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The survival and success of the organizations in todays over competitive world is dependent on how they gain a competitive edge over the others. A number of factors either internal or external are becoming the causes of the up headed success or a downfall of an organization, these factors include the globalization, diversification, information and technology explosion, too many alternatives present for the customers and too much customer awareness. To deal successfully with all these factors and to convert the weaknesses of an organization into its strength and opportunities lies specifically with the leader of the team. He/she is the one who guides the whole team towards the goal accomplishment. He is the one who is responsible to direct them on the right path. The more the leader is competitive the more there are chances to win over. At times no specific individual is responsible rather there is a whole management team who ensures that the organization is performing effectively and efficiently. Both the leaders and the management team are the one who bring in transformation and positive changes in an organization. They are a source of energy and inspiration for the ones working under them, therefore their positive approach will have a positive impact on the others and vice versa.
Usually the terms “management” and “leadership” are considered to be one and the same but when it comes to their practices and impact on the organization, we can see that they differ a lot from each other. They may have completely dissimilar effect on the organizational structure and functioning. It has been seen that the managerial styles of both an effective leader and an effective management be at variance. They are not much affected by the hierarchal placement. The leaders are defined to have the ability to inspire others, they are persuasive, enthusiastic, possess extraordinary courage and have charismatic personality, nut it is not necessary that they have the ability to control also. Therefore, we can say that good leader may not be a good manager. Usually, the goals of the leaders and his/her followers are aligned. The transformational leaders seeking a change at times promise extrinsic rewards and assure that they can do better for both themselves and their organization. The difference between management and leadership depends, surprisingly, less on hierarchal placement and more on managerial style. It would seem apparent, though, that many individuals with strong leadership skills often find one self in positions of power. Leaders are by definition charismatic, inspirational people whose energy is of passion and not necessarily control. Such individuals lead using a transformational strategy in which followers are promised not only extrinsic rewards, but also the reward of bettering themselves and their organization. Leaders inspire followers, and in turn both the leader and the follower’s goals are aligned.
As compared to a transformational leader, manager may lead a group of people towards achieving their goal in a technical manner and by transactional means. Unlike leaders they have to keep in view the time and budget constraints thus being more realistic and practical. “Transactional leaders view management as a series of transactions in which they use their legitimate, reward, and coercive powers to give commands and exchange rewards for services rendered. Unlike transformational leadership, transactional leadership is dispassionate; it does not excite, transform, empower, or inspire people to focus on the interests of the group or organization (Thomas S. Bateman, 2009).” All this does not mean that the transactional form of management is non-effective in producing results.
The example of Sikorsky Aircraft is a good example to highlight the difference leaders and managers. It has a number of mangers responsible for different departments and functions but this not necessarily mean that all of them are good leaders.
In fact, “Effective managers are not necessarily true leaders. Many administrators, supervisors, and even top executives perform their responsibilities successfully without being great leaders. But these positions afford an opportunity for leadership. The ability to lead effectively, will set the excellent managers apart from the average ones (Thomas S. Bateman, 2009).”
No doubt both leaders and the managers are striving for the success of the organizations but they play different roles in doing so. Maintenance and sustenance of the organizational behavior is done by both of them. Both have their vital contribution towards creating a healthy, friendly and co-operative organizational culture which is one of the keys to the success of the organization.
The manager’s responsibility is to ‘get the work done by the people’; therefore, they are responsible to guide their sub-ordinates in the direction where the goals of the organization are achieved effectively and on the time. Usually, lower level or frontline managers provide supervisory leadership where they provide guidance to the employees and the routine operations and difficulties are tackled by them. They are lawfully responsible for these so at times they may become rigid and firm about the work. They are sort of directors who’ll control and monitor the whole situation and for this they need power and often the element of inspiration is missing. But again, it is important that without their employees’ support they’ll be unable to achieve their objectives, therefore they’ll have to make sure that the morale of the employees does not fall down. It could be said that managers at times have to act as sugar coated pills to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness.
For instance, a manager of the paint group in Sikorsky Aircraft is responsible to manage a team. In order to receive perfection, he is required to get the work done by his team in accordance to the procedures and technicalities. He has to set the time limit in order to meet the deadlines and also have to monitor that the resources are not at all wasted. Thus, it is the manager’s duty is to achieve the goals in a systematic manner and for this he can utilize his authority.
