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Planning and decision making

Meaning of planning: -

Planning is the important and primary function of management. It sets all other functions into action. It is the beginning of process of management. A manager must plan before coming in action. It is concerned in deciding in advance what to do? How to do? When to do? Why to do? Where to do? And who to do? And answering all these questions depends upon intelligence. Planning is a fully mental work.

Planning is the conscious process selecting and developing the best course of action to accomplish an objective. It is the process of deciding in advance what is to be done .it also involves the selection of objectives, policies, procedures and programs from among alternatives. It also includes selecting purposes and objectives of the actions to achieve them.  Planning requires decision-making that is choosing from among alternative future course of action.

 

Planning is thus: -

·   Planning is concerned with future and it helps the management to look ahead.

·   It involves thinking about organization’s prosperity and helps analysis of information.

·   It involves a predetermined course of action.

·   It specifies the objectives to be attained in future.

·   It is basically a problem of choosing from the alternative courses of action.

·   It relates with thinking before doing.

·   It involves both decision making and problem solving.

·   Its objective is to achieve better results.

 

1. Planning is a Primary Function of Management:- Planning is a Primary Function of Management. Setting of goals and lines of action precedes the organization, direction, supervision and control. Planning precedes other functions of management. It is primary requisite but all functions are inter-connected.

2.  Thinking and intellectual process: - Planning is intellectual process of predetermined thinking. It is a process of deciding about future actions. It includes the process where a number of steps are to be taken to decide the future course of action. Managers consider various courses of action which is necessary to achieve the desired goals and learn about the merits and demerits of every course of action and then finally decide what course of action may suit them best.

3.      Planning is a continuous process: - Planning is a continuous process of a manager upon some assumptions. Therefore, the manager has to revise and adjust plans in the changing circumstances. Planning is a continuous process It involves continuous collection, evaluation and selection of data, and scientific investigation and analysis of the possible alternative courses of action and the selection of the best alternative.

4.      Pervasiveness of planning: - Planning follows pervasiveness of planning. It is the function of every managerial personnel. The character, nature and scope of planning may change from personnel to personnel. It is universal activity. It is important to all managers in all levels as planning is required in all levels.

5.      Based on facts: - Planning is not guess work but highly based on facts, realities, objectives and forecasting.

6.      Goal oriented/ future oriented: - Planning is requires achieving objectives because any formulated objectives are meaningless without plans. It identifies actions that would lead to the desired objectives quickly and economically.

7.      Coordination: - Planning helps to coordinate various levels of activities .it provides guidelines to do work to all managers and staffs of all levels.

8.      Others:  - Planning is a selective process. It helps in increasing the efficiency.

IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING

1. Focus on objectives: -Planning is related to the organizational objectives. All the operations are planned to achieve the organizational objectives. Planning facilitates the achievement of objectives It requires the clear definition of objectives so that most appropriate alternative courses of action are chosen.

2.      Reduction of Uncertainties/ change: -Future is full of uncertainties. A business organization can operate successfully if it is able to predict the uncertainties. Some of the uncertainties can be predicted by undertaking systematic analysis and systematic forecasting.  Thus, planning helps in reduction of uncertainties which may be caused by changes in all micro and macro level of environment.

3.      Economical: - Planning assists in reducing the cost of performance by the selection of only one course of action amongst the different courses of. It removes hesitancy, avoids crises, eliminates false steps and protects against improper deviations.

 

4.      Utilization of Resources: -Planning makes effective and proper utilization of all available resources and makes optimum use of all these resources (men , money , machine and material )

5.      Effectiveness: -Planning promotes organizational effectiveness which ensures that the organization is in a position to achieve its objective due to increased efficiency.

6.      Co-ordination:  Plans unify the activities for development of various sub-plans. Various departments work in accordance with the overall plans of the organization. There is harmony in the organization and duplication of efforts are avoided.

7. environmental adaptation:  plans are made only after study of the environment which is said to dynamic in nature. Planning anticipates the environmental changes in advance and future events and prepares action based on those anticipations which helps in innovation and improving creativity.

