Leadership

Leadership and Management can be seen as having many similarities. Sometimes it can be hard to differentiate between the two of them when you consider how close they are together. Leadership can be defined as “ a clear implication that leadership not part of the job but a quality that can be brought to a job… The work that leadership encompasses in the context clearly is not assigned but comes about spontaneously” – Belbin, R. M. Changing the way we work, Butterworth- Heinemann (1997) p.90. This differs from management which can be described as “getting things done through other people in order to achieve stated organisational objectives”. (Mullins 2010)

The Managerial/ Leadership Grid by Blake and Mouton is used as a means of evaluating different styles of management. Two principle dimensions are the key of the grid:

Concerns for production – This is the amount of emphasis the manager puts on accomplishing the tasks in hand, achieving a high level of success and getting the results or profits. This is the horizontal axis of the Grid.

Concern for people – This is the amount of emphasis the manager gives to staff and colleagues as individuals and to their needs and expectations. This is the vertical axis of the grid.

Working in Lloyds TSB in Cardiff for a few weeks allowed me the opportunity to work under a manager which I would place at (9,9) on the managerial/leadership grid. This is also known as “The Team Manager”, this person has a high concern for production and a high concern for people. They hold a great belief in creating a situation where people can satisfy their own needs by commitment to the objectives of the organisation.

“After campaigning on a platform of hope and change that inspired a nation, Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the U.S. and the first African American to hold the position. Shackled with the "inbox from hell," he has weathered both criticism and praise with grace and calm. In another historic moment, on Dec. 13, 2009, President Obama became only the third sitting U.S. President to receive the Nobel Peace Prize—this while managing two wars” - http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/12/1222_inspirational_leaders/11.htm

This articles summaries just some of the achievements that Barack Obama has which makes him a good leader. Not only can he take criticism but he also does good for people and leads America in a new way. Opening the eyes to people who never thought he could achieve the Presidency, Barack Obama has gone on to achieve many goals.

To conclude, leadership is about more than managing people and directing them. It's about giving them the support they need to grow and develop within themselves and the Business. Inspiration can be drawn from a leader and this can create a new and positive atmosphere.

Referencing :

Belbin, R. M. Changing the way we work, Butterworth- Heinemann (1997)

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/12/1222_inspirational_leaders/11.htm

L. J. Mullins Management & Organisational Behaviour (2010) 9th Edition.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://labspace.open.ac.uk/file.php/4047/T205_2_010i.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sucaminonatural.com/restol/blake-and-mouton-managerial-grid&usg=__qK4OeXcG6AGYqx0IxHi7yLUkZ1s=&h=458&w=574&sz=53&hl=en&start=6&zoom=1&tbnid=DQVk5yb3O5B1hM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=134&ei=2TuuTZ-kIpKW4gaY8t3GCw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dleadership%2Bgrid%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1G1SVEE_ENUK418%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D624%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.makebiofuel.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/barack-obama-speech.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.makebiofuel.co.uk/news/obama-calls-for-more-biofuels-investment-no-oil-subsidies&usg=__Kcoq80WoF6PElrduD2oe9EqvHjY=&h=375&w=560&sz=45&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=wCE3KH4oPDu0GM:&tbnh=143&tbnw=188&ei=OjmuTfj0DunR4waVmuX4Cg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbarack%2Bobama%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1G1SVEE_ENUK418%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D624%26tbm%3Disch0%2C21&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=329&vpy=351&dur=1318&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=130&ty=139&oei=HTmuTa-gGZ6H4gb2rpS5Cw&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0&biw=1366&bih=624

Performance Management

Performance management is about establishing a culture in which individuals and groups take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business process and their own skills, behaviours and contributions. It is about sharing expectations.

‘Performance Management: An overview: Factsheet’, CIPD February 2008

Attending Buckingham New University has given me a chance to receive information on my performance and how I can improve my work. Being on The Human Resources Management course involves writing a lot of essays, blogs and creating financial documents. In order to ensure I’m doing well within my work and improving after every piece of work I do, lectures ensure feedback as well as grades for the work every student does. The feedback gives both positive and negative feedback, going in depth about what a person excelled in and what could be improved on the piece with an overall grade along with it. Each lecturer I have are supportive and provide extra help for a student if they struggle with their work, there is also a support system in place at the university which acts as a drop in centre. This provides students with the opportunity to have their work checked before handing it in for a final deadline. Our personal tutors are there to ensure that the students can cope with the work load and we understand what our next steps our within our degree. It is important for the individuals attending the university to feel as though they have a mentor guiding them and can be available for help at any time.

