MS-01-MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS AND BEHAVIOUR

Q.1 Discuss various task of a professional Manager. Describe the survival and growth
options which your organization has adopted or any organization you are familiar with.
Describe the organization you are referring to.

Profession is 'A disciplined group of individuals who adhere to high ethical standards and
uphold themselves to, and are accepted by, the public as possessing special knowledge and skills
in a widely recognized, organized body of learning derived from education and training at a high
level, and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others

Dalton E. McFarland defines professional management as “a process, by which managers

create, direct, maintain, and operate purposive organizations through systematic, coordinated,
cooperative human effort.”

Introduction

Managers are responsible to supervise and take charge of the activities and productivity of their
workers. They play an important role in managing the performance of their staff. They are also
involved in employee selection, career development, succession planning and working out
compensation and rewards. They are responsible for the growth and increase in the organizations'
finances and earnings.

Various tasks of professional Manager

• Decision making.

A manager makes organizational decisions and handles a variety of problems that arise on a
daily basis. You have to identify the problems, create choices and alternative courses of actions.

The daily routine of making decisions include determining how to approach an employee who is
not performing or lacking progress and how to bring about change to the organization and its
team. It involves thinking and planning out strategies on how to improve quality and also being
cost conscious and effective.

• Goal setting, planning and organizing.

In order for you to achieve long term goals and commit to strategies for substantial earnings, you
have to communicate the vision of the company to your subordinates. You break down and
clarify the goals that each team or individual have to perform and assign work schedules and
strategies.

Having goals and planning out the directions allow for effective time management and saves cost
and resources.

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• Guiding and giving directions.

Your role as the head of an organization is to guide and give direction so that the team can
perform effectively. You offer on the job coaching, training and support. In order for individuals
to meet the needs and objectives, they may need extra input, information or skills

• Empowering others.

The performance of your team depends on your abilities to empower them. How well a person
performs depends on his motivation. Your task is to encourage and coach others to improve
themselves and the quality of their work. You need to instill in them the desire to excel and
accept responsibility and self-management

• Communication and people skills.

As the boss, your ability to develop trust and confidence, resolve problems and issues will result
in a productive, goal oriented work group. You should encourage your team to ask for help, get
involved and participate. Practice empathy and respect their personal values, opinions and ideas.
Listen and respond and offer praises and encouragements when they make progress. By doing
that you will enhance their self-esteem and they will offer you the cooperation.

A manager is the middle person in between the top management level and the team that reports
to him. He has to ensure that communication is smooth and conveyed clearly to avoid
misinterpretations and dissatisfaction.

• Evaluating and analyzing.

You need to have the capacity to evaluate and examine a process or procedure and decide on the
best choice to produce an outcome. You look at the importance, quality and values and then
taking the best approach.

You are also expected to track the progress of each individual's activities and effectiveness,
review them and offer feedback and counseling.

• Provide satisfaction among the staff and the customers.

Your subordinates are happy when they know that their supervisors provide them with the
necessary tools and resource. They feel secure if the management puts priority on health, safety
and cleanliness issues. You satisfy customers by giving good quality of service or product and
take care of their needs.

• Being an exemplary role model.

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Managers who set high standards or goals and achieve them are great leaders by examples. The
ability to tolerate stress and remain poise under job pressures and still maintain a high activity
and energy level are contagious.

Survival and growth in Organization

Survival and growth in the atmospheres of intense competition in the market is due to technology
advancement and globalization of business. Consumer awareness and expectation of quality of
product and services had increase tremendously. Acquiring and retaining the best talent
available in the market and developing human capital. Changing expectation of employee in
terms of career, quality of work life and share in companies’ profitability

Introduction

National Real Estate Company (herein after referred to as NREC) is a Kuwaiti Shareholding
Company listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange since 1984. NREC was incorporated in 1973 with
an initial capital of KD 5 million, which reaches now about KD 81 million as of June 30,
2008.NREC is specialized in developing, trading and managing real estate properties in
Kuwait, which is its main core of business, and is considered one of the main lead real estate
companies in Kuwait and the whole region. Since its privatization in 1995, at which the
Kuwaiti government had sold its stake in NREC, “Mr. Jamil Sultan Al Essa” was elected as
the Chairman and Managing Director of the company, who undertakes the mission of
growing NREC towards solid and remarkable local presence in Kuwait as one of the main
companies in the real estate industry in Kuwait. Such strategy had proved its success very
significantly at that time, as NREC had developed the first waterfront project in Kuwait at
Sharq area in Kuwait city directly on the seaside, which is currently known as “Sharq
Market”, which is considered one of the landmarks of Kuwait, and is still maintain its
position as one of the most attractive locations for visitors and shoppers despite the emerging
new malls during last period. Also, NREC was managing the Kuwait Free Trade Zone at
Shuwaikh Port