In contrast the organizational leaders are basically strategic leaders. They have to maintain their unique responsibilities on the basis of this strategic leadership. “Strategic leadership gives purpose and meaning to organizations. Strategic leadership involves anticipating and envisioning a viable future for the organization, and working with others to initiate changes that create such a future (Thomas S. Bateman, 2009).” Unlike managers their work is not to achieve the goal only successfully rather they provide a vision or set such enthusiastic goals for their employees which enhance the value and worth to the organization.
Mr. Jeffry Pino is the President and CEO of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Being a leader of such a big organization is not an easy task and for this he is familiar with the advanced processes that organizational leaders must face. It is his responsibility to get a competitive edge for his product in the market. He needs to be well aware of the changing trends and upcoming technologies which could be used to add value to his products. Hence all this will force him to place a challenge for his employees and bring in new advanced technology and processes. His ultimate goal is to provide a modernized and competitive vision for his organization then only he’ll be able to survive and succeed. Thus Mr. Pino utilizes his charismatic leadership skills at all hands meetings where he inspires and challenges his employees to perform their best.
From the above discussion this is clarified that the roles of managers and leaders may be different but they work together towards the accomplishment of their goals and to gain success for their organization. For this purpose, they need specific strategies and they usually brainstorm the ways to enhance the productivity and profits of the organization. It is essential that these strategies should be realistic, executable and measurable.
The major strategy is to implement and execute organizational controls. “Control is defined as any process that directs the activities of individuals toward the achievement of organizational goals. It is how effective managers make sure that activities are going as planned (Thomas S. Bateman, 2009).” Control over all the aspects of an organization is very essential in order to ensure that the desired goals can meet the actual goals. This control is basically creating a check and balance on different aspects of the organization. One of the controls is known as clan control where the employees are empowered to make their own decisions. A transformational leader may wish to implement clan control into a suitable area of the company. This control enhances the employees’ morale and through the delegation of responsibilities a favorable organizational culture can be achieved. Implementing clan control “does not mean giving up control. It means creating a strong culture of high standards and integrity so that employees will exercise effective control on their own (Thomas S. Bateman, 2009).”
To enhance and support the organizational culture another strategy is usually adopted which is very beneficial to the organization. This is the use of benchmarking which is a very effective business tool. The mangers with the help of benchmarking identify internal or external processes that are best and then take measures to adopt these processes for the betterment of the organization. “Most business processes are common throughout industries. For example; NASA has the same basic Human Resources requirements for hiring and developing employees as does American Express. British Telecom has the same Customer Satisfaction Survey process as Brooklyn Union Gas. These processes, albeit from different industries, are all common and can be benchmarked very effectively (Authenticity Consulting, LLC, 2010).” The use of benchmarking improves the processes which are vital for the healthy organist culture and behavior. This gives an overview of the processes of other organizations and the management along with the employees works together towards the success.
Benchmarking is considered as an important business tool, and often used to improve processes at Sikorsky. An example of this is when organizational leaders wished to improve the TAKT time of an airframe on an aircraft assembly line. Management chose to benchmark the use of equipment to lift and manipulate large fixtures within Sikorsky’s sister company, Pratt and Whitney. The results of their benchmarking allowed organizational leaders within Sikorsky’s assembly line to improve air frame cycle time significantly
Every organization needs to follow the four functions of management; planning, organizing, leading and controlling in order to create a healthy organizational culture. These are the fundamental principles that outline successful management. All the processes and functions based on these four principals are less likely to fail. The organizational leaders who wish to gain success and enhance their overall productivity run their business according to these the four functions. The management effectiveness and process health are two factors which are very crucial to organizational culture; therefore, the four functions should be applied by organizational leaders in order to establish healthy organizational culture.
Thus, the direction towards the goals and the motivation of the employees is based on the kind of leadership and management they have. It is impossible to meet the success without devotion, dedication and sincerity. It is the responsibility of the leaders to give a vision to his employees and overcome the obstacles to accomplish the goals. Leadership is an inborn capability whereas management can be learnt.
Authenticity Consulting, LLC. (2010). Overview of Benchmarking. Retrieved from Free Management Library: http://managementhelp.org/quality/bnchmrkg/bnchmrkg.htm
Sikorsky Aircraft. (2010). Sikorsky Aircraft Main Website. Retrieved from Sikorsky Aircraft Main Website: www.sikorskyaircraft.com
Thomas S. Bateman, S. A. (2009). Management: Leading & Collaborating in a Competitive World, Eighth Edition. McGraw-Hill, a business unit of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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