An effective mentor will be able to change the life of the person they are helping. With the abilities to be a good listener and provide support, the mentor can pass on guidance and wisdom to the person without finding themselves in a difficult situation. The opportunites created from having a mentor can be huge. Bob Garvey recently held a project which proved that having a mentor can involve benefits that “included transferring new skills and knowledge, creating better networking opportunities as well as helping them improve their product and in some cases even going into business with their mentor”.

Being a good mentor comes with the ability to pass on life experiences and knowledge. This comes from being a completely different personality type to the person you are mentoring and having lived a longer time than them and have experienced different situations. This gives the mentor the ability to talk from experience which will benefit the person the mentor is helping.

Bob Garvey was also quoted stating that a mentor must “need to be empathetic and sensitive, encouraging a solution out of the person they are mentoring rather than telling them what to do.” Thus allowing them to be capable of “improving their ability to solve problems, to interact better with other people and to cope with challenges”.

During my time at 6^th form I felt I had a mentor in my Media Studies teacher. He was able to communicate with me on a friendship level as well as an authoritative level. He provided me when a lot of knowledge about his past and how I could use some of his advice and apply it to my own life academically and personally. Struggling with a hard year in my life was uplifted slightly knowing I had a person I was able to reply on for support and structure. His encouragement allowed me to go on with my education and finish my schooling year. I am thankful for the effort he put into mentoring me and I can honestly say it helped me. Mentors can be very useful in times of need and for building up new structure and learning a new 

approach to take at a problem.

Referencing :

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3778514.ece

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-GB&family=creative&p=mentor&assetType=image

L. J. Mullins Management & Organisation Behaviour (2010) 9th Edition

http://www.mentorset.org.uk/pages/mentoring.htm

‘Performance Management: An overview: Factsheet’, CIPD February 2008

Equality & Diversity

Equality and Diversity are used within a Business for several reasons. Kandola and Fullerton, 1998 described the reason for both. The reasons for Equal Opportunities are as follows:

• Removing discrimination
• Equal Opportunities seen as an issue for disadvantaged groups
• Equal Opportunities seen as an HR issue
• Equal Opportunities relies on positive action

The reasons for Diversity is described as :

• Differences can be strengths for the organisation as a whole.
• Focus on maximising individual employee potential
• Seen as relevant to all employees
• An issue that involves all managers
• Does not rely on positive action

The Age Legislation came into force in 2006. It is one of the most resent of the equality legislation acts to be put in place. Along with; the Equal Pay Act (1970), Sex Descrimination Act (1975), Race Relations Act (1976), Sexual Orientation (2003), Religion Or Belief Regulation (2003) and Disability Act (2004). These acts were put in place to minimise victimisation and harassment and to manage diversity within a company.

As an employer, the age legislation age no longer allows employers to employ staff based on their age.

The impact this will have on them will be huge. They will no longer be able to put in place a line of succession and some promotions may not be able to be given due to the positions being filled longer than expected. Staffs are no longer required to retire at a certain age and this may put strain on the manager if they are starting to find the employee not filling the potential of their role. New skills will also be harder to teach as the skills will be retained in the work place. No new information will be brought in if the older generation to not retire and stay on to work instead. This may also be a difficult process to handle in manual types of work. A person may not be as physically fit and able to do the work necessary in the job as they get older but the Age Legislation age prohibits an employer from dismissing an employee due to their age.

It was put in place to minimise stereotypical views being cast on young and old people. Some stereotypical comments can be seen from the photos below.

There are many reasons for focusing on diversity so recently, if we take a closer look and analyse we can see the key points:

·         Demographic changes within the work place

·         A wider customer base has opened up since new implements have been put in place to contact companies abroad and expand businesses.

·          A shortage of higher level skills has taken place and more jobs need to be filled in order to get the work done. 

·         There is an increased number of women and part time workers in the work fore

·         Changes in social attitude

·         Globalisation

One of the more innovative practises would be to hire more young people. On the ASDA website, they make it their aim to create awareness for the ‘Young Retails Programme’. The website quotes:

“We're creating thousands of new opportunities and investing heavily in helping young people get their feet on the career ladder. From school pupils getting work experience in years 10 and 11 to graduates joining us after University… from our new Retail Apprenticeship scheme to thousands of Seasonal roles… we're opening the way into our amazing world of retail, where careers can be built and ambitions can be fulfilled.”