8. control: controlling cannot be performed without planning because it sets standards that are required for the controlling process.

 

Methods of planning:

Every organization prepare plans and there are various methods of plans

1. Top-down method of planning: this method of planning is generally done for formulation of goals. They are generally made by top level managers and are communicated to middle level managers for implementation.

This method assumes that top level has the skills and knowledge that is required for planning. Mostly used in centralized organizations where authority and responsibility is in the hands of the managers themselves. And it does not allow other level managers in planning process.

2. Bottom-top method of planning: this method of planning is done by middle level and lower level manages. They formulate plans considering operational level. These plans once formulated will be forwarded to the top level managers for approval and implementation.

It is a decentralized approach.

3. Participative method of planning: this method is mixture of top down and down top method where top level provides guidelines for planning to middle and lower level managers and make them plan under the guidelines only.

Middle and lower level management formulate the plans forward them to top level which is reviewed and finalized by the top level.

It provides flexibility in planning

4. Team method: in this method the planning function is said to be performed by a team who are experts in their field. This team functions as a unit and forward the plans to the top authority for review and finalization.

 

Types of planning

Corporate or strategic plan	Tactical or division plan	Operational or unit plan
This plan is prepared by the top level management by considering the long term objectives of the organization and strategies to achieve the defined objectives., the strategic plan may concern with product or service, market competition, social responsibility , introduction of technology, goodwill etc. it is based on analysis of future opportunities and threats.	Tactical plan is prepared by the middle level management by considering short term objectives of the organization. It is the sub division of corporate plan. It is prepared to allocate divisional activities like production, finance, marketing, personnel and others. These plays a mediator between corporate or operational rule	This plan is prepared by the lower level management by considering day to day function of the organization. It is consistent with tactical plan. It prepares schedule of each unit of work. It is concentrated in the best use of organizational resources consisting of manpower materials, money, methods and machine.

 

Procedures of planning

1. Analyze opportunities: plans are made considering the opportunities and threats available in the surroundings. Here first SWOT analysis is done to find out strength, weakness and opportunities available in the market.

Strength and weakness belong to internal environment and can be controlled by the organization

Opportunity and threat belong to external environment and organization has to adjust to it.

2.  Setting objectives: - objectives are the main part of plan. Setting objectives is the first step of formulating plans, the success or failure of plan depends upon the objectives of the organization. To determine the objectives is the first step and most important procedure of making plan

3.   Developing planning premises: - after setting the objectives of the organization planning premises is necessary. It is the second step of formulating plans. Premises are the assumptions of internal and external environment of the organization in which plans are to be implemented. It is related to collect and make analysis of information concerning internal and external environment.

4.  Determining alternatives: - after developing planning premises the third step of formulating plan is to determine the alternatives. The process of searching and identifying alternatives is known as determining alternatives. There may be so many alternatives. Reasonable alternatives should be selected among them

5.  Evaluating alternatives:- after determining alternatives, each and every alternatives must be evaluated separately. After that, it is determined that which alternative has how much advantage and disadvantages. In other words, plans are evaluated in so many factors like cost factors, risk , benefits, facilities etc

6.  Choosing one course of action: - after evaluating alternatives one best alternative must be selected. When all the alternatives are evaluated then all the weaknesses and strength of the alternatives are known. After this, best alternative must be selected. It is the most important step of planning.

7.  Formulating detail plan of action: - after choosing one course of action, detailed plan must be formulated. Selecting one course of action is the organized plan. After choosing organizational plan, other departmental plan must be formulated. In other words, basic plan must be expanded into functional areas.

8. Preparing budget: every plan once formulated during the process of implementation it requires money. Budget is prepared to find out possible expenditure for implementation of plan and should be approved by the authority

9. Implementation of plan:- Without this step, other procedures of plan remains as a paper work. This step brings all procedures of plan into action.

