Leadership & Management: A Reflective Report on Competing Values

This report presents a reflective analysis of management skills and competencies using the Competing Values Framework (CVF). Part A involves a self-assessment using the CVF 'spiderweb' activity, comparing initial and subsequent results to identify strengths and areas for improvement, particularly within the collaboration and control quadrants. The reflection emphasizes the importance of mentorship, facilitation, and the ability to influence others, especially in the hospitality industry. Part B analyzes the concept of flexibility in management, drawing from a tourism and hospitality blog and academic literature. It discusses the need for managers to adapt to dynamic environments, highlighting the importance of innovation, strategic flexibility, and leadership qualities. The analysis reveals the manager's strengths in coordination and monitoring but identifies weaknesses in flexibility and innovation, emphasizing the need for continuous development to enhance overall managerial effectiveness. The report concludes by noting improvements in the manager's competencies over time, particularly in the broker role, and stresses the importance of motivation and adaptability in achieving success.

PART A
Competing values contemporary framework is a widely used approach of management in
the study of organizational behavior. It is actually developed by some practical or
theoretical approaches and provides a compelling case of why managerial role is so major
and also challenging. Leadership competencies are vital for staff engagement,
sustainability and communication success within a firm. In fact it works like a base for
future managers to analyze their value within the firm. Understanding the work as well as
their communication with executives are few of the major behavioral bases for the
managers to attain positive performance, which in turn would influence the performance
of the team in positive manner (Quinn et al., 2015).
CVF aims to recognize eight characteristics that any manger must have if they want to
attain mastery. The role is within four major quadrants named create, collaborate, control
and compete. From my survey I have analyzed that all the four quadrants within my
spider web are overall equal to each other. Having a strong controlling capacity and good
creation and competence quality makes me an overall good manager.
Naturally, this has come as my most competent zone of managerial skill, having notable
improvements to role of the facilitator. This again reflected the truth that I attain most my
satisfaction from being a good human and controlling them properly within the
hospitality industry. Also I feel myself to be an influencer to others in the industry.
Having such a great turnover of employees in this industry of hospitality, I trust that this
would last being my major strength as a manager in coming future.
Most major quadrant that demanded improvement was the creation and collaboration
quadrant, affecting my flexibility, mentor role as well as innovator role in the firm. I
scored just 4.7 in these quadrants. The survey depicted this as my weakest zone and it has
been seen as the area I need to work and improve the same. Specifically, I have always
been focused on establishing punctuality and consistency within my way of work. Hotels
are chaotic in nature yet I found that focusing additionally on flexibility and mentor role

as well as trying each day to innovate new ideas for fulfilling customer demands, might
result in healthier personal performance as well as additionally satisfied customers.
Quadrant of internal focus, which included coordination and monitor role, gave me very
good score of 6 and 6.2 respectively with points lost for other quadrants like mentor role
and broker role being 4.7 for both. My initial survey placed internal focus as my second
strongest quadrant, which was an area; I actually focused on since long time. I also found
that I am actually driven towards my personal aims, which later transfers me towards
meeting the targets for the firm, which I work for. Likewise, creative aspect of the firm’s
management is actually something that I feel has not yet been focused on in past times
and needs an improvement at any cost. It demands confidence to sell innovation and
when it’s about me, I trust that this is a thing, which I would attain with experience. CVF
provided a very clear definition of characteristics that I must master myself in to be a
successful manager. Now I know my strengths and weaknesses better.
PART B
The first blog of tourism and hospitality emphasized on the fact that “Management is the
pursuit for flexibility”
Fast technological development, vast competition and enhancing globalization has
basically reshaped the external ecology of the business, making it complex, dynamic and
also unpredictable to the administrators of the firm. In few nations like China where
institutional ecology is also changing, volatility has been challenging leaders of the firms.
In order to remain competitive as well as relevant in this dynamic world full of
innovations, discontinuities and uncertainties companies need to grow and bring in
strategic flexibility with an aim to adapt unprecedented alterations (Niesten and Stefan,
2018).
As flexibility is very much needed and advantageous for any firm, developing and then
maintaining this would even demand more concern and care (Quinn et al., 2015).
Managers today need to be more cautious, careful, and innovative and attain leadership
qualities that would endorse suitable functional practices as well as policies supporting

tactical flexibility, because firms are actual reflectors of attributes of their top leaders
(Lawton, 2019).
Results from the analysis described in Part A, depict that the manager is a facilitator, a
good coordinator, and also plays his role of being a director as well as a producer
properly. He even knows real way to monitor the acts of his subordinates appropriately.
But the outcomes also depict that the manger is non-flexible as well as non-adaptive
towards changes. He never initiates any corporate strategies and also lacks behind when it
comes to innovation. He does not carry creativity within him. Some lack also is seen in
the manager when it comes to understanding today’s dynamic concepts as well as he is
seen incapable of bringing them to the firm (Eggert, Kleinaltenkamp and Kashyap, 2019;
(Pan, 2019)).
Score depicted that this person is actually imbalanced. He is not at all comfortable with
changes, which is a part and parcel of today’s work condition. Though he designates
tasks properly and coordinates in good manner with his colleagues and subordinates yet
lacks when it comes to newness and innovations. He might attain these skills with time
and experience but for the time being he needs to work on these aspects (Lawton, 2019).
Managerial duty demands all the skill sets like, leadership, innovation, coordination,
direction, monitoring role, producer role, mentor role, broker role, director role etc.
People are automatically directed towards managers who have charm and charisma in
their personality (Barraclough, 2016). People always lend their ears to managers who are
good speakers and this is what is happening with this manager in the firm. Only area this
person needs to work on is his flexibility, mentor role and dynamism. All his future
employment will get affected positively if the person works on these skills and enhances
them accordingly.
Role of a leader demands purpose and direction to be clearly defined. Only a purposeful
leader can make his firm progress and attain success. Report shows that this person is
actually weak at broker’s role. He requires designing his work. Another segments to be

looked after mentor role and flexibility. He also needs to learn the way to provide a
protective ecology to the staffs for work. This can help him to generate additional result
from the staffs (Ashby and Mintner, 2017). Negotiation is an art and the manager must
understand this. This manager is proud in his nature and has an attitude within and thus
he is not able to bow to others. However in any business to be successful one needs to
channel out his plans for making the sector bigger and better. The score above have
justified the person’s nature and character. In any firm, making agreement seems to be a
very positive thing; it actually makes very strong hold for the firm. This manager requires
curbing down his resistance and also needs to be open and liberal to newness (Jordan,
Spencer and Prayag, 2019).
Linking to his initial CVF ‘spider web’, the 2nd one seems to have more balanced
competencies within the eight roles that he plays. Major change is depicted in the broker
role, enhancing in the second time.
At the time of community interaction, he requires to realize that motivation plays a vital
role in enhancement of firm’s profit and productivity. This brings in the need to study
promising effect of flexibility and its impact upon the firm and its profitability. In this
segment he requires to recognize that he was good at motivating staffs but bad at
innovating and this has affected him negatively. Some changes in the manager’s skills
would lead him to a better manager overall and will result in his success as well ((Nawijn
and Biran, 2018; (Seemiller, 2018)).

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