QUESTION

Brighton School of Business and Management Limited Brighton

Assignment Session: 2011- 2012
Edexcel BTEC Level 7 Extended Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership
Unit 2 Assignment: Developing Strategic Management and Leadership

Assignment Introduction

This assignment will provide you with an understanding of the links between strategic
management, leadership and organisational direction. It will also develop your skills to apply
this understanding.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this assignment you will:
1 Understand the relationship between strategic management and leadership
2 Be able to apply management and leadership theory to support organisational direction
3 Be able to assess leadership requirements
4 Be able to plan the development of leadership skills

Assignment

Focusing on a work role, previous work experience or a voluntary work position, using
examples from your own workplace experiences where possible, and drawing on your
studies of this subject, please answer ALL four sections below and please complete the
reflective statement.

Deadline for Submission: Please see your time table

Please answer ALL four sections:

Section 1
Word Length: Approx. 375 words
Demonstrate your understanding of the relationship between strategic management
and leadership
You will need to:

 explain the link between strategic management and leadership
 analyse the impact of management and leadership styles on strategic decisions
 evaluate how leadership styles can be adapted to different situations
Brighton School of Business and Management Limited
Brighton School of Business and Management Limited Brighton

Section 2
Word Length: Approx. 375 words
Explain how you would apply management and leadership theory to support
organisational direction
You will need to:
 review the impact that selected theories of management and leadership have on
organisational strategy
 create a leadership strategy that supports organisational direction

Section 3
Word Length: Approx. 375 words
Demonstrate how you would assess leadership requirements
You will need to:
 explain how you would use appropriate methods to review current leadership
requirements
 explain how you would plan for the development of future situations requiring
leadership

Section 4
Word Length: Approx. 375 words
Demonstrate how you would plan the development of leadership skills
You will need to:
 demonstrate how you would plan the development of leadership skills for a specific
requirement
 report on the usefulness of methods used to plan the development of leadership
skills

Reflective Learning Statement

Explain how the main themes of this unit have impacted (or could in the future) on your work
role – you should include an analysis of your strengths and weaknesses relating to this unit
both at the start and end of the unit.
Word Length: 100 words

Brighton School of Business and Management Limited
Brighton School of Business and Management Limited Brighton

Guidance on Grade Awarded

The final Unit grade assessment is based on how well you have met the Assignment Criteria
/ Task Requirements: we look primarily for evidence that you have followed the Assignment
“instructions” and have responded to the Assignment in a way that meets the specific
outcomes / requirements / criteria as described in the Assignment Brief

We also look at the depth and breadth of your work: where we look for evidence of
supplementary reading and research, appropriate examples, some “original” thought, a
professional standard of layout, structure, and overall presentation in order to come to a
decision about the actual grade.

Below is an overview of the guidelines that our Assessors work to:

Pass

All identified criteria in the assignment are met

Merit

Satisfied the identified Assignment criteria, plus the content confirms that the student has:

Shown evidence of a sound understanding of the subject matter;

Given a broad and detailed response to the assignment tasks and criteria;

Shown evidence of careful analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information and data;

Used complex arguments/lines of thinking;

Shown the ability to make judgements based on the research and the response discussion
points;

Described how appropriate techniques and-or tools should be selected and used;

Applied an appropriate structure and layout to their response;

Selected and used relevant graphics to illustrate key points;

Presented all documents to a professional standard that would be accepted at middle
management level.

Brighton School of Business and Management Limited
Brighton School of Business and Management Limited Brighton

Distinction

Satisfied the identified Assignment criteria, plus the content confirms that the student has:

Demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge base and understanding of the subject matter;

Shown originality of thought and application of ideas, models and theories to their
assignment response;

Shown evidence of the student using critical reflection to evaluate their own work and justify
valid conclusions;

Shown an awareness of the wider implications of the issues being analysed and discussed;

Applied a customised structure and layout that supports and enhances their response;

Selected and used a wide range of relevant graphics to illustrate key points;

Presented all documents to a standard that would be accepted at executive-board level.

