Leadership and Managerial Roles at NATS Under Changing Aviation Skies

This report delves into the leadership and managerial roles within NATS, the UK's air traffic control service, examining the challenges posed by the evolving aviation industry. It explores the definitions of leaders and managers, their respective roles and responsibilities, and their relevance to NATS' operations. The report analyzes various management theories and leadership styles, with a particular focus on the participative style and its suitability for NATS. It also discusses the impact of technological advancements, such as automation and artificial intelligence, on managerial functions and the changing dynamics of operational management. The report considers the external threats and the internal dynamics of NATS, proposing that managers should be involved in the decision-making process and that the organization should create an internal competition to balance performance and keep the team on their toes. It explores the role of a leader in handling external threats and creating a framework for the organization, and discusses the importance of team leaders and trainers within NATS to meet new challenges. The report concludes by highlighting the significance of effective leadership and management in ensuring NATS' continued success in a competitive and technologically advanced environment.

Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
Name
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................................3
Task 1..........................................................................................................................................................4
The Definition of a leader........................................................................................................................4
The definition of a manager....................................................................................................................4
Roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers................................................................................4
The relevance of the roles of managers and leaders in the case of NATS...............................................5
Task 2..........................................................................................................................................................5
Roles of Leader and Functions of a Manager...........................................................................................5
The relevance of the roles and functions in the case of NATS.................................................................6
Task 3..........................................................................................................................................................6
Task 4..........................................................................................................................................................7
Task 5..........................................................................................................................................................7
Participative style of leadership is more fruitful in the case of NATS......................................................7
Task 6..........................................................................................................................................................8
Task 7..........................................................................................................................................................9
Task 8..........................................................................................................................................................9
Task 9........................................................................................................................................................10
Task 10.......................................................................................................................................................11
Task 11.......................................................................................................................................................11
Task 12.......................................................................................................................................................11
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................................12
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
Abstract
Google is developing a human less car, now in a world like this do we really need pilots. Skies
are already clear, autopilots, robotic arms under the guidance of satellite-based surveillance
systems, and ATC can always help a plane in landing from one airport to another.
Pilots are needed, official protocols says that every pilot leads the cabin and technical crew. The
pilot also plays the role of a navigator, which can be considered as a manager in the terms of
management theories. The post of a pilot or the captain of a ship often figures out the role
conflict where they fail in understanding the fact that they are acting like a leader or they are
acting like a manager.
(V.D.Hopkin, 1995)
The current assignment is an attempt to clear the air on this role conflict between a leader and
manager by discussing the case of NATS, which is acting as a provider of air traffic control
service in the UK. During the course of this study, we will try to resolve this issue with the help
of various management theories and corresponding leadership practices. We will do it under the
format of a report, which will try to figure out certain challenges faced by NATS under the
changing skies of aviation where other players are making an entry in order to eat up the pie.
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
Task 1
The Definition of a leader
A leader is a visionary that decides organizational objectives and goals. Not everybody
can become a leader. It requires a vision; it requires knowledge of the day-to-day
business of the industry or the market where the operations are heading. To top the list a
leader should have this capacity to plan the operations for the easiest executions with the
best impact and fewer efforts. The pilot acts like a leader when due to unfortunate
circumstances plain nosedives into the sea; this is the time when he leads everyone from
the front to mitigate the ill impact.
The definition of a manager
Manager or a supervisor is an individual who takes care of the formation of a team and its
conductance. They mainly deal with the short term goals of an organization. Smooth
organization of various operations in an assembly line fashion and maintaining the team
dynamism decides their job profile.
Roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers
Managers are in line employees, leaders draw that line, and managers take care of the
logistics of an operation and check out the things in minute details. Leaders, on the other
hand, treat the things with a journalistic outlook. However, they plan everything in great
detailing and create a beaten track for rest of the team.
The flight between London to Dubai should follow a time charter, it should take eight
hours with a buffer of one hour, is a decision taken by a leader. The same flight is
delayed because the weather was rough is a decision taken by a manager. Leaders set the
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
paths with a practical outlook and managers, try to move on the same path with an
intention to stay closest to the visions and plans of the leaders.
(Phillips, 2009)
The relevance of the roles of managers and leaders in the case of NATS
NATS work in thirty countries and handle 6000 flights per day over the air space of UK, this fact
is concerned with the leaders because they can promote it as an achievement in order to beat the
challenge caused by competition of 30 more ATC service providers.
