Introduction
Management is the act of gathering people with the same vision and mission together to achieve anticipated objectives and goals using resources that are available effectively and efficiently. Management involves organizing, leading, planning, directing, controlling and staffing a group of people to help achieve the set organizational goals. Before one can manage others, they should be able to manage themselves. Management requires decision-making, it involves sharing, analyzing and handling information and finally it involves interaction and coordination with employees in the organization. Therefore, managers should have management skills to enable them to achieve the set organizational goals. Business management theory is a general management concept which entails controlling and directing a group of individuals to help achieve the set objective of the business (Mandeville 2012). The importance of management theory is that it enables managers to learn how to create productive employees in organizations helping them achieve the set objectives. This paper mainly analyzes my personal theory of business management and organization while evaluating my own emerging leadership strengths and effective organizational structure.
My Leadership strengths
Leadership is the capability of a leader to direct those in an organization towards attaining a particular objective. There are numerous leadership qualities which leaders require to implement in order to become successful. Leaders need to exploit their strengths to be able to effectively manage the entire organization. To be successful, a leader needs to incorporate a wide variety of leadership strengths that lie within him and which will ensure that he is active towards achieving the set goals. The emerging leadership strengths include ability to engage with others, create shared directions, develop secure environment and make things happen for the business. What leaders should perceive as leadership strengths include the ability to execute tasks, listen, envision, accept mistakes and build a good relationship with employees in the organization.
A good leader should be an excellent listener. This ability will enable a leader to listen deeply to his employees engaging them in everyday organizational operations. Listening deeply will enable a leader to understand employee’s perspective concerning particular issues affecting them. Stepping beyond their own schedules and agendas and taking time to listen to their employees is one issue that leaders should value most. A good leader should be trustworthy and be in a position to build networks, teams and alliances with other companies which will enable him to gain their trust. Through these connections, a leader will be able to determine common interests alongside others and build a solid policy for innovative possibilities. It will also help him to develop shared directions through envision. Having a vibrant owned vision will bind the people in the organization together (Manfred & Kets 2010). Being creative will inspire lateral thinking hence enable people to view old problems in different new ways. It will also encourage effective response when there are difficult situations to be solved.
A good leader should be able to encourage heart commitment to empower the organization and the people in it to move in one direction. Effective leadership involves connecting people’s passion and visions towards one direction to generate heart and emotional commitment towards achieving organizational objectives. Empowering people to take part in organizational management is also crucial. Leaders should learn how to draw and nurture each employee’s skills and gifts in a manner that will enable them to effectively achieve organizational goals.
A secure environment creates trustworthiness within the society formulating understanding on how the organization operates, what is expected from them and where and when to contribute (Argyris & Schön 2008). This therefore means that a leader should create an innovative structure in the organization. In order to construct a trustworthy and nurturing environment which people feel contented with, a leader should develop clear and reliable communication at all levels within the organization. He can implement this in both formal and informal gatherings. A good leader should develop optimism culture that will encourage people in the organization to build and depend on what they have. Enabling them to explore their hopes and potential without any form of limitations will also help a leader to become effective in whatever he /she does. Looking beyond hopes and aspirations of the community should be a leader’s main aim to be able to achieve effectiveness. This is the only way that a leader can overcome serious challenges that come with leadership.
A good leader should have the strength to make things happen in an organization (Craig 2011). A leader should use his/her strength to act by enabling things to happen within the organization and bring people together to work towards a common goal or objective. Having a purpose that is clear is vital as it will give a leader the determination and strength to handle difficult tasks.
Learning and growing from different experiences is one area which a good leader needs to develop. A leader should not just act without reflecting on his actions. A good leader should learn how to be flexible to change and be willing to learn from different experiences that will enable him/her to embrace change. The people around a leader will not be able to learn, grow and expand if he is not able to do the same. A leader should discover ways in which he can step into his potential and be his own best version. A good leader should be a performer and stays relevant to his course.