Decision Making Process on Survival & growth

• NREC is a dynamic organization. It enjoys the Trust and Confidence of its investors by
continually creating maximum wealth for its stakeholders. Its growth engine is powered
by the management’s high thinking and the strategic implementation of its projects &
plans.
• However, NREC is not aloof to the changing business environment. The current
recessionary trends around the world have affected NREC also. The recent projects
undertaken by NREC have also come under review under the present circumstances.
Though the projects are robust & well planned and are currently under various stages of
execution, they are being reviewed amidst the challenging situations being faced by the
economy.

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• Presently, the NREC has shelved its plans to go ahead with the new projects and is
concentrating on its present projects. As soon as the time becomes ripe for the new
projects; NREC shall again take up the projects full steam and shall continue creating
wealth for its stakeholders through its growth-oriented plans.

Effect of survival and growth decision on different parties in an organization

Conclusion

The above strategic actions taken by the NREC management are based on the principles
mentioned below as postulated by management theories

I. Survival is fact of remaining alive or in existence, especially after facing life-threatening

danger, or of continuing in a present position or office where as growth is targeted to
wards the process of becoming larger and more mature through natural development
II. Survival is to ensure that share holder have safe return on their investment with view of
optimum uses of minimum resources of organization. On other hands growth aims
towards profit maximization from available resources thus it utilizes opportunity cost of
economical resources

References:

1. Management – Henry Fayol

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2. Management Reports –National Real Estate Co. Kuwait K.S.C

(Total Words 1,281)

Q.2 Express various Models of decision making process. Describe the model which is most
suitable to your organization or any organization you are familiar with. Describe the
organization you are referring to.

Process is "an organized group of related activities that together create a result of value to
customers."

• A process is a group of activities, not just one. Value is created not by single
activities, but by the entire process in which all these tasks merge in a systematic way
for a clear purpose.
• Activities are related and organized. They present a stream of relevant,
interconnected activities that must be performed in sequence – the right things in the
right way – to produce the desired outcome.
• All the activities in the process work together toward a common goal. "People
performing different steps of a process must all be aligned around a single purpose,
instead of focusing on their individual tasks in isolation."1
• Processes are not ends in themselves. They have a purpose; they create and
deliver results that customers care about.
"A business process is the complete and dynamically coordinated set of collaborative and
transactional activities that deliver value to customers."

Decision making is a process of first diverging to explore the possibilities and then converging
on a solution(s).The Latin root of the word decision means "to cut off from all alternatives".
This is what you should do when you decide

The Decision Making Process

We selected a six step decision making process that synthesized the decision making models
used in existing training, not just ethics training.

The model is descriptive of how people intuitively make decisions and makes the steps explicit.

The six steps of this natural, intuitive decision-making process are:

1. Define the problem

2. Identify available alternative solutions to the problem
3. Evaluate the identified alternatives
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4. Make the decision

5. Implement the decision
6. Evaluate the decision

Characteristics of Decision making Processes

1. Large and complex, involving the end-to-end flow of materials, information and
business commitments.
2. Dynamic, responding to demands from customers and to changing market
conditions.
3. Widely distributed and customized across boundaries within and between
businesses, often spanning multiple applications on disparate technology platforms.
4. Long-running – a single instance of a process such as "order to cash" or
"develop product" may run for months or even years.
5. Automated – at least in part. Routine or mundane activities are performed by
computers wherever possible, for the sake of speed and reliability.
6. Both "business" and "technical" in nature – IT processes are a subset of
business processes and provide support to larger processes involving both people and
machines. End-to-end business processes depend on distributed computing systems that
are both transactional and collaborative.
7. Dependent on and supportive of the intelligence and judgment of humans.
People perform tasks that are too unstructured to delegate to a computer or that require
personal interaction with customers.
8. Difficult to make visible. In many companies decision processes have been
neither conscious nor explicit. They are undocumented, embedded, ingrained and implicit
within the communal history of the organization, or if they are documented or definition
is maintained independently of the systems that support them.

