Leadership and Management at Thomas Cook: A Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Thomas Cook, a travel agency, focusing on the leadership and management styles employed by its CEO. It examines the democratic management style of Peter Fankhauser, highlighting the principles of management, including division of work, equality, and unity of direction, and the four basic functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The report delves into Thomas Cook's organizational structure, corporate culture, and their impact on employees, emphasizing how a flat structure and a culture of trust contribute to high performance and employee motivation. Furthermore, it explores the CEO's democratic leadership style, its role in enhancing organizational effectiveness, and the effects of power, influence, and conflict within the company. Various types of motivation used at Thomas Cook are also discussed. The report concludes with recommendations based on the analysis of the company's practices and literature review.

Report

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
TASK A......................................................................................................................................................4
Management style, the principle and functions of management used by the CEO of Thomas Cook.......4
TASK B......................................................................................................................................................5
Steps taken with regard to organization structure to achieve high performance, organization culture at
Thomas Cook and its impact on the employees.......................................................................................5
TASK C......................................................................................................................................................6
Leadership style of the CEO of Thomas Cook to enhance organizational effectiveness..........................6
TASK D......................................................................................................................................................7
Effects of power, influence and conflict at Thomas Cook.......................................................................7
TASK E......................................................................................................................................................8
Various types of motivation used at Thomas Cook.................................................................................8
Corporate examples and Literature.........................................................................................................9
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
The set of interrelated concepts that explain the behavior of groups or individual who
interact with each other in order to perform activities that are aimed at achieving a common goal.
Respective theory is concerned with analyzing the effect of different social relationships between
individuals in an organization. Apart from this, organizational theory also studies the effects of
various internal as well as external business environment factors like political, cultural,
environmental etc. on the organization (Andrews, Stock and Sun, 2019). The theory is important
because it takes into account different factors in the company in order to identify patterns that
they use to solve problems, enhance productivity as well as profitability and satisfy the
expectations of the shareholders. In simple words, it can be said that the respective theory is a
macro analysis of a company. There are different kinds of organizational theories like classical
theory, modern theory, bureaucratic theory etc. If an organization decides to implement this
theory, it will gain various benefits from the same.
There are many benefits of applying the organizational theory which includes identifying
the different threats that can impact the overall productivity as well as performance of the
company. Organization chosen for this report is Thomas Cook, which is a travel agency based in
India founded in the year 1881. The company is headquartered in Mumbai and was founded by
Thomas Cook. The company offers a wide range of services that include foreign exchange,
leisure travel, corporate travel, insurance, visa and passport services etc. Other services offered
by Thomas Cook include packaged holidays that include hotels, flights, care hire and travel
insurance. The report evaluates the management style of the CEO along with the principle and
functions of management. It also analyses the steps taken with regard to the organizational
structure in order to achieve a high performance (Bratton and Gold, 2017). Apart from this, the
culture within the organization as well as its impact on the employees is also explained. The
leadership style of the CEO of Thomas Cook and the various types of motivation used at work
are also included in the report. Lastly, the effects of power, influence and conflict within the
chosen organization are also analyzed.

TASK A
Management style, the principle and functions of management used by the CEO of Thomas
Cook
Management comprises of various activities like planning, prioritizing, organizing the
efforts of employees in such a way that organizational goals and objectives are achieved. A
management style can be defined as a particular way that managers adopt in order to attain the
goals and objectives of the company (Bryson and et. al., 2017). There are different types of
management styles like autocratic, democratic, Laissez-faire and transactional. In order to guide
and direct the employees with the company, Peter Fankhauser, the CEO of Thomas Cook uses
democratic style of management. He always reaches a decision with the input and thoughts
shared by the employees. Also, he is committed to satisfying the needs of the customers in the
most efficient way.
There are many principles of management that the CEO of Thomas Cook can adopt in
order to ensure that all business operations are carried out in a smooth manner (Subramony and
et. al., 2018). The different principles of management include division of work, equality, unity of
direction which are explained below –
 Division of Work – According to this principle of management, if the work is
segregated among different members of the team, the overall efficiency, accuracy as
well as speed of the team will improve.
 Equality – All the employees within the company should be treated equally as well as
respectfully. The managers within the company are responsible for ensuring that the
employees do not face discrimination.
 Unity of Direction – Employees who are engaged in the same work should have a
common goal (Henri Fayol 14 Principles of Management, 2020). This will make it
easier to achieve the same.
There are four basic functions of management, namely planning, organizing, leading and
controlling. The same are explained below –

