Introduction
In modern organizational environment, leader-manager faces diverse challenges caused by internal and external causes and economic changes. The purpose of modern management is to provide organization with a framework in which decisions can be made which will have an impact on the organization. A conscious effort to systematize the effort and to manage its evolution is preferable to an unmanaged and haphazard evolution.
The basic planning problem is how to allocate the organization’s limited resources. The major benefits to be expected from planning include an improved sense of direction for the organization, better performance, increased understanding of the organization and its purpose, earlier awareness of problems, and more effective decisions. Long-range planning is most often an extrapolation of the present. The main challenges discussed and described by theorists (Mintzberg (2007), Goleman et al (2002), Kouzes and Posner ()2007, Boyatis and McKee (2005) are motivation and inspiring of employees, ethical issues and development of the organizational culture in international and multicultural organizations.
Theorists
There are several leadership theorists that attempted to quantify leaders through various metrics. Mintzberg (2007), for instance, provided qualities usually observed in transformational leaders. Kouzes and Posner ()2007) further explained the idea quantifying leadership through motivation and cgange. Based on the metrics, transformational leaders are believed to be guided by five dimensions. On the other hand, Boyatis and McKee (2005) noted that there are three primary aspects that define the existence of leaders. Aside from the set leadership qualities, there are theorists that provide suggestions on how effective leadership is accessed.
There are various qualities that have to be possessed to ensure that leadership among individuals will evolve continuously (Segriovanni and Glickman 2006). Although there are several qualities involved, the universal though states that both tangible and intangible attributes are necessary. The level of technical of technical skills is important as well as the charisma exuded by leaders (Armandi et al 2003).
Challenges of Motivation
Motivation is often considered one of the oldest concepts in management, thus, it is still one of the most difficult processes for leader-managers. The challenge is that it is extremely difficult for modern leader-managers to motivate and inspire employees, analyze their needs and meet these needs. Lack of leadership and management skills may lead to a failure, low productivity and poor organizational performance. In modern environment, the main challenge is that leader-manager deals with culturally and economically diverse workforce, so he/she should be well aware of motivational theories and their practical application (Barker 2001).
Motivation is one of the main factors which influence productivity and morale, feelings and human relations in the workplace. There are different theories of motivation which try to explain human needs and intentions, intrinsic and extrinsic drivers. People with a high degree of achievement motivation are more persistent, realistic, and action-minded than people with other kinds of motivational patterns. This does not necessarily make them more productive; that seems to depend on whether the task requires some degree of personal initiative or inventiveness.
Following Reed (2001): “Motivation must be understood not as a series of separate “needs” but as the dynamic aspect of the very functioning of a living organism. In other words any living organism is, in effect, a pattern of intrinsically active and directed relational functioning” (p. 60). If it does, the achievement-motivated person is very likely to leave his competitors far behind. The case shows that motivation of Bill Johnson has changed influenced by external and internal stimuli (Boehnke and Bontis 2003).
Following Douglas McGregor (2008), once basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are satisfied, he wants friends and to get folksy and group. Once these needs for belonging are satisfied, he wants recognition and respect from his fellowmen and he wants to achieve independence and competence for himself (Robbins, 2002). One approach, widely known by managers, is set out by Abraham H. Maslow in his book “Motivation and Personality”.
Maslow’s theory of motivation claims that human motives develop in sequence according to five levels of needs. These needs are: psychological (hunger, thirst), safety (protection), social (be accepted, belong to a certain group), esteem (self-confidence, achievements, respect, status, recognition), and self-actualization (realizing one’s potential for continued self-development) (Maslow, 1970). This theory show that needs follow in sequence and when one need is satisfied it decreases in strength and the higher need then dominates behavior. This leads to the statement that a satisfied need is not a motivator. There is a doubt whether this really applies in practice to the higher needs as it is likely that self-esteem requires continues stimulation and renewal (Robbins, 2002).
There is a doubt whether this really applies in practice to the higher needs as it is likely that self-esteem requires continues stimulation and renewal. In spite of its clarity it has some limitations which make it unacceptable in all situations.
Few attempts have been made to test the validity of Maslow’s ideas. A big problem is that Bill does not satisfy higher-order needs through their jobs or occupations, and this cannot really be tested. Another point is that he viewed satisfaction as a major motivator and this is not directly related to production. In addition, Maslow does not mention the time period between various needs. In 1968 Hall and Nougaim studied a company in America and used four of Maslow’s needs categories (Brown, 1974).