Brighton School of Business and Management Limited

SOLUTION

1.    Relationship between strategic management and leadership

a)   Link between Strategic Management and Leadership

Strategic management involves execution of decisions by managing resources in a way that generates profits. Decisions are made by the leaders but it is very essential to execute the decisions with precision. The management strategically develops roles and responsibilities to carry out various activities. Decision making is also prevalent with the management at various levels; hence leadership is a part of strategic management.  The sole authority lies with the leader, who in time may direct the management on growth, stability or both. The management creates the organization culture and grooms the executives into managers of tomorrow to lead strategies and adopt with market changes. Management is more about taking care of the day to day activities that effect the growth of the organization.

b)   Impact of management and leadership styles on strategic decisions

Decision making style will change with the change in leadership style. The management’s execution style of the decision will also change with the change in leadership style. In an aristocratic leadership, decisions will have a top-bottom approach. The orders have to be followed and there are lesser meetings and discussions about the decisions. This kind of aristocratic decision making which is well-planned can be seen in military organization.

In case of democratic leadership, the strategy could be defined after subsequent number of meetings. Every manager is expected to present the ideas and develop solutions to solve the problem defined by the leadership. This is team work prevalent in most huge conglomerates such as IBM and Microsoft.

In case of bureaucratic leadership, often two sides are developed and one may win over the other. This is common in government organizations where all managers are seeking authority.  It is observed that team-work is almost absent in such organizations and performance is evaluated on the basis of seniority.

c)    How leadership styles can be adapted to different situations?

Let us look at three leadership styles and three different situations where they can be applied to answer this question:

                                     i.          Authoritarian

Autocratic kind of leadership is more applicable in a situation where the management has no knowledge of the work. The management needs complete guidance about implementing the business guidelines and develop a corporate culture.  Consider a situation where the leader has developed expertise in a particular business for more than a decade. The leader wants to start a self – owned business and needs a team for the same. The leader will not hire experienced managers because they will either demand more remuneration or they will not be willing to work. In such a case the leader will hire a team of fresher’s with no experience and because the team won’t be aware of the required business skills, the leader is required to decide the scope of work and use authority to execute the work.

                                   ii.          Democratic

Democratic leadership is more applicable in situations where the management is expected to innovate and develop new expertise. Consider a scenario where a manufacturing concern is looking for an experienced engineer to develop a new process. The engineering consultant will be given high remuneration and freedom to innovate. In fact in such a scenario the consultant is expected to innovate and create new solutions.

                                  iii.          Bureaucratic

Bureaucratic leader often knows the end result of the work and expects the managers to follow orders. This kind of leadership can be seen in a captive knowledge process outsourcing company. The management of the captive KPO works under preset guidelines of the leadership.  In this particular case mentioned above, the management works under the leadership of the parent company. (Zomorrodian, 2009)

2.    Create a leadership strategy that supports organizational direction

Organizational direction is a pathway on which every manager walks to adopt a particular working style. The manager is expected to accept challenges and create authority, duties and rights while walking on this pathway. Let us consider a scenario where the organizational direction is adopting a new management culture due to the amalgamation between two companies. In this case, the leadership strategy will have to be carefully devised in order to encourage team-work and optimum performance from the managers of both companies.

a)   A mix of all three leadership styles may work well in this scenario:

                                     i.          Aristocratic

Aristocratic leadership can be implemented in cases where the teams from both the companies are required to do specific tasks considering their level of experience and skill-sets.  During the process of  amalgamation, some decisions are tough and they require more of courage and in such cases aristocracy can be implemented.

                                   ii.          Democratic

Democratic leadership should persist only for particular managers whose role demands flexibility and freedom. Meetings between managers should be encouraged to discuss and explore various solutions for the defined problem. During the process of amalgamation, a lot of decisions will be taken on the basis of pure judgmental skills and intuition. This usually happens in all companies that undertake a new process/workflow.  Certain level of trial and error style of working may be encouraged.

                                 iii.          Bureaucratic

Bureaucratic leadership should be implemented for tasks of mundane nature which are usually assigned to the lower management. These are mostly clerical and back office jobs that require less supervision. The bureaucratic working style simply states work by the rules or do not work at all.  During the amalgamation there will be lot of tasks that may not require more than one solution and only the execution can be a challenge. In such cases, the lower management executives shall be delegated the responsibility to work by the rules mentioned in the guide book.