Different types of decision making models

1. Rational decision making models

Rational decision making models involve a cognitive process where each step follows in a
logical order from the one before. By cognitive, I mean it is based on thinking through and
weighing up the alternatives to come up with the best potential result

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Some people assume that decision making is equivalent to problem solving. Some decisions
however are not problem oriented and I've taken this into consideration when
describing the general outline of a rational model below

Steps in a rational decision making model

1. Identify the situation/decision to be made

2. Recognize the important criteria for the process and the result
3. Mull over all possible solutions
4. Find out all consequences of these solutions versus the likelihood of satisfying the criteria
5. Choose the best option

Pros and cons

A rational decision making model presupposes that there is one best outcome. Because of this it
is sometimes called an optimizing decision making model. The search for perfection is
frequently a factor in actually delaying making a decision.

Such a model also presupposes that it is possible to consider every option and also to know the
future consequences of each. While many would like to think they know what will happen, the
universe often has other plans! These models require a great deal of time and a great deal of
information. And, of course, a rational decision making model attempts to negate the role of
emotions in decision making

Tuckman Model
Tuckman's Forming Storming Norming Performing Model (Tuckman Model ) in 1965, Dr. Bruce
Tuckman published his Forming Storming Norming Performing model . He added a fifth stage,
adjourning, to the Tuckman Model in the 1970's. The Forming Storming Norming Performing
theory is an method to describe team development and behavior. The model explains that as the
team becomes mature and able, and the leader changes their style, relationships are formed. The
team may produce a successful leader, or group members may move on to where they become
more comfortable.

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Within the model, relationship development progression is:

1. Forming 2. Storming 3. Norming 4. Performing .

At stage one, forming, there is high dependence on leader for guidance and direction. There is
little agreement, other than what comes from the leader. Individual roles and responsibilities are
unclear. Leader must be prepared to answer lots of questions about the team's purpose, objectives
and relationships. Decisions may be made with input from individuals, and egos flare when their
opinions are not selected. Processes are often ignored. Members test both the system system and
leader. The Leader directs.

At stage two, storming, decisions don't come easily within the group. Some of the traditional
group decision pitfalls exist, and the leader must guide the team through them. Team members
jockey for position as they try to establish themselves in comparison to other members and the
leader. Purpose begins to solidify, but this is the strongest and most viable phase for temper
flare-ups and disagreements. Sub-teams may form, and members may perceive themselves on the
inside or outside. Power Struggles are a daily fact. Compromises begin to show promise and
maturity. The Leader continues to coach and attempt to reach consensus.

At stage three of the Tuckman Model, norming, agreement and consensus is used to form the
team. The team begins to respond well with the leader. Roles and responsibilities become clear
and accepted. Big decisions are now made by the group decisions. Consensus is easier to reach.
Smaller decisions come from individuals or small teams within the group. The team may engage
in fun and social activities. There is general respect for the leader and some leadership is shared
by the team.

At stage four, performing, the team has matured and can function both tactically and
strategically. Each team member knows what is going on and who is doing what. The team
shares vision and can function without assistance from the leader.

Decisions may be delegates to team members. Tuckman's model indicates that the team may
focus on exceeding goals, and can make decisions on their own with criteria set by the leader.
Disagreements occur occasionally, but are resolved within the team positively.

Infosys Technologies Limited (BSE: 500209, NASDAQ: INFY) is a multinational information

technology services company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It is one of India's largest IT
companies with over 100,000 professionals (including subsidiaries) as of Sep 30, 2008. It has
nine development centers in India and over 30 offices worldwide. Its annual revenues for the
fiscal year 2007 - 2008 exceeded US$4 billion with a market capitalization of over US$30 billion

Organizational Example:

Technology use and its effectiveness: Whether to provide better service experience to clients
across geographies or to re-energize the operational processes, technology intrusion has become
inevitable. For a business empire spanning geographies, the use of IT to entangle the segregated
pieces of organizational governance with holistic risk and compliance management is never more

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appreciated than under current marketing and trade constraints feeling the glare of a segregated
market structure.
It is understood by now that a greater amount of synergy is required between these parameters to
achieve effective decision-making on issues that impact strategic step execution and directly
affect the organization’s market standing, reputation and stakeholder confidence. That makes a
strong case for an integrated infrastructure, which presents the analytical attributes of the above
processes in a cohesive fashion for tangible use at the executive level.