Their target is to hire more young people are create more opportunities for them to be involved in.

To conclude, it can be seen that equality and diversity is vital within a workplace in order to make every situation fair for every employee.

Referencing :

http://www.asda.co.uk/

Kandola and Fullerton, 1998

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.phonesystem.co.uk/assets/uploads/asda-logo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.phonesystem.co.uk/isdn-lines&usg=__XbNPf8xCYXtyfC5EL3ma92pdQVY=&h=270&w=363&sz=12&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=SyesL8i67SPDkM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=182&ei=QgOuTb_eD56H4gb2rpS5Cw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dasda%2Blogo%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26rlz%3D1G1SVEE_ENUK418%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D624%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=129&vpy=117&dur=1497&hovh=194&hovw=260&tx=107&ty=85&oei=QgOuTb_eD56H4gb2rpS5Cw&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ResolvingWorkplaceDisputes/DiscriminationAtWork/DG_10026665

L.J. Mullins Management & Organisational Behaviour (2010) 9th Edition.

Recruitment

The recruitment process within a business can be a lengthy procedure to go through. If and when the business decide to hire a new individual for a role, the business must define the needs and wants of the role required before they can begin the search to recruit. The specifications need to be drawn up of what the role requires and then the process can start. Businesses need to attract people to the job, then screen the selected few chosen and then begin the selection process.

The website ‘www.prospects.ac.uk’ is a website aimed at graduates of university beginning their search for the perfect job. The website is split into sections ‘Careers Advice’, ‘Jobs And Work Experience’, ‘Postgraduate Study’, ‘Job Sectors’, ‘Student Life’ and ‘International Students’. From these sections arise sub-sections. These are put in place so that the individual can explore any area and find out more perhaps about what a certain role would entails, how to get the qualifications necessary for the job, and if qualifications are necessary, how and what qualifications would be necessary and how would the individual  achieve them.

The website was easily accessible and was simple to understand. The layout of the webpage was helpful and the sub sections held a lot of useful information. The website was linked to other potential websites depending on what area or direction the individual was looking at and seeking advice about.

The website was extremely handy for first time users and individuals unaware of the steps to take to further either their education or their place in the hierarchy within a business.

A recruitment campaign that has caught my attention is on the B&Q website. The company prides itself on have five main goals :

1. Customer first
2. Down To Earth
3. Respect For People
4. We Can Do It
5. Nobody does it better

·      The campaign’s main achievement is to enlighten people on how B&Q separate themselves to other companies and provide people with information on what jobs they have to offer. The website states that “Our diversity policy relates to gender, race, age and ability” and “we aim to reduce the impact that our products have on the environment”.

B&Q have prided themselves on some of their achievements such as:

•   Removed our retirement age more than 15 years ago
•   Introduced 'Voice of the Customer' web-based questionnaire to gather valuable  customer feedback
•  Only UK employer to receive Gallup Great Workplace Award for three years running
•  Listed in The Times 'Top 50 places where women want to work' for four consecutive years
•  Largest UK retail user of City & Guilds Qualifications
• Supported more than 10,000 community projects

Online recruitment seems to be the newest and easiest way of recruiting people. The advantages of this are;

• The opportunity to advertising to a range of different people
• Advertising to a vast amount of people all at once
• The internet is fast and emails send instantly therefore the process is quicker
• It saves a lot of money for the Business
• The Business won’t need to employ as many people to recruit

5.    However, although it may be a faster option there can be some draw backs to this new system too;

•               Unable to analyse the person face to face
•         Many more applications to sort through
•         The more applications, the more time consuming the process becomes
•         People lose out on job opportunities being in a recruitment agency
•         Lengthens the process

The recruitment process within a business is very important and any steps taken to improve the process will be seen as a positive thing.

