Impact of Leadership and Decision-Making on Organizational Growth

This Masters dissertation introduction, focusing on leadership and its impact on organizational sustainability, examines the differences between public and private sector leadership styles and their effects on managerial decision-making. The research investigates the impact of leadership and strategic decision-making on organizational growth, using a case study of a medical device group. The introduction provides a comprehensive overview of leadership concepts, including different leadership styles and the varying traits observed in public versus private sector leaders. It explores the challenges of transitioning leaders between these sectors, emphasizing the importance of matching leadership skills to organizational context and objectives. The study seeks to determine the impact of leadership on managerial decision-making and organizational sustainability, and it considers factors such as stakeholder expectations and organizational culture.

Organizational behavior
Masters Dissertation
RKC, March 2018
Student ID number: 1550809
Module name: Intro, Chapters 1-3 - DRAFT
Assignment title: Masters Dissertation
Assignment deadline:
Effective number of words used:

Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction:..............................................................................................................................3
Background of the Organization:.............................................................................................................4
Background of Research Topic:...............................................................................................................5
Thesis Statement:....................................................................................................................................7
Research Aims and Objectives:....................................................................................................................7
Research Objectives:...............................................................................................................................7
Research Questions:................................................................................................................................7
Scope of Research:..................................................................................................................................8
Limitations of Research:..........................................................................................................................8
Chapter 2: Literature Review:....................................................................................................................10
Styles of leadership:..............................................................................................................................10
The Public vs. Private sector leader:......................................................................................................11
Theories on leadership:.........................................................................................................................13
Summary:..............................................................................................................................................18
Chapter 3: Methodology:..........................................................................................................................19
Data Collection Methods:......................................................................................................................19
External and Internal Factors affecting the organization:..................................................................19
Leadership Theories:.........................................................................................................................19
Personality traits of Managers:..........................................................................................................19
Data collection process:.....................................................................................................................19
Data Analysis Methods:.........................................................................................................................20
Secondary Research Analysis:............................................................................................................20
Case Analysis:....................................................................................................................................20
Results:......................................................................................................................................................21
Conclusions:..............................................................................................................................................21
Bibliography:.............................................................................................................................................21
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................................3
Background of the Organization:.............................................................................................................4
Background of Research Topic:...............................................................................................................5
Thesis Statement:....................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 1: Aims and Objectives:..................................................................................................................7

Research Objectives:...............................................................................................................................7
Research Questions:................................................................................................................................7
Scope of Research:..................................................................................................................................8
Limitations of Research:..........................................................................................................................8
Chapter 2: Literature Review:......................................................................................................................9
Styles of leadership:................................................................................................................................9
The Public vs. Private sector leader:......................................................................................................10
Theories on leadership:.........................................................................................................................12
Summary:..............................................................................................................................................17
Chapter 3: Methodology:..........................................................................................................................18
Data Collection Methods:......................................................................................................................18
Data Analysis Methods:.........................................................................................................................18
Results:......................................................................................................................................................20
Conclusions:..............................................................................................................................................20
Bibliography:.............................................................................................................................................20
Chapter 1: Introduction:
The researcher studies the impact of leadership and prudent strategic decision-making on the growth
and sustainability of an organization. The success of leadership also depends on the context and the
scenario in which the leader is required to offer his leadership. For example, a manager who has worked
previously in a public organization and has been an extremely successful leader in the organization
might not be able to offer the same quality of leadership in a private organizational setup and culture.