10.  Reviewing the panning process;- the planning procedures is a continuous function up to the attainment of defined objectives. For this purposed, the evaluation of achievement of work according to time is necessary to know about actual performance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning premises

It is related to anticipation of environment in the future they can also be called as assumptions of future based on which planning is done

It is related to forecasting future about demographic trends economic and business conditions, political and legal environment govt policy change in technology future market condition availability of resources and social cultural environment

Planning premises can be classified as follows

Internal premises: they exists within the organization and can be in the form of goals policies programs and resources

External premises: they exist outside the organization and can be in form of political economic, socio-cultural and technological forces

Tangible and intangible premises

Tangible premises can be quantitatively measure

Intangible premises cannot be measured quantitatively, they are qualitative character

Controllable and uncontrollable

Internal premises are controllable and can be changed according to need of management

External premises are uncontrollable and management has to adjust according to it.

Decision making

Meaning of decision making

Decision making is a process of selecting the best among the different alternatives. It is the act of making a choice. There are so many alternatives found in the organization and departments. Decision making is defined as the selection of choice of one best alternative. Before making decisions all alternatives should be evaluated from which advantages and disadvantages are known. It helps to make the best decisions. It is also one of the important functions of management. Without other management functions such as planning, Organizing, directing, controlling, staffing can’t be conducted because in this managerial function decision is very important. According to Stephen P. Robbins, “decision making is defines as the selection of a preferred course of action from two or more alternatives.”

Importance of decision making

1. Implementation of managerial function: Without decision making different managerial function such as planning, organizing, directing, controlling, staffing can’t be conducted. In other words, when an employee does, s/he does the work through decision making function. Therefore, we can say that decision is important element to implement the managerial function.

 

2. Pervasiveness of decision making:  the decision is made in all managerial activities and in all functions of the organization. It must be taken by all staff. Without decision making any kinds of function is not possible. So it is pervasive.

 

3. Evaluation of managerial performance: Decisions can evaluate managerial performance. When decision is correct it is understood that the manager is qualified, able and efficient. When the decision is wrong, it is understood that the manager is disqualified. So decision making evaluate the managerial performance.

 

4. Helpful in planning and policies:  Any policy or plan is established through decision making. Without decision making, no plans and policies are performed. In the process of making plans, appropriate decisions must be made from so many alternatives. Therefore decision making is an important process which is helpful in planning.

 

5. Selecting the best alternatives:  Decision making is the process of selecting the best alternatives. It is necessary in every organization because there are many alternatives. So decision makers evaluate various advantages and disadvantages of every alternative and select the best alternative.

 

6. Successful; operation of business: Every individual, departments and organization make the decisions. In this competitive world; organization can exist when the correct and appropriate decisions are made. Therefore correct decisions help in successful operation of business.

Steps in decision making

 

1. Identification of problems:  the first step of decision making is identification of problems. First of all, managers must identify the problem. The problem has to be found and defined. Symptoms are identified and problems should be judged, symptoms are not problems. They are warning signs of problems. So, managers should search for symptoms for identification of problems. Such symptoms can be falling of sales, profit etc. It is said that problem identified is half solved is identification of problem should be effective.

2. Analysis of problem:  after identification of problems, the problem should be analyzed by the decision maker. It is the assembly of fact and clarifying it. Relevant information must be collected and analyzed according to the complexity and nature of problems.

3. Developing the alternative solution:  after identification and analysis of problems different probable solutions have to be developed which is known as developing the alternative solutions. there may be many alternative  past experience, expert opinion, discussions etc which may be helpful to develop the alternative

4. Evaluation of best alternative:  after developing the alternative solution evaluation of best alternative is done. It is determined that which alternative has how much advantage and disadvantages. in other words, alternatives  are evaluated in so many factors like cost factors, risk , benefits, facilities etc. therefore it is very important

5. Selection of best alternative:  after evaluating alternative, the best alternative is to be selected from various alternative. After developing alternative, the managers should taste each of them by imagining things that he has already put in effect. He should try to foresee the desirable consequences of adopting each alternative. It is done for best selection. therefore it is very important

6. Implementation of best alternative:  after selection of finest alternative, it must be used in the organization effectively. Effectiveness of decisions in achieving the desired goals depends upon its implementation. It they are not implemented effectively then best results can’t be obtained. Therefore proper implementation of best alternative is necessary.