A good leader should be a person with high self-esteem and self-worth. Being aware of whom they are and the impacts they create on others is also crucial. A leader should have the skills to watch others perform and know their reactions towards his leadership whether he impacts them positively or negatively. The kind of relationship he has with the employees will determine how he impacts them. Knowing his impact on others will enable a leader to adjust if needed so that he can associate well with employees in the organization.
Effective organizational structure
Organizational structure is the design of how jobs are arranged within an organization. Departments within an organization offer techniques and guidelines used in every department plus a framework of the set objectives for the organization. This design is regularly utilized as reporting and task regulation. Organizational structure determines the level at which report subordinates to their seniors. This usually heightens proper coordination in everyday undertakings conducted by members of the organization. There are several types of organizational structures which comprise product, line, matrix and functional organizational structure. An effective organizational structure moderates the level of skirmishes within the organization and more so among the employees regarding their roles and functions within the organization.
An effective organizational structure facilitates specialization; it provides easier communication, better employee performances and easy control over resources. Organizational structure facilitates specialization and division of labor leaving each leader with specialized knowledge on their roles within the organization. This normally gives leaders accurate and better knowledge and guidance on how to handle the subordinate staff. The main role of each leader in a department is to ensure performance by guiding the subordinates to perform well in areas where they are specialized.
An effective organizational structure facilitates easy communication. It clearly indicates the responsibility of each member of the organization. It gives a guideline on the protocol to be used by the subordinates in case they want to give out their views and make complains. Each subordinate should be aware of whom he/ she is supposed to report to at any given time. A subordinate is not allowed to report directly to the manager before consulting his immediate supervisor (Block 2011). This actually streamlines the employee’s tasks in such a way that leaders do not find it hard to handle them. A proper organization structure regulates information flow in a manner that the employees cannot misuse their knowledge to expose what they know about the company to the outside world.
An effective organizational structure should have the potential to improve the performance of employees. The structure should be set in such a way that clearly shows the employees roles and the person responsible for their supervision. The supervisor’s role is to train the employees and acquaint them with his own experiences that will enable to them perform better. The supervisors have been given the power to remunerate and at the same time reprimand employees when it is essential. The managers should be a paradigm to the minors.
Effective organizational structures have the strength to control over organizational resources. It should prevent resources from being rationed and allotted in numerous units. The resources should be put at their best use and used effectively by doing away with unnecessary wastage.
Elements of Organizational Structure
Elements of an organizational structure provide companies with proficient and effective ways to operate, manage employees and confirm that all errands are successfully accomplished (Gomez-Mejia, David & Robert 2008). These elements include chain of command, departmentalization, centralization, decentralization, specialization and formalization. Each of these elements affects the way in which employees work together towards achieving the set aims and goals of the organization.
Work specialization makes certain that each employee is aware of their tasks assigned to them based mainly on three things: how knowledgeable they are at that particular work, their talents and training level. Work specialization inhibits employees from conducting tasks which they are not highly proficient in when it comes to talent and training practice. Departmentalization ensures grouping of jobs to formulate departments. Departments in most companies are established depending on customer prerequisites, employee’s roles and tasks, physical location or products/trademarks sold.
Chain of command is another element of organizational structure. It ensures that each employee is aware of who to report to at any given period of time (Greenspan 2007). Employees are expected to have one manager whom they report to. This is one way to prevent confusion within the organization. The managers perform tasks such as offering inspiration to customers and employees, allocating work to employees, updating employee’s regarding their time limits and prospects. Managers also answer questions that are related to work from the employees. They also handle skirmishes in several departments within the organization. The employee’s duties are to complete all the tasks assigned to them by their superiors. They are expected to accurately accomplish their tasks at the right time without delays.
Span of control recommends the number of employees assigned to each manager within the organization. It also outlines the total number of managers needed by the organization for it to operate efficiently and effectively. The number of managers to be employed is based on the total number of departments and employees within the organization. Other elements of organizational structure include decentralization and centralization. In organizations that are centralized all verdicts concerning the business are conducted by c-level managers, for instance, topmost operational officer, topmost sales officer and topmost managerial officer (Argyris & Schön 2008). Department managers in a centralized organization usually have little input as compared to larger corporate organizations. In decentralized organizations, tough decisions are conducted by c-level managers while other managers provide their contributions which are also heard. Formalization is an organizational structure element that provides a framework of the tasks performed by employees within the organization. This is always defined by the organizational policies and strategies framed by management. Formalization will define whether the workers will indicate when they are coming in and out of the organization, the number of times they have utilized company compute, their dressing code and the interval of break taken.