Handling 6000 flights over the small air pockets of US with coordination and mechanical
dexterity is a job of managerial teams where they are handling the moves of a staff. All the
managers and fruits seeded by the staff are an outcome of the vision of their leaders and
promoters. It is a responsibility of a manager to ensure hassle free travel and it is a responsibility
of a leader to ensure more opportunities for the organizations.
Task 2
Roles of Leader and Functions of a Manager
The leader is an omnipresent personality in every organization; he is required at all the levels for
guidance. He bears the responsibility of representing the organization at all the possible levels.
He is responsible for an internal issue or an external problem. In the case of an internal issue, this
condition applies when things are happening repeatedly.
Leaders act like a guiding light for the rest of the organization and integrate all the levels of an
organization with the help of an impactful communication skill. The easiest words to describe a
leader will say that ideally a leader should act like a friend, philosopher and guide for the people
of organization and should act like a force of motivation during the thick and thin weathers.
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(Janet, 2006)
When we talk about the functions of a leader then we can mention inter-organizational processes
like planning, organizing, staffing, controlling and leading the staff. Here it is very important to
understand that manager leads a team for short-term goals. They guide a team during the day-to-
day activities and take care of their immediate problems under a culture of reporting. Leaders
have to look after the sum of the products coming out of the endeavors of an organization.
Managers are responsible for the various components of this grand sum of many products.
(Bush, 2010)
The relevance of the roles and functions in the case of NATS
Under the business circumstances mentioned in the case of NATS, leaders should try to go for a
planning exercise where they can present NATS as the ultimate option for new airspace pockets.
Managers, on the other hand, should try to develop team leaders and trainers from the existing
staffs to meet new challenges.
Task 3
With the help of this example of NATS, we can establish that the role of a leader is to handle the
external threats and create a framework for the organization. In the case of NATS, managers are
certainly doing a tough job. They are leading an operation where the margin of the error is zero.
When we check out the integration matrix then we can say that a leader in NATS should take his
managers in confidence prior to set any targets for the organization. They should listen to the
needs of the team more attentively. Handling 6000 flights under a small pocket of air certainly
need a team of efficient managers and leaders should support this equation by creating various
types of cushions for the employee.
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
(Stacey, 2012)
Task 4
Organizations like NATS follow a different dictum altogether, the general theory that if an
organizational setup is big enough then, in this case, a leader should focus more on planning and
welfare aspects. However, organizations like NATS are a different case. You might have seen
the culture of introducing team leaders in BPO organizations. It is more or less like a military
culture. When a troop of army goes out on serious missions then the immediate manager or the
commander acquires the role of a leader on the front. Operations like NATS can face some
unforeseen events this is why it is important to nurture up the culture of manager having the
capacity to act like a leader. This style of nurturing up the leadership was introduced on the lines
of Laissez-Faire. This style promotes a supervisor to work in close quarters with the team and
occasionally step into the role of a leader during the crunch conditions.
(Stacey, 2012)
This style is very much different from the transformational style of leadership where a leader
creates a prototype for the team appoints managers to check and balance the performance of the
team.
Task 5
Participative style of leadership is more fruitful in the case of NATS
The job of air traffic control takes place on war footage; also, the nature of the task is not
repetitive in many ways. Right from weather conditions to the political frameworks, anything
can change the mode of operations. The priority lists keep on changing all the time. This is why
it is important to go for a participative style of leadership here; participative style is a better bet
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
because here the team is learning its lessons without any trial and error. Here we would like to
remind you again that NATS is moving in an industry segment, which works on a zero tolerance
policy for errors.
Authorities love to engage many small players in these industry segments because competition
brings in a quality in the tasks. In the current study, NATS are on a spree of expansion and they
should create this internal contest among the teams in order to balance their performance and
keep them on their toes. Participative leadership can become their best bet here.
(Collins, 2011)
Task 6
The current culture of startups is contributing a lot in the style of participative leadership. Most
of the startups are working in small teams where a visionary comes up with a sparkling idea,
leads the team by example and conducts the show.
In context to the NATS, we would like to discuss the case of Google Inc. Google is certainly
huge, it is huge because it is handling an organization which practically touches all the spheres of
the world. Instead of creating big command lines, Google moves ahead with small teams. They
club together a group of technical experts and hire a manager to control the dynamism of
operations. Now this manager is not an expert in the corresponding field, he is an expert in
management theories.
