Executive Summary
Management is a concept that is dependent on a host of things most of which are core to the success of the approach that is taken to ensure its success. Two of these elements are planning and leading as functions of management.
Their importance in managing large workforces is the centre of interest for many theorists since it is acceptably considered that when they are properly balanced and utilized, management of personnel and productivity are returns that can be clearly anticipated; this is the central aim that this paper seeks to discuss.
Introduction
There are many capacities that Management functions that accords managers when it comes to managing large workforces. It is a concept that is at the centre of human resource management which is critically becoming central to the corporate management in these current modern times when it comes to corporate leadership and investment (Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2008).
These functions are intrinsically intertwined within business concepts of planning and leadership and it is on these premises that the functions are considered either successful or inadequate depending on how they have been used and applied by managers and persons in responsibility in give organizations.
With properly instituted management functions of planning and leading, managers can have an ostensibly easy time in their pursuit of managing large workforces in their organizations which would directly lead to greater profitability (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001). To discuss this topic, the report will take a case study of the Australia’s high end department store chain: David Jones Limited.
AIM
The aim of this report is to identify, discuss and evaluate how the management functions of planning and leading can be used by managers to manager a diverse workforce in their organizations.
Scope
The scope of this report covers the entire human resource department of David Jones Limited of Australia which is a large department of this Multi-National Corporation that is charged with the responsibility of catering for all employee-related needs of the corporation.
The report also contained data collected from 150 respondents from this department which is did not cover all the employees in the department (Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2008).
The data was covered in a period of three weeks. Finally the discussion was done based on the theory of Management heavily dependent on Robins as the main study book used and this may equally create limitation in liberalism that is may be observed with other non-conservative authorities in the field of management.
Assumptions And Limitations
There were a number of assumptions that were made for this report regarding the data collected and this regarded the state of the respondents. It was assumed that the size of the respondents taken was a fair and true representation of the true feelings and realities of the entire department and by extrapolation the whole company.
The limitations of this report is that the report specifically focused on human resource issues regarding management functions of planning and leading and therefore conclusions arrived may not be universally assumes for other intricate situations like in economic and socio-cultural settings of management (Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2008).
Methodology
The two forms of data collection that were used were primary and secondary data. Primary data is what was collected from the respondents for the specific purpose of the research study, while secondary data is what was collected by other researchers for their own purposes, but which was relevant to the this study.
Both of these methods were used in the current study. Case studies such as the current one allow for collection of data in the form of documentation, interviews and observation (Katzell & Thompson, 1990).
Interviews and questionnaires were the source of primary data in this study. The interview questions were both structured (with set responses) and open ended (in which the respondents are free to give their own answers). Questionnaires were also constructed in the same way.
The advantage of interviews over questionnaires was that the data could be collected immediately, while questionnaires provided data in a more permanent form. Both methods of data were used in this study to enhance the reliability and validity of data (Kets de Vries, 1996).
Secondary data used in this study comprised of information contained in books, journals, articles, reports, scholarly papers and company documents. The data in these secondary sources were used to support the research objectives and the primary data.
The data was stored by entering it into MS-Excel and then coded into SPSS Statistical Software. This software was then used for analyzing the data so as to give clearer presentation of the data and also help in achieving all the required analytical methods so as to attain the right understanding of the data and thus come up with the right interpretation, conclusions and recommendations from the data (Kotter, 1990).
Background
David Jones Limited was set up in 1838 by a Welsh immigrant called David Jones since then still boasts of being the largest department store that has been in continuous operation ever since then to date (McMahon, 2007). Currently, DJs has thirty seven stores most of which are located in Australian states and its indigenous states territories.
It has been built through acquisitions and mergers with other companies over the years like the Adelaide Steamship Company, Petersville Sleigh, Tooth and Company, Buffum’s and Penfolds Inc. among others (McMahon, 2007). At the downfall of the e1995 fiscal year, DJs announced that it was having an $800 million pubic float in its retail operations which led it to be subsequently listed among the prosperous companies that were floated in the Australian Stock Exchange and this time came with a new ASX code of DJS (McMahon, 2007).
