
suggests that leaders must place the needs of followers, customers, and the community ahead of
their own interest in order to be effective. The idea of servant leadership has a significant amount
of popularity within leadership circles, but it is difficult to describe it as a theory in as much as a
set of beliefs and values that leaders are encouraged to embrace.
 Situational Theory
This theory suggests that different situations require different styles of leadership. That is, to be
effective in leadership requires the ability to adapt or adjust one’s style to the circumstances of
the situation. The primary factors that determine how to adapt are an assessment of the
competence and commitment of a leader’s followers. The assessment of these factors determines
if a leader should use a more directive or supportive style.
 Path-goal Theory
Contingency model of leadership focuses on the leaders to motivate subordinate. It suggests that
the leader should remove hurdles, clarify the paths and increasing the reward for the followers to
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reach the goals by using any of the four -leadership behavior i.e. Directive leadership, supportive
leadership, participative leadership and achievement-oriented leadership.
Management Theories
Early management theories:
Scientific management theories:
This theory suggests that all the tasks and the process of the organizations should be conducted
by the rules and standards that are pre specified.
Bureaucratic management theory:
This theory gives a new perspective to scientific management theory and suggested that the
organizations should be divided into hierarchies and departments to divide the labor accordingly.
Human relation theory:
This theory deals with two aspects that is employee oriented and task oriented. As per this
theory, the organization’s management either focuses on employees of the company or the task
of the companies.
Contemporary management:
 Systems Theory
A system is made up of a variety of parts that work together to achieve a goal. System theory is a
broad perspective that allows managers to examine patterns and events in the work place. This
helps managers to coordinate programs to work as a collective whole for the overall goal or
mission of the organization.
 Contingency Theory
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This theory asserts that managers make decisions based on the situation at hand rather than a
“one size fits all” method. A manager takes appropriate action based on aspects most important
to the current situation.
 The management theory
Management theory addresses how managers and supervisors relate to their organization in the
knowledge of its goal, the implementation of effective means to get the goals accomplished and
how to motivate employees to perform to the highest standards and productivity.
It has been concluded from the discussion that leadership and management theories have
undergone many modifications with time. Those modifications are introduced because of the
change in the nature of the organizations and the functions of the companies.
1.3 Explain hoe leadership and management styles should change to meet the needs of
different situations found in organizations
Different situations require different leadership styles, leadership styles have significant and
substantial effect in the small businesses and also in the large companies. These styles effect
everyone from senior and top management to the new entrant even of the employees and new
firms. They create the corporate culture that influences the organization and performance of
employees in terms of meeting deadline projects. Leadership has a greater positive effect on
employee performance in which situation employee performance feel power and confidence in
doing their job and in making different decisions.
The leader tries to direct, directly or indirectly, other individuals towards certain thoughts,
behaviors and attitudes. Leaders are the people the other people wants to pursue. In general, they
have their own unique talents, attitudes and traits that facilitate their roles. Leaders are self-
confident, trustworthy, motivated, forward looking and aware. Individual following leaders also
have certain characteristic that will facilitate their role because of the relationship between leader
and followers succeedsucceeds as long as the followers seek to pursue it. Leadership and
communication that connects followers to one another is communication. The goal of the
communication established between the leader and the followers is to achieve a special success.
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The most important proof of the existence of any group is that members should enjoy working
together to reach the goal. Managing is about people. People have different expectations about
their problems to solve, their different values, their political opinions and the places and works
they work with. The human element is the most important responsibility in the organizations.
Every system is built on people. The duties and responsibilities of the managers and leaders are
very different, management have to make sure product or service delivered in timely manner,
leaders must have vision and they must set goals for the organization to be successful.
There are different leadership styles that need to be followed as per the different situations. For
example, in terms of employees, if the employees have low readiness level, then the leaders can
use telling leadership style in which they have to tell the employees and they will readily work
on the tasks. When the employees are not that much readily available for performing the tasks,
then the leaders have to use the selling approach in which they have to motivate the employees to
perform. In the situation when the employees high readiness level, then the employee can use
either delegating or participating approach of leadership.