Referencing:

https://kingfisher.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/corporate/content/careers/find_your_job/index.jsp

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bitc.org.uk/images/side_column/377_bandq_logo.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.bitc.org.uk/resources/case_studies/bq_environment.html&usg=__M8F-_1HidOKDpG98itMVjUVJRpE=&h=160&w=160&sz=26&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=YGj6Aiicixc44M:&tbnh=128&tbnw=128&ei=wv2tTe3gHYTw4Aav3ICxCw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Db%2526q%2Blogo%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rlz%3D1G1SVEE_ENUK418%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D624%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=164&vpy=160&dur=137&hovh=128&hovw=128&tx=119&ty=31&oei=wv2tTe3gHYTw4Aav3ICxCw&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

www.prospects.ac.uk

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-GB&family=creative&p=recruitment&assetType=image

L. J. Mullins Management & Organisational Behaviour (2010) 9^th Edition.

Reward

“A reward system consists of financial rewards and employee benefits, which together comprise total remuneration”

Martin et al, 2010

There are two types of reward systems Financial Rewards and Non-Financial Rewards. The differences between the two are simple. The Financial Rewards involve:

·         Basic pay rates

·         Bonuses

·         Incentives

·         Performance related pay

·         Overtime payments

These are also known as ‘Tangible’ or ‘Extrinsic’. The Non-Financial Rewards are based on:

·         Recognition

·         Career opportunities

·         Opportunity to develop skills

·         Work life balance

·         Flexible working time

These are known as ‘Intangible’, ‘Intrinsic’ or ‘Difficult to value’.

The brand ‘New Look’ is a high street shop aimed at girls and women all looking for the latest fashion. The shop aims to offer each person who works for them a large staff discount in order to thank them for the hard work they put in creating and selling the outfits the shop offers. They also offer competitive bonuses, incentives and a company pension scheme. Each person who works for the shop is offered the chance to train and develop themselves, this is to ‘Teach, enrich and stretch people to be the best they can be’. New Look state that they ‘At every level in the business, we value and encourage continual learning. From E-Learning to workshops and secondments, we’ve the resources in place to grow our own future managers and leaders’.

The New Look brand ensures that each employee is given the same rewards and incentives and they all have the same opportunity to better themselves within their careers. The brand differs itself from other brands and shops by giving their employees the chance to create their own working uniform created by the clothes in the shop. This gives the employee freedom to express themselves but still feel controlled by their manager.

The purpose of a reward system is to ensure several things such as :


·         To motivate employees to perform to their maximum
·         Comply with legal obligations
·         Strengthen the psychological contract
·         Support the corporate strategy
·         Recruit qualified employees
·         Retain capable employees
·         Maintain equity
·         Be sustainable within financial resources

There is a big debate as to whether the chief executives of large businesses should receive rewards in the form of a bonus if it comes to light that their companies have underperformed.

The Royal Bank Of Scotland banking group made a loss of more than £1bn last year It was revealed last month that Mr Hester Chief of RBS banking group was given an additional £4.5million potential shares on top of his £2m annual bonus and £1.2m salary for 2010.

Some people may believe that this is not right and that the people who get the company into debt and underperform within their business should not be rewarded for the things they do. They believe that the customer satisfaction levels of the Business were not met to the correct standards and therefore the people in charge should not be given praise for their poor skills in their jobs. However, on the other hand, there is an argument to suggest that people believe in being fair and allowing the people who misjudged their business to be rewarded for the work they did and hope for an improvement within the next financial year. Royal Bank Of Scotland Chairman said “We need talented and motivated people and we need to be able to pay them fairly”. It is my personal belief that the bonuses given to the people of the board who have achieved a huge bonus after under achieving within the Business is not acceptable. I feel like this is not a fair thing to happen and other processes should be under taken in order to reward the person but a bonus that large should not be given.

Referencing:

http://www.newlookcareers.co.uk/

www.newlook.com

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-GB&family=creative&assetType=image&p=money

http://www.channel4.com/news/barclays-boss-receives-6-5m-bonus

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13132635

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.globalcrisisnews.com/wp-content/uploads/royal-bank-of-scotland.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.globalcrisisnews.com/europe/royal-bank-of-scotland-to-cut-9000-jobs/id%3D775/&usg=__c--8tB46lYFvatyMLt3T_EhQdNY=&h=253&w=591&sz=22&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=5K2-Fik10TWjuM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=219&ei=pending&prev=/search%3Fq%3Droyal%2Bbank%2Bof%2Bscotland%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1G1SVEE_ENUK418%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D667%26tbm%3Disch0%2C13&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=337&vpy=144&dur=302&hovh=97&hovw=225&tx=176&ty=73&oei=F-6tTbGyF4Gw8gOvwrDzAQ&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&biw=1366&bih=667

Martin et al, 2010

L. J. Mullins. Management & Organisational Behaviour (2010) 9th Edition.

Teamworking

At any time in everyday life, people will have to work in teams and groups. These might be for formal reasons, informal, they may be temporary or permanent. Whatever the circumstance, it is vital for the group of work well together in order to achieve the set goal.