Following Soleman et al (2002) inspiring can be explained as the ability to inspire energy, to enthuse others, that history records so clearly in the lives of great leaders. Getting the best from people, achieving results through individuals and teams, maintaining consistent high performance, inspiring oneself and others into action — all depend on the skills of motivation. Mintzberg underlines that understanding what moves an individual to action is crucial in a manager being able to engage the will to act.
Motives (which operate the will which leads to action) are inner needs or desires and these can be conscious, semi-conscious or unconscious. Motives can be mixed, with several clustered around a primary motive (Mintzberg, 2007), The main characteristics show that motivation and development of employees are at the heart of effective leadership. Risk taking is inevitable for leaders because they have to accept responsibility for their decisions and find new methods and solutions of doing business or governing the organization. “A good leader provides the right climate and the opportunities for these needs to be met on an individual basis and this is perhaps the most difficult of a leader’s challenges” (Soleman et al 2002, p. 76).
Challenge of Organizational Culture and cross-Cultural Management
At the beginning of the 21st century, leader-managers operate in complex environment marked by cultural and religious diversity. Challenge is to create positive culture and morale which meets the needs of the organization and employees from different backgrounds. The concept of organizational culture views organizations as mini societies with distinctive characteristics of their own. It involves customs and rights, norms, values and behavior patterns established by the company and its employees. Organizational culture has a significant impact on all spheres of business performance including customer relations and social responsibility.
Following Schein (1996): “the culture of a group can now be defined as a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration” (p. 12). A strong impact of corporate culture can be explained by the fact that the process of management takes place within the context of the organizational setting, and the effective management depends upon its culture and climate, morale and commitment of employees.
The main levels of culture are artifacts, espoused values and basic assumptions. The three levels are interdependent and linked to each other. Artifacts include visual organizational structures and process; espoused values involve strategic goals and plans, philosophy and mission of a company; basic assumptions are based on beliefs, thoughts and feelings of employees (on the unconscious level). Mental models constitute the basis for our assumptions and points of view. They are created by theories, myths, stories, and images that frame, focus, or revise the ways we experience the world (Soleman et al 2002).
Group evolution is closely connected with integrity and change processes. Following Schien (1996): “degree of consensus is more functional in the early growth of the group and can become dysfunctional in later stages” (Schein 1996, p. ). Actions growth and cultural evolution are the main process of group development. In general, schein identofies three main stages:
- the founding and development stage,
- action and growth stage and
- maturity.
Boyatzis and McKee (2005) suppose that external adaptation and internal integration are interlinked. All reasonable alternatives are subject to comparative evaluations of both non-financial and financial factors in order to ensure selection of the most satisfactory strategy. Elements of the organizational environment, feasibility, cost, and the desirability of the strategy with respect to organizational purposes and values make up the evaluation criteria.
In the course of the evaluation, unsuspected obstacles may be discovered, or the possibility of a future controllable event may require that a “next best” strategy be considered as a contingency. “The company assumed that internal acceptance was an acceptable surrogate for external acceptance” (Schein 1996, p. 62). Survival is achieved through growth and adaptation in environment and to new business values (Soleman et al 2002).
Cross cultural considerations can be considered as the main issues of organizations complexity and performance. In order to develop positive workplace relationships, deeper assumptions are directed at developing such intangibles as a personal management style, maturity as a manager, and self-confidence. These issues are: unique perception of reality and truth, perception of time and space, understanding of human nature and the role of human activity and interpersonal relationships (Armandi et al 2003). What is defined as physical, social, or individual reality is itself the product of social learning and hence, by definition, a part of a given culture” (Schein 1996, p. 100).
A great deal can be learned from the cultural environment if attention is paid to complaints, compliments, surveys, and other opinions of employees and patterns of service demand. “Among the factors to be considered as part of the internal organizational environment are the structure of an organization, its history, its unique strengths and weaknesses, changes in its values, and its culture” (Kouzes and Posner 2007, p. 79).
Challenge of Ethical Considerations
Many leader-managers are faced with moral and ethical delima in the workplace. In order to know what the business can do for the community, it must first thoroughly know and understand its own resource capability in the areas of money, manpower, equipment, space, and managerial and technical expertise. Once this is known, then it can be correlated with the various community needs to determine how helpful, if at all, the company can be to the community. It may be as simple as supplying a few employees for local volunteer work to assisting the community in an in-depth study program or building program in a particular area.