In order to build a solid foundation for a strategic decision-making process, it is important that
the financial services business appreciates these processes, visualizes their interrelated
significance and presents them to decision-makers, as depicted in Figure 2. While doing so, there
are some challenges to be expected, but those are welcome if we analyze the long-term dividends
to the organization.

References:

1. Management theory – Howard Smith and Peter Fingar

2. Information Management Services Report- INFOSYS

3. Decision making model By - Dr. Bruce Tuckma

(Total Words 1,465)

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Q.3 Explain the process of conflict. Discuss the impact of conflict on the performance of an
organization you are working in or any organization you are acquainted with .Describe the
organization you are referring to

Conflict: “A battle, contest of opposing forces, discord, antagonism existing between primitive
desires and instincts and moral, religious, or ethical ideals.”

Conflict occurs when two or more people oppose one another because their needs, wants, goals,
or values are different. Conflict is almost always accompanied by feelings of anger, frustration,
hurt, anxiety, or fear.

Conflict management is the practice of identifying and handling conflict in a sensible, fair,
and efficient manner. Conflict management requires such skills as effective communicating,
problem solving, and negotiating with a focus on interests.

Conflict and Its Causes

Many people try to avoid conflict at all costs. Others tend to blame someone or something else
For causing it. These responses do not resolve conflict and may make the situation worse.
Conflict is a normal part of life and there are many issues that could cause conflicts to arise
within community organizations. Conflict can occur between employees, committee members,
ordinary members, volunteers, clients or the community.
If not resolved, conflict can be highly destructive. However, committees can take steps to
minimize potential situations of conflict before they arise or to resolve conflict constructively.

1. Misunderstandings
• The nature, aims and objectives of a job
• Differing expectations about how things should be done
• Work conditions and wages
• The different responsibilities of management and employees
• Differences in values, beliefs, needs, or priorities

2. Poor Communication
Communication relies on clear and complete messages being sent as well as being received.
Problems can be reduced by paying attention to how well you send messages and how well you
receive them. Both managers and workers are responsible for ensuring that these issues are
considered. There are many ways to improve information flow and communication. Here are
some suggestions:

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• Keep message books/day books

• Keep policy books which include all policies as decided at meetings
• Hold regular staff/management meetings for passing on information
• Have frequent employee meetings
• Ensure correspondence is available for everyone to see
Unclear communication from staff to clients is another common source of conflict. It is vital that
"house rules" are written down for clients, and that there are no variations in the interpretation of
those rules. Distressed clients can very quickly become confused and angry if they feel that they
are not being listened to - especially by those who say they care.

3. Lack Of Planning

Lack of planning often means an organization moves from one crisis to the next. This sense of
disorganization and lack of direction can be stressful and can create many problems including
misunderstandings. The time spent in planning will be recouped many times over in the more
efficient use of workers' time, and in real and long-term benefits to clients.

4. Poor Staff Selection

Inappropriate selection of staff can result in ill-feeling and conflict. Feelings of ill-will may be
increased by dismissing staff members.
While staff conflict problems can never be entirely avoided, they can be minimized with good
staff selection procedures.

Process of Conflict or Dispute

• "Disputes of right", where people or groups are entitled by law, by contract, by previous
agreement or by established practice to certain rights. Disputes of right will focus on
conflict issues such as employment contracts, legally enforceable matters or unilateral
changes in accepted or customary practices.

• "Disputes of interest", where the conflict may be a matter of opinion, such as where a
person or group is entitled to some resources or privileges (such as access to property,
better working conditions, etc). Because there is no established law or right, a dispute of
interest will usually be solved through collective bargaining or negotiation.