7. Review of implementation:  it is the last step of decision making process. When the implementation of best alternative is reviewed, the process of decision making is finished. The result of implementation should be monitored and evaluated through which effectiveness can be measured. 

 

Types of decision making

1. Programmed and non-programmed decisions: Programmed decisions are those which are normally repetitive in nature and are taken as a routine job and responsibilities. These types of decisions are made by middle level management in accordance with some policies, rules and procedures. They have short term impact. For example: – granting a leave to an employee, purchasing office materials etc. non programmed decisions are non-repetitively taken by top executives. They need to collect data and analyze then and forecast the strategic plans

2. Major and minor decisions:  among different decisions some decisions are considerably more important than others and are prioritized. They are called major decisions. For example, replacement of man by machine, diversification of product etc. contrary to that, some of the remaining decisions are considerably less important than others and are not so prioritized. They are minor decisions. For example, store of raw materials etc.

3. Routine and strategic decisions: Routine decisions are those decisions which are considered as tactical decisions. They are taken frequently to achieve high degree of efficiency in the organizational activities. For example, parking facilities, lighting and canteen etc. strategic decisions are those which are related to lowering the prices of products, changing the product etc. they take more fund and degree of partials.

4. Organizational and personal decision: Organizational decision is taken by top executives. For official purpose. They affect the organizational activities directly. Authority is also delegated. Personal decisions are concerned to an employee. The executives whenever takes the decisions personally that is known as personal decisions

5. Individual and group decisions: When a single employee is involved in decision making it is called individual decision. They are taken by ole proprietor when the problem is of routine nature. On the other hand when the decision is of group taken in a large organization where important and strategic decisions are taken the it is a group decision

6. Policy and operating decisions: Policy decisions are taken by top level management to change the rules, procedures, organizational structure etc and they have a long tern effect. Operational decisions are taken by low level management which have short term effect and which affect the day to day operation of the organization.

Decision making styles

Depending on the way manager approaches decision making there are various style of deceion making it depends on the way in which a manager thinks. Few managers are logical thinkers, few are rational thinkers.

They always make sure that the information is consistent before making decision. Others are creative and intuitive

Few styles explain about tolerance for ambiguity (the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.)Which can be low or high among the managers.

 

Based on the way of thinking and tolerance for ambiguity, decision making styles of managers can be of four types

1. Directive style: Under this style managers have a rational way of thinking and low tolerance for ambiguity. Here managers are efficient and logical; they need minimum information and assess only few alternatives.

2. Analytical style:  under this style managers have a rational way of thinking and high tolerance to ambiguity. There managers want more information before making decision and are careful decision makers

3. Conceptual style: under this type of style intuitive way of thinking is done and high tolerance for ambiguity. Here managers look out for many alternatives. They focus on long run and always try for creative solutions

4. Behavioral style: under this style intuition way of thinking is done and low tolerance to ambiguity. Here they are concerned about their subordinates and always wait for their suggestions and want to be accepted by others.

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Human Resources Management

 Managing Human Resources

As outlined above, the process of defining HRM leads us to two different definitions. The first definition of HRM is that it is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner. This covers the fields of staffing (hiring people), retention of people, pay and perks setting and management, performance management, change management and taking care of exits from the company to round off the activities. This is the traditional definition of HRM which leads some experts to define it as a modern version of the Personnel Management function that was used earlier.

The second definition of HRM encompasses the management of people in organizations from a macro perspective i.e. managing people in the form of a collective relationship between management and employees. This approach focuses on the objectives and outcomes of the HRM function. What this means is that the HR function in contemporary organizations is concerned with the notions of people enabling, people development and a focus on making the “employment relationship” fulfilling for both the management and employees.

These definitions emphasize the difference between Personnel Management as defined in the second paragraph and human resource management as described in the third paragraph. To put it in one sentence, personnel management is essentially “workforce” centered whereas human resource management is “resource” centered. The key difference is HRM in recent times is about fulfilling management objectives of providing and deploying people and a greater emphasis on planning, monitoring and control.

