Management and Organisational Behaviour
1.0. ABSTRACT
In this competitive world an organisation can only survive in business if it has a great leader and a team to deliver results. This assignment deals with an organisation ‘Misty Abacus Academy’ in India which works on franchising model. The organisation did really well in the initial years of the set up but now the team lacks the spirit of togetherness. This piece of work will look into what went wrong with them and how can they be brought together by restructuring their leadership and teamwork approaches.
2.0. OBJECTIVE
Application of theories of ‘Management and organisational behaviour’ to advise on ways of increasing the quality of leadership and improving teamwork success.
3.0. CASE STUDY
With establishment in 2005, Misty Abacus Academy Pvt.ltd started its operations in New Delhi. The organisation targets in imparting education to students of age group between 5-14years. They offer a special course of learning arithmetic by applying the formulas on a Chinese tool called ‘Abacus’.
The organisation works on franchising model. They look out for potential investors and help them in setting their own ‘Misty Abacus Academy’ centre. To start with, they provide academic training and marketing materials to their franchises. My family is one of the Misty Abacus franchisee, and doing quite good in operating it.
But recently the organisation has been facing a lot of problems at the head office. The attrition rate is high resulting in bad team work and productivity. This has led to the deterioration in relations with the franchises. All the franchises have been facing problems in operating their academy as the commitments are not fulfilled in time. The franchisee orders for new books and academic materials according to the demand at their end. But because of ever changing work force, the orders get misplaced and cause inconvenience.
The organisation is lacking in co-ordination and stream lining of workforce. The CEO is not actively involved with the team. The communication is not channelised. People are not self motivated and dedicated. Earlier the organisation used to have forward planning strategies but now the top level managers have become complacent. This might be because they have expanded their franchisee base very quickly and now their focus is only to generate royalties. No new business plans are being initialised; this has led to monotony in the organisation’s approach for business and people’s management.
4.0. SOLUTION TO THE CASE
The organisation Misty Abacus Academy Pvt. Ltd has a good network of franchises all over India. These franchises are their customers and they earn through them. The problem lies at the core of organisation structure, the managers are self-satisfied and do not endeavour innovation in the business. This results in bad control over the team, and decline in customer’s relations.
The only way the company can be brought back to the track is through amending their organisational structure by ways of inculcating leadership and team work characteristics.
5.0. LEADERSHIP THEORY
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John C Maxwell[1]
Leadership theory can be characterized into three areas: trait-based, situational, and a behavioural approach. These three categories are traditional approaches to understand leadership. The relationships between them are shown in Figure below.
Relationships for Leadership Theory (Richman, 2006)
5.1. Trait-based Approach
Trait theories are leadership perspectives that focus on individual leaders and attempt to determine the personal virtues that great leaders share. These are all traits that an individual can learn to employ with practice, over time. The character traits associated with leadership are identified as the following:
1. Enterprising Spirit: Enterprising spirit refers to a set of characteristics that are sign of high level of effort. It includes high command for achievement, constant striving for perfection, aspiration, energy, persistence, and initiative.
2. Loyalty: Leaders who demonstrate loyalty and honesty, and are willing to admit to mistakes, display key traits that followers look for in their leaders. A leader will also increase their influence when people trust and believe his or her loyalty.
3. Leadership Motivation: Great leaders not only have an enterprising spirit, but they also want to lead. They have a high desire for power, preferring to be in position of leadership rather than that of a follower.
4. Integrity: Integrity is measured by an individual’s actions and words. People who do not perform and do not execute what they promised are not considered good leader.
5. Self-confidence: Self-confidence allows a leader to overcome obstacles, make decisions despite uncertainty, and instil confidence in others.
6. Knowledge: Effective leaders have a high level of knowledge about their industries, companies, and technical matters. Leaders must have the intelligence to interpret vast quantities of information.
In addition to the traits mentioned above, there are other characteristics which have a significant influence on leadership, including being forward-looking, competent, inspiring, and intelligent.
4.2. Behavioural Approach
Behavioural theories of leadership do not focus on inborn traits or capabilities; rather, the focus is on what leaders actually do. Three general categories of leadership behaviours are mentioned frequently in the literature: behaviours related to task performance; behaviours related to group maintenance, and behaviours related to employee participation in decision-making.
1. Task Performance Behaviours: Task performance behaviours are the leader’s efforts to ensure that the teams or organisations reach their goals. Those behaviours include a focus on work efficiency, quality and accuracy, quantity of output, and adherence to regulations.
2. Group Maintenance Behaviours: These actions are taken to make certain the satisfaction of group members, develop and sustain harmonious working relationships, and preserve the social stability of the group, focusing on people’s feelings and comfort, appreciation, and stress reduction.
