Modern Strategy Leadership Approach Research Paper

Introduction

The success of any organization is tied on the management’s ability to make sound decisions. Managing involves working with other people to achieve the goals of both the company and its employees. In reality, good management should possess the ability to come up with rational evaluation of a situation and be able to decide on what is to be done. The management should also possess the ability to develop strategies on how to achieve the set goals and purposes.

In any given organization, the corporate executive is tasked with the responsibility of guiding the firm in the right direction and ensuring that all the business units in the company are functioning effectively. In order to achieve this, corporate leaders should take into account various issues if they are to attain the organizations goal of creating more wealth. This makes an “organization’s management to be the determining factor of the company’s demise or survival”. (Daft, 2010, p. 27)

According to analysts, a good leader should possess the ability to inspire the employees in the company. in reality, these are leaders who have visions that help others to reach for higher things. Unlike ordinary leaders, inspirational leaders are able to arouse the employees passion into action.

On top of this, a good manager should possess strategic management skills that will spur the organization to greater growth. Actually, coming up with strategies is not as important as possessing the ability to transform the intentions into action. In the current global market characterized by cutthroat competition, possessing modern strategy leadership approach is a key concern for any organization. (Kotelnikov, 2001)

Statement of Problem

Most businesses today are facing closure due to inconsistent leadership, which presents challenges of overwhelming proportions. Most organizations throughout the world are finding it hard to operate as competition heightens. Research done on the cause of this trend has identified poor communication between the management and the employees as the biggest cause of this business failure.

Many managers today do not know how to deal with change in their organizations and this has not gone well for the businesses. Kotelnikov, (2001) also identifies the inability to mange people, lack of goal setting and poor problem solving as the other problems that are affecting businesses. (Kotelnikov, 2001)

Importance of Communication

Communication is one of the key functions of management and its usefulness can hardly be overstressed. Communication refers to the course of passing news, thoughts, opinions and strategies between various organs of a company. It is impossible for a company to have meaningful human relations without communication.

However, it is paramount for a company to have good and efficient communication not only for excellent human relations but also for excellent and flourishing business. For a business to prosper there must be effective communication between the managers and employees. Managers or leaders should be able to effectively pass through important and decisions to its employees for good management-employee relations.

A manager finds it hard to have the needed work done if there is no effective communication between him and the employees. A manager should also possess some important facts like how he is expected to communicate and what the communication intends to achieve. If managers adopt the use of effective communication with their employees, the chances of misunderstanding and misrepresentation will greatly be reduced. (Thomas, 2007)

Apart from being an important tool for fostering good management-employee relations, effective communication has also been found to be a good source of motivating, which cans the self-esteem of workers in an organization. Ineffective or flawed communication among employees or between managers and their juniors is the leading cause of conflict and low-self esteem at work.

A good manager should elucidate to workers what is expected of them, how well they are performing and what they are expected to do in order to improve. This in turn increases the workers motivation and self-esteem. According to Thomas (2007), such kind of communication can be done through a “written communication clearly highlighting the association between the organization goals and individual objectives and merging the interest of the two”. (Thomas, 2007)

By maintaining effective communication, a manager is able to uphold good human relations in the organization at any time. By promoting ideas or suggestions from employees and implementing them when necessary, a manager is able to raise production by using minimum cost. Through effective communication, employees find it easier to submit their work information, remarks, complaints and ideas to their supervisors or management.

Any successful organization should have efficient and speedy communication strategy and measures to evade holdups, misinterpretations, uncertainties or altering of truths. In addition, this also helps to promote harmony among all the concerned parties and departments. This helps in ensuring that every department is running effectively without running the risk of some departments lagging behind. (Thomas, 2007)

In general, there are two types of communication, which are verbal and written. In oral communication, the audience is left with the mandate of interpreting what the speaker is trying to say. However, written communication leaves the audience with no doubt as to the information being transmitted.

This makes written communication more appreciate in delivering messages since its conciseness and correctness leaves no room for misinterpretation of the message. On top of this, written communication provides lasting evidence for future reference and provides a forum for employees to put up their commentary or observation in writing. This makes effective communication an important tool for successful running of an organization. (Thomas, 2007)

In the modern society, no organization functions in a totally formal or prearranged environment. This renders communication designed to operate in an organizational chart ineffective. This calls managers to think outside the box when formulating communication channels. This informal communication fills the gaps that arise due to the constantly changing environment of the business world. This calls for a situation where the employees have to sometimes make decisions without consulting the management.

A good manager should encourage such kind of decisions. When employees cross the line of authority, a good manager should assume the onus of informing those in command of the necessity of the taken action. This motivates the employees and makes them feel part of the decision making process. In effect, this encourages the employees to work hard and gives them the morale to build the company further since the appreciation gives them a sense of belonging.

