Leadership and Management Development Report

The report analyzes leadership and management development (LMD) strategies at iTech, a software development company. It discusses the differences between leadership and management, assesses issues related to LMD, evaluates approaches for skill development, and identifies strategies to meet organizational requirements. The report emphasizes the importance of effective leadership in enhancing competitiveness and achieving strategic goals.

LEADERSHIP AND
MANAGEMENT
DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1 AND LO2................................................................................................................................1
Differences between leadership & management and nature of new organization ................1
Assessing issues related with the leadership and management development........................3
Evaluating approaches to assess leadership and management development needs...............5
Identifying appropriate strategies to meet the current and future organizational requirement6
LO3 AND LO4................................................................................................................................6
Consideration of issues at strategic level................................................................................6
Analyzing actual and potential contribution of management and leadership development...7
Assessing ethical and professional approach ........................................................................9
Recommendation on appropriate leadership and management development strategies........9
Justification of rationale of choices and proposal value.......................................................10
Evaluating different methods for skills improvement .........................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Connection between LMD and organization success...............................................3
Illustration 2: Model of mentoring process....................................................................................13
Illustration 3: E-learning stages.....................................................................................................14
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INTRODUCTION
Leadership and management are different aspects but are interrelated and interconnected
with other. They are unified because both works upon the same type of objectives which is of
managing and directing employees of firm towards the right direction (Dignam and et.al., 2012).
The concept such as leadership and management development has important role within the firm.
This is because, on developing such skills among the leader competitiveness of the organization
can be enhanced. This is because, competitiveness of the firm thoroughly depends upon the
decision which manager of firm makes. He will be able to make an appropriate decision if it will
have significant skill for doing this. Leadership is the skill in which leader focuses upon the
people and it makes sure that it perform all the things in correct manner. The concept such as
leadership has evolved over time. In this regard, it has been assessed that during the trait era
which was on 1980's and 1940 it was considered that leaders are born with certain trait which
help them to become good leader. After that style era came into existence and later on
contingency era had come into scenario. This era revealed that the type of leadership style which
is being used by the leader must be depends upon the situation (Gold, Thorpe and Mumford,
2010). In this regard, in the given case it is assessed that manager of Ents and iTech are using
LMD methods such as seminars and conferences etc with an aim to develop necessary skills
among its employees. In addition to this, the case study also state that both firms are complying
with the contingency theory wherein they tend to carry out changes in the tactics as per the
situation which occur in front of them. Leadership skills used within Ents are motivation and
communication while, in new company, iTech, effective leadership skills have been used by the
management such as training and development, coaching, integrity and developing relationship
etc. so that best results can be attained. Contingency theory can be evaluated by implementing it
in both the organizations i.e. Ents and iTech. It helps in influencing the behavior of leaders and
supports them to make effective decisions. However, such theory helps leaders to effectively
implement and attain success in the firm by directing the subordinates. Further, the effectiveness
of stated pattern of leader behavior is contingent on the demand as per the situation.
The present report is based upon the case study of Ents which is the software
development company. The firm has two centers in United Kingdom where it employs the team
of 300 people. Recently, firm has opened a new center in China. Due to insufficient results in
China, the cited firm is forced to merge its operation with some other company of China which is
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named as Extec. Thus, the newly merged organization is named by them as iTech. The report
will critically analyze the concept related with the leadership and management. Furthermore, the
report will also provide detailed description regarding the development issues which is being
faced by the new organization.
LO1 AND LO2
Differences between leadership & management and nature of new organization
Leadership and management development is the planned and deliberate process which
assists managers and leaders with regard to become more effective. In addition to this, it can also
be said that LMD is the learning process which helps leader with regard to become more
effective by making use of different opportunities available in market. For the firm like Itech it is
very important to make use of LMD concept (Brockbank, McGill and Beech, 2002). This is
because, the given concept has value within firm and thus, with an aim to explain the same,
figure is illustrated as below:
The above figure clearly state that the leadership and management development practices
helps an individual with regard to become an effective leader or manager. Thus, with the use of
an appropriate managerial skill an effective performance will be delivered by the manager. Due
to this, firms such as Ents and iTech can gain success in market. The success which corporation
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Illustration 1: Connection between LMD and organization success

achieve will lead to overall national economic success. In this regard, from the given case it is
assessed that the manager of Ents tend to use the LMD approach like seminars and conferences
etc for the purpose to develop necessary skills among its workers. In addition to this, Ents also
uses e-learning package in order to develop leadership and management skill among the
employees (Carmichael and et.al., 2011). However, for new firm such as iTech manager can use
the LMD approach such as training.