Google is the company that follows the rule of contingency leadership and change the leadership
style as per the situations of the company. It has been analyzed that the leaders of the company
has not followed any of the specific style to deal with the situations. Apple is another company
that uses the same mode of leadership.
1.M1 Assess the impact that theories of leadership and management may have on strategic
decision making
Leadership
Leadership have different definition given by different Authors and leaders, but generally its
relationship in which the behavior or actions of people are influenced by one person.
“The qualities traditionally associated with leadership-such as intelligence, toughness,
determination, and vision are required for success, they are insufficient. Truly effective leaders
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are also distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence, which includes self-awareness,
self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill.” (Danial Goleman 1995: Emotional
Intelligence)
If there is one trait that virtually all effective leaders have, its motivation. They are driven to
achieve beyond expectations- their own and everyone else’s. (Daniel Goleman 1998 Best of
HBR, what makes a leader)
Creating of culture of leadership. Despite the increasing importance of leadership to business
success, the on the job experiences of the most people seem to undermine the development of the
attributes needed for leadership. (What leaders really do by John P.Kotter 2001)
Most theories about effective leadership focus on behaviors used to directly influence immediate
subordinates, a leader also influence other people inside the organization. Some theorist make a
distinction between direct and indirect form: of leadership to help explain how a leader can
influence people when there is no direct interaction with them. (Gary- Yukl- Leadership in
organizations April 2008)
As far as the impact of leadership on strategic decision making is concerned, it has been
analyzed that leaders are the one who motivates the employees to take part in the decision
making process. Employees at the organizations follow what the leaders suggests an if the
leadership style is participative in nature the employees have the permission to share their own
opinions in decision making process and this develops the environment of strategic thinking in
the organization.
Management
Management is about coping with complexity. Without good management, complex enterprises
tent to become chaotic in ways that threaten their very existence. Good management brings a
degree of order and consistency to key dimensions like the quality and portability of products
(What leaders really do Kotter,2001)
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A managerial culture emphasizes rationality and control. Whether his or her energies are directed
towards goals, resources, organizational structures, or people, a manager is problem solver. The
manager asks “What problem have to be solved, and what are the best ways to achieve results to
so that people will continue to contribute to this organization.
Management of the organization is the one who takes almost all the decisions of the company.
They form the process that needs to be followed by the people and the employees. Thus, they
have the power to develop the environment of strategic thinking in the company. They can allow
the employees to share their opinion in the decision making so that various alternative can be
developed and various strategies can be made for the single problem.
Managers and Leaders- Are they different (Zaleznik,1977)
1.D1 Analyze the leadership and management skills of a leader in named organization.
I read the case study of an Apple Inc, founded by Steve Jobs in 1976.
Steve Jobs is a transformational leader because he always comes with new idea and effectively
motivates his subordinates to reach his plan or goal. He believes in change that’s why he always
found and opportunity in consumer taste and want.
Apple founded in 1976 and comes with an apple I personal computer kit. He introduces apple ll
in 1977 with color graphics and floppy disk, then apple launched Macintosh in 1984 it’s the key
step in the development of today’s pc, in 1996 apple bought NeXT. In 2001 he launched iPod
music player for music lovers by this he set of a new strategic option in music and entertainment,
then he came with the iPhone in 2007 and the MacBook. Because of all this innovation I found
that Steve Jobs continuously transforming their products and making a new plan for the
costumers.
Conclusion
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Based on the textual readings and by the research findings I have seen that in some context the
terms manager and leadership meaning are synonymous, but their personality trait varies.
Despite being the similarities or differences, they are the two sides of the same coin. These two
components are essential for the growth and success of an organization. Both terms are old and
observed from the past is that its practiced in the day to day life to make a compete structure. For
example, leadership skills aim to make a follower and influence them to change their thinking,
behavior and attitudes which make them effective leaders. My opinion managers can be leaders
and it has found that leadership skills can be achieved by managers by giving them proper
training and providing knowledge and furthermore by the mechanism of transformational
leadership which motivates them to be a future leader.
