COMPARATIVE REPORT

NAME OF STUDENT:
NAME OF INSTITUTE:

1.

How would you define Janes leadership style? Citing relevant theory, discuss
whether this the right type of leader for this task.

In this case, the leadership style of Jane is the autocratic leadership style. It is because company
is centered on the boss and Jane is the only one who holds all the responsibilities and authorities.
Moreover, it can be understood by the case that Jane makes decision on her own and does not
consult the subordinates. According to the case study, Jane reaches to the decision,
communicates these decisions to the subordinates, and expects them to implement the decisions
promptly. In addition, as written in the case study She has a track record of forcing
improvement, and a reputation of being ruthless (even obsessive) about achieving the aims of
organizations, shows that the work environment of FamiliesInc. has little or no flexibility which
is the clear indication of the autocratic work environment.
The autocratic leadership style, which is followed by Jane, suggests that the procedures,
guidelines, leadership, policies, and all the other decisions of the company must be handled by
the upper authority only. Moreover, this style of leadership makes sure that the workers give
what they are expected by the leader. The leader does this by constantly keeping the eye on the
subordinates. In addition, autocratic style of leadership is good for the employees who are not
experienced and need to learn a lot; with the help of this style of leadership, they learn the work
easily (Saloner, G. and Rotemberg, J., 1993). Other than the learning, the autocratic style of
leadership helps the leader in controlling the environment of the company and in maintaining the
situation (Johnson, T. and Eagly, H.A., 1990). The best part about this leadership style is that it is
best for the workers who are demotivated and needs the pressure to work (Maccoby, M., 2000).

On the other hand, the autocratic style of leadership also has many problems and some of them
can be seen in FamiliesInc. This style of leadership plays the negative role for the workers who
are motivated and experienced (Hofstede, G., 1980). This problem is present in the company and
is also evident from the case study which says There are a series of management and leadership
problems at the agency. Some long-standing members of staff feel unhappy and unmotivated
because Jane (unlike the previous manager) is not listening to their problems. Moreover, the
autocratic leadership style also increases the burden on the workers and hence they feel
demotivated which is happening at FamiliesInc.
In FamiliesInc., the Director follows the autocratic stye of leadership in which she becomes
bossy and dominating. Because she does not ask any of the workers while making the decision,
they are not happy with her. The reason is that they are the owns who have to face the people and
the consequences of the decision in which they did not have a say. Also, because Jane only relies
on her own ideas, the decisions lack creativity that can be added by letting others to contribute in
the decision making process. In the end, the success gets limited.
2.

Taking one of the issues outlined above, explain the issue using two of the
management theories you have covered this year.

Researchers have been working on and trying to find the exact definition for leadership and they
are also trying to make absolute categories depending on the traits. However, they have not been
able to find one particular definition but the leadership can be defined as the behaviors adopted
by the manager or the leader to direct the subordinates and the followers to achieve the desired
goals (Tullai- McGuinness, S., Farag, A.A., and Riggs, J.S., 2011). Most of the people get
confused and use the terms Management and Leadership interchangeably. However, the

management is totally concerned with the Mangers of the company. The Leaders are being
followed by the people whereas; the Managers have the people who work for them (Denison, D.,
1996).
Similar to the leadership theories, there are many management theories that are used by the
managers of the companies. The main issue of FamiliesInc. is that the workers are not satisfied
and they think that are not valued by the company and Jane. Following are two of the
management theories that are used to explain the most important issue of the company:

Hersey - Blanchard`s Situational Leadership Theory:

According to the situational leadership theory, the leadership should be based on the situation of
the individual. It is because everyone is different and hence no single leadership style can be
considered as the best. Moreover, each type of task requires a different leadership style and a
good leader is the one who can change his leadership style according to the objectives and aims
of the task. The successful leader always makes considers different factors such as education
level of the employees, their experience, goal setting capabilities, responsibility taking abilities,
and other similar factors.
The theory has 2 pillars:
1. Leadership style
2. Maturity level of employees
Following are the four basic behaviors that cause the leadership style to change:
1.
2.
3.
4.

S 1 : Telling
S 2 : Selling
S 3 : Participating
S 4 : Delegating
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Moreover, following are the four different maturity levels of the employees that are told by
Hersey and Blanchard:
1.
2.
3.
4.

M 1 : Basic incompetence or unwillingness in doing the task

M 2 : Inability to do the task but willing to do so
M 3 : Competent to do the task but do not think they can
M 4 : The group is ready, willing, and able to do the task.

In the case of FamiliesInc. the Director, Jane, must follow the theory provided by Hersey and
Blanchard. She must change her managing style depending upon the situation and the type of
people she is working with. In this way, most of the problems, in the company, will be solved
and the workers will have fewer complaints. Moreover, the motivation level of the employees
will increase when they will be treated in their required way and this will improve the overall
efficiency of the business.

Blake Mouton Theory:

Blake and Mouton provided a managerial grid which has 4 different categories of management
style:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Country Club management: High on concern for people and low on concern for result
Team management: High on concern for people and high on concern for result
Impoverished management: Low on concern for people and low on concern for result
Produce or perish management: Low on concern for people and low on concern for result

So, Jane may adopt the team management style to remove all the factors that are creating
problems in the company. However, as discussed earlier, there is no best management style
because it may vary with the type of task and the people in the organization.
3.