This is implied as the work culture of a public-sector organization is entirely distinct from that of a
private firm. This occurs primarily due to the separate business motives of public and private sector
firms. In case of the public-sector organizations the focus of the management is not on the making of
profits. It is rather based on serving the people of the country with a variety of products and services
that will help them in different aspects of life. The idea is to ensure that the services and products those
are offered to the customers are ethical, fair and just because the people of the country are paying taxes
for various products and services that they are purchasing from different private and public-sector
organizations.
The citizens of the country expect that they receive true and fair products and services from the public
organizations in return for the taxes they are paying to the government. Therefore, the management
personnel have the focus to offer the services to the people as per their desired expectations. The public
organizations do not focus much on the profitability and therefore, the minds of the managers are not
too much inclined towards profitability and extreme competition. In case of the private sector firms the
situation is entirely different. The primary objective of a private sector firm is to make profits and ensure
sustainability. The customer service is definitely important to the private sector establishments however
it is not the primary focus of the firm as the objective that gains precedence in case of private sector
organizations is the profit-making. Therefore, it is extremely essential for an organization to understand
the impact of the leadership style on offering prudent managerial decision-making. It is always advisable
for an organization to recruit leaders from the same background for ensuring that the leader is able to
understand the nature of the business and the organizational objectives effectively.
On analysis of the leadership situations tThe research questions were developed to address
leadership.for this particular research. They are divided into the Primary and the Secondary Research
Questions.
Contained in this report are tThe findings from a research study that has been undertaken on the
topicfocuses on of leadership, decision-making, and their impacts on sustainability of an organization.
The research attempts has endeavoured to discoveretermine the various traits and characteristics of
leadership in terms of the ways it differs between the managers in the public and private sectors. The
researcher has also attempted to determine the impacts of leadership traits on managerial decision-
making along with finding out the impact of managerial leadership on the sustainability of an
organization. For this particular research study, the case of a medical device group has been
investigated. The company manufactures and sells various emergency drugs and medical devices in
around the world. The organization markets its products across all continents with focus on the US,
China and a few other Asian countries. Three years back, the company has entered into a merger with
one of its suppliers and after that some issues have emerged related to the quality of some of the
medical products those needed to be recalled. There was some lack of managerial leadership and
effective decision-making that was observed following the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer
(CEO). A CEO that was appointed as the head of the newly formed company.
This decision to appoint a new CEO was later on speculated to be non-effective and counter-productive
for the organization. This was because tThe current CEO belonged to a governmental organization that

was a part of the non-profit seeking sector of the industry. Naturally, heThe individual lacked the
managerial leadership and decision-making skills required in a much competitive private sector.
Moreover, the CEOhe was not a person from the medical background and therefore it was quite obvious
that he would not be able to provide an impactful and goal-oriented leadership in this newly formed
organization. because tThe leadership skills nurtured and developed in the public-sector are quite
different than those needed to direct a private sector organization that iswhich has much more
competitive, dynamic, and has a totally different work culture. PriorThe researches haves revealed that
qualities and traits of leaders tend to differ across the public and private sectors because of several
factors like difference in business objectives, work culture, employee relationships and others
(Andersen, Public versus Private Managers: How Public and Private Managers Differ in Leadership
Behavior, 2010). This makes it challenging and difficult for a person coming from the public-sector to
provide effective leadership in a private sector organization. This is the same scenario with the
organization referred to in this test researchcase.
Background of the Organization:
The organization referred to in this research study is an enterprise that deals with the production and
distribution of various medical devices and emergency medicines across the world such as the US, China,
and many other Asian nations. The medical devices industry is booming across the globe with the
unprecedented growth and advancement in technology in this sector and the market opportunities are
increasing every year as the overall market awareness about healthcare products have increased over
time (Gilani, 2014). The organization has recently undergone a change where it has entered into a
merger and acquisition with one of its American suppliers. This has called for a change in the
management strategies and organizational structure. The new CEO of the organization happened to be
one of the existing shareholders of the company who has been appointed as the CEO based on his warm
relationship with the current management and good reputation. He belonged to a public-sector
organization and lacked the experience and expertise to lead in a private sector enterprise. Moreover,
he was not from the medical background and therefore, there were some emerging issues related to his
style of leadership and organizational decision-making. There have been several issues related to the
quality of some of the products sold by the company of late.
This has been attributed to the lack of proper management and leadership from the top-level
management under the new CEO that has been responsible for lack of adequate employee motivation
and that culminated into some unethical actions taken by some management personnel like purchasing
of low quality of raw materials to enhance profitability. Therefore, the research has been undertaken to
determine the areas where the leadership and management under the new CEO has gone erroneous
and a number of bottlenecks has emerged. Now, the management is thinking of enhancing the revenue
through growth in new market segments by reducing overall cost of sales and raising profitability. The
management also wishes to optimize the marketing and business development departments by creating
a single marketing department serving across all the different territories of the business. The
management has plans to enhance the investment in research and development such that new
technologically upgraded products might be produced and sold in order to achieve growth and
sustainability in the dynamic market environment. The management has also planned for reducing the