Task 2 – Motivation & Performance Management
Introduction
Motivating and performance management developing employees for the benefit of the
organization, performance appraisal is an effective tool in hands of the leaders and management
to improve the quality of work in the organization. As a manager I believe you can’t get good
performance without motivating your employee. Motivation and performance management
process includes 3 main steps – evaluating the employee, knowing his/her potential & rewarding.
As I stated in my below explanation motivation important for employees to do their job with
high performance.
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2.1 Analyze the skills which are needed by strategic leaders and managers to improve
organizational performance.
Leaders should think strategically about where changes are needed and why. For instance, new
leaders should be in possession of three fundamental skills: problem – solving, decision making
and creative/critical thinking. Also, educators, administrators, and other practitioners should be
trained
In educational management
And continually activate his training in new leadership roles. (Barron’s 1995 definition of
strategic leadership)
Some of the major skills that the strategic leaders should have in order to improve the
organizational performance are:
1. Anticipating: it is very much required by the strategic leaders to be anticipated regarding
the environmental changes. This is because it is the skill that helps the leaders to know
about the changes outside and make the modification in the organizations as per the
recent trends and changes.
2. Challenging: a strategic leaders is the own who challenge himself and the situations in
order to complete the task in several contingencies. This helps the leaders to make the
followers comfortable with various contingencies so that they can adapt the things and
changes readily. This ultimately results in improved performance of the company.
3. Strategic decision making: this is the most important skill that the leader should poses in
order to improve the performance of the employees. Strategic decision making allow the
employees to show their interest in the company and thus improve their performance
towards the organizational goal achievement.
4. Aligning: it is also one of the most important skills of the leaders. Alignment of the
organizational goals with the individual goals is necessary to motivate the employees to
perform effectively.
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Leaders should be able to organize group and managements inside the
organizations. The basic skill of the leader; it involves coordinating the efforts of the
people within the organization or intuitions. Strategic leaders make a very wise use
of their power. They must play the power game skillfully and try to develop consent
for their ideas rather than forcing their ideas upon others. Efficient, effective leaders
and managers keep themselves updated about what is happening within their
organization. They have various formal and informal sources of information in the
organization.
2.3 Analyze the contribution of performance management techniques in organizational
processes
Some of the performance management techniques in organizational processes are:
Performance review: it is the most effective method of managing the performance of the
organization as well as the employees. This helps in regular review of the performance and
filling the gap that has been identified.
Feedback from the subordinates: this is also one of the major techniques to manage the
performance. Regular feedback to the employees helps them to improve their performance and
manage the same.
Formation of smart objectives: Smart Objectives,Smart Objectives. Smart stands for
specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. When employee goals are realistic, it
gives them ownership and encourages them to achieve their goals. (Shane Downer Monday 30th
of OCT)
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 Always set clear expectations and communicate them well, then continue to manage
expectations.
 Training managers and give them the tools to help their employees excel. Be on the
lookout for managers who have underperforming teams-and see what root cause is.
 Conduct regular and timely employee performance appraisals so employees know where
they stand and what their goals are.
 Prioritize employee development in other words help them help you
 Be open to receiving feedback too and listen to employees when they ask for better tools.
(Ref; MTI Global Services)
I work in MTI Global Services since more than 4 years for Apple client and many times
when productivity suffers, there is an identifiable root cause. Things like dissatisfied
employees, the wrong fit for the role, not enough training, conflicting priorities, and unclear
expectations can all get in the way of employee productivity. Identifying these root causes
can help uncover the path to maximum productivity.
2.M1 Assess the qualities and skills of a named leader in achieving organizational
success
During my study for this assignment I read lots of articles about Steve Jobs and I found that
Steve Job was a person with creativity and with brilliant ideas about what the future should look
like. He was a renowned innovator who reshaped entire industries by his masterpiece mind,
innovative ideas and unmatchable will-power, that give consumers not only that desired, but
what they didn’t yet think they desired. My personal opinion he has a vision, strong leadership,
exceptional influence and he is survival of tough times. His vision for Apple was to develop
products with simple user interface and elegant design would please greatly to all age groups. He
provided his customer full control over user experience in hardware and software. The way he
stood by his vision inspired his employees and granted great respect from his business partners.