3.    Assessment of leadership requirements

a)   Review current leadership requirements

                                     i.          Directions

The leader is required to direct the management to develop a management strategy that meets the employee goals. To attain this goal the leader is required to understand the mission and vision of the business. The leader is also required to devise a recruitment program which only absorbs managers that can perform in the direction of the defined vision and mission. The vision is more about what the leader has in mind? This could be a particular achievement in next 5 years or  growth plans in next two years.  Once the leader is clear with the vision, the mission can be designed. The management can assist the leader in designing the mission because the mission will involve the values, integrity and other qualities that will be persistently followed on a daily basis.

The managerial hierarchy that is the lower level to top level management is a crucial part of the organization. Hence it is extremely valuable for the organization that the leadership vision and mission are understood by the management. Most companies organize induction and training programs that are an integral part of the corporate philosophy. These programs allow the managers to get an in-depth understanding of the company mission and gradually they move towards the vision.

                                   ii.          Transparency within the process

Democratic leadership style demands transparency within the work flow which allows the managers to perform according to expectations. In such a case the managers know – what is expected from them? Or simply put they know – what defines success in the organization? When transparency is introduced in a way that maintains ethical behavior in the organization, the fear of uncertainty is also reduced.

                                 iii.          Reward programs

Designing reward programs that motivate the employees to develop their skill-set and grow with the company is essential.

                                  iv.          Building a culture of quality

It is not only essential for the manager to perform and get results but at the same time it is also more important to define the required quality of work.

b)   Plan for development of future situations requiring leadership

A big size tourism company decides to venture into the airline industry and given below are the future situations it may encounter. The planning objectives for each situation are also mentioned. (Torsten, 2004)

Table 1: Development of future situations requiring leadership

4.    Planning the development of leadership skills

a)     Leadership skills can be developed through the following methods:

                                                         i.          Training and Development

• Personality development programs

Personality development programs that address specific issues such as public speaking and attending to employee redress.

• Leadership games

Games played to give the managers a taste of working as a leader.

• Workshops

Introducing workshops that assess the skill-sets of the manager to acknowledge the gaps and work on them. Identify potential leaders in the group for a fast paced development.

                                                       ii.          Leadership role oriented assignments

Every manager should be encouraged to play the leadership role and address the assigned work by maintaining the role.

                                                     iii.          Developing leadership culture

A leadership culture that allows each manager to delegate work to new employees should be developed. This will make them aware of their innate leadership skills. Further it becomes easier to develop the leadership skills, once they are identified. (Icles, http://www.leadershiparticles.net)

5.    Reflective Learning Statement

In my role as a trainee with Technowrites, I was asked to play the following leadership roles:

       i.          Recruitment

When new roles such as course counselor were introduced, I was requested to place newspaper advertisements calling suitable candidates for the role. After short listing the interested candidates, I organized and conducted their interviews.

     ii.          Training

When new trainees joined the company, I was requested to train them using my existing technical writing experience.

   iii.          Marketing

I attended customer calls and eventually I was given the role of meeting customers and recording their requirements. I also emailed the minutes of the meeting to the customer and followed up with them for further meetings with the Managing Director of Technowrites.

    iv.          Administration

Technowrites conducted technical writing exams every 3 months; I played the role of the moderator during the exam. I distributed answer sheets and monitored the exam hall to maintain the exam decorum.

6.    Bibliography

i.          Charan, R. & Colvin, G 1999,Why CEO’s fail, Fortune.

ii.          Hatch, M. J. 1997, Organization Theory. New York. Oxford University Press

iii.          Humphreys. J. (2004) The Vision Thing. MIT Sloan Management Review

iv.          Kaplan, R & Norton, D 1996. The Balanced Scorecard. HBS Press

v.          Smith, D.K  1999 ,Make Success Measurable – A Mind book-Workbook for Setting Goals and Taking Action. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

JG67

But you can order it from our service and receive complete high-quality custom paper.  Our service offers Human Resources  essay sample that was written by professional writer. If you like one, you have an opportunity to buy a similar paper. Any of the academic papers will be written from scratch, according to all customers’ specifications, expectations and highest standards.”