Components Or Elements Of Human Resources Management

Human resource management is a process which involves around four basic functions- acquisition, development, motivation and maintenance of human resources. These basic elements are the key steps for achieving organizational goals. The basic influencing factor of these components is organizational goal because such activities are to be performed within the given constraints in order to accomplish the task. These four elements or factors of HRM can be described as follows:

1. Acquisition

Acquisition function is concerned with recruitment and selection of manpower requirement for an organization. It ensures that the company has the right number of people at the right place and at the right time who are capable to complete required work. It is the starting point of human resource management function. Acquisition is primarily concerned with planning, recruitment, selection and socialization of employees. It selects and socializes the competent employees who have adopted the organization's culture.

2. Development

Development phase begins after the socialization of newly appointed employees in an organization. It is concerned with imparting knowledge and skill to perform the task properly. Moreover, it is an attempt to improve employee performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes and improving skills. It can be done through teaching, coaching, class-room courses, assignments, professional programs and so on. The ultimate goal of employee development is of course to enhance the future performance of the organization by the efficient employees. The development of employees is not only for newly appointed employees, it is also for existing employees to develop them according to change in internal and external environment.

3. utilization/ Motivation

Only training and development do not inspire employees to do better work. For this, they should be motivated. Here motivation means an activity which induces and inspires people to perform well in actual work floor. Motivation includes job specification, performance evaluation, reward and punishment, work performance, compensation management, discipline and so on. It is important for better work performance because high performance depends on both ability and motivation.

4. Maintenance

Maintenance is the last components of human resource management. it is concerned with the process of retaining the employees in the organization. This contributes towards keeping the employees who can do extremely better for the organization. It creates such a homely and friendly environment for those high performers, and make them to remain in the same organization for a longer period of time. This requires that the organization should provide additional facilities, safe working conditions, friendly work environment, and satisfactory labor relations. If these activities are performed in right manner, we can expect to have capable and competent employees in the organization. These employees are committed to the organizational objectives and are satisfied with their jobs.

Importance And Objectives Of Human Resource Management

The main purpose of human resource management is to accomplish the organizational goals. Therefore, the resources are mobilized to achieve such goals. Some importance and objectives of human resource management are as follows:

1. Effective Utilization of Resources

Human resource management ensures the effective utilization of resources. HRM teaches how to utilize human and non-human resources so that the goals can be achieved.Organization aiming to utilize their resources efficiently invites the HR department to formulate required objectives and policies.

2. Organizational Structure

Organizational structure defines the working relationship between employees and management. It defines and assigns the task for each employee working in the organization. The task is to be performed within the given constraints. It also defines positions, rights and duties, accountability and responsibility, and other working relationships. The human resource management system provides required information to timely and accurately. Hence, human resource management helps to maintain organizational structure.

3. Development Of Human Resources

Human resource management provides favorable environment for employees so that people working in organization can work creatively. This ultimately helps them to develop their creative knowledge, ability and skill. To develop personality of employees, human resource management organizes training and development campaigns which provides an opportunity for employees to enhance their caliber to work.

4. Respect For Human Beings

Another importance of human resource management is to provide a respectful environment for each employee. Human resource management provides with required means and facilitates employee along with an appropriate respect because the dominating tendency develops that will result organizational crisis. Hence, all of them should get proper respect at work. Human resource management focuses on developing good working relationships among workers and managers in organization. So, good human resource management system helps for respecting the employees.

5. Goal Harmony

Human resource management bridges the gap between individual goal and organizational goal-thereby resulting into a good harmony. If goal difference occurs, the employees will not be willing to perform well. Hence, a proper match between individual goal and organizational goal should be there in order to utilize organizational resources effectively and efficiently.

6. Employee Satisfaction

Human resource management provides a series of facilities and opportunities to employees for their career development. This leads to job satisfaction and commitment. When the employees are provided with every kind of facilities and opportunities, they will be satisfied with their work performance.

7. Employee Discipline And Moral

Human resource management tries to promote employee discipline and moral through performance based incentives. It creates a healthy and friendly working environment through appropriate work design and assignment of jobs.