 Planning – In the planning stage, managers establish clear goals as well as a plan of
action to achieve them. The management of the company during this stage, makes
different strategic decisions to set a direction.
 Organizing – The primary purpose of organizing is to distribute the various resources
and allocate tasks among the employees in order to achieve organizational goals and
objectives.
 Leading – In this stage, the managers motivate and encourage their team members to
perform efficiently so as to achieve goals and objectives.
 Controlling – Controlling involves evaluation as well as execution of the plan and
making adjustments to the same if there is a need (What Are the 4 Basic Functions of
Management?, 2020). The adjustments can be made to the budget or the staff.
TASK B
Steps taken with regard to organization structure to achieve high performance, organization
culture at Thomas Cook and its impact on the employees
A structure that defines how certain activities within an organization are directed towards
achieving goals and objectives is referred to as organization structure (Burke, 2017). The
different activities can include allocation of tasks, supervision, coordination etc. It guides all the
employees within the company by outlining whom are they supposed to report to. This makes it
easier for the management to add new positions to the structure and thus provide a consistent
means of growth. Further the communicate across different departments improves due to which
overall efficiency of the company is enhanced. Absence of an effective organizational structure
can lead to creating confusion among the employees regarding whom they have to report to.
Different organizations have different organizational structures like flat, line, matrix etc. Thomas
Cook has a flat organizational structure, wherein the authority flows from the senior level to the
lower levels.
Organization culture on the other hand, comprises of the organization’s experiences,
expectations, values as well as behaviors that contribute to the overall environment of the
business. It decides the way in which employees within the company interact with each other.
The culture within an organization also significantly promotes healthy competition among
employees. Not only this, it also represents all the predefined policies that guide the employees

and provides a direction to the company on the whole. Respective company, Thomas Cook
values its employees, customers and their loyalty (Dalkir, 2017). There is a culture wherein the
employees trust each other which is further transferred to the customers in order to gain their
loyalty. Having a healthy and positive culture within the workplace helped the company to
achieve high performance. It also assists in making effective decisions and therefore, improve
the overall workflow.
The organizational culture at Thomas Cook has significantly impacted the overall
performance and productivity levels of employees. It attracts people who are interested in
working for the company or partner up with it for business. Also, it inspires the employees
within the company to put in more efforts and increase their overall productivity levels. As a
result, they are more focused and committed to their jobs. This has led to a decrease in the
overall staff turnover of the company with an increase in the overall performance and
productivity. Also, having a flat organizational structure has been beneficial for Thomas Cook.
TASK C
Leadership style of the CEO of Thomas Cook to enhance organizational effectiveness
A leadership style can be referred to as a method that is adopted by a leader within an
organization in order to guide the team members, motivate them and implement plans in order to
achieve organizational goals and objectives in an efficient manner (Garvey and et. al., 2017).
Leadership styles are important because they help in developing plans and improve the overall
performance of the employees as well as the company. The different types of leadership styles
are autocratic, democratic, affiliative, laissez-faire etc. The CEO of Thomas Cook, Peter
Fankhauser follows democratic style of leadership. It is also known as participative leadership
style wherein the leader encourages the team members to provide input and ideas during the
process of decision-making (The Democratic Style of Leadership, 2020).
Adopting this leadership style has helped in enhancing the overall organizational
effectiveness. Because the group members are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas in
order to get a creative solution to a problem. This creates a sense of belonging among them and
they feel more involved and committed to the projects. This has led to an overall increase in the
overall productivity as well as performance of the employees. Not only this, the leadership style
also encourages participation among the employees and also, they become comfortable in