Set out three things that Jane should do to address this issue, linking your solution to
management theories you have covered this year.
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As mentioned above, the biggest issue of FamiliesInc. is that the workers are not satisfied with
the Director and think that she does not value them. To solve this issue, Jane may go through the
following steps:

The Hersey Blanchard`s management Theory is one of the management theories which
states that the management style must vary with the type of workers and the task that is
assigned. So, Jane must try to adopt the Hersey Blanchard`s management Theory in the
company. After adopting this theory, she would have to listen to the problems of the
workers and discuss with them because this is what most of the workers, in FamiliesInc.
want. When the Director would do this, the workers are going to feel that they are
important and hence they would be motivated. Moreover, in this way, there would be
harmony between the Manager and the workers and this is what the company is lacking.

As a result, the productivity and the efficiency would be increased.

Secondly, the thing which does and it demotivates the workers is that she keeps all the
decision making power to herself. The worst part is that Jane does not involve any other
worker and does not discuss things with them. However, the workers are the one who
actually have to be on the front and deal with the people; hence, they must be asked
whenever the decisions are taken. To do this, the Director has to adopt the Blake
Mouton management theory which provided different management style, depending on
the situation. The team management category says that the manager must be high on the
concern for people which means that Jane would have to involve workers while taking
the decisions. In this way, the subordinated will also be involved and they will feel
motivated.

4.

Compare the situation above, or some elements of the situation, to an organization

you know. To what extent would your discussion in parts 1 to 3 help you to resolve
that situation?

The employee satisfaction is one of the biggest aspects of a company that must be maintained in
order to achieve the goals. If the workers are not motivated and satisfied, they are not going to
work according to what they have to and, in the end, it will be the company that will have to ear
all the losses and eventually it will not be able to get what it wants. FamiliesInc. is also dealing
with the same problem and this is the reason that their productivity have been decreased. When
the employee satisfaction of Samsung is checked, it can be seen that their employees are well
motivated. This can be observed from their productivity and the sales they are doing.
The satisfaction level of the workers is very high in another company because they conduct
different survey in different time spans. Moreover, this is reason that this organization has
achieved the 1st position in a number of competitions under the supervision of Korean
Productivity Center ( KPC ) for 8 years in a row. Moreover, the company has also gained 1st
position in Korean Customer Satisfaction Index ( KCSI ) by Korean Management Association
Consulting ( KMAC ) for 8 years in a row, and the 1st position in Korean Standard Service
Quality Index ( KS- SQI ) of Korean Standard Association ( KSA ) for 4 years consecutively in
2005. (Sheptycki, J. and Bowling, B., 2012). The surveys help the Managers of the company in
realizing the needs of the workers and they can also understand where they are lacking behind. In
this way, the company can overcome their weaknesses and give a better environment to their
workers.

As far as FamiliesInc. is concerned, the company does not have any policy of conducting the
surveys to assist the employee satisfaction level. This is one of the reasons that they employees
are dissatisfied and the Managers have no idea about it. Moreover, when Jane does not know that
her workers are not happy, who is she going to work on their motivation and satisfaction? So, the
Director must bring the policy of conducting surveys so that the motivation level can be
maintained. In addition, the questionnaires are going to tell the Director that where they are
lacking behind and what are the causes that are demotivating the employees. This is when Jane is
going to realize the workers are not happy with her behavior and she will then have to work on it.
Other than the surveys and the questionnaires, some of the other solutions of managing the
motivation level of the employees have been discussed earlier. These solutions involve the
employment of the Contingency theory, the Human Relation Management theory, and the Chaos
theory (Luthans, F., Morey, R., and Schonberger, R., 1976). These theories are going to deal with
the relationship of the Director and the other Managers with the works and will be making their
relationship better. Moreover, the Chaos and the Systems theories are going to eliminate the
factor of chaos to much extent after which the Managers will be able to listen to the employees.
In order to remove all the factors those are creating problems in the company, FamiliesInc. can
also look at the strategies and the tactics of the other competitors. In his way they will be able to
understand what the others are doing to overcome the issues. Moreover, the competitors of
FamiliesInc. will have the same issues, more or less, so it will be easier for Jane and the other
workers to come up with the best solution of the issues.
References

Saloner, G. and Rotemberg, J., 1993. Leadership styles. Management Science, 40 (21), pp. 13991418.

Johnson, T. and Eagly, H.A., 1990. Leadership styles and gender: An analysis. Psychological
bulletin, 109 (1), p. 133.

Maccoby, M., 2000. Human Side: Understanding the Difference between Leadership and
Management. Research- Technology Management, 32 (2), pp. 44- 60.

Hofstede, G., 1980. Motivation, leadership, and organization: Do the American theories are
applicable abroad? Organizational dynamics, 8 ( 2), pp. 32- 53.

Tullai- McGuinness, S., Farag, A.A., and Riggs, J.S., 2011. Work environment characteristics of
home health agencies. Western journal of nursing research, 23 (5), pp. 667- 775.

Denison, D., 1996. What is the difference between organizational climate and organizational
culture? Academy of management review, 20 (2), pp. 519- 664.

Sheptycki, J. and Bowling, B., 2012. Global policing. Sage.

Luthans, F., Morey, R., and Schonberger, R., 1976. Introduction to management: A contingency
approach. McGraw- Hill Companies.

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