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Stages of conflict

The handling of conflict requires awareness of its various developmental stages. If leaders in the
situation can identify the conflict issue and how far it has developed, they can sometimes solve it
before it becomes much more serious. Typical stages include:

• Where potential for conflict exists - in other words where people recognize that lack of
resources, diversity of language or culture may possible result in conflict if people are not
sensitive to the diversity.
• Latent conflict where a competitive situation could easily spill over into conflict - e.g. at
a political rally or in the workplace where there are obvious differences between groups
of people.
• Open conflict - which can be triggered by an incident and suddenly become real conflict.

Signs of conflict between individuals

In the organization leaders and members should be alert to signs of conflict between colleagues,
so that they can be proactive in reducing or resolving the conflict by getting to the root of the
issue. Typical signs may include:

• colleagues not speaking to each other or ignoring each other

• contradicting and bad-mouthing one another
• deliberately undermining or not co-operating with each other, to the downfall of the team

Signs of conflict between groups of people

Similarly, leaders and members can identify latent conflict between groups of people in the
organization or the community and plan action before the conflict becomes open and destructive:

• cliques or factions meeting to discuss issues separately, when they affect the whole
organization
• one group being left out of organizing an event which should include everybody
• groups using threatening slogans or symbols to show that their group is right and the
others are wrong

Resolve conflict situations

Collective bargaining

Especially in workplace situations, it is necessary to have agreed mechanisms in place for groups
of people who may be antagonistic (e.g. management and workers) to collectively discuss and
resolve issues. This process is often called "collective bargaining", because representatives of
each group come together with a mandate to work out a solution collectively. Experience has
shown that this is far better than avoidance or withdrawal, and puts democratic processes in place

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to achieve "integrative problem solving", where people or groups who must find ways of co-
operating in the same organization, do so within their own agreed rules and procedures.

Conciliation

The dictionary defines conciliation as "the act of procuring good will or inducing a friendly
feeling". South African labour relations legislation provides for the process of conciliation in the
workplace, whereby groups who are in conflict and who have failed to reach agreement, can
come together once again to attempt to settle their differences. This is usually attempted before
the more serious step of a strike by workers or a lock-out by management is taken; and it has
been found useful to involve a facilitator in the conciliation process. Similarly, any other
organization (e.g. sports club, youth group or community organization) could try conciliation as
a first step.

Conflict between reliance brother & effect on business

The Reliance Group, founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest private
sector enterprise, with businesses in the energy and materials value chain. Group's annual
revenues are in excess of US$ 34 billion. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is
a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest private sector company in India.

Backward vertical integration has been the cornerstone of the evolution and growth of Reliance.
Starting with textiles in the late seventies, Reliance pursued a strategy of backward vertical
integration - in polyester, fiber intermediates, plastics, petrochemicals, petroleum refining and oil
and gas exploration and production - to be fully integrated along the materials and energy value
chain

Conflict/dispute

Reliance is owned by a clutch of 14 companies, which in turn are owned by a complex web of
investment outfits. The company has been witnessing unprecedented acrimony at the top with
the differences between Anil and Mukesh, sons of the late Dhirubhai Ambani, the group's
founder having reached a point of no return. Anil has been criticizing the corporate governance
practices in Reliance Industries and Reliance Infocomm, companies controlled by Mukesh. In
particular, Anil is unhappy with some share transfers that have taken place after Dhirubhai's
death. Meanwhile, Mukesh is upset by Anil's stance over the infusion of funds into the Reliance
Infocomm project. Mukesh also objects to Anil's lavish lifestyle, his association with film stars
and political ambitions, which he feels are detrimental to the group. The class is asked to
discuss three different options which have been suggested by legal experts to settle the matter,
and figure out where Dhirubhai had gone wrong. This case brings out the importance of how
and excellent firm can be badly hit by interpersonal conflict.

Effect of conflict on business

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1. Resulted in immediate collapse in market share price

2. Fatalities the shareholder and investor confidence
3. Leads to uncertainty & ambiguity in employees mind about the job security
4. Division of Mega organization

References:

1. Conflict Management Skills By- Gregorio Billikopf

2. Conflict Resolve model By Roger Fisher
3. Time of India Article Reliance brother conflicts

Total words (1,482)

Q.4 Explain the various channel of communication. Describe the importance of grapevine
communication. Illustrate from an organization you are familiar with. Describe the
organization you are referring to

Communication “Any act by which one person gives to or receives from person information
about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication
may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may
take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes” The art of
communication Julia Scherba

Communication as process “of transferring information from a sender to a receiver with the use
of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by both sender
Communication is the process of transferring information from a sender to a receiver with the
use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by both sender and
receiver.”