This is also an example of the participative style of leadership where a leader is participating but
not setting an example or interfering in their work. He is only channelizing the energies of a team
to reach a conclusion.
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
(Phillips, 2009)
Task 7
The definitions and theories of operation management are certainly changing at the higher levels
of the management. It is happening because technology is changing; robotic arms and artificial
intelligence tools are making the jobs easier for organizations. In some setups, managers and
supervisors are working as glorified team members because human intervention is coming down
with each process.
NATS is an ideal case to study managerial operations specifically we will take the example of
the process of controlling here. Sensitive software system and sensors are taking the command of
the process of navigation. The process of controlling is more dependent on the right kind of
staffing here. It means managers can now directly participate in the process of recruitment and
check the worth of an employee. The second most important task is to set the rooster, in the past
when bigger teams were working then humans were covering the margins of error for each other.
However, now the things have changed, now a person is on its own. The environment is
changing and the role of the manager is also changing.
(Janet, 2006)
Task 8
The sum of small operations finally contributes into the realization of large term objectives. In
the terms of NATS, we can see the hard work and attentiveness of a team in order to achieve the
numbers of 6000 flights in the airspace of London. If they are operating in 30 odd countries, then
again it shows that managers at NATS understand the global language and are coordinated with
the local working culture of many countries.
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
Operations of McDonald in USA and operations of McDonald in China are two different things.
They are selling the same ambiance, same sauces. Still, the culture is different. In the US they
believe in having quick bites, whereas in China they want personal attention. The organizational
goals of McDonald are related to the profit and expansion in China, whereas the managers are
amending the service profiles to meet the immediate demands of the customers.
(Hill, 2007)
Task 9
Efficiency and effectiveness are two relative terms, when we talk about goals and objectives of
organizations then it is the measure of the effectiveness of a plan. On the other hand, when we
judge the performance of the efforts of a team then it is efficiency.
When we check out the case of an organization like NATS then we find that regular efficiency of
the systems acts as a measure to judge the overall effectiveness of the system. Leadership has a
minuscule role to play in order to bring in efficiency in the tasks of an organization; however, it
is a managerial operation more.
In the case of NATS, we can always say that they should shuffle the roles of responsibilities of
their teammates a little too often in order to create an emergency pools. It will create more
choices for a manager where he will be able to handle a more resourceful team in order to control
the operations.
(Daft, 2008)
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Running header: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL MATRIX FOR NATS UNDER CHANGING SKIES
Task 10
Macro and Micro factors play their crucial role in the process of management. They discovered
that arsenic is present in many food articles produced by Nestle India Limited the matter was
under the consideration of the courts. Still, the sentiment in the market was negative. It is a
macro factor, and the solution falls in the domain of leadership.
Due to a Curfew in the residential area, employees of Café Coffee Day failed to make it for the
day, is a micro factor. This is a manager’s domain to handle the shortage of staff. The
demarcation is quite clear, leadership is not required to intervene the job of managers and
managers have no concern with the macro environments. This is the time when they are required
to look up to the command line.
(Fagg, 2007)
Task 11
Organizations like NATS also follow the same structure, if the pressure is increasing with the
arrival of more ATC players then it is a case of Macro-environment and it should not be mixed
with the operations of team managers or team leaders working in the organization.
Task 12
In the previous section of this answer, we established two different fraternities of NATS under
the pressure of Macro-Environment and Microenvironment. Operations management at a macro
or external level is a task allotted for leadership, handling the day-to-day pressures of work is the
outlook of a manager. Both the fraternities have their own sphere of activities working for each
other and they should try to integrate each other’s working patterns in order to come up with an
effective outcome achieved by the virtue of regular efficiency.
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(Hill, 2007)
Bibliography
Bush, T. (2010). The Principles of Educational Leadership & Management.
Collins, C. (2011). Leadership and Management Development.
Daft, R. (2008). Understanding Management.
Fagg, R. (2007). Leadership and Management for HR Professionals.
Hill, C. (2007). Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach.
Janet, M. (2006). Effective Leadership And Management In The Early Years.
Phillips, K. (2009). Leadership and Management in Integrated Services.
Stacey, R. D. (2012). Tools and Techniques of Leadership and Management: Meeting the compexities and
chellanges .
V.D.Hopkin. (1995). Human Factors In Air Traffic Control.
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