When he formed Apple in 1997 the company was in financial crisis, he knew exactly how to get
rid of almost all but a few key products and projects that matched his vision. He conveyed his
vision repeatedly and had others believe in his mission. Due to his cancer, he still assembled the
strength to go to board meetings and even Apple product launches. If anyone saw any videos or
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pictures of his last days of life, you could have realized how weak and tired he looked, and this
makes him one of the best business leadersleader of the all times.
To conclude, it has been realized that some of the leadership qualities that Steve Jobs possess are
visionary mind, innovative thinker, influencer, charismatic personality etc. apart from this, some
of the managerial qualities of Steve Jobs suggests that he is the calm leader and sometimes use
anger as the motivator to motivate the employees towards goal achievement. He used to have
great communication skills that helps him in influencing and convincing the employees and
makes the decision very intelligently in contingencies. This makes him a good manager
altogether.
2.D1 Evaluate how specific organizations use motivation in improving organizational
performance
Motivation and Performance.
I will explain how Apple use motivation in improving organizational performance. Apple able to
motivate their employees to not only do their job effective and efficiently, they also make sure
the employees enjoy doing their work. To achieve this, Apple uses both intrinsic and extrinsic
rewards.
Intrinsic motivation uses internal rewards to motivate the employees. The employees will be
motivated to do a task because they found pleasure and enjoyment in it. They will have a feeling
of gratification and fulfilment in achieving the task. Apple makes sure that all their employees
are proud and in love with the brand so the employees would feel inspired in developing Apple
to be the best instead of feeling forced. Apple makes sure their employees are given jobs that are
not easy, instead they give them challenging ones. Extrinsic motivation uses external
rewards such as money, gift and recognition to motivate the employees.
Apple can attract and also gain loyalty from their employees through these
types of rewards. For extrinsic motivation employees are given free iPhone
and are given product discounts of %23 percent. It’s also cheaper to give
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employees product rather than a raise. Apple has given recognition bonus of
%3 percent for the salary of their executive despite not achieving their
target on a project. Apple do this because they assert their team efforts.
Extrinsic motivation uses external rewards such as money, gift and recognition to motivate the
employees. Apple can attract and also gain loyalty from their employees through these types of
rewards. For extrinsic motivation employees are given free iPhone and are given product
discounts of %23 percent. It’s also cheaper to give employees product rather than a raise. Apple
has given recognition bonus of %3 percent for the salary of their executive despite not achieving
their target on a project. Apple do this because they assert their team efforts.
Other than these techniques, it has been analyzed that the company is following the Maslow
hierarchical theory. For satisfying the psychological needs of the employees at Apple Inc., the
management has kept the minimum salary that is provided to the employees to $108,483
approximately. Provision of various applications helps the employees to satisfy their safety needs
at the workplace. It has been researched that the company always tends to perform some of the
social activities that fulfill the social and belonging needs of the employees. The motivation level
of the employees of Apple is already very high because of the environment of the company. The
company also focuses on training the employees to provide them with better career which satisfy
another type of need that is esteem needs of the employees. In conclusion, motivation of the
employees is really important for the success of a company and Apple Inc. focuses on creating
motivation amongst the employees. Their strategy is a perfect example of a great leadership
because the company was not only enhancing the motivational level of the employees but in turn,
making them work for the company effectively.
Conclusions
My personal experience of performance and motivation management are people need to know
what is expected out of them. Expectations from them usually communicated verbally in one to
one meetings or team meetings in the organization. However, as soon as they are back their day
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to day activities these expectations loose visibility. Performance management process includes 3
main steps- evaluating the employee, knowing his/her potential & rewarding.