8. Organizational Productivity

Human resource management focuses on achieving higher production and most effective utilization of available resources. This leads to an enhancement in organizational goals and objectives.

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Leadership

 Leadership

 

Meaning of leadership

Leadership is defined as personal quality of an individual that influence the behavior of followers. It is an important function of management. Leadership is an act of influencing people so that the followers follow the path of leader. The successful leader must lead to stimulate and inspire the followers to achieve organizational goals. In an organization the manager is a leader and other subordinates are followers. A manager cannot manage effectively unless he can lead his subordinates effectively. Hence a leader may or may not be a manager but a successful manager must be a leader.

Leadership is defined as influence, that is, the art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically towards the achievement of group work.

Function of managerial leader

·  Leader is true representative of the organization who represents the organization to those working for it as well as to the outside world. A leader functions as a chain between management and staff. S/he represents management before the workers and work before the management

·  A leader must establish organizational goals. It is the primary function of the leader. S/he also should participate with superior to get it done

·  When the skill and knowledge of the subordinates are not used properly a managerial leader must provide the guideline and effective path as motivational factor to them

·  A leader must act like a captain to the team, must win the confidence of most of the colleagues and encourage team work.

·  The leader must design proper system of communication and communicate authority and responsibility to its subordinates so that they can know about their work

·  A managerial leader must understand problems and feelings of the subordinates  and try to solve them tactfully

·  A leader must maintain good relationship with subordinates and other people

·  A good managerial leader must facilitate change in the organization whenever and wherever necessary.

·  A leader has the responsibility to control, supervise and see different departments to achieve organizational goals

·  A leader should be able to evaluate the performance of subordinates. There must be provision of both reward and punishment.

 

Leadership style

 

1.   Autocratic leadership style: – when the authority and decision making power are concentrated to the leader is known as autocratic leadership style. There is no participation by subordinates. The leader takes full authority and assumes full responsibility. Planning, policies and other working procedures are predetermined by the leader alone. The convey the information about what to do and how to do. He never takes any advice and suggestions of other people. They structure the entire work situation in their own way and expect the workers to follow their orders and tolerate no deviation from their order. They are just like tyrant rulers. The leader who believes and exercised the autocratic leadership style is known as autocratic leader.

Features:-

·  He/she makes his own decisions and he/she doesn’t not take any advice of others because he/she thinks he/she is only superior.

·  His/her position gives him/her personal authority and right to lead the members in any way he/she desires.

·  Reward and punishment is exercised by him/her very strictly. Autocratic leadership style believes on negative motivational tools.

·  An autocrat leader does not give full information to the members. There is only one way communication in order to maintain the position.

·  An autocratic leader describes each job in detail and imposes rigid work standard on his employees. It means the subordinates are compelled to certain work assigned for him.

Advantages:-

·  It is useful in emergency or in war,

·  When the workers are undisciplined and uneducated it gives the best results.

·  When the laborers are not organized, it is more effective.

·  There is no need of trained labor. It may be used for untrained workers.

·  It is a prompt process of decision making as the single person decides for the whole group.

Disadvantages:-      

·  Subordinates are not involved in the process of decision making in autocratic leadership style

·  It doesn’t emphasize on correct evaluation of employee’s performance

·  The moral of employees is so low.

·  There is no chance of management development.

·  There is no chance of two-way communication.

·  Creative ideas and thinking cannot be used in autocratic leadership style.

·  The employees perform the work with negative motivation.

 

2.   Democratic leadership style

 

When the authority and decision making power are decentralized to the subordinates is known as democratic leadership style. There is participation by subordinates. The leader delegates authority and provides responsibility even to the followers. Planning, policies and other working procedures are determined by the leader along with suggestions of the followers. He conveys the information about what to do and how to do just as a consultant. He takes advice and suggestions of other people. They structure the entire work situation in democratic way. They are just like democratic rulers. The leader who believes and exercised the democratic leadership style is known as democratic leader.