working wit each other. Also, since all employees share their ideas and thoughts, the number of
creative ideas is also more. The relationship among the team members also enhances and they
are comfortable in working with each other (Guyadeen and Seasons, 2018). This leads an
increased job satisfaction and thus, the overall effectiveness of the organization also improves.
Also, the employees within the company are motivated and participate during the process of
decision-making.
Peter Fankhauser encourages his employees to share their ideas and help the company
achieve a creative solution to a particular problem. This encourages innovation and the
responsibility is distributed among all the team members. The CEO of the company also
empowers its manager who further motivate their team members (Hammer and Pivo, 2017). This
helps in increasing the overall efficiency of the business operations and making sure that they
run smoothly. Therefore, democratic leadership style is one of the most effective and commonly
used styles of leadership that the CEO of Thomas Cook adopted in order to enhance the overall
performance and effectiveness of the company. This style of leadership can be adopted by
anyone and any organization.
TASK D
Effects of power, influence and conflict at Thomas Cook
The overall performance of the employees and organizational structure are the most
affected through power as well as influence. This can further lead to creating an impact on the
business operations of the company. Managers as well as team members in Thomas Cook
possess the power to direct and guide their team members. This helps them in staying motivated
and committed to their jobs. Power in an organizational context, can be defined as the authority
or control that top management within the company possesses. This ensures that effective
decisions are made and the overall productivity as well as performance of the company is
increased. The major power and influence in Thomas Cook is possessed by the CEO. He is
responsible for making sure that the employees within the company perform in an effective
manner.
Power and influence also play a major role in a company as they guide, direct and make
sure that the employees are motivated to achieve goals and objectives. At Thomas Cook, highly
qualified and experienced managers are appointed who have a complete understanding of the

activities that are performed within the company (Khedker, Sanyal and Sathe, 2017). They
influence their subordinates to develop relevant and effective skills so that they can perform in a
much more enhanced way and help the company to achieve its goals. Leaders who have a high
influencing power will guide and direct their employees or team members to perform in an
effective way. Influence can play an important role and help in creating a positive and healthy
environment within the company. Conflict on the other hand, can not only affect the overall
performance but also productivity of the company in a negative way.
It has been found that organizations that regularly face conflicts among the employees,
have low productivity levels and are not able to perform effectively (Manning, 2017). There can
be various reasons for conflicts among the employees and they can affect the overall process of
decision making in the company. This can further disturb the implementation of strategies and
plans. It is necessary for Thomas Cook to adopt ways in which conflicts among the employees
can either be minimized or eliminated completely. Efforts should be made to create a healthy and
positive work environment for the employees. This is important and can help in increasing the
efficiency of the company. Failing to implement the same can create serious consequences for
the company.
TASK E
Various types of motivation used at Thomas Cook
Motivation in an organizational context can be defined as the willingness of the
employees to perform effectively and put in efforts so that organizational goals and objectives
can be achieved. If employees within an organization are self-motivated, they will put in efforts
to complete the tasks in the most efficient manner. This further leads to increasing the overall
efficiency as well as profitability of the firm. There are two types of motivation, intrinsic as well
as extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation includes taking part in a conduct since it is specifically
fulfilling; basically, playing out a movement for the good of its own as opposed to the longing
for some outer prize. Basically, the conduct itself is its own prize. Employees who are
intrinsically motivated to learn and improve themselves.
Extrinsic motivation on the other hand, happens when we are roused to play out a
conduct or participate in an action to procure a reward or keep away from punishment. For this
situation, you take part in conduct not on the grounds that you appreciate it or in light of the fact