production cost and starting up a new production facility in the US and open up new sales branches in
the Indo-China markets
Background of Research Topic:
The research has delved addressesinto various concepts of leadership, organizational decision-making
and organizational sustainability. The researcher attemptedIt has tried to establish a link between the
management leadership, its impact on decision-making, and the organizational sustainability. This
chapterpart of the research discusses all those reviews the concepts in details.
Organizational Leadership:
Leadership is one of the key elements that determine the future of an enterprise. Every enterprise
requires effective and strong leadership for achieving optimum effectiveness. Organizational leadership
encompasses human psychology along with prudent business tactics. The leadership that is provided by
the management personnel or the managers within the organization needs to be relevant to the current
business dynamics. Leadership should ensure that it is able to guide and motivate the subordinates in
tough times of the organization and yet be able to make the business grow and sustain amidst such
crisis (16 Personalities, 2014). An effective leader should be able to implement proper control and
coordination among the group members such that they obey the instructions. In this regard it should be
understood that organizational leadership is not about dominating and dictating the subordinates. It is
more about offering guidance and direction to the subordinates such that they are able to understand
their respective job responsibilities and able to achieve their individual goals and objectives along with
those of the organization. Therefore, an efficient organizational leader should be a selfless individual
with the focus on being the mentor, role model and the one that leads from the front. This will inspire
the juniors to look up to him and respect him as an able leader in the organization (Management Study
Guide, 2017).
Different forms of Leadership:
Leadership in organizational context can be of vary byious types depending on the personality and
attitude of the leader. The most popular types of leadership are the Autocratic, Democratic,
Transactional, Transformational, Laissez Faire, and Situational., which we willThe researcher elaborates
on on these types later in this paper.
Differences of Leadership in Public and Private Sectors:
Leadership traits are found to differ across the private and the public sectors. This results fromis because
there are differences in the goals and objectives of public and private sector organizations. Some of the
major differences include the strategies such as, for a private sector firm, the emphasis is on generating
the maximum possible financial returns on investments for the benefit of the stakeholders (Get Smarter,
2017). Whereas, iIn the case of the public-sector organizations, the main business motive is to offer
various products and services for the benefit of the public. and pProfitability is not the primary
objective of this type of organization. Apart from this, the private sector organizations are found to have
more clearly defined objectives those are focused on enhancing profitability as compared to the public-

sector enterprises where the clarity of goals and objectives of the employees is much lower
(GetSmarter, 2018). This is one of the prime reasons behind the form of leadership varying between the
private and the public sectors. The other major area of difference between leadership traits in public
and private sector organizations is the stakeholder expectations. In the case of the public-sector
organizations, the major stakeholders are the public or the citizens of the country (J. Dudovskiy , 2013).
Their expectation is to make the most efficient use of the tax money that they are paying to the
government. They expect products and services designed to suit their needs and demands directly from
the government. On the contrary, there are several stakeholders in respect of a private sector firm such
as investors, suppliers, employees, customers, etc. So, hHandling the demands of the stakeholders is
much more challenging and requires much intricate and varied strategy to satisfy the demands of each
one of them. Thus, leadership traits and characteristics need to differ in case of handling stakeholder
needs in case of public and private organizations (Dudovskiy, Leadership Differences between Private
and Public Sector Organisations: literature review, 2013).
Organizational Decision-making:
Decision-making is one of the key functions of a manager in an organization. Some key strategic
decisions are undertaken by the management personnel. and tThe others have to be undertakenmust
be addressed by the managers on a regular basis in their respective departments within the enterprise.
This decision-making process needs to be doneundertaken in several phases sequentially in order to
ensure that it culminates into a prudent strategic decision in the end. There are seven steps involved in a
prudent decision-making process. These steps would be discussed in the literature review.
Leadership and Organizational Sustainability:
Modern organizational leadership should culminate into achieving long-term sustainability of not only
the organization but also its various stakeholders. Therefore, mManagerial leaders should play the role
of sustainable leaders. It refers to the managerial decision-making and strategies those are focused on
the well-being of the various stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors, suppliers, and
others. The objective of this form of leadership is not restricted to profit making and achieving of
personal objectives only, but also achieving a holistic sustainability for the organization and all its
stakeholders. An organization operates within the society and community and therefore, leadership
should endeavour to ensure sustainability and development of the society, community and environment
as a whole. This has become an important aspect of managerial leadership, especially in this era of
globalization (Šimanskienė & Župerkienė, 2014).
Thesis Statement:
The thesis statement for the research aims to validate the expected outcomes of the research. For, this
particular research, the thesis statement is as follows: “Organizational leadership is one of the key
factors that influence the managerial decision-making in order to achieve sustainability of the
enterprise.”