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Communication Channels (Organizational Communication) there are different ways of

circulating or transmitting communication. Types of communication may be different according
to the media and means adopted. Communication is the flow of messages from communicator to
receiver. In a. Very tall network and flat network information flows in different directions. The
organization is concerned with 'the flow of communication. CLASSIFICATION

Thus the total communication set-up may broadly be classified as' follows:

1. According to Organizational Structure and Function

 Formal Communication.
 Informal Communication.

2. According to 'Direction of flow

 Downward Communication
 Upward 'Communication
 Horizontal Communication or Lateral Communication or Cross-Wise

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Formal Communication:

An official communication having official backing and sanction.A precise communication

channel following a fixed pattern rather than occurring without control. Under formal system of
communication the message flows according to a fixed and prescribed way. Formal.
Communication is both oral and written, but mostly black and white. They originate from the
formal organizational structure. They are related to the position in the organization. As such they
are linked to all sorts of formalities, rules, procedures etc, Opposed to grape wine or informal
communication.

Reasons for Rules: Rules are framed and enforced, in formal system. There are a number of
causes for formulating formal rules and formal channels of communication. According to Myers
and Myers formal rules and systems of communications exist in an' organization at least for the
following reasons:

 To control and measure outputs and to articulate the rules them selves.

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 To coordinate complex activities in the system and relate the subsystems to each other
and to the organization.
 To regulate responses to other systems outside to the environment, and to competing
systems so a high level of predictable behavior may be maintained and consistency
encouraged.
 To coordinate resource allocation of people money and things.

Merits of Formal Communication

11. Correct Information: There is no place in formal communication to spread incorrect

information as well as rumours. The dangers, which arise on account of incorrect
information, would not take place in formal communication. By definition formal
indicates sustentative evidence or facts. It may not be damaging when circulated and
acted upon it.
2
32. Official Banking: The formal communication is always an official communication
having official support and sanction. This method may not lead to distracted information
because there is official sanction and may not even turn into gossip and rumours.

43. Existence of Authority: Formal communication through channels and commands

promotes respect by subordinates to their superiors. In other words it maintains authority
of the line officers – subordinates. Under this system there are officially recognized and
fixed positions associated with duties and responsibilities. The deliberately created
communication rules help in exercising control over subordinates. The superiors can
command subordinates to get the things done.

54. Efficient Communication: Prompt and accurate flow of information is the function of
sound communication. This can be achieved under formal communication method. It is
sound and proper method of channelizing information. There is always direct contract
between the parties and relationship is always formal and official.

6
Demerits of Formal Communication
1. Delay: The formal network of communication takes more time to pass information. Thus
formal channel is not a spontaneous and flexible and hence it. Would take more time in
transmitting information.

2. Internal Means Only: Formal Communication represents natural desire of the

management in the organization to interact and communicate with each other. In this
superior directs the subordinates.

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3. Information Overload: Information overload represents overload of work with heavy

information. In a complex business organization there is always many series of messages
and information to be tackled.

4. Absence of Outside Interface: Interface with other sources of information about the
organization external to the organization also usually taking place in the real world
situation. In a formal communication there is no interface with the outside in any way.
Formal communication is transmitted only by virtue of one's position in the organization
structure. It is concerned between superior-subordinate relationships arising out of
officially recognized positions. .
B. Grapevine Communication or Informal

Informal communication is also called as grapevine. This type of communication arises

on account of Informal relationship between the persons. Informal communication grows up
spontaneously from personal and group interest. In, such circumstances communication is said to
be only informal. Informal communication is characterized and may be conveyed by a simple
glance, nod, smile, gesture and even mere silence. Informal channel is the most effective one and
transmits information with considerable speed. It can pass both correct information as well 'as
rumours. It all. Depends upon group leader and his honesty and, credibility and trustworthiness.
Informal communication network is formed to transmit, messages quickly. H. Koontz and O
Donnell

Small informal groups are formed based on work and social relationship. In this there are no
formal organizational hierarchies of superior and subordinates. They are not formed based on
positions and lines of authority. The organization chart or structure does not determine the
informal relation. In this type of communication there are no formalities, procedures, rules etc. It
represents the absence of official backing and there is no authority and control. It is called
grapevine because which denotes informal means of circulating information or gossip.
Management can utilize this channel for, effective and speedy communication. Certain messages
are not suitable to calculate by formal means.