 

Features:-

·  A democratic leader delegates the responsibility as per the capability of the employee

·  There is participation of all subordinates in decision making

·  Human values are also given preference. The leader gives concerns for the followers

·  Democratic leader imposes flexible work standard, designs goals with freedom for the performance of work.

·  A democratic leader emphasizes in results than on action

 

·  Advantages: –

·  Good cooperation among employees is made in democratic leadership style.

·  Employees are highly satisfied and their morale is increased

·  Human efforts are highly recognized

·  It helps in increasing in productivity.

·  Policies, planning and other working procedures become better because different kinds of logic ideas and creativity are mixed.

·  Subordinates have grown considerable freedom of action that helps to increase the personal growth and gets opportunity to utilize their capabilities

Disadvantages: –

·  It takes long time in decision making.

·  It is not suitable for untrained subordinates’

·  A leader may  to be responsible in his style

·  It is not suitable when the followers are undisciplined and untrained

 

3.   Free rein leadership style

when all the authority and responsibility are delegated to the subordinates is known as Free rein leadership style. The leader who believes on this style is known as free rein leader. The free rein leader doesn’t use the power and leaves the power to the subordinates. He/she doesn’t provide any contribution to make planning and policies. This type of leadership style is very useful when group members are intelligent and fully aware of their roles and responsibilities.

Features

·  Subordinates have complete freedom in decision making

·  The subordinates are self-directed, self-motivated and self-controlled

·  The role of free rein leader is to provide facilities, materials and information to the employees.

·  The leader doesn’t interfere in making planning and policies

 

Advantages: –

·  The employees are satisfied in their job because they are free in decision making

·  The morale of employees is developed.

·  The employees are highly developed because there is maximum possibility for the development of workers.

·  The creativity and potentiality of subordinate are fully utilized.

 

Disadvantages:-

·  Leader contribution is ignored.

·  Sometime the subordinates are not self-directed.

·  Subordinates should not get the guidelines of the leader.

 

Managerial grid style of leadership

Introduction

Anticipating situational leadership, American Robert Blake and Jane Mouton arrived at the conclusion in 1964 that the behaviour of a leader stems from two criteria: people orientation (concern for people) and task orientation (concern for production) In the so-called managerial grid, they combined these two criteria as a result of which a grid with 81 leadership styles was created.

Under the microscope

On the vertical axis of the managerial grid, the concern for people is depicted from low to high. On the horizontal axis of the managerial grid, concern for production is represented from low to high. The more a  leader aims at result orientation, the more attention he pays to working methods, work preparation, rules and regulations and the results of the employees. The more emphasis a leader puts on his employees, the more he aims at motivation, guidance and instruction of employees. He will stimulate group connection and fully aim at motivational labour conditions and learning processes of his employees.

Basic styles of the managerial grid

In the Managerial Grid Robert Blake and Jane Mouton score the criteria ‘concern for people‘ and ‘concern for production‘ from 1 (low) to 9 (high).  The Managerial Grid creates 81 combinations that result in 81 different leadership styles. All these styles are subdivided into four quadrants and five basic leadership styles that are given a name and marks:

1.1 Impoverished Management (avoiding)

In this leadership style the leader shows little or no concern for production and little or no concern for the employee. When the leader does not wish to engage with his employees and lets them muddle on, this is a bad leadership style. Robert Blake and Jane Mouton indicate however that this style can be a conscious choice. By giving employees the freedom to solve a specific problem, this will affect the production for a short while. But eventually, this will lead to independence and an improved production. When this leadership style is used overly much or continuously, Robert Blake and Jane Mouton recommend to take on a different leadership style.

1.9 Country club (ironing out)

Many new leaders orient themselves towards this style with a high concern for people but a low concern for production. In this style of leadership, leaders just want to be ‘liked‘ by their employees and they do not want to come across as too authoritarian. The leader wants to understand his employees continuously and wishes to maintain a good relationship with them whatever the cost with the risk that the employees might cut corners and do not pursue the objectives enough. This style may also be the leader’s conscious choice. The moment an employee has to deal with personal problems the manager’s care and support will be experienced as positive. It will temporarily affect the production but the backlog will be caught up at a later time.