It is important for managers to differentiate between using informal communication to speed up the work of the company and the unnecessary bypassing of the link of authority. In the speeding up process, the work is done while the unnecessary bypassing of authority leads to resentment and irritation. An effective manager is the one who is able to differentiate between the two roles. (Brink, & Berndt, 2009, p. 27)

The inability by managers to effectively communicate with their employees has diverse negative effects. In the modern society, majority of managers pass very little information down the chain of command but in turn expect too much to be passed from the employees. This gives the employees a sense of insecurity and makes them feel unwanted. If left unchecked, this might lead to high stress levels and subsequent reduced production levels.

In more extreme cases, the affected employees might leave to join a competitor company and hence lead to more loss of business for the affected organization. Additionally, lack of efficient communication causes the employees to find it hard in tendering their work reports, remarks, complaints and ideas to their supervisors or management. This leads to a master-slave relationship between the employees and the management and this might have a negative effect on the organization. (Brink, & Berndt, 2009, p. 28)

Dealing with Change

In any organization, change is unavoidable. In order for a company to grow and thrive, the management must be willing to develop and change. Dealing with change in an organization is something that every manager should be prepared to deal with.

Having strong leadership and focus on the future can help an organization to develop and make important changes that will usher it to a higher level of success. Before an organization can successfully adopt change, the management must have clearly distinct goals. It is only when these clear goals are in place that a company can envision the change as a catalyst to take it to the next level of success.

When employees understand the framework of the change, they are able to change the existing culture that places them at a vantage point to deal with the change. In the face of change, the management should take time to discuss the company’s goals with everyone in the company, and make everyone play their part in bringing about the expected change. In the event where every employee “understands the direction that the company is moving in, they find it easier to cope during the transition period”. (Musselwhite, 2007, p. 1)

In a company, employees find it easier to accept change if there are reasonable ‘baby steps’ set up to help reach the organization’s goals. If the management decides to come with abrupt changes, then the company’s goals can become clouded.

An organization should therefore plan for the change through slow steps that make sense and that are feasible. In order to bring about gradual change, a company should integrate the old methods with the new to allow the employees to use the old system as a reference point. Dealing with change becomes easier when employees are working in a familiar mode since it is in a way linked to the past.

The management should therefore ensure that the old way is not completely phased out during the integration of new culture. A manager should use the old method to help the employees see the worth of the alteration and of the new method of operation. This means that the new way of operation that a company adopts should be better as compared to the one being phased out. This makes it easier for the employees to appreciate the new way over the old one. (Musselwhite, 2007, p. 3)

Apart from changing in order to be able to survive, sometimes a company is called upon to deal with unavoidable change. Like the voluntary change, the unavoidable change calls for people to change their mode of operation. This kind of a change can be brought about by a “business transformation that realigns people, procedures and expertise to new strategic goals”. (Duggan, 2010)Dealing with such kind of change can prove intimidating and stressing.

However, it is only the ability to deal with such change that a company’s survival is guaranteed. In such an event, the management has the mandate of enlightening the involved parties of the expected changes. Whether this involves the employees or even clients, they are able to deal and cope with the expected transition process. This makes the organization to progress without any visible hitches. (Duggan, 2010)

Managing People

In any organization, it is avoidable to interact with other people. Relating well with the employees guarantees the management a smooth running in the organization. The managers should endeavor to locate employees who are working hard and let them know that their efforts are appreciated. This boosts the morale of the workers and leads them to work even harder. A good manager should also use feedback to stay informed about the activities that the employees are undertaking in their area of responsibility.

This enables the manager to be on the know and gives him an opportunity to deal with issues even before they happen. On top of this, a manager should carry out regular, focused meetings concerning the projects that he has responsibility for. This will ensure that he has a grip of the projects and hence ensure a smooth running of the projects. As a manager, it is important to have faith in the employees. Expecting the employees to succeed gives them the morale to work hard in order not to fail.

This is a key trait that separates good managers from bad ones. In a situation where a manager keeps on putting the employees down, then it becomes hard for the employees to succeed. According to Ahmad, (2009) this happens because the employees adopt a mentality that no matter what they do then no one would notice.

While a good manager is supposed to praise an employee for a job well done, he is also supposed to criticize an employee who is seen to be lagging behind in his job. In the event that the manager decides to give a blind eye to poor performance, the organization, the employee and even the manager ends up being hurt. This follows the principle where good work is rewarded while poor performance is punished. (Ahmad, 2009, p. 778)

Setting Goals

In any company, the ability to progress lies in the goals that the management has set up. While some goals are short term, others are long-term and unformulated. In the same vein, the employees can easily interpret some goals while others require much interpretation from the management.