Chapter 1: Research Aims and Objectives:
Research Objectives:
The objectives of this research are enumerated as follows:
 Identifying the impact of organizational leadership on prudent strategic decision-making;
 Determining the differences in leadership between a public and private organization;
 Assessing the difficulties those might be faced by a leader from a public organization to lead in a
private work culture;
 Ascertaining the required changed organizational structure to cope up with the changed
organizational strategies; and
 The extent to which successful leadership and strategic decision-making can ensure
organizational sustainability.
Research Questions:
Primary Research Questions:
Is it possible for a manager from a governmental sector who has a combination of traits such as
autocratic leadership style to provide effective leadership in a private sector organization after a
merger?
Can a governmental sector manager succeed in adopting the different business motives of a private
sector organization?
Secondary Research Questions:
The primary research questions has led to the development of the secondary research questions those
are as follows:
 What iswill be the best-suited structure for the company to ensure that it regains the lost
stability?
 What should beare the effective strategies that it neededs to undertake to ensure growth and
sustainability?

 What should beare the effective traits and style of leadership for ensuring that the company is
able to achieve the desired targets?
Scope of Research:
The researcher attempts to identify the impact of leadership on organizational sustainability. The aim of
the research was to determine the consequences of difference in leadership styles and traits owing to
the variation in the work cultures between public and private sector organizations (Hansen & Villadsen,
Comparing Public and Private Managers' Leadership Styles: Understanding the Role of Job Context,
2010). The research tried to identify the major causes of differences in leadership between a private and
public-sector organization. Through the course of the research study it has been identified that there are
differences in business objectives between a public and private sector organization (Andersen, Public
versus Private Managers: How Public and Private Managers Differ in Leadership Behavior, 2010). While
the aim of a private sector organization is to achieve sustainability through profitability, the objective of
a public-sector organization is to achieve sustainability through its services to the people and there is no
profitability intent (Flemming, 2016). This is one of the major underlying differences in operating
objectives between a public and private sector organization. The purview of the research consists of an
in-depth analysis of the organization that has included the implementation of the various models and
techniques such as the 7-S Framework, SWOT Analysis, Balanced Scorecard and PESTLE Analysis. The
scope of the research included the analysis of the organizational situation before and after the merger.
Apart from these, the research also encompassed the studies on various theories on leadership such as,
the Great Man Theory, Behavioural Theory, Contingency Theory, Trait Theory, Transactional Theory and
Transformational Theory.
Limitations of Research:
The research had some limitations. those needed to be considered such that in fFuture research shold
addressworks these issues that might be resolved in a better manner. As fFor example, one of the prime
disadvantages of the research limitation was the absence lack of existing adequate literature sources on
the private sector enterprises those are managed by leaders originating from public-sector backgrounds
or vice-versa. This has been a difficult area for the research study due to which the task of gathering
information from the various literature sources was a challenging proposition. Apart from this there are
not many cases those are similar to this one due to which it was difficult to understand the similar
outcomes of such a case. Apart from these there were no further limitations for the said research. The
research amidst these limitations has the opportunity of exploring something new that has not yet been
successfully and satisfactorily explored with conclusive results. So, it is prudent to consider this research
study as an effort to collect valid information on the research topic such that future researches can be
undertaken to explore the topic in more details and with the hope that more researches are undertaken
on this extremely important but less explored topic.