It is just as important to know the community and its needs as it is to know the company’s capabilities. Someone within the company must work with the community to become familiar with the community needs, or the company must establish some type of internal committee or board to study community problems. The committee or board should be composed of people from the company and various representatives of community organizations. Finally, once a program selection has been made it must be carefully monitored; this must involve both review and control. Proper monitoring will enhance the image of the company and improve the chance of program success. Project feedback and follow-up will ensure that the project is being executed within time and funds limitations (Soleman et al 2002).
In order to solve ethical problems and make moral choice, leader-managers should rely on traditional ethical theories such as deontology or Judeo-Christian ethics, social corporate responsibility and corporate standards. The achievement-motivated person is not necessarily lacking in compassion, but especially if he is young and has never tasted defeat, he is likely to be lacking in perspective (Robbins, 2002).
Bill may be impatient or critical with subordinates who react with less certainty and optimism than he does. He may not be sufficiently “acquainted with grief” himself to understand how important security is to some people, or why change is sometimes so threatening, or why sustained exertion is often resisted even when the rewards are great. In a word, the achievement-oriented young man may become an insensitive, ineffective supervisor (Petri & Govern 2003).
There are other conditions under which morale does not have much of an effect one way or another upon productivity. This is largely true of machine — paced jobs or those in which the individual is essentially following a program and need not exercise much judgment. In those cases where morale is actually associated with low productivity, it is usually because a frozen group has developed which restricts productivity as a price of membership. The regulars who enjoy the security of belonging to the group will be fairly content and may register high morale scores on many attitude scales, but they will also tend to be uniformly low in production.
The few rate busters will usually resent their isolation rather bitterly, and this will be reflected on attitude scales as low morale, yet their productivity will run high. Despite these issues, the maintenance of moral values and principles must be seen a main responsibility of a leader-manager. “Managerial and professional talent is much more likely to develop when morale is sustained at a high level, and the image which a company presents to prospective new employees is quite likely to reflect any widespread internal conditions of morale” (Armstrong, 2003, p. 132). In its turn, the task and duty of managers, leaders and administrators is to apply moral and ethical principles to business world and meet social responsibility issues and take into environmental concerns (Soleman et al 2002).
In sum, effective leadership is often related to the traits being observed among individuals. Certain traits are expected to drive leadership to success. As leaders evolve, their skill sets are being enhanced by experiences. Training is also a viable tool that will ensure that such traits are used effectively. Leadership, as described by scientific proponents becomes effective when a development stage is being outlined. The cycle usually involves identification of individuals with such qualities. Then the process of elimination begins until the right personnel are identified for the training to commence.
Other studies on effective leadership lead to highlighting of situations and circumstances. The basic assumption in this notion is that different approaches to leadership are guided by situational realities. The success of leaders in various situations is initiated by a strong sense of cooperation In a more comprehensive definition, effective leaders are moulded into effective directors and members. There are determinants that are perceived to affect leadership traits within situations. The considerations expand from minor events to contingencies where the strong leaders usually emerge.
The culture being followed in companies act as consolidator of beliefs, goals, assumptions, and values of the members. In most instances, the strong organisations provide the best results. These outcomes are critical in ensuring the existence of firms in competitive industries and markets. Leadership in mature organization is characterized by strategic approach and development strategies.
Leadership style is major determinants of the resultant learning development and contributive performance of those being coached. In declining organizations, culture change and economic health will be a problem. The role and task of a leader-manager is to maintain positive morale and climate in order to support employees and direct their actions. Motivation and positive climate are the main priorities of effective leadership.
In sum, the challenges mentioned above require strong personal skills and knowledge of leader-managers. Persons whose status factors are congruent tend to show certain uniformities of behavior that are different from those manifested by persons whose status factors are not congruent. They offered interesting and significant uniformities for theoretical speculation. Since this arrangement goes against the grain of many individuals, it sets the stage for conflicts and wastes the potentialities of both the individual and the organization.
The controls are presumably necessary to keep people in line and to prevent chaotic inefficiency, but critics asserts that this presumption is just plain wrong and that when people are positively motivated, they can actually be a lot more cooperative and efficient without controls than they ever could be with them. Not only is the worker capable of keeping himself in line without having a foreman peering over his shoulder, but he can even produce more because he won’t have to drain off so much energy and ingenuity in finding ways to thwart the foreman. The individual’s own internal discipline costs less and accomplishes much more than the imposed discipline of the organization.
Leadership as a concept, however, has one questionable assumption, caught like a fly in amber, within the image behind. A leader seems to imply a follower. Other leaders, at all levels and in all fields, can and should aspire to that ideal. For it is the only kind of leadership that will really work over a long period of time among free and equal people.
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