Besides this, with an aim to assess one specific method for leadership and management
development, manager of cited firm can take help from the Holman four contrasting model of
management education. The model consists of academic liberalism, experiential liberalism,
vocationalism and critical. Here, academic liberalism state that at first manager should gain the
basic or objective information about the way to deal with the people. For this purpose, means of
development such as seminar, case study and lecture can be used. In the similar way, experiential
liberalism should be used when manager is getting the practical knowledge about the way to deal
with the people in an effective manner. In this regard, methods such as group work, action
learning and self development can be used.
The nature of leadership and management which exist within iTech is analyzed. In
accordance with the given context, it is identified that from the given case that both managers
and leaders of cited firm give or consider the importance of their employees. This is because,
while making any kind of decision, both take feedback from them. This makes the employees of
iTech feel like valued by their employers (Bucic, Robinson and Ramburuth, 2010). As a result of
it, they give their 100% efforts towards any kind of work which is being assigned to them in an
effectual way. In addition to this, it has also been assessed that the leaders of iTech have risk
taker nature. Here, while expanding operations in China, Company has faced competitive
pressure from both developing and downturn market. But the organization has not lost its hope
even after working in such pressurizing environment. This depicts the sign of good leadership.
Assessing issues related with the leadership and management development
Number of Leadership and Management Development (LMD) issues has been assessed
that are faced by the manager of iTech while creating such types of development programs. With
an aim to assess the issues associated with the leadership and management development,
contingency theory of leadership is used. This theory depicts that firm should use the leadership
style as per the condition which are prevailing within business environment. In the given case, it
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is assessed that the iTech wanted to increase the proficiency of its managers. Thus, with an aim
to do the same, it has planned to carry out several changes within corporation which is gradually
turned out into the issues related with the LMD. Detailed explanation of the same is being
depicted as below: To develop one unifying and unified culture with the help of LMD theory: It is being
regarded as one of the most LMD issues which is being arises in front of the manager of
iTech. It is an issue because, with the help of such type of culture only the tactical goal as
being formulated by the cited firm will be met (Burgoyne, Hirsch and Williams, 2004).
However, the given issue can be resolved by taking help from academic liberalism related
LMD model. This model depicts that with an aim to develop skill among the people
means such as seminars and conferences should be used. In the given mean, the employee
of iTech will learn to work in a team. Thus, an effective unified culture will be developed
within corporation. It can be stated that developing unifying and unified culture within
enterprise with the help of LMD theory can be attained effectively through coaching
method. Leaders of organization are required to develop an effective coaching method so
that required skills and talents can be delivered to individuals in order to attain the set
results. But, in the given case, it is analyzed that both firms tend to follow the person type
of culture wherein they give importance to the needs and demands of the workers. The
corporation follows the given approach when it is arranging the skill development
programs for its employees. Furthermore, the firm is also using the participative
leadership strategy wherein leader involves its workers in the process of making the
decision about the enterprise. To introduce more of flexible management: It is another issue which is confronted by the
manager of iTech with regard to LMD. In the given type of structure, employees are
given opportunity with regard to communicate with each other without any kind of
complications. Here, junior level staff can communicate its problem directly to the senior
member. In the task of introducing such culture within firm, LMD tend to play very
important role. Flatter type of structure can be introduced within cited firm if employees
have good communication and problem solving skill. In order to develop the respective
skill, LMD means such as seminars, e-learning and conference plays very important role.