2.2 Analyse key motivational theories and how they may influence organizational success
Introduction
Motivation is a crucial factor that impacts employee performance. Motivation drives employees
to perform to the best of their abilities. Motivated employees perform better and this eventually
leads to accomplishment of organizational objectives 1(Lazaroiu, 2015). Leaders of the
organization hence use various strategies to ensure that employees remain motivated. Few key
motivational theories are as below:
Maslow’s Motivational Theory
This is the most widely used motivational theory given by Maslow. This theory creates a
hierarchy of needs for individuals. This hierarchy defines that physiological needs take
precedence over all other needs 2(Niemela, 2014). This theory can be applied in organizations by
leaders by ensuring that the self-actualization and esteem needs of individuals are fulfilled. In
order to fulfill the same, they must be allotted responsibilities that help in their personal growth,
development and learning as well as accomplishment of organizational goals.
1 Lazaroiu, G. (2015). Employee Motivation and Job Performance. Linguistic and
Philosophical Investigations, 14, 97.
2 Niemela, P., & Kim, S. (2014). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In Encyclopedia
of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 3843-3846). Springer Netherlands.
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McClelland’s Motivational Theory
This theory states that every human has three predominant needs and the leaders of the
organization must ensure that these needs are fulfilled. Employees must be rewarded for their
work, they must be given leadership roles from time to time and they must be given
opportunities to work in team. This fulfills their needs and this is what motivates employees to
work hard and fulfill their goals3 (McClelland, 2015).
Herzberg’s Motivational Theory
Herzberg has tried to understand the motivational theory by establishing the exact factors that
motivate
employees and keep them satisfied in an organization. These factors are called satisfiers.
However, there are factors which lead to employee dissatisfaction and these are called hygiene.
The organizations must aim to change these hygiene factors into motivation factors. All these
factors depend on the organizational culture. Therefore, as leaders it is imperative that the culture
of the firm motivates employees to work hard and this is possible only if they are satisfied.
3 McClelland, D. C. (2015). Achievement motivation theory. Organizational
behavior, 1, 46-60.
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Goal Setting Theory
This theory states that in order to motivate employees they must have clear goals. These are the
ultimate targets that employees are expected to accomplish and this is what motivates employees.
The leaders of the organization must set SMART goals for their employees 4 (Locke, 2013). That
are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. It is very important that employee
targets motivate employees rather than discouraging them.
Self-Efficacy Theory
This theory lays emphasis on individual employee’s belief about themselves, trust in their
abilities and what they think of themselves. This theory states that leaders must work to motivate
employees to believe in themselves. Self-efficacy theory and goal setting theory go hand in hand.
Once the goals have been set for the employees, they must be achieved and once these goals are
accomplished they enhance the employee’s belief in their own abilities. When managers set high
4 Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (Eds.). (2013). New developments in goal setting
and task performance. Routledge.
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goals for their employees, it is an explicit gesture of stating their trust in the employee. Which in
turn motivates employees to perform better.
Intrinsic Rewards
Intrinsic rewards are forms of recognizing employees for their hard work. These rewards are not
tangible and hence more crucial when used as forms of motivating employees. These include
giving employees a sense of purpose, enabling them to face healthy competition within the
organization, having them believe in their capabilities and publicly recognizing jobs well done.
Such measures by the top management motivate employees to work hard and fulfill their goals.
The term motivation is a complex and immensely important topic of discussion in the
organizational science. There are several theories regarding motivation in the workplaces. There
are two fundamental types of motivation and those are extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic motivation can be explained as the tendency of the employees to do their jobs to
achieve a separate result regarding the activity. Or it can be said that when the employees get a
drive to work from the rewards (psychological or tangible rewards) received after the completion
of the task. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation takes place when the individuals act without
receiving any particular external rewards. Under the influence of this type of motivation,
employees often enjoy performing tasks to get the opportunity to explore, actualize and to get to
know their potentials. In this way, the employees might choose to complete tasks to get a natural
satisfaction.
In the workplaces, it is the duty of the management to ensure that all the employees are
motivated enough. It is a matter of fact that employees are the nucleus of any business
organizations as they execute all the tasks. If the workforce is naturally motivated, they become
the asset for the business organization. The management can expect better productivity with
perfection from a motivated workforce. This can potentially lead to attain more profitability in
future. Thus, the importance of motivation in the business organizations is immense.