Chapter 2: Literature Review:
The researcher scoured existing literature for authentic and reliable information that served as a
foundation for the study. that can be gathered for the research to unfold The literature review helped
and for the purpose of analyzsing the case study of the medical devices group. The analysis of the results
was framed on the findings of the literature review. The literature review includes the various aspects
such as leadership differences in between public and private sector employees as well as, some theories
on leadership and other domains those ensure organizational growth and sustainability.
Styles of leadership:
In the opinion of Khan and Khandaker (2016) suggest that, the leadership styles are important aspects
for any business organizations. They differ according to the organizations. The lLeadership is the skill and
the quality that helps the organizations to grow and develop. The majority of the organizations depend
on the leadership style. Irrespective of the type and the sector of the organizations, the leadership is one
of the utmost important aspects. The success of any business depends on the right leadership style. The
skills and qualities of the leaders help the organizations to achieve the desired result and outcomes
(Leviticus, 2017). The leadership style depends on many factors. The organizational culture exerts
immense influence on the leadership style. The leadership style makes the employees to work as per the
specifications and requirements (leadershipnow, 2017). The stakeholders who have interests in the
outcomes of the organizations also influence the leadership styles (Cecil, 2013). The leadership differs in
the style and conduct and makes the organizations different. There are basic differences between the
private and public-sector organizations. The private and public-sector organizations differ in the styles of
the leadership and the decision-making process also differ. The aims and objectives of the private and
public-sector are different and that makes the differences in the leadership styles. The ways in which the
organizations belonging to both sectors deal with changes also depend on the styles of leadership. The
researchers have studied the organizations in both private and public-sector to analyze the reasons
behind the differences in the leadership styles in private and public-sector (Khan & Khandaker, 2016).
According to Dudovskiy (2013) identifies, the main difference in the leadership styles and the private
and public-sector organizations lies in their objectives. The profit maximization is the main objective of
the private sector organizations whereas providing different products and services and serving the
customers and the public. The private sector organizations are more inclined in earning more returns in
financial terms. The investors are interested in the returns on their investments. The aims and objectives
of the private sector and public-sector organizations are different. It makes the situations different for
different leaders. The profit maximization is the main aim of the private sector organizations. The
stakeholders of the public and private sector organizations have different expectations when they are
associated with private or public-sector organizations. The stakeholders expect to get higher returns on
their investments. For example, the employees being the internal stakeholders expect fair and desired
compensations and payouts for their efforts in the organizations (Iqbal, Anwar, & Haider, 2015). The
customers expect high quality deliverables at affordable prices. The leadership depends on these
factors. The public-sector organizations are more secured in respect to the job and the employees get

job security more in public sector. The private sector is more competitive. The employees of the private
sector are motivated more by the tangible elements like monetary rewards than the intangible aspects
like that of the public-sector employees (Khuong & Hoang, 2014).
Similarly the external environment factors affect more the public-sector organizations than the private
sector organizations (Dudovskiy, Leadership Differences between Private and Public Sector
Organisations: literature review, 2013).. For example, the changes in the political factors impact the
public-sector organizations more than the private sector organizations. The private organizations
become bound to react to the changes in the political factors. The changes in the economic factors
affect the private organizations more than the public sector. The economic changes impact the decision-
making process and the other related issues. So the lLeadership differences take place because of these
aspects (Dudovskiy, Leadership Differences between Private and Public Sector Organisations: literature
review, 2013).
The Public vs. Private sector leader:
According to Andersen (2010) suggests, there are certain differences in behaviors of the managers of the
private and public-sector organizations. There have been studies on the behavioral differences of the
managers and the differences in the leadership styles in private and public-sector organizations. It has
been observed that the transformational leadership styles are more found in case of public-sector
organizations (Reynolds, 2015). The leadership style that the researchers have observed in this case is
more inclined towards the learning and sharing of knowledge so as to transform the employees to be
competent and skilled for the particular jobs profiles. The leadership style that is predominant in the
private sector organizations is more inclined towards relationsrelationship management. The managers
of the public-sector are influenced and motivated by the power. and they are intuitive in making
decisions. The public-sector managers are also intuitive while making important decisions but the
leadership style is more directed towards the changes (Bolden, 2005 ). The change-oriented style of
leadership is more profound in the public-sector organizations. They are more interested in the
achievements and that motivate them the most. From the analysis it can be said that the leadership
styles in public and private sectors are different in respect to the motivations, behaviors of the managers
and decision-making. The organizational differences also contribute to the changes in the leadership
styles and the behaviors of the managers of the public and private sector organizations (Andersen,
Public versus Private Managers: How Public and Private Managers Diff er in Leadership Behavior, 2010).
In the opinion of Hansen and Villadsen (2010) explain that, the public-sector leaders and managers use
more participative leadership styles. On the other hand,while the private sector leaders are more
inclined towards the directive leadership styles. As per the traditional approaches the leadership styles
depend on the characteristics of the leaders, managers, employees and the job profiles of the
employees. According to the traditional approaches of leadership, the style of leadership often depends
upon the organizational and work culture that is prevalent within the enterprise. The complexities of the
jobs, clarity of the jobs, and autonomy in the jobs also determine the styles of leadership in the private
and the public-sector organizations. In the modern context of business the more popular leadership
style in the private sector is directive leadership (Leviticus, 2017). The managers and leaders of the
private sector set clear objectives and goals for the employees and direct them to achieve the same.

