Leadership and Management

The Functions of management

Henri Fayol – first person to come up with a list of functions or elements of management

• Planning – setting objectives and also strategies, policies, programmes and procedures for achieving them.
• Organising – managers set tasks which need to be preformed if the business wants to achieve its objectives.
• Commanding – this involves giving instructions to subordinates to carry out tasks. The manager has the authority to make decisions.
• Co-ordinating – this is the bringing together of the activities of people within the business.
• Controlling – managers measure and correct the activities of individuals and groups, to make sure that their performance fits in with plans.

The management process

Peter Drucker – grouped the operations of management into five categories

• Setting objectives for the organisation
• Job measurement – assessing whether the business has met its objectives
• Organising the work
• Motivating employees
• Developing people – the management should bring out the best in people

Four styles of management

Autocratic – orders come form the top, and no leeway is allowed
Democratic – less centralised, give space for initiative
Laissez faire – arises from over worked or lazy management, staff is left to their own devices
Paternalistic – decision making is still centralised but a noticeable attention and care for staff

McGregor's Theory X & Y

Douglas McGregor undertook a survey of managers in the USA and identified two styles of management, which he called Theory X and Theory Y.
Theory X managers tend to distrust their subordinates; they believe employees do not enjoy their work and that need to be controlled. Theory X is about the views managers have on their workforce.
Theory Y managers believe that employees do enjoy their work and they want to contribute ideas and effort. Theory Y manager is more likely to involve employees in decisions

Why do leader adopt different styles?... [continues]

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