The aim of the team is to support one another and help achieve the desired target. This is done by helping one another and doing individual roles as well as group roles in order to achieve what is necessary. The group will share a common sense of purpose which will provide the individual with a feeling of stability, protection, security and a sense of self satisfaction.

I recall a time when I had to work in a team at ‘Hilston Park’, an activity centre based in South Wales. As it was a school trip we were divided into groups with our friends who were of the same age and set about our tasks. 

Looking back on the experience, I can see exactly how Beblin’s Team Roles 1993 took form within the group. Each team member fitting into a certain role and the team worked together to challenge the obstacles and cross difficult paths until the end was reached.

There were five of us within the team and the roles that took shape were; A Co-Ordinator (chairperson), a shaper, two team workers and a plant.

I feel looking back that this was a fantastic mix as the team workers were given direction by the chair person (the leader) and the plant was producing a lot of great ideas. Although the plant did not get involved as much as the team workers, the plant produced most of the main ideas as how to best avoid and complete the difficult tasks.

From this experience, I can also see how Gersicks  Model  For Temporary Group With Deadlines took place. We began with lots of time, delaying decision making and sitting our aims and plans. Then as the realisation kicked in that we were losing time, we built up momentum and focused on problem solving. However once we knew how to solve the problem there was another period of inertia before actually starting the task. Although we achieved the targets set for us, this could have been something we improved on.

We also witnessed the study of Tuckman’s theory of ‘The Stages of Team Development’. In his analysis we can view the key stages of team development.

The stages ‘Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning’ are the typical steps through which the individual and the team will progress.

During the first stage of ‘Forming’, we see the individuals as being polite and quite impersonal with one another. However, as we progress through the stages onto ‘Norming and Storming’, we see some team members begin to control the situation, confront people and difficult situations, lay down the rules and start to tackle the issues and assessments that need to take place. Throughout the ‘performing’ stage, the team members form a group identity and custom a bond and closeness with one another.

Reflecting on the team assignment for People And Organisations, I see that the group had tolerance for each other and felt a sense of supportive nature for one another. This is why during the ‘Adjourning’ stage; the team members may feel a certain amount of anxiety about leaving the group and dislike no longer feeling part of a supportive team. As a group we worked well together and achieved the desire goals.

From this I think the group learnt vital things such as :

• How to increase motivation
•    Increase Work satisfaction
• Increased quality output

·  

When working in a company, sometimes team work and motivation for team work can be lost however this does not happen at ‘P3’. After analysing ‘The Times Top 100 Companies To Work For’ list, it can be seen that the best company to work for is the social inclusion charity.

The Chief Executive of the company said "People who come to work for us do not want to make a million pounds or be the next X Factor winner but to do something to make a difference." 

The company provide activities such as, “Team-building days, training and access to bosses at all levels means employees don't lack the support they need from managers”. They feel as though the departments do work well together and that the people feel like they could make a difference.

When surveying the company the eight factors are they look out for is:

·         Leadership: analysis how staff feel about the people in charge.

·         Wellbeing: stress levels, pressure, how circumstances are reflected upon.

·         “My Manager”: How the staff feel towards their boss or manager.

·         “My Team”: Analysis on the team the individual is working with.

·         Fair Deal: Analysis on pay and benefits.

·         Giving Something Back: How does the company help the local community.

·         My Company: How the individual feels about the company.

·         Personal Growth: A reflection on the individuals job, whether they feel challenged etc.

The second company which is rated 3^rd best to work for is “Beaver brooks”. The aim of the company is simple, to make the staff feel motivated in their job and “inspired” to work at the company. 90% of staff claim to be “inspired” by their managing director. And the company gives 20% of the profit it makes to charity. The staff are also allocated two days leave absence to do charity work. This makes the staff feel as though they are giving something back to the community and feel as though they are working for a company that has good policies and are determined and motived to help others.

Team work has been a vital part in both of these companies success and more businesses should model their structure on the way these two companies shape their success.

Referencing:

Schein, 1988

The Stages Of Team Development  - Tuckman 1973

Model  For Temporary Group With Deadlines - Gersick, 1988

Team Roles- Belbin (1993)

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/

Laurie J. Mullins – Management & Organisational Behaviour

Conflict

Conflict can arise when an individual that is part of a party, feels as though a particular interest or concern has not been compromised and frustration occurs. It will become apparent if one or more member or the party identifies that the conflict exists.