They clearly define the objectives to their subordinates (Bolden, 2005 ). The business leaders following
directive styles expect that the subordinates will understand the expectations of the business leaders
and will abide by them. This style is very similar to that of autocratic style of leadership (Travis, 2017).
The tasks and the responsibilities are initiated by the business leaders and they give the responsibilities
to their respective subordinates. The managers help the subordinates to get the work done by them.
(Parikh, 2016). The changes in the organizational culture also impact the styles of the leadership both in
public-sector and private sector. The rules and the discipline of the organizations also influence on the
leadership styles (Hansen & Villadsen, Comparing Public and Private Managers' Leadership Styles:
Understanding the Role of Job Context, 2010).
In the words of Demeter and Țapardel (2013) conducted , thea study has been conducted on the
leadership of the private and public sectors. The management of and these two sectors is found these
two sectors to be more inclined towards the skills and qualities of the managers, knowledge, core
competencies, and personal abilities of the managers. The attitudes of the managers also exert influence
on their leadership styles (Nwlink, 2015)(nwlink, 2015). These are important for the enhancement of the
competencies of the managers in the organizations. These elements develop the behavior and attitudes
of the managers. The authors have said that there are not so many differences in the styles of leadership
for public and private sector organizations. The public-sector managers are elected in the similar way in
which the politicians are appointed. TheyPublic-sector managers are interested on the achievements
and the ways they can serve the public on behalf of the managers (Iqbal, Anwar, & Haider, 2015). The
managers of the private sector are more interested in the profits and outcomes. The performances of
the managerial personnel in case of the public organizations depend on the abilities to serve the society
and public with the desired deliverables while the private sector managerial personnel judge the
performance on the profits and rewards.
In case of the public-sector the decision-making process of the leaders is based on the hierarchy and on
the conventional approaches whereas the private sector business leaders make the decisions on
participative methods. The private sector managers believe that they are more likely to include the
employees and the members of the organizations in the decision-making process to achieve the success.
They empower the employees and they direct them to achieve the competitive targets and they define
the jobs and objectives in clear terms to the employees. There is autonomy and less complexity in the
managerial functions of the private sector organizations. There is flexibility in the decision-making
process. On the other hand there are more complexities in case of managerial functions of the public-
sector organizations (Cecil, 2013). The management tasks and functions of this sector are more complex
and there are ambiguities. The autonomy is less in case of the employees. The external factors like the
political factors are influential in case of the public sector. The managers believe in directive styles of the
managers (Demeter & Țapardel, 2013).
According to Michael (2016) found that, the public-sector business leaders follow the directive style of
leadership. But iIn reality, it is seen that this style of leadership style is less effectivepoor inat getting the
things done by the employees. The managers and the business leaders of the public-sector believe
directive style of leadership. The management does not allow the employees of the public-sector to
provide their feedbacks. The performance of the employees is judged by the ways through which they