According to H. Koontz and O Donnell "The most effective communication results when
managers utilize the informal organization to supplement the communication channels of the
formal organization.

Merits of Informal Communication

11. Morale Uniting Force: Grapevine acts as a driving force to unite the work force in cases
of common matters. The grapevine serves as a morale uniting force when there are high
interest in new policies, innovations in procedures or personnel, and sufficient data about
the organization without any value judgments.
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2
32. Save Time: The informal communication helps to save time in circulating information.
Grapevine is spontaneous and flexible; it would not take more time in circulating
message.

43. Immediate Response: Response from informal communication can be interacted

immediately; immediate response from given information transmitted to the receiver is
necessary to the management to take decisions. The advantage of immediate response can
be obtained from informal communication.

54. Public Relations: Public Relations are another wing of the management function.
Informal relations are essential for effective public relations. Public relations fail because
lack of informal relations and informal communications. Thus informal communication is
the key to the successful public relations.

15. Creation of Ideas: Informal communication generates ideas and offer appropriate
suggestions that are proved more helpful. This advantage is not available in case of
formal communication. In a formal set up interactions must take place according to
prescribed rules, procedures line and authority.

Consistency of communication in an Organization (General Electrical Group -GE)

As one of the largest and most diverse companies in the world, GE has flattened its management
structure in order to improve communication and build a more cohesive culture around its
values.Employees are schooled from day one about the values and GE approach to
business“People get the message very early. You might be in Australia, but that doesn’t mean
that we don’t have the same focus on the same values. So we try to get that message to them very
early on so there is no confusion about what we mean when it comes to values versus execution.

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This is particularly important when it comes to acquisitions. In such instances, GE firstly brings
all employees into the fold and communicates with them about the GE values and approach to
business. In some cases the business CEO may send their own local communication on a weekly
or monthly basis to further update their employees on the status of the business and key values
and behavior they are reinforcing.

Consistency in the values is also important when communicating across different countries and
cultures. “Depending on where you’re located in the world or which business you’re in, there can
be considerable differences from a public or commercial perspective. But there is no difference
in terms of our common and global policies and how we run the business – particularly when it
comes to compliance,”

References:
Organizational Communication Part –I by H. Koontz and O: Donnell
Communication Management by M. T. Myers and G. E. Myers
Consistency of communication General Electric Company (GE)

Total words (1,497)

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Q.5 Explain different leadership style. Is there any difference between
successful and effective leader? Discuss with suitable example from an
organization you are familiar with. Describe the organization you are
referring to

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an
effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education,
training, and experience.

Leadership can be define as “the capacity to establish direction and to influence and align
others toward a common goal, motivating and committing them to action and making them
responsible for their performance” F.W. Taylor’s

Leadership is the process of influencing others towards the attainment of certain pre-defined
goals. Leadership style refers to the methodology adopted by the leader to carry out the roles and
responsibilities of the leadership process. The paper examines leadership and discusses trait,
behavioral, contingency, and contemporary approaches to leadership

Principles of Leadership

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have to
understand your b e , k n o w , and d o , attributes. Seeking self-improvement means
continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-study,
formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.
2. Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid
familiarity with your employees' tasks.
3. Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, and
planning tools.
4. Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the
importance of sincerely caring for your workers.
5. Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with not only them, but
also seniors and other key people.
6. Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good character
traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.
7. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished - Communication
is the key to this responsibility.
 8. Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization,
department, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a group of people
doing their jobs.

Factors of leadership

There are four major factors in leadership:

Follower
Different people require different styles of leadership. For example, a new hire requires more
supervision than an experienced employee. A person who lacks motivation requires a different
approach than one with a high degree of motivation. You must know your people! The
fundamental starting point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs,
emotions, and motivation. You must come to know your employees' b e , k n o w , and d o
attributes.