that you think that it is effective, yet so as to receive something consequently or abstain from
something horrendous (Park, El Sawy and Fiss, 2017). It can help in motivating the employees
and encouraging them to perform efficiently. It is normally characterized as the inclination to
take part in exercises so as to increase some sort of known, outer prize. Note that these prizes can
be either substantial or mental in nature. Cash and trophies are two normal kinds of substantial
prizes. Individuals take part in exercises that they may regularly not find awfully pleasant or
compensating so as to procure a pay.
Employees at Thomas Cook are mostly intrinsically motivated, but the company adopts
various measures to motivate them extrinsically as well. The company awards the employees
who put in efforts and make sure that the tasks assigned to them is completed properly.
Recognition and incentives help in improving their confidence so that perform effectively
(Shuck, Adelson and Reio Jr, 2017). Apart from this, before allocation of the tasks, managers or
team leaders make sure that the individual is motivated enough to complete it effectively. Apart
from this, various opportunities are also provided to make sure that organizational goals and
objectives are achieved. This also contributes to the overall profitability of the company. As a
result, the employees are loyal to the company and do not look for opportunities outside the
company.
Corporate examples and Literature
Thomas Cook is a travel agency which is headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company
provides various services that include forex, foreign exchange, visa, corporate travel etc. There
are different management styles that managers as well as leaders can adopt like autocratic,
democratic, laissez-faire etc. For example, the CEO of Thomas Cook, Peter Fankhauser plans the
goals and objectives of the company properly, which is then followed by organizing, leading and
controlling. Having an effective organization structure makes sure that the employees are not
confused and are aware of whom they are supposed to report to. For example, Thomas Cook has
a flat organization structure, wherein there are no unnecessary management levels. This has
helped the company in enhancing its overall performance and making sure that business
operations run smoothly.
Different leadership styles can be adopted to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
The CEO of Thomas Cook has a democratic approach wherein he encourages his employees to

share their thoughts, ideas and provide input. This not only increases their overall levels of
motivation but also makes them feel involved when important decisions are being made (Spigel,
2017). It further leads to them performing efficiently and helping the organization to achieve its
goals and objectives. Also, power, conflict and influence can play a major role in the overall
success as well as failure of the company. Also, there are two types of motivation, intrinsic as
well as extrinsic. They can be used to enhance organizational effectiveness. For example,
Thomas Cook provides various opportunities, rewards and benefits to its employees to enhance
overall performance.
Recommendations
In order to improve the overall efficiency and increase its profitability, Thomas Cook is
recommended to shift its current flat organizational structure to matrix. This is because it will
create different line of authorities and thus, it will be easier and there will be a clarity among
employees as to whom they have to report. Apart from this, there are various principles and
functions of management which ensure that the overall profitability of the firm as well as its
productivity are improved. They can be implemented to make sure that all business operations as
well as other activities are carried out smoothly. Various communication strategies can also be
formulated to enhance overall communication between different departments. Apart from this,
the managers as well as leaders should provide honest feedback to the employees. This will help
them in identifying their strengths as well as weaknesses.In order to keep the employees engaged
in their work, the company should offer rewards and benefits to the employees.
Training and development sessions should be conducted so that they acquire new skills.
Also, it is recommended that the company communicates its expectations to the employees.
Conflicts should be avoided at all times because if the number of conflicts among the employees
will be more, they will not be able to focus on their work and thus, perform effectively. The
practice of peer reviews should be practiced so that the employees are aware of their strengths as
well as weaknesses (Stahl and et. al., 2017). Employees who are newly hired should be provided
orientation and training so that they get to understand the business activities properly. A training
program permits you to reinforce those abilities that every representative needs to improve. An
advancement program carries all workers to a more significant level so they all have comparative
aptitudes and information. This lessens any frail connections inside the organization who depend

vigorously on others to finish essential work undertakings. Therefore, this will improve the
overall effectiveness as well as efficiency of the company and it will gain a competitive
advantage.

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