3. Participation in Decision-Making: This behaviour appears during the process of making decisions, in which leaders can be classified as autocratic and democratic. Autocratic leadership is a form of leadership in which the leader makes decisions on his or her own and then announces those decisions to the group; democratic leadership is a form of leadership in which the leader solicits input from subordinates. Studies of how the leader’s behaviour influences employee attitudes and performance have focused on autocratic versus democratic decision styles, or on performance- versus maintenance-oriented behaviours.
4.3. Situational Approaches to Leadership
Situational theories distinguish leaders from others through the situation at-hand. Leaders adjust their decision-making, orientation, and motivational approaches based upon a unique combination of factors in their individual situations. These factors include:
- Characteristics of followers
- Types of projects
- Organizational structures
- Personal preferences
- And upper-level management’s influences
- Leaders adjust their style of management in order to accommodate the different situations.
6.0. Relating the Leadership theory to the case
The top level managers at Misty Abacus pvt.ltd ought to have a perfect blend of trait, behavioural and situational approach of leadership. The top managers are the spearhead of any organisation’s success. They should feel motivated and convinced about the business they are doing. The negativity in the team should be cured by their good influence. Each team member should look up to their managers to learn from them and aspire to be an imminent manager.
The organisation is deficient in building trust among its employees so, ‘if you are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow to respect you'[2].
Managers at Misty Abacus pvt. ltd should exercise ‘leadership with an influence upon its employees and customers that they tend to act in concert towards achieving a goal which they might not have achieved so readily had they been left to their own devices'[3].
As the business for Misty Abacus ltd. is already up and running, they only need to tweak their organisational approach by applying ‘The Situational Leadership theory’ was coined by ‘Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard’. This approach determine the most effective style of influencing, considering the direction and support a leader gives, and the readiness of followers to perform particular task (Huczynski et al. , 2007, p.713).This leadership style encompasses four behaviour types as shown in figure below:
1. Telling: It involves one way communication where a leader defines key responsible areas of the subordinate. What, where, when and how to do things. As this involves relationship behaviour, the CEO of the company who has been inactive will have to work out this with the team.
2. Selling: This involves two way communications between the subordinate and the leader. This requires high amounts of both task behaviour and relationship behaviour.
3. Participating: This process involves lot of relationship behaviour and support, but little direction or task behaviour. If Misty achieves this stage with the team it will be easy for them to progress and the top managers can again look at future plans of organisation.
4. Delegating: Here the emphasis is more on groups or individuals which take the onus. The leader oversees the progress. There is low level of both task and relationship behaviours.
7.0. TEAMWORK THEORY
Teamwork is defined “as a cooperative process that allows ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results” by Scarnati (2001, p. 5). Harris & Harris (1996) elucidate teamwork as a common goal or purpose where team members can develop effective, mutual relationships to achieve group goals. Teamwork refers to individuals working together in a cooperative environment to achieve common team goals through sharing knowledge and skills.
Teams are vital part of many organisations and should be incorporated as part of the delivery of tertiary units. Successful teamwork relies upon synergism existing between all team members creating an environment where they are all willing to contribute and participate in order to promote and nurture a positive, effective team environment. Team members must be flexible enough to adapt themselves in cooperative working environment where targets are achieved through collective efforts and social interdependence rather than individualised, competitive goals (Luca & Tarricone,2001).
Various attributes required for successful teamwork. Many of these attributes have been identified below as:
� Commitment to team success and shared goals – Team members are dedicated to the success of the team and their shared goals for the project. Successful teams are motivated to succeed (Bradley & Frederic, 1997) get engaged and aim to achieve at the highest level.
� Interdependence – Team members build on the capabilities of their fellows – the combinations energised through synergy (Francis & Young, 1979).
Team members must create an atmosphere where individuals promote and encourage their fellow team members to achieve, contribute, and learn. A positive interdependent team environment brings out the best in each person enabling the team to achieve their goals at a far superior level (Johnson & Johnson, 1995, 1999).
� Interpersonal Skills – Members must be respectful and supportive of one another, and realistic in mutual expectations (Harris & Harris, 1996). This includes the ability to discuss issues freely with team members, being honest, trustworthy, supportive and show respect and commitment to the team and to its individuals. Fostering a caring work environment is important as it enables to work effectively with other team members.
� Open Communication and positive feedback – Ideal team should be highly diversified in their talents and knowledge, each member should contribute, while maintaining open and non-threatening communication (Bradley & Frederic, 1997). Active listening to the concerns and needs of team members and valuing their contribution and expressing it help to create an effective work environment. Team members should be willing to give and receive constructive criticism and provide authentic feedback.
� Appropriate team composition – Deciding upon what each member has to contribute to the work (Wageman, 1997). This is essential in the creation of a successful team. Team members need to be fully aware of their specific team role and understand what is expected of them in terms of their contribution to the team and the project.