The firm has also performed changes in its management team. In this regard, here
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manager of cited firm has handled all the responsibility of managing the organization to
the women. In addition to this, some ethnic group are also present in iTech workforce at
junior level not at the senior one. Women inspired and motivate its people to work well
and this is the reason because of which they are called as the best manager. Here, leaders
of both the organizations need to render effective skills by proper mentoring technique so
that individuals can attend proper training sessions in order to develop their skills and
capabilities. Mentoring is the best way through which individuals can effectively
overcome their problems and achieve goals. To develop ethical and professional management development skill: For the manager it is
very essential that, they must have necessary skill with respect to behave in an ethical and
professional manner (Gold, Thorpe and Mumford, 2010). In order to attain the same,
LMD model as given by Holman can be used. In this context, experimental vocationalism
will be used. In this regard, teaching method such as competence based method will be
used. Again, mentoring technique can be used by the leaders in order to develop ethical
and professional management skill so that workers would behave ethically and
professionally within organization. It is essential as it helps in carrying out the desired
goals. Internationlization of management team: iTech is also facing the issue of
internationalizing the management team. With an aim to make the decision about the
organization in an international platform, management team of cited firm should have
significant amount of skill. For the given purpose, manager will have to take help from
different LMD approaches. Thus, in the regard critical action learning type of LMD
approach can be used by the firm. The management team of iTech is an example of
internationalization in management team. This means that the management team of firm
possesses contamination of varied people who belongs to different ethnic group.
Organization needs to adopt e-learning method through which manager can develop
effective learning skills among each other in order to behave ethically as well as to
enhance their skills. Implementing the cost reduction programs: It is being regarded as another significant
issue which is related with the leadership and management development. To perform
reduction in the cost of the firm is not an easier task. This is because; in order to do so,
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same firm will require the team of skills and talented employees which can give an
appropriate suggestion (Holman, 2000). Here, with the help of their suggestions only, the
objective of iTech such as reduction in cost will be met in an effectual way. In this regard
also, LMD theory as given by Holman can be used. Thus, for the purpose to improve the
skill LMD method as given by academic liberalism such as seminars, case study and
conference can be used.
 Ensuring required skills within organization: Gaining the competitive advantage is not
the simple task because it demands significant amount of contribution from the side of
employees. They can give their immense contribution if they possess an expertise in
performing the particular task in an effectual way. Thus, in the given step only the need
of LMD methods is arises in front of manager of iTech (Leskew and Singh, 2007). In
this regard, it is identified that the manager of cited firm is complying with participative
leadership style wherein it takes decision about the enterprise by considering views and
opinions of all its workers. In order to attain the competitive advantage, participative
leadership style seems more suitable (Jogulu, 2010). This is because; by using the given
approach motivation of the cited firm employees can be maintained. This will enable
them to direct their efforts towards the right direction. As a result of competitive
advantage of corporation will be achieved. Here, in order to improve the leadership skill
the LMD methods such as mentoring and seminar can be used by iTech.
Evaluating approaches to assess leadership and management development needs
An evaluation is being carried out with respect to the different types of approaches which
a manager of iTech can use with an aim to assess the management and leadership skill
development need among its employees. One of the approaches can be competency framework.
This framework is the structure which defines the competency that an individual will require for
the purpose to perform the specific job at enterprise (Bondarouk, Looise and Lempsink, 2009).
For example, from the given case it is assessed that employees of iTech require development in
professional and ethical skills. However, the information about the specific skill which needs to
be developed by particular individual will be gained through competency framework. However,
it is evaluated that the competency framework approach which is used by firm is effective. But,
in order to apply the same, firm will require significant amount of time which each and every
firm lacks.
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In addition to this, the skill development need of iTech employees can also be accessed
through 360 degree feedback system (hmad, 2009). It is the method in which worker take
feedback about its performance from number of people such as manager, peer group and
colleagues. Furthermore, along with all these given people, respective employee will also
evaluate its skills on its own. With the help of this method, manager of iTech can resolve its
LMD issue to get the information about the particular skill in an effective way. For example, by
applying given method iTech can assess that whether its employees have ability to work in a
team or not. If it has been assessed by the employer that the employees have learned the way to
work in a team then in the given circumstance the iTech LMD issue to work in unified and
unifying culture can be resolved (Sinar and et.al., 2015). In addition to this, through this way
only employer of cited firm can assess that whether its employee have ability to implement the
cost reduction program of corporation or not. But, it is evaluated that the given feedback system
will not guarantee that the suggestions for skill improvement as being given by other individuals
are effective or authenticated (Disadvantages of 360 degree feedback, 2016). This is because;
these people cannot assess the personal attribute of other people. Thus, organizing development
programs on the basis of their reviews is being considered as completely ineffective task.