With a large workforce, DJS at some point started experiencing difficulties in its operations that it became apparent that it was not operating under profit. This caused the management through well-outlined management concepts and strategies of planning and leadership to take measures to rescue the corporation.
In 2003, there was such a strategic planning that saw the closing of two stores that were considered unprofitable and these were the DJS online web based business that was running at a loss and the Gourmet Food Retail stores called the Foodchain (McMahon, 2007).
The management led a renovation campaign where many of its stores were revitalized including the Market Street stores and the Flagship Elizabeth Street store situated in Sydney.
The management strategies greatly improved operations of the business and the entire company has enjoyed flamboyant economic profitability as well as improving its profile and this is owed to the increased consumer spending boom and the acquisition of business deals and mergers with other renowned companies (Mankins, 2006).
As of now, David Jones trades its share at A$4.50 and sales have increased by almost 6.4% to trade at about 22 061.2 million dollars.
Plan
This report takes the structure of a research paper where the research problem is first stated as captured in the details above under the aims of the report.
It is then followed by a detailed explanation and discussion of the research topic where concepts and theories of different authorities on the topic are discussed to create the understanding that is needed for deduction of conclusions and inferences.
These views under the discussion regarding to how management functions of planning and leading can be used by managers to manage a diverse workforce in their organizations are given in a detailed and logical flow for easy following.
The report then relies on theories of management practices to deduce the clear understanding that settles the discussion where in the conclusion the research question is answered to meet the aim of the report.
Discussion
Planning
Planning is a great concept in management as it gives managers of corporation direction as regards where the organization needs to go and assigns timelines in which such directions can and should be attained and adhered to. As a function of management, planning allows managers capacity to adequately prepare for ventures intended to be taken and minimizes chances of surprise and unintended as well as unexpected expenditure (Mitchell & Mickel, 1999).
According to Reis (2001), managers are under the ostensible requirement to have adequate knowledge of planning as to have proper understanding of its purpose so as to be able to manage and lead their corporations adequately which has been considered as a recipe of greater preparedness when engaging in new business ventures and hence lead to realization of greater profitability (Reis, 2001).
Large workforce of employees particularly requires proper planning so as to ensure that there is no clash of events, under-use of staff and resources and that the overall management and running of the human resource is coordinated appropriately which shows professionalism and general direction for the entire company.
The Process of Decision Making during Planning
Decision making is a contemporary constituent of organizational management that is very instrumental to success and satisfactory realization of organizational goals and objectives. It is the central role decision making process takes in organizational leadership that makes the decision making approach taken to be so imperative in determining the corporation’s success or failure (Saha, 2005).
The two broadly used approaches are the Inquiry Approach and the Advocacy Approach which to some extent are erroneously thought to be similar as discussed below. The rationale decision-making process requires understanding of all the details that are relevant for a given situation before a decision is arrived at.
At the David Jones, the rational decision making process in the Human Resource department usually contains the following generalized steps: the problem is first identified; the relevant information that are concerned with the problem are all tabled and analyzed to ensure that all the information is understood; the information then goes through a brain storming session which allows for critical critique and scrutiny of all the possible responses to the given issue; from these deliberations, the suggestions are given to the management of the department which then considers them critically thereafter makes decisions keeping in mind company policies and shareholders’ and consumers’ interests (Saha, 2005).
Types of Plan
Advocacy Approach paints decision making process as some form of benign contest. This is clearly seen in organizational decisions involving budgetary allocations where participants that tend to favour Advocacy Approach usually appear passionate about their conviction and remain adamantly firm in the event of disagreements (Saha, 2005).
