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Running Head: Management and Leadership Management and Leadership (Authors Name) (Institution Name) Introduction to Management and Leadership We shall begin this essay by first differentiating in brief between Managements and leaderships, which can be summarized as follows: Management: Management is the direction and controlling of a group of people through coordination and harmonization for the accomplishment of a goal or goals that are beyond individualized efforts. To achieve this act, managements encompass deployment and manipulation of human, finance, technology and natural resources. The act of management can also be effectively referred to the individual or group of individual who are involved with management work. Leadership: Leadership is the art of influencing individuals through the provision of purpose, direction and motivation for the purpose of improvement and mission accomplishment within organizations. In an institution like the army, the role of leadership defined as the means for getting people to do what is required through methods that achieve the two purposes of operations and improvement. We can therefore deduce the influencing is not just a matter of passing orders but more importantly, it is the setting up of examples with every action taken and word spoken while on duty or off duty.
Importantly it has to be noted that way in which leadership qualities are communicated can set the prevalent positive or negative precedents of any organization. In this essay we shall consider the example of Wal-Mart as a case study to see how in this organization the roles of management and leadership play out in their normal business operation and what parts are played specifically for its success. An observation to be made here that leadership members can also be inclusive of CEOs, Chairman, Directors and other high position holding personnel placed at positions of importance. All the leaders are therefore responsible for the direct outcome of the organizations in terms of the profits and benefit achievements that are achieved. Background to Management and Leadership In an organization like Wal-Mart, the leadership facet of management is one of the many assets that a successful manager must have to maximize the output of organizations through administrative measures such as organizing, planning directing, controlling and having the correct and appropriate number of staff. Therefore, a manager can not simply be a leader if he does not have the formal authority to be effective for qualitative initiatives without the support of the senior management to play the part of an impacting role model.
There are also instances where leaderships are not required when for example motivated groups and individuals many find the roles of leaders as a dominating factor. This fact proves that leaderships may not be essential at times and therefore can be considered just as an asset within organizations. Differences between Management and Leadership The difference between the Wal-Mart managements and leaderships is that; managements rule and they must be obeyed while leaderships tend to make individuals naturally follow by their personal choice. A manager may have earned his authoritative position through the time and proven loyalty given to a company and not the result of his or her leadership qualities while a leader ma not have organizational skills but his visions unite the individuals who are around and behind him. Mangers on their part think incrementally and do things the right way according to the laid down rules and regulations, while leaders tend to think radically and do the right things as perceived by them and are governed more by emotion than intelligence. Leaders therefore stand out as being different as they question assumptions are suspect tradition while seeking out the truth and basing their decisions on facts and not prejudice and are more innovative by nature.
Leader let vision, goals, strategies and values be their guidelines for their action and behavioral patterns in preference to controlling others and make their points by highlighting the team successes with charts, graphs and presentation with appealing fun ideas. Leaders also have the qualities of being observant and sensitive and realize their team strengths and weaknesses better based on which they develop mutual confidence within the groups they are in. Here we will consider the example of Wal-Mart and observe how the roles of management and leadership affect the normal operations of their business and the parts they play for achieving success as per the following details: (Leadership) Functions of Managers in Wal-Mart Due to the general policy of Wal-Mart in not selecting managers directly as managers, the leaders and older employees have plans, ideas and thoughts that are helpful for its further growth. Therefore to become managers, employees have to devote and struggle for long periods of their lives so that they gain experience at different levels of the organization and this factor helps them in the process of correct decision making.
Wal-Mart managers have the responsibility of making short term and time to time decisions which do not reflect the organizational view point yet play a vital role in the profitability ratios through the managing of the stores by the as the need may require, placement of shelves, products and with the experience and required levels of professionalism of dealing with co-employees and customers. Managers at Wal-Mart therefore also play leadership roles in their dealings with subordinates and co-ordinate by making them aware of new strategies, policies, offers and incentives with which they grew to further motivate them in a natural way. Many of the current managers of Wal-Mart appreciate the roles that their predecessors had played in grooming them into becoming not only good managers but also good leaders with skillful, willing, and success-oriented qualities. Functions of Managers in Wal-Mart Wal-Mart management operates through a number of functions classified in general as the planning, organizational, leading, motivation and control mechanism factors, which can be described as follows: Planning: The planning stage is where decisions are taken with regard to the requirements of the future and as the managers of Wal-Mart have experience in their particular field, their devotion towards their service with visionary leadership always helps them to plan better for present, the coming weeks, coming months, coming years and as far ahead as the next coming five year period.