Furthermore, individual assessment of leadership capability is another most effective
approach which cited firm can use. It is the type of checklist approach in which detailed list of
varied leadership skills will be prepared. Thus, here employees will put right tick in front of the
specific skill which they possess and do not require any further improvement. Hence, through
this way only information about the number of abilities will be gathered and based on this
manager of cited firm can organize developmental programs for its worker (Ather, Khan and
Hoque, 2011). This method will be used with an aim to attain another strategic objective of iTech
which is of ensuring the required skills which are needed in order to attain the competitive
advantage in an effective way. Here, with the help of given method individual can assess that
whether it has such type of skill or not which tend to assist it in the process of attaining the
competitive advantage of enterprise or not.
Identifying appropriate strategies to meet the current and future organizational requirement
Different types of skill development strategies have been assessed with the help of which
the current and future organizational requirement of iTech will be met. The explanations of
assessed tactics are depicted in below:
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 Seminars: They can be considering as one of the most appropriate tactic for developing
significant skills among the workers. This method allows discussion between the trainer
and trainee (Seminars, 2016). Thus, with the help of this method all the doubts as being
obtained by the employees of iTech will be resolved. This lead to develop necessary
management and leadership skills among the workers. Due to this, the current and future
goal of cited firm will be met. This method can be used with an aim to achieve the iTech
objective to improve the ethical and professional skill among its workers in an effectual
manner. On the job training: Skills of worker can also be improved through the given method. It
will prove as effective for those workers who like to learn the things by seeing the
practical application of the same (Crawford, 2005). With the help of given method, iTech
employee can get the information about the specific area which is costing a lot to the
firm. Thus, on the basis of obtained information future need of enterprise which is of to
implementing the cost reduction program will be met.
 Self managed learning: It is the activity in which individual takes initiative wherein they
diagnose their own learning needs and accordingly they set their goal. This is an effective
method as it helps in saving the cost of iTech which is generally being invested by them
in the task of assessing the skill development needs of their workers. Overall, with the
use of all these given methods, the current and future tactical goal of firm will be
achieved (Duff, 2013). The firm objective to perform the internationalisation of the
management team will be met with the help of given approach. This is because, through
self managed learning an individual can get the information about all those skills which
can assist it in the process to become an appropriate global manager. Thus, through this
way another issue of cited firm will be resolved.
LO3 AND LO4
Consideration of issues at strategic level
Here, with respect to LMD methods, top level management of iTech faces the issue of
whether it should use the combination of different leadership and management development
methods or should rely on one approach. It is the issue because each LMD method has its own
pros and cons. Moreover, each individual differs in a way to learn the specific thing with the help
of number of approaches. Thus, to make the selection of suitable LMD method is the biggest
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problem which confronted in front of the top level management of cited corporation (Rausch,
2007).
Here, in order to resolve the given issue model as being suggested by Leskew and Singh
(2007) will be used. Here, the researchers have suggested six different phases which are vital for
the effective LMD. The detailed explanation of the same is depicted in below:
 Need assessment: In the given step, manager of iTech will assess the skill which is
required to be improved among its employees. For example, it is assessed that the people
who are working in cited firm wants to improve their professional skill.
 Selection of suitable audience: In the next step, the audience will be selected. In this
context, this information will be gather that such skill be improved among top, middle
and lower level employees (Carmichael and et.al., 2011).
 Designing appropriate infrastructure: Here, in the given step, manager can make the
decision that in order to improve the respective skill manager will require one single
method or the combinations of different methods.
 Implementing the learning system: Finally, learning programs will be carried out through
selected method.
 Evaluating system: In this step, iTech manager will assess that whether the professional
skill of its employees has improved through the selected LMD approaches or not.
 Action to reward success: On the basis of above step reward will be given to the workers.
In addition to this, another issue which occurs in the given level is that whether firm
should use the methods such as coaching and mentoring with an aim to develop the skill among
the top level manager of iTech or not. The people who reside in the given level possess immense
amount of experience of their work. Furthermore, at that level they will consider themselves in
the position where they give training to other or not take from them. Thus, if for these individual
the methods such as coaching and mentoring will be used at that time, significant resistance will
be faced by the trainer as being appointed by iTech (Rothstein and Burke, 2010).
Analyzing actual and potential contribution of management and leadership development
Leadership and management development programs are being organized within company
that will lead to affect the operation or working practices of iTech in a positive way. In this
regard, the actual and potential contribution of such development programs is analyzed. The
detailed explanation of the same is being depicted in following points:
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