Leader
Leader must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can
do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader who determines if a leader is successful. If
they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful
you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being
followed.
Communication
you lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, when you "set
the example," that communicates to your people that you would not ask them to perform
anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or
harms the relationship between you and your employees.

Situation
All are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must use
your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each
situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if
the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove
ineffective.

Various leadership styles

Autocratic

In the autocratic style, the leader takes decisions without consulting with others. The decision
is made without any form of consultation. In Lewin's experiments, he found that this caused
the most level of discontent.

An autocratic style works when there is no need for input on the decision, where the decision
would not change as a result of input, and where the motivation of people to carry out
subsequent actions would not be affected whether they were or were not involved in the
decision-making.

Democratic

In the democratic style, the leader involves the people in the decision-making, although the
process for the final decision may vary from the leader having the final say to them facilitating
consensus in the group.

Democratic decision-making is usually appreciated by the people, especially if they have been
used to autocratic decisions with which they disagreed. It can be problematic when there are a
wide range of opinions and there is no clear way of reaching an equitable final decision.

Laissez-Faire

The laissez-faire style is to minimize the leader's involvement in decision-making, and hence
allowing people to make their own decisions, although they may still be responsible for the
outcome.
Laissez-faire works best when people are capable and motivated in making their own
decisions, and where there is no requirement for a central coordination, for example in sharing
resources across a range of different people and groups

Participative Leadership

A Participative Leader, rather than taking autocratic decisions, seeks to involve other people in
the process, possibly including subordinates, peers, superiors and other stakeholders. Often,
however, as it is within the managers' whim to give or deny control to his or her subordinates,
most participative activity is within the immediate team. The question of how much influence
others are given thus may vary on the manager's preferences and beliefs, and a whole spectrum
of participation is possible, as in the table below.

< Not participative Highly participative >

Leader proposes
Team proposes Joint decision
Autocratic decision, listens to Full delegation of
decision, leader with team as
decision by leader feedback, then decision to team
has final decision equals
decides

There are many varieties on this spectrum, including stages where the leader sells the idea to
the team. Another variant is for the leader to describe the 'what' of objectives or goals and let
the team or individuals decide the 'how' of the process by which the 'how' will be achieved (this
is often called 'Management by Objectives').
The level of participation may also depend on the type of decision being made. Decisions on
how to implement goals may be highly participative, whilst decisions during subordinate
performance evaluations are more likely to be taken by the manager

Successful versus Effective Leader

Successful leadership has been defined as the ability to get others to behave as the manager
intends them to behave. The job may get done, and the coach’s needs may be satisfied, but the
players’ needs are ignored.

In effective leadership, the athletes perform in accordance with the coach’s intentions and, at
the sometime, find their own needs satisfied. The positive feelings of the subordinates usually
contribute to long-term benefits such as team loyalty, support, and enjoyment of participation, an
important component of intrinsic motivation. For instance, team captains might feel better about
their role if the coach gave them a sense of importance, perhaps a significant responsibility
Like calling team members to remind them about an upcoming event. Resolving conflicts in the
privacy of a coach’s office rather then in the presence of teammates contributes to team and
coach loyalty and is an effective leadership technique. Effective coaches are con-
Leaders who are Successful but not effective

Leaders who are Effective

 Leadership within GE

GE’s global CEO Jeffrey Immelt takes one month out of the organization each year and travels
from business to business to assist in the strategic HR planning process. Sheppard believes this
is testament to the emphasis that GE places on its people planning processes and their
importance to the management of the company.

“A leader can energies others – they can create an environment that propagates vision, and their
team will execute on that vision. More importantly they inspire and motivate others, they are
constantly listening to others in order to empower employees, and they’re expected to follow
through on what they require of their teams,”

“But the real difference for the cream of the leadership crop is in those who are prepared to
listen to feedback and act on it. Everybody gets feedback within GE, but the people, who want
to be successful, regardless of their background, are those who actually hear what the
organization, employees and peers are telling them, and they change their behavior. This is
critical at the senior level, as some people will start with strength in one particular area and
need to grow in another.”

References:

1. Bass, Bernard (1989). Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and

Research. New York: Free Press
2. Leadership in organization by F.W. Taylor’s

Total words (1438)

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