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References
Lazaroiu, G. (2015). Employee Motivation and Job Performance. Linguistic and Philosophical
Investigations, 14, 97.
Niemela, P., & Kim, S. (2014). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In Encyclopedia of Quality of
Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 3843-3846). Springer Netherlands
McClelland, D. C. (2015). Achievement motivation theory. Organizational behavior, 1, 46-60.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (Eds.). (2013). New developments in goal setting and task
performance. Routledge.
Introduction
Team management is one of the primary as well as important aspects of any organization. Over
my work experience, I have always noticed the wonders that a great team can achieve. A team in
basically a group of people coming together with a shared objective. The composition of the
team, effectiveness of communication within a team and appointment of a right leader within the
team are the most important factor leading to a team’s success5 (Kozlowski, 2013). This part of
the report throws light on the process of developing a high performing team, the exact role of an
effluent team leader and the disadvantages of virtual team in an organization.
3.1 Explain the development of teams
There are 5 stages that lead to the development of a team explained as below:
Forming
This is the very first stage. The stage of formation predominantly involves the team first meeting
each other. It is important that when team members first meet, they introduce each other and
5 S. W. Kozlowski, & B. S. Bell, (2013). Work groups and teams in
organizations: Review update.
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share some basic information about each other’s backgrounds, cultures and previous work
experiences. During this stage, the leader is expected to inform the team about their exact goals
and objectives6 (Fransen, 2013).
Storming
This is a crucial part and every team faces this. In this stage, team members compete with each
other for establishing their status and acceptance of ideas. The team leader should play the role
of a facilitator at this stage and aim to resolve conflicts within the team in an efficient manner as
and when they arrive.
Norming
Once the team members are done storming, they start norming. In this stage team members begin
to accept each other and their goals. They respect each other’s opinions and start agreeing on
certain rules of the team.
Performing
Once the norming stage is over, team members start performing. They accept their goals and
work together and in consensus to the best of their abilities. This is done in order to ensure
achievement of the shared goal of the team. This stage requires team members to start working
and coordinating as a group. The team leader must motivate them regularly to achieve their
targets
Adjourning
When the project reaches an end and the team has performed to the best of their ability, the team
finally adjourns. The team leader must ensure that a coordinated feedback session is conducted
which would eventually help all the team members their future endeavors.
The theories of Tuckman regarding team building give an appropriate guidance and framework.
The procedure holds true more for the smaller groups or teams than the bigger teams7. It can be
6 J. Fransen, A. Weinberger, & P. A.Kirschner, (2013). Team effectiveness and
team development in CSCL. Educational psychologist, 48(1), 9-24.
7 Bryman, A. (Ed.). (2013). Leadership and organizations. Routledge.
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said that the practical considerations weaken the major portion of the theories developed by
Tuckman. The Real life groups can be formed in different ways and the growth seen in them, are
often cyclical and not linear. In this way directed by Tuckman, the development of the groups in
the primary stages are often blurred and remains unclear when a particular team or group shifts
from one stage to another overlapping the processes.
3.2 Analyse the characteristics of high performance teams
Certain specific characteristics of high performing teams are as below:
Transparent communication:
For the success of any team, it is essential that there is transparent communication and team
members are honest with each other. Information must effectively traverse among team members
and honest feedbacks must be given as and when required.
Same goal:
It is imperative for the success of a team that entire team aims to focus on a single and specific
goal. The similar objective of the team members is exactly what drives the team performance
8(Katzenbach, 2015). If individual members of the team start focusing on their personal goals
then it would adversely impact the performance of the entire organization.
Trust among team members:
Trust among the members of the team is the key to the success of every team. Especially in case
of conflicts and decision making, it is necessary that team members show utmost trust in their
peers as well as their leaders.
Apart from the above-mentioned characteristics, the members of the high-performance teams are
often self-motivated or motivated in any other ways. The members of high performing teams are
generally more competent than any other employees in the workforce of the organization. Above
all personal bonding among the team members also serves the purpose.
