Questions
1: Over time, the many different approaches used to explain leadership have become increasingly involved and complex. Why do you think this has happened?
2: Characterize the following organizations on the basis of their degree of formalization, centralization local, and complexity: the university you are attending, the federal government, and a franchise of a national fast-food chain.
Answers
1. The leadership qualities of the leaders of the organization are important for its successful operations. The leaders of the organization have the capability to influence the behaviour of the employees and the leadership has an effect on the performance as well. The different approaches of leadership include the trait approach where the trait and the behaviour of the leaders are analysed. The scores of the trait approach are relevant to check the effectiveness of the leaders. The other approach of leadership is the behavioural approach which is focussed on two types of leaders, job-centred leaders and employee-centred leaders. The other approach of leadership is the situational approach where the situation in the organization determines the effectiveness of the leadership qualities. The situations in the organizations can also be changed based on the actions taken by the leaders (Keskes, 2014). The relations of the leaders with the employees of the organization can be modified by the leaders and the structure of job of the members can also be determined by the leaders. There are different types of leadership models which can be used to determine the operations in the organizations. These models include the Vroom-Jago Leadership Model and Path-Goal leadership model. The two different types of leadership are Transactional leadership and Transformational leadership. The other styles of leadership include the servant leadership and multicultural leadership model. The analysis of the various aspects of the leadership of an organization depicts that the approaches of leadership involve the leaders and the employees of the organization. The leadership qualities of an effective leader are based on the situation in the organization and the employees working in that organization as well. On the other hand, the culture in the organization also depends on the style of leadership. This shows that the leadership and the approaches related to leadership are more complex in the recent business environment as compared to the previous time (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014).
2. The degree of formalization in case of Nova South-eastern University is high as the employees and the students of the organization have to strictly follow the procedures and rules that are set for the students and professors.
The degree of formalization in case of the Federal government of USA is also high as the governments of the districts and the 50 states work under the national government of the country and they need to follow the rules and the regulations that are set by the National government of USA.
The degree of formalization in case of Taco Bell which is a national fast food chain in USA is comparatively low. The reason behind this is the lack of strictness from the management of the restaurant (O'Neill, Beauvais & Scholl, 2016).
The degree of centralization in case of Nova South-Eastern University is low as the decision-making and planning capabilities are divided among the top management of the University and the professors as well.
The degree of centralization in case of the Federal Government is also low as the decision-making capabilities are divided within the local governments of the 50 states of USA and the national governments. The decisions regarding the laws and regulations are made jointly by both the governments.
The degree of centralization in case of Taco Bell is high as the decision-making power is in the hands of the management of the restaurant and the employees do not take any part in this process (Soieb, Othman & D'Silva, 2013).
References
Keskes, I. (2014). Relationship between leadership styles and dimensions of employee organizational commitment: A critical review and discussion of future directions. Intangible Capital, 10(1).
Nanjundeswaraswamy, T. S., & Swamy, D. R. (2014). Leadership styles. Advances in management, 7(2), 57.
O'Neill, J. W., Beauvais, L. L., & Scholl, R. W. (2016). The use of organizational culture and structure to guide strategic behavior: An information processing perspective. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 2(2).
Soieb, A. Z. M., Othman, J., & D'Silva, J. L. (2013). The effects of perceived leadership styles and organizational citizenship behaviour on employee engagement: The mediating role of conflict management. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(8), 91.
