BUS209: Organizational Behavior

4a. Compare leadership and management

1. This unit has allowed you to consider the importance and influence of leadership in an organization.

• Take a moment to think about someone that you believe is a leader. They can be in any type of organization, public or private, formal or informal. Make a list of the attributes that you identify with leadership, such as communication skills. See how many you can list.
• At this point, you have identified many attributes that you associate with leadership. Take the list you just compiled and highlight the attribute you think is the most important one, which may not be easy to do. Write a sentence or two explaining why you selected this attribute.
• Volumes have been written on leadership, as well as courses, seminars, and training programs. In one or two paragraphs, explain whether you believe that leadership can be learned or that you can't teach someone how to be a leader. State the reasons for your position.

Being a leader can help you in both your career and in your personal life. If one aspires to become a leader, consider the value of identifying people that have the attributes that you admire and try to learn from them. It is useful in business if you can identify an executive that exhibits these leadership traits and see if he/she will agree to be a mentor.

2. In any organization, there will be leaders and managers. These roles are not necessarily the same and given any certain set of circumstances, there may be a need for one or the other…or both.

• You have selected someone to lead your organization. In a paragraph, describe how you would define this role. What do you want this leader to accomplish? How would you define success?
• It is time for you to fill a vacancy in your company for a department manager. You are working on creating a job description for this position. What skills are you looking for in a manager? What do you want this manager to accomplish? Summarize your thoughts in a paragraph.
• Given your review of leaders and managers, do you think they are the same, or are they different? Make a list of three to five items that describe what a leader does and a list of what a manager does. Are any of the items on your list the same, or are they different? In a short paragraph, explain the difference between the two roles.

When we think of leaders, we consider individuals who can create a vision, motivate others to support the vision, encourage employees to excel at what they do, and are the founders of the company culture. Managers take on the responsibility to create the necessary plans to achieve the vision and provide the day-to-day direction necessary for the business to operate efficiently.

 

4b. Assess the impact of various leadership approaches on organizational effectiveness

1. As you can see from the material in this unit, there is more than one type of leader. Depending on the circumstances and the individual, there can be many outcomes from a specific leadership style. The text defines four leadership styles. Let's think about these a bit more. After each definition, complete the sentence provided and use more than one sentence if needed:

• Directive leaders provide specific directions to their employees. An example of when this style would be most appropriate is…
• Supportive leaders provide emotional support to employees. An example of when this style would be most appropriate is…
• Participative leaders make sure that employees are involved in the making of important decisions. An example of when this style would be most appropriate is… 
• Achievement-oriented leaders set goals for employees and encourage them to reach their goals. An example of when this style would be most appropriate is… 

Much can be learned from studying the different kinds of leadership, especially for those who aspire to lead. To continue your understanding of leadership styles, conduct a web search on the following leadership styles: charismatic, transformational, servant, and authentic.

2. Good leaders are required by any organization, public or private, that wants to achieve all their goals and objectives, create a culture of respect, and develop a team of motivated people who truly want the organization to succeed.

• After learning about the different styles of leadership, which style would you most like to emulate? Write a short paragraph explaining the reasons for your selection.
• Now, write a paragraph on which leadership style that you put on the bottom of your list. Explain why.
• Now that you have selected a style that you believe would be effective for you, make a list of five or six things that you can do to develop into that leadership style.

Remember, leaders can be made. You can identify the skills and attributes of leadership, conduct a personal inventory to see where you may have a skills gap, and plan to acquire what is needed.

 

4c. Define power

Power is the ability to influence the behavior of others to get what you want. You have had someone exercise power over you at some time in your life, from parents and family, teachers and professors, and supervisors at work. You may have also experienced times when you had the power. While someone may have power, it may never be used, or it may be used too much. 

• Take a moment to think about what you have read on power. Write a few sentences on how you would define power.
• It is also possible to use influence as a means of gaining support or consensus. In a sentence or two, provide an example of when you have influenced someone to help achieve a goal.

 

4d. Differentiate among the sources of power

There is more than one type of power. In fact, this unit identifies five different sources of power.

• In one or two sentences, define each source.
• Consider a scenario where you are the team leader for a group of associates working on a class project. Provide an example of how and why you might use each source of power to help the team reach its goal.

In different circumstances, one type of power may be more appropriate than another. One attribute of leadership is applying the kind of power that is most likely to achieve the desired outcome. This is one of the attributes of emotional intelligence (EI).

 

4e. Identify and describe the factors of organizational politics

In an organization, politics is the process of influencing others and the actions they take to accomplish something useful to the individual or the team or department. Organizational politics are informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts to sell ideas, influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted objectives.

Organizations are coalitions of individuals and interest groups because they need each other's support. There are enduring differences among individuals and groups in values, preferences, beliefs, information, and perception of reality. Most of the important decisions in organizations involve allocating scarce resources: they are decisions about who gets what. Because of scarce resources and enduring differences, conflict is central to organizational dynamics, and power is the most important resource. Organizational goals and decisions emerge from bargaining, negotiating, and jockeying for position among members of different coalitions.

• In your own words, write a short paragraph on what organizational politics means to you. If you can, provide an example of organizational politics that you have experienced.
• In any organization, both public and private, organizational politics exist. Write one or two sentences on a positive impact from the political environment and a negative one.

 

Unit 4 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms that might help you answer some of the review items above and some terms you should be familiar with to be successful in completing the final exam for the course.

• achievement-oriented leaders
• influence
• power
• Asch Studies
• information power
• referent power
• authentic leadership
• integrity
• reward power
• authoritarian
• intelligence
• self-esteem
• charismatic leadership
• laissez-faire
• servant leadership
• coercive power
• Leader-Member Exchange
• situational leadership
• conformity
• leadership
• social networks
• conscientious
• legitimate power
• substitutability
• Contingency Theory
• Milgram Studies
• supportive leaders
• democratic
• Normative Decision Model
• task-oriented
• dependency
• organizational antecedents
• Theory X
• directive leaders
• organizational politics
• Theory Y
• expert power
• participative leaders
• transformational leadership
• extraversion
• Path-Goal Theory
• trustworthiness
• followership
• people-oriented
• Zimbardo Study
• impression management
• personality traits