9.1 Task Management (pushing through)

The leader is completely focused on task-orientation. As the production is the leader’s focal point of attention, he forgets and neglects the well being of the employees. This leader is authoritative and he exerts disciplinary pressure. The leader requires the utmost of the employees and imposes sanctions when they fail to meet the requirements. Robert Blake and Jane Mouton indicate that there are situations in which this style of leadership is necessary. For instance when unpopular measures are taken like cutbacks or reorganization. The leader should not be afraid to show his human side from time to time, however.

5.5 Middle of the road (compromising)

In this leadership style the ‘happy medium‘ course is adopted. The leader maintains a balance between the needs of the people and the production and the leader scores an average mark on both criteria. According to Robert Blake and Jane Mouton this is not always an ideal leadership style but because of pressure of time such as meeting deadlines, it is a good way to encourage the employees.

9.9 Team Management (team-oriented)

The leader that is oriented towards this style should not change this. His employees form a close-knit team and work together on the execution of objectives. The leader has got a lot respect for his employees and enthuses and motivates them. This is why they are able to bring out the best in themselves, Mutual involvement among the employees is high and they are very loyal to their employer. Such an optimal cooperation is often linked to short-term projects that are carried out by (highly) experienced employees. By paying a lot of attention to the needs of the employees and the production this leader works very efficiently.

Green zone within the Managerial Grid

As the style of the leader is also determined by the situation, Robert Blake and Jane Mouton indicated that the best starting position within the Managerial Grid can be found between 5.5 (middle of the road) and 9.9 (team). They called the space in between the ‘green zone‘. The leadership style is only effective when other styles are applied per situation. They recommend that the basic leadership style must be taken from the green zone.

It is advisable to eliminate all emotions towards the employees and to fully focus on the production. But when emotions are running high among employees, a leader would do well to focus his attention on the people’s needs, even if this is at the expense of the production. It is therefore more efficient to apply various leadership styles.

Four system style of leadership

Rensis Likert identified four main styles of leadership, in particular around decision-making and the degree to which people are involved in the decision.

Exploitive authoritative

In this style, the leader has a low concern for people and uses such methods as threats and other fear-based methods to achieve conformance. Communication is almost entirely downwards and the psychologically distant concerns of people are ignored.

Benevolent authoritative

When the leader adds concern for people to an authoritative position, a 'benevolent dictatorship' is formed. The leader now uses rewards to encourage appropriate performance and listens more to concerns lower down the organization, although what they hear is often rose-tinted, being limited to what their subordinates think that the boss wants to hear. Although there may be some delegation of decisions, almost all major decisions are still made centrally.

Consultative

The upward flow of information here is still cautious and rose-tinted to some degree, although the leader is making genuine efforts to listen carefully to ideas. Nevertheless, major decisions are still largely centrally made.

Participative

At this level, the leader makes maximum use of participative methods, engaging people lower down the organization in decision-making. People across the organization are psychologically closer together and work well together at all levels.

Situational leadership style

The situational leadership theory (or situational leadership model) is a leadership theory developed by Paul Hersey, professor and author of the book The Situational Leader,[1] and Ken Blanchard, leadership trainer and author of The One Minute Manager, while working on the first edition of Management of Organizational Behavior.[2] The theory was first introduced as "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership".[3] During the mid-1970s, "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership" was renamed "Situational Leadership theory".[4]

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, the authors both developed their own models using the situational leadership theory; Hersey - Situational Leadership Model and Blanchard et al. Situational Leadership II Model.[5]

The fundamental underpinning of the situational leadership theory is that there is no single "best" style of leadership. Effective leadership is task-relevant, and the most successful leaders are those who adapt their leadership style to the maturity ("the capacity to set high but attainable goals, willingness and ability to take responsibility for the task, and relevant education and/or experience of an individual or a group for the task") of the individual or group they are attempting to lead or influence. Effective leadership varies, not only with the person or group that is being influenced, but it also depends on the task, job or function that needs to be accomplished.[4]

The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model rests on two fundamental concepts; leadership style and the individual or group's maturity level.

 

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