Organizing: Managers make the optimum usage of the resources required to enable them to implement the successful carrying out of plans so that customers are attracted through new and innovative incentives, lower prices, and discounts etc. through effect advertisement and publicity campaigns through practical logical and theoretical approaches. Leading/Motivating: Wal-Mart managers exhibit their skills in these areas for getting others to participate in an effective manner in achieving goals as per the target end results of their plans for which they motivation their sub ordinates as per the policies of Wal-Mart that emphasizes on teamwork and to make employees feel as a part of Wal-Mart. This approach makes the employees of Wal-Mart think of the organization goal as personalized and their own and thereby result in the further growth and success of Wal-Mart. Controlling: The monitoring role played by Managers in the evaluation process to check progress against plans is based on regular feedback and modifications if required are put in place or new strategies are planned to motivate and at all times keep people aware about the existing vibrancy in the practically working system of Wal-Mart with reset target goals. Leaders in Wal-Mart The leaders of Wal-Mart are constantly seeking newer and better ways of working so that they can help their company grow and become more reliable and responsible.
Their efforts continue to improve and fulfill the expectations of the Wal-Marts stake-holders and also provide qualitative services their customers. Wal-Mart leaders have been able to maintain an environment that is success-oriented and adapt to changes whenever required with ease and are always on the lookout to target new markets where they can further expand their vast network of Wal-Mart stores. The combined efforts of leaders and employees of Wal-Mart have raised the levels of profits and in respect of the motivations exhibited by employees, promotions are encouraged where for examples individuals who began their careers as cashiers or in other low paying positions get rewarded with position such as store managers, market managers, compliance managers and market fashion managers. The leaders of Wal-Mart consider the needs of their employees and offer good incentives for the continual future goals so that the growth and the objectives of this organization are achieved. Employees are encouraged and motivated to continue their services with Wal-Mart through the above type of facilities and benefits which is why a number of their employees have remained in Wal-Marts service for periods that range between 16 and 20 years. Functions of Leaders in Wal-Mart The excellent qualities exhibited by the leaders of Wal-Mart to enable them to plan out their ideas, to communicate and in an organized manner implement the with other team members, inclusive of stakeholders, retailers, outlets, promotion campaigns and employees who work with them and serve them.
The passion of Wal-Mart to combine technology in their business has helped to provide customer satisfaction with the adjustment of every day fluctuations in the prices of essential goods. Wal-Mart leaders hold regular short meetings instead of big ones with bigger intervals so that immediate focus is made concentrated on the available opportunities and to remove weakness if any in the 24 hours. 7 days a week services, which also includes a great online shopping business. Wal-Mart Culture: The corporate culture of Wal-Mart is the biggest contributing factor that helps to identify Wal-Mart as one of the world's most admired companies. When Sam Walton founded the company, he instilled in his people and his business the system of belief that is still very much evident and in place even today. These beliefs state with clarity that, we respect our customers, associates and suppliers and strive to treat them as we ourselves want to be treated and in building and nurturing these relationships, as well as serving the communities where we live, we " ve helped build a better business - one committed to excellence. The management and leadership of Wal-Mart have been wise enough to follow the culture principles of Sam Walton which provides them with purpose, direction and motivation that are necessary even more in our present competitive and challenging business environment.