During my time at secondary school, I was fortunate enough to be able to join a drama society. Throughout the time I spent in the club, I was part of the cast of several shows and performances, including Les Miserables.

The performance caused many areas of conflicts including differences in perception, role conflict, individual conflict and environmental change.

Unfortunately for the members involved in the club, the teacher who was involved had fallen ill and very rarely was another teacher able to step in and fulfil the authoritative figure. This meant that the elder students involved in year 13 of sixth form took it upon themselves to fill in and take the weight of the performance on their shoulders. This causes a lot of role conflict within the group as no one really understood who was in charge or which member of the year 13 team had what specific roles.

This is where the difference in perception played its part in the tale. As no one knew exactly who had been told to do what, several people ended up doing the right thing and several people ended up doing the wrong thing and everyone thought they were doing the right thing.

Due to the fact that no authoritative figure were able to organise a set time and available free space in which all members of the team could meet up in order to practise, several compromises needed to be made. This ended in the elder student’s organising several smaller places in which groups could rehearse in. The year 13 team took it upon themselves to divide the cast up into sections and select a team leader for each group, they would then be divided up sections of the script to learn and rehearse and at the end of each session all groups would come together and put all the work together as one. The individual conflict clashes of personality were quite obvious when looking at the different leadership styles of the year 13 team. Trying to work out who should take on which role no doubt caused some conflict and exasperation from some members but on the whole the team successfully worked out how to conquer the mission of filling in for our ill teacher.

Sources of Power are described as how a leader gains his or her power. There are five different types of sources; ‘Expert’, ‘Positional’, ‘Reward’, ‘Coercive’ and ‘Personal’.

‘Expert Power’ is when a person with great experience at a particular job shows a less experienced person how the job should be done. An example of this is a plumber showing his apprentice exactly how each task is performed and showing him tips and tricks he has picked up along the way.

‘Positional Power’ comes to an individual when they have held a position of authority. This could be seen when looking at a Managing Director of a company. His power has come to him through years of holding the title. 

‘Rewarding Power’ is looked at as when an individual in charge is able to award or take away employee’s bonus or incentive perks. The person in charge can influence the follower’s decisions and behaviour by using his/her power of awarding or taking away certain perks. Any boss or employer is in the authority to do so within their business.

‘Coercive Power’ is mainly dominant when the individual in charge creates and manifests perception of a threat. This then leads to the employees feeling on edge waiting for disciplinary action to follow. This may be seen in a business if the threat of role conflict is involved.

Finally, ‘Personal Power’ is seen in managers when they rely on the good willing nature of people to do tasks for them. Simple manners may determine whether a task is done and completed or left incomplete. This could be seen in the restaurant business and when extra tasks need to be done around the restaurant in order to keep the flow of the company going.

Morgan (1996) also suggested several other further sources of power. These included things such as;

• Control of budgets
• Control of rewards
• Persuasion
• Rules and procedures
• Physical presence or threat
• Charisma

These factors need to be thought about for future development within businesses.

To conclude, it is clear the steps that need to be taken in order to minimise conflict within the Business environment. In order to minimise and hopefully overcome conflict within the workplace, strategies must be undertaken in order to do so. For instance, the people in power should ensure that equal pay and opportunities are available for their staff.

Also, the management team must ensure that good communications are held throughout the organisation. This will lead to good consultations and ensure plenty participation in decision making throughout the company.

The organisation of the staff must  as well be followed by ensuring that each individual knows exactly what their goals and objectives are and to clarify what is expected of them and their role within the business. This will lead to a clear and direct vision of what each individual has to offer the business. The chance for employees to air their problems and feel relaxed at the knowledge that there is a grievance policy and procedure in place for them to act is vital. This will hopefully overcome the problem of the individual feeling isolated and unable to talk about any problems that they may have. And finally, the managers should be clear in stating the rules and disciplinary procedure that should be in place which all staff should be made aware of. When all these issues are solved and put in place, the conflict will hopefully be resolved.

Referencing:

L. J Mullins. Management & Organisational Behaviour (2010) 9th Edition.


http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-GB&family=creative&assetType=image&p=conflict#3

http://www.simonstapleton.com/wordpress/2007/12/17/the-five-sources-of-a-leader%E2%80%99s-power-and-how-and-how-not-to-use-them/

Morgan (1996)


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