8 J. R. Katzenbach, & D. K. Smith, (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the
high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press.
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There are some issues that might affect a high performing team, and those are mentioned in this
section. If the management fails to motivate the employees, the level of performance might drop.
The management should work on the work health safety issues to let the employees work with no
concerns. Apart from these, the management should stress on keeping the environment of the
organization work-friendly. For an example, Google is the ideal organization where the
management provides excellent infrastructure and facilities and along with that ensures that the
workforce is motivated.
3.3 Evaluate the role of the team leader in creating high performance teams.
For the success of the team in any organization, the role of the team leader is very crucial. The
most important roles played by the team leader of a high performance team are as below:
Leading by example
For a team to be high performing, it is necessary that their leader is effective enough and leads
the team by example. The performance of the leader must set a perfect example for the team
members to follow 9(Bryman, 2013).
Motivator
Motivation is crucial for the high functioning and effective performance delivery of every team
member10 (Low, 2013). The team leader must indulge the team in motivating activities and make
sure that the team members are inspired regularly in order to perform their tasks to the best of
their abilities.
Resolver of conflicts
The team leader must also resolve conflicts as and when they arise within the team. This is done
to ensure the peace, harmony and efficiency of the team11 (Wallensteen, 2015).
9 A. Bryman, (Ed.). (2013). Leadership and organizations. Routledge.
10 P. K. C. Low, (2013). Leadership and Motivation. In Leading Successfully in
Asia (pp. 37-73). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
11 P. Wallensteen, (2015). Understanding conflict resolution. Sage.
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Leadership and Management
Goal setter
The team leaders must set clear goals and targets for the team members. They should be SMART
(specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound) goals.
From the above mentioned points it is clear how a leader can effectively improve the level of
competence of a team, but the management should consider that the team leaders are immensely
responsible for the level of performance of the team under his or her supervision. The strengths
of the leaders are mentioned above and in this section of this paper, the weaknesses of the leaders
is discussed. A leader must not be too sensitive and too helpful towards the team under his
supervision as these traits can potentially harm the level of performance of the team.
Apart from the above roles, it has been analyzed that there are several strength and weakness that
the leaders possess. The strengths and the weakness that the leaders have depends on the
leadership style that the leaders use.
Participative leadership: the leaders with this leadership style used to possess the strengths of
being a good communicator. These leaders easily convince the employees and influence the
same to perform the task. They are the best motivators but they sometimes fail to manage the
things properly as they have to listen to everyone. They may also lose the control over the
employees.
Bureaucratic leaders: Bureaucratic leaders have great controlling power on their followers but
they may fail to motivate the employees positively.
The above discussion suggests that every leadership style that are followed by the leaders have
some positive attributes along with some flaws.
Assess the impact of teams on organizational performance
Team working and organizational performance are directly related. A high performing team
leads to effective accomplishment of organizational goals. Teams help in establishing and
maintaining the culture of an organization. When various groups of people come together they
enable transparent communication. Innovation and creativity gets a platform when people work
in teams and decisions are arrived at quicker.
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Leadership and Management
However, teams can also negatively impact organizational performance. If the team members do
not get along well the entire performance can be reversed. There will be higher conflicts leading
to miscommunication, reduced performance, demotivated employees and eventually delay in
making important decisions.
In this context an example of Google is appropriate. Having an hierarchy in the organization, the
team members of Google has full freedom to choose the tactics for the completion of the tasks.
The management fully trusts their employees in this regard and thus the positive mentality of the
teams of Google effectively enhances the level of performance of the organization.
3.M1 Analyse the challenges of developing effective virtual teams
Every company which is located at different parts of the world requires virtual teams for the
effective accomplishment of organizational goals. However, there are various problems that arise
with virtual teams.
Poor communication
Virtual teams can often lead to poor communication and in worst case scenario,
miscommunication within the team members12 (Lockwood, 2015).