In as much as passion and zest in advocating for a specific position is important for decision making, Advocacy Approach more often than not usually appear to make objectivity untenable during decision making thereby limiting ability to attend to details of opposing arguments (Saha, 2005).
On the other hand, Inquiry Approach is different since it is accommodative of various differing ideas from all schools of thought in an argument. The approach is an open process that generates multiple alternatives, hails the exchange of ideas and offers solutions that are well-tested (Mitchell & Mickel, 1999).
There is no one decision making process that is flawless and perfectly effective in its approach and therefore a hybrid approach that imbibes the two approaches is the one that I would prefer.
This is important since not all decision-making approaches are effective in equal measure and therefore it is necessary that the two approaches are applied to decision making to play supplemental roles to each other.
In the case of decisions involving budgetary allocation for organizational decisions, Advocacy Approach is important for its passionate lobbying capacity and the Inquiry Approach is equally important for its consultative capacity and free exchange of ideas (Mankins, 2006).
These two approaches have important factors that relate to the company’s internal and external analysis especially given their insistence on detailed consideration of factors that are relevant for a given decision to be made.
David Jones being a large MNC it has a Geocentric Marketing Orientation, as it markets and sells its products all over the world. However, some of its production is structured regionally, with production plants in places as diverse as Thailand, South Africa, Argentina and the United States (Mankins, 2006).
The company runs on three main policy goals as detailed by its founder, which are: service to the consumer, respect for the individual and striving for excellence. Its corporate management strategy is to sell the highest quality product and brand names at the lowest cost possible.
With such a robust business, planning is paramount especially since management of the company operations involve a host of many personnel and decisions to be made.
Leading
Leaders v Managers
It is difficult to talk about managing diversity of workers without invoking the concept of leadership. Mankins (2006) states that leaders are persons with the capacity to carry organizations to greater grounds by investing and instilling belief and capacity building of those that they lead.
This is a broad consideration of the concept of leadership which is considered an art that is usually learned and therefore cannot be considered a reserve of a few (Mitchell & Mickel, 1999).This means that leaders are people with the understanding and capacity to help others that they work with to realize their potentials and come to work to greater capacity to given higher profitability for the organizations they work for.
This simply means that all managers should be leaders so as in addition to managing their corporations; they should be able to offer leadership and enable those that they work with to realize their individual potentials to contribute most to their organizations (Mitchell & Mickel, 1999).
Contemporary approaches to Leadership
It has been surmised that the success and effectiveness of leadership is almost single-handedly determined by the approach taken for it. There are many authorities that postulate different theories regarding leadership most of which are predicated on the need of the leader to inspire confidence, build capacity and instill self-worth in the people that they lead (Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2008).
There are a number of leadership styles that have been suggested by different authorities such as Eisenhardt & Sull (2001) which incorporate some of these concepts of leadership. For instance, at David Jones in the department of Human Resource Management that has a huge workforce, the research revealed that the managers use Transformational and Transactional leadership style where the latter is based on the approach that seeks to transform the performance of the members of the team whereas the latter has the approach that uses members’ capacity maximally to realize business and organizational transactions (Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2008).
Transformational leadership style further seeks to balance people’s performance with the tasks they are assigned to.
The other leadership style is used by the managers who are considered Charismatic leaders where they use their excellent gifts of charisma and interpersonal relationships to motivate members of his team into acquiescing in the objectives and vision that he/she sets to achieve with his team (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001).
Sources of Power that a Leader May Have
There are a number of sources that can give a leader power when it comes to management of large workforces. By the virtue of managers being in leadership capacities, it is required of them to have capacity to draw power by their positions which creates a greater need to inspire since such power is supposed to be earned (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001).
There are six sources of power that were observed at David Jones in the Human Resource Department. These are: reward, coercive, legitimate, expert and referent forms of power which were preferred by leaders in varying degrees.
In a nut shell, the coercive form of power is based on fear, legitimate form of power is based on formal position, expert form of power is based on possessing knowledge or skill and referent form of power is based on the desire to identify with oneself (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001).