Despite these variations, any successful company must master the art of setting up both goals. Although it is good for a company to set up the goals, coming up with a strategy on how they are to be followed is the most important attribute for a successful manager. It becomes worthless for the management to exhaust its resources setting up goals that will not be adhered to. Any goals that a company sets up should be specific.

By setting specific goals, the management leaves no room for employees to begin guessing what is expected of them. By being specific, a manager is also able to measure the progress of an individual employee. On top of this, the goals that the management comes up with should be measurable and attainable. It becomes useless for the management to formulate goals that are unrealistic to its average employees.

On top of this, the goals that the management comes up with should be relevant and bound by time. This means that they should allocate a period in which the set goals must be attained. Setting of goals therefore becomes to a company what a syllabus is to a student. In reality, a student’s ability to pass an exam only relies on his ability to abide by the given syllabus. (Brink, & Berndt, 2009, p. 80)

Solving Problems

Problems are part of any organization. These problems might be found in either the management or the employees. Either way, problems form an integral part of any organization and the management should formulate ways of solving these problems without letting them to affect its operations.

In order to attain effective problem solutions, the management should form an outfit tasked with solely solving problems arising in the company. Any problems that occur in any department should be channeled in to this department for quick resolution.

This ensures that the particular problem does not interfere with the day-to-day running of the organization. Effective management also involves looking out for potential problems even before they happen and addressing them in the best way possible. By effectively dealing with problems arising in the company, an organization is able to focus its attention into looking for more business instead of spending much of its time solving disputes.

In his book, Rasiel (2001) points out that “spotting and addressing situations that might lead into conflicts” helps the management to avert issues like workplace violence or even alleviate stress among its employees. If not addressed effectively, these two issues may become a source of conflict and lead to reduction of production in the company. (Rasiel, 2001, p. 14)

Project Management

All companies use projects as a sure way of converting strategies into actions and plans into certainties. Although some companies entirely deal in project management, it does not mean that companies that are not dealing in projects should not undertake project management programs. According to analysts, many project stall because the management fail to undertake effective project planning, supervision, harmonization, and risk management.

The analysts continue to point out that such projects fail to realize their monetary goals due to unproductive scope management and staff deployment/responsibility. At the end of it all, such projects lack “customer satisfaction due to lack of coordination from the management”. (Schmid, & Adams, 2008, p. 36)This goes ahead to show how important it is to undertake project management evaluation before embarking on any project.

Carrying out a thorough project management evaluation guarantees the organization of the success of the project at hand. Project management therefore becomes an important tool of differentiating between successful and failing companies. This is also used as a gauge of differentiating between successful and failing managers. (Schmid, & Adams, 2008, p. 38)

Recommendations

It is clear that a business cannot survive without having effective management. However, many businesses have not understood this and they continue lagging behind by failing to have effective management in place. For a business to be able to survive there is need to put in place effective communication methods and be able to deal with change in the organization.

The management should also learn how to manage the employees and set goals for the company. These goals act as a guiding pole for the company. The management should also come up with effective channels of how problems are supposed to be solved. Additionally, the management should ensure that it comes up with project management for any of its plans to ensure that no project stalls because of poor planning. (Root, 2009)

Conclusion

The 21^st century is presenting businesses with unique challenges from those experienced in the past. This has called for the need to come up with modern strategies to deal with these emerging challenges. One of the things that the management of any organization should do is to come up with effective communication strategies, which will in turn bring the management and the employees closer. This enables them to work as a team with a common purpose.

This helps in the fast growth of the company in question. On top of effective communication, the management should learn how to deal with change in its organization. The ability to successfully deal with change determines if a company will survive or perish. On top of this, the management of any organization should learn how to manage the employees, come up with attainable goals and most importantly have the capacity of solving any problems arising in the company.

References

Ahmad, K. (2009) Speed Lead. Faster, Simpler Ways to Manage People, Projects and Teams in Complex Companies. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 30 (8), 778 – 779.

Brink, A., & Berndt, A. (2009) Relationship Marketing and Customer Relationship Management, 26-100. Jutta & Company Ltd.

Daft, R. (2010). The Leadership Experience. 26-31. Mason OH: Thomas-South-Western-Cengage Learning.

Duggan, T. (2010). How to Deal with Change in an Organization. Web.

Kotelnikov, V. (2001) Effective Manager. Web.

Musselwhite, C. (2007) Leading Change-Creating an Organization That Lives Change.1-4. Discovery Learning, Inc.

Rasiel, E. (2001). The McKinsey Mind: Using the Techniques of the World’s Top Strategic Consultants to Help You and Your Business. 11-15. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Root, G. (2009). Steps to dealing with Change in an Organization. Web.

Schmid, B & Adams, J. (2008) Motivation in Project Management: The Project Manager’s Perspective. The Project Management Journal, 87(2), 34-36.

Thomas, S. (2007). Importance of Communication in an Organization. Web.