Techniques and concepts of the organization
An organization’s structure is what determines its parameters. Before designing the structure of an organization, a manager should consider factors such as communication problems, benefits of specialization and problems involved in formulation of authority level. The main role of a manager will be to ensure that he conduct several activities that will see to it that all jobs are done efficiently. He is also responsible for writing job descriptions, assigning different superiors to employees and finally organizing the staff and non-staff members into groups. It is their duty as managers to ensure that all goals are fixed and deadlines established to guarantee standardized performance. Reporting systems control all the operations conducted in the business (Kotter & Dan 2009). The whole organizational structure should take the pyramid shape. A good organizational structure should have various tasks and activities coordinated properly, have set rules, policies, methods, procedures and standards of performance evaluation which are formulated to control all the people and activities conducted within the organization. Tasks and responsibilities should be assigned to different departments and persons. There should be formal relationship which are well defined based on responsibilities and duties. There should be hierarchical relationship between subordinates and superiors within the organization. The actual behaviors and operations of the people in the organization should not be governed by formal structure of an organization. The formal structure of an organization can be modified by psychological and social forces. The basis of the organization is provided by operating structure of an organization.
Significant issues and ethical dilemmas in leadership
The core of leadership is ethics. This means that leadership and ethics are similar in nature (Beck & Joseph 2009). Without proper ethics, a leader can use his power to conduct evil or to manipulate others. Ignoring the advantages of leadership in an organization is the same as ignoring the leadership ethical problems and affiliations. As a leader, all decisions should be based on ethics whereby he shades light on the people regarding what is happening in the organization. A leader is expected to influence people to achieve a common goal not to divide. A leader should be conscious of his principles, ethical standards and ethical schemes before he makes crucial conclusions. Most people look for good characters in leaders since it is what determines the success of the organization. Honesty is another requirement for effective leadership. A leader should use his good values to make decisions.
Managers’ philosophy of ethical standards which should be applied in business includes trustworthiness; the manager should be honest, reliable, keep promises, loyal, with integrity and not decisive. Respect is something which is earned and achieved based on the manner in which a leader acts. To earn respect, a leader should be able to treat other people well, be courteous, be a good listener to employee’s problems and suggestions as well as accept individual differences. These are some of the ways in which a leader can earn respect from the employees and the society. A good leader should be responsible, have self-control, be accountable, pursue excellence and be careful before making any basic decision that may negatively affect the organization. A good leader should be fair and play by the set organizational rules and not take advantage of poor employees, make informed judgments without prejudice, favoritism or blaming others. He should have a caring heart, show compassion, be kind to others and show altruism. Leader’s actions should be based on helping other people and the organization not causing them pain or giving them hard time. Citizenship is also a good ethical standard whereby a leader works towards making the community a better place to live in and protecting the environment by keeping it clean and avoiding unnecessary pollution (Craig 2011). A good company should operate within the law set by the government to govern businesses in the country.
In conclusion it must be summarized that leaders should set an example, be responsible and accountable. They should be able to communicate effectively with their employees and take ownership of the company. One way by which a leader can shoe an example is through ensuring that the work he does is clear and well understood by everyone in the organization; he must always lend a helping hand whenever needed. This means that a leader should be flexible and ready to help out at any time whenever he is free. Employees need to be appreciated all the time and be corrected when necessary. This can only be achieved through effective communication and that is what leaders are expected to do in the future. Growth is mandatory as it is the only means through which people will be able to see the potential of a leader. In the coming years, managers should grow by refining their relationship skills with the clients and employees. Leaders should intend to be experts in business planning and use their abilities to reward and challenge the business environment.
References
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