Managerial positions in the department came with legitimate, coercive and reward powers. From these leadership styles and preferred forms of conflict resolution and power assessment, it was seen from the managers’ preferences and styles that indeed leadership is a wide concept used in management of large workforces in corporations.
Critique of the sources of Power and Leadership Styles
From the foregoing discussion, it has been well captured the styles a approaches of leadership used at David Jones as well as the sources of powers that leaders at the company have. From the research done, the preference of the leadership styles was a reserve of the individual and was not found to be altered with such external factors as gender, race and ethnicity.
Leadership as earlier alluded to is art that through diligence and learning is learnt and exercised from which longevity in service creates experience which is probably among the most imperative elements that differentiates a good leader from a bad one (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001).
It is worth noting that of all the six sources of power, it is important to note that power in leadership is not assumed merely by the virtue of the authority granted to a person by their position; it is a kind of power that should be earned based on the capacity of influence that a leader has on the people he leads.
This kind of power is sustainable and therefore does not bear and dependence on nationality, gender or socio-cultural superiority of such a person that has it; it is purely earned from the influence such a person has on the ones he/she leads (Katzell & Thompson, 1990).
Conclusion
This report paper has been about identifying, discussing and evaluating how management functions of planning and leading can be used by Managers to manage a diverse workforce in their corporations.
It has been seen appropriately that planning is a central aspect of management that when well utilized ensures that there is appropriate flow of information, management of personnel and in return ensuring there is profitability in their contributions to the corporation.
At David Jones, it has been found that managers in the Human Resource Department have been trained appropriately in this regard as they engage extensive planning strategies in running the department in all areas of management; from managing employee issues, to preparing budgetary allocations for the department among others (Katzell & Thompson, 1990).
The other thing that is central to managing large workforces is leadership; without it, it is ostensibly impractical to foresee meaningful development and human resource management.
It is an added requirement for managers to have leadership skills so as to effectively manage their corporations and departments in their attempts to steer higher their departments.
At David Jones, it was observed that managers were well trained in leadership skills which the appropriately used in their management of their departments. In this, it can be justifiably be surmised that the management functions of planning and leading used at David Jones to manage diverse workforces in its departments is effective and helps in realizing profitability for the corporation.
Recommendations
- Improve training managers in the department in the area of leadership as a corporate constituent of management
- Invest in seminars and appraisals that help in teaching capacity building and team work for personnel in the department to ease operations within the large workforce.
- Improve reward schemes for personnel that show effort in their work as a way to encourage their continued commitment and as a way to show that there is appreciation for them even though they work in a large corporation and therefore their importance is noted and appreciated.
- Learning social skills by managers to boast their interpersonal skills is a recommendation that will go a long way to ensure that there is effective communication and appropriate social interaction among the workers and their leaders.
References
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Eisenhardt, K.M., & Sull, D.N. (2001). Strategy as Simple Rules. Harvard Business Review, 79(1), 06-116.
Katzell, R., & Thompson, D. (1990). Work Motivation: Theory and Practice. American Psychologist, 45(2), 144-153.
Kets de Vries, M. (1996). Leaders Who Make a Difference. European Management Journal, 14(5), 486-93.
Kotter, J. (1990). What Leaders Really Do? Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 103-111.
Mankins, M. (2006). Stop Making Plans Start Making Decisions. Harvard Business Review, 84(1) 76-84.
McMahon, S. (2007). David Jones Profit Dazzles. Web.
Mitchell, T., & Mickel, A. (1999). The Meaning of Money: An Individual Difference Perspective. Academy of Management Review, 24(3), 568 – 577.
Reis, D. (2001). Reengineering the Motivation to Work. Management Decision, 39(8), 666-675.
Saha, M. (2005). Green Companies or green Con-panies: Are Companies Really Green, or are They Pretending to be? Business & Society Review, 110(2), 117- 157.