� Commitment to team processes, leadership & accountability – Team members need to be accountable for their contribution to the team and the project. Leaders should perform post-project analyses to find out what worked and what didn’t (Johnson, Heimann & O’Neill, 2000) They need to be aware of team processes, best practice and new ideas. Effective leadership is essential for team success including shared decision-making and problem solving.
8.0. Relating the Teamwork theory to the case
A good team develops from good leaders. Leaders are like potters who shape the team the way they want. At the time of start up Misty Abacus ltd. had a good team, they were synchronised well with the system. This enabled them to expand their franchise base all over India in quick span of time. There business is already in a growth stage. They are making good money with the generation of royalties from their franchises. But now they lack a good team to handle such big empire of franchises. The franchises are facing difficulties as their demands are not being fulfilled by the company on time. This results in loss to both the company and the franchisee. The complaints of bad teamwork can be solved by inculcating following characteristics in the team and the management:
1. Define member’s responsibility: The leaders should use ‘Leadership style theory’ as stated above to define member’s responsibility. Members should be told about their significance within the team and how can they contribute their effort for organisation’s success.
2. Motivation and reward benefits: Misty abacus is facing problem with high attrition rate. People do not stay there for long. This can be sorted out by motivating the employees to go for an extra mile. They should be rewarded on time according to their performance. As a team a performing individual should be congratulated so that he/she should keep performing.
3. Provide proper channel of communication: Franchises have been facing problems in putting their demands across. This has happened due to ever changing of staff or shift in departments. A proper channel of communication is necessary for the organisation. This will enable them to gather feedback and will also stream line their structure.
4. Competent workforce: With their initial team they did well, may be because they hired right person for the right job. They should again look at what they did in past to be successful and should take wise decisions while hiring a hand.
5. Creating friendly workplace: It is very necessary to have a stress free work place. The employees should not feel burdened with the targets. Though they are important but they should be dealt collectively. This will enable closeness among team members; they will know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
9.0. CONCLUSION
Misty Abacus Pvt. Ltd has good potential to bounce back, provided they work on their leadership qualities and team building strategies. The organisation is already doing well in terms of finances. They have to be innovative in their approach to make maximum of their business model. They should keep interest of their franchises and their employees. The CEO should take a step down to develop a team of likeminded people. Formation of trust and conviction among team members is very important for Misty Abacus ltd to reach the stage of maturity.
10.0. REFERENCES
Bradley, J. H. & Frederic, J. H. (1997).The effect of personality type on team performance. Journal of Management Development, 16(5), p. 337-353
Francis, D & Young, D. (1979). Improving Work Groups. San Diego, California: University Associates.
Harris, K. G & Harris, P. R (1996).Managing effectively through teams. Team Performance Management: An International Journal,
Huczynski, A. & Buchanan, D. ( 2007). Organisational behaviour. 6th. Prentice Hall.
Johnson, D.W.& Johnson, R. T. (1995). Social Interdependence- Cooperative Learning in Education. In B.Bunker & J. Z.Rubin (Eds.), Conflict, Cooperation, and Justice (pp. 205-251). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
( 5th ed.) x Learning Together and Alone: Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning ( 5th ed.)
Johnson, P. R., Heimann, V. L., & O’Neill, K. (2000). The wolf pack: team dynamics for the 21st century. Journal of Workplace Learning: Employee Counselling Today, 12(4), 159-164.
Luca, J., & Tarricone, P. (2001). Does emotional intelligence affect successful teamwork? Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the ASCILITE, p. 367 – 376, Melbourne: University of Melbourne.
Richman, L.(2006) “Improving Your Project Management Skills” , p18-28
Scarnati, J. T. (2001). On becoming a team player. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 7(1/2), 5-10.
Wageman, R. (1997). Critical success factors for creating superb self-managing teams. Organsiational Dynamics, 26 (1), Summer, 49-62.
Web links:
Maxwell, J (2010) Quote. [online]. Available at http://thinkexist.com/quotations/leadership/ [accessed: March11’2010]
Bennis, W. ( 2008). Concepts of leadership. [online]. Available at http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html. [Accessed on 8 March 2010].
Portland.com (2009) [Online] Available at: http://local.portland.com/_Vancouver_WA-r1248148-Vancouver_WA.html [Accessed on 8 March 2010]
Netteam.biz (2008) [Online] Available at: http://www.netteam.biz/ [Accessed on 8March 2010]
[1] Quote taken from: http://thinkexist.com/quotations/leadership/ accessed: March11’2010
[2] Quote: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html accessed: March11’10
[3] From Norman F. Dixon ‘On the psychology of military incompetence, Pimlico (1994 pp214-15)