Differences in work ethic
Virtual teams are ideally located in different parts of the world and hence follow different work
ethics 13(Hoch, 2014). It is often difficult to adjust to such diverse working ethics and hence can
create conflicts in a team.
Time management
12 J. Lockwood, (2015). Virtual team management: what is causing
communication breakdown? Language and Intercultural Communication, 15(1), 125-
140.
13 J. E. Hoch, & S. W. Kozlowski, (2014). Leading virtual teams: Hierarchical
leadership, structural supports, and shared team leadership. Journal of applied
psychology, 99(3), 390.
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Leadership and Management
Multinationals companies work on various time zones and it can be difficult to coordinate
between all the teams to conduct meetings at a fixed time.
Lack of empathy
It is rather difficult to establish empathy in different teams virtually connected to each other
owing to the distance.
In today’s world, SAP is the organization that has recruited over 3000 virtual employees in more
than 50 nations worldwide. The organization improved the performance level of their virtual
teams by taking a crucial initiative regarding team building after consulting with a reputed
organizational development consulting company14. Apart from them IBM also developed a few
good virtual teams that are increasing the productivity of the organization immensely.
3.D1 Evaluate the importance of using different types of teams to achieve the required
outcomes of a project
There are various types of teams in a work place. These different teams are required for different
purposes and have varied objectives that eventually lead to the successful accomplishment of
organizational goals. Problem solving teams are temporary teams that get together in case of a
crisis and are aimed at resolving a particular issue. People working in the same department of an
organization may form work groups that would help them accomplish their goal faster.
Organizations that are spread across the globe form virtual teams to enhance communication and
maintain organizational culture across the firm.
In an organization to attain success within a short period of time, the management should employ
different types of teams in order to complete various types of jobs with perfection15. Different
types of teams might be useful to complete different types of works and thus employing teams
with varieties of traits might be pretty useful in the long term and that can effectively sustain the
level of production in odd times.
14 Wallensteen, P. (2015). Understanding conflict resolution. Sage.
15 Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015)
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Leadership and Management
In order to understand the aspects of teams in the organization in the broader perspective, it is
required to understand the types of teams in the companies. Some of them are discussed below:
Permanent teams: these are the teams in the organization that formed on the permanent basis and
does not dissolved after the completion of the tasks. These teams generally share common goals
for all of their employment period.
Temporary teams: as the name suggests, these teams are formed to achieve a particular goal and
dissolved after its completion. The duration of this team is very less.
Task force: task force is the teams that the management of the organization forms for a particular
or specific task to be performed. The relevant example of task force can be the teams that are
made by the government in order to solve any criminal issues.
Self-managed teams: these are teams that have common goals to work but the major difference
in this team and other teams is that these teams perform without any leader and the members of
the team manage themselves without any supervision.
Cross functional teams: it is the type of team in which the people from different areas come
together a form team in order to complete the project. Different members of the team have
different types of tasks allocated to them and they have the common goal to complete the project
with each other’s help.
Virtual teams: virtual teams are those teams that perform the functions in order to achieve the
common goal but they are virtually connected with each other through digital medium because of
long distances. These teams are majorly form in the companies that operates globally such as
Apple Inc.
References
Bryman, A. (Ed.). (2013). Leadership and organizations. Routledge.
Fransen, J., Weinberger, A., & Kirschner, P. A. (2013). Team effectiveness and team
development in CSCL. Educational psychologist, 48(1), 9-24.
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Leadership and Management
Hoch, J. E., & Kozlowski, S. W. (2014). Leading virtual teams: Hierarchical leadership,
structural supports, and shared team leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 99(3),
390.
Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance
organization. Harvard Business Review Press.
Kozlowski, S. W., & Bell, B. S. (2013). Work groups and teams in organizations: Review
update.
Lockwood, J. (2015). Virtual team management: what is causing communication
breakdown? Language and Intercultural Communication, 15(1), 125-140.
Low, P. K. C. (2013). Leadership and Motivation. In Leading Successfully in Asia (pp. 37-73).
Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Wallensteen, P. (2015). Understanding conflict resolution. Sage.
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pg. 29