Customer as well as employee satisfactory is of paramount importance at Wal-Mart, where managers play their parts by taking timely decisions and where they are also the sources who provide leaderships and suggest newer and innovative ideas and thoughts that sets up the long term vision for the better future of Wal-Mart. (Wal-Mart Culture) Recommendation of Strategies to Wal-Mart At the management and leadership levels there are the following three generalized styles through which direction is given, plans are implemented and employees are motivated: Authoritarian or autocratic Participative or democratic Delegative or Free Reign Authoritarian (Autocratic): In this style is the leader can tell the employees what has to be done and how it should be done without referring to the rule books or higher echelons of hierarch. Some appropriate conditions for the use of this style may be the leaders have all the information to solve the problem and due to the shortage of time this method may provide motivation to the employees. Participative (Democratic): This style involves the leader together with one or more employees jointly determine how a work process should be implemented. However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority and the responsibility in such matter. The using of this particular style can not be considered as a sign of weakness on the part of the leader, but rather as a sign of strength that employees respect. Delegative (Free Reign): In this style the employees are allowed by the leader to make decisions, however, the overall responsibility of that decision still remains of the leader.
This method is utilized when employees are capable of analyzing situations and determining the course of remedial action. However, in this method priorities and limits of delegated powers have to be within acceptably allowable limits. The factors that influence the styles that can be used depend and include the following realities: How much time is available. Are relationships based on respect and trust or on disrespect? Who has the information - you, your employees, or both?
How well your employees are trained and how well you know the task. Internal conflicts. Stress levels. Type of task. Is it structured, unstructured, complicated, or simple?
Laws or established procedures such as OSHA or training plans. Good leaders adapt and use all the above styles and their decisions would depend upon the followers, leaders, situation and other such factors. At Wal-Mart however, most of the people who have risen to senior and managerial positions appreciate their predecessors for using the authoritarian style while the were learning their job skills, we therefore can deduce that if a leader is competent and if an employee is new and motivated to learn a new skill, the authoritarian style works best. But if employees already know their jobs, then a participative style is best because he would want the employee to become a part of the team. The use of the delegative style is best when an employee knows more about the job than the leader, therefore the onus of the responsibility can be passed easily to such employees with consideration to the situations that might be called for. (Leadership Styles) The Suggestions The suggestion to Wal-Mart managers would therefore be to adapt and use all of the three different styles in the execution of their duties, which would enable them to save time, get to learn even from sub-ordinates who anyway would be the leaders of the future. Interactions whenever done in a participative manner are always useful and the exchange of knowledge and for the correct motivation and morale-boosting of all participants.
While the trend of rewarding positive employees with promotions is a very good one, perhaps a generalized way of appreciating long-serving employees should be made perhaps by methods such as providing health care coverage, paid holidays with travel tickets and perks, education expenses for their children and other similar benefits for motivation of all the employees of Wal-Mart, because realistically speaking only a small percentage of them must be rising to senior managerial positions, while the rest can be considered senior within the organization but would probably still not have risen in Wal-Mart hierarchy as some of their counterparts. This change would with great effect deflate the de-motivation factor is existent in old Wal-Mart employees. Conclusion The difference between management and leadership can be deduced when we consider one without the other. If we have leadership without management than a vision sets in without consideration as to what the new direction will achieve. People who eventually are left in such organizations have to work harder to make sense of the trail that is left behind and having to put together the strewn pieces together to make thing work. A good example of this is available in the mythological film that has created a sensation in our present decade, The Lord of the Rings, where at the council of Elrond, Frodo Baggins rescues the council from conflict and takes on the responsibility of the quest for destroying the ring while the management of this task comes to his group from others.
While management without leadership controls all the resources required to maintain the status quo and to ensure that things happen as per established plans, and here we can take the example of the referee who manages a game but does not provide leadership. The referees part is therefore of controlling the resources only to make sure that the rules of the game are followed and that status quo remains in order. On the other hand, leadership combined with management sets a new direction and manages the resources to achieve goals. We can take the example of a newly elected Prime Minister or President who sets sup new directions for a group that manages and controls according to laid down principles. However, we shall conclude this essay with the hope that the legacy of Sam Walton shall continue through his laid down aggressive vision with the same courage and commitment to change and adapt to the changing environmental, product sourcing, healthcare benefits, and diversity by serving the best interests of the very communities that helped Wal-Mart to become what it is today. (Difference between Leadership and management & 21 st Century Leadership) References: 21 st Century Leadership (Accessed: April 22, 2007) web Difference between Leadership and management (Accessed: April 22, 2007) web Leadership Styles (Accessed: April 22, 2007) web Walmart culture (Accessed: April 22, 2007) web
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Research essay sample on Management And Leadership Wal Mart
