Write an individual short essay on the contribution that critical analysis of leadership theories makes to your understanding of organizational leadership, and how this knowledge will make a difference to your development as a future leader.

Organisational Behavior

PART 1

Group Report: 2500 words

(organisation chosen : NTUC fairprice, Cold storage and Giant)

The purpose of Part 1 of the assignment is to apply theoretical frameworks and concepts to an analysis of organizational leadership. You are to critically analyse and report on leadership issues and its impact on individuals and organisations from a range of media, especially in Singaporean and South-East Asian contexts. *(Demonstrate an understanding of leadership theories in the analysis)Report content: Qn 1. Describe briefly the business of environment of Singapore in which organisations and their leaders operate in. This information should be brief and relevant to the discussion of your assignment and thus may include current demographic and economic characteristics and the style of organisations in Singapore.

Qn 2. Conduct a leadership analysis drawing on both mainstream theories and contemporary leadership thinking, and draw conclusions on their relevance and implementation for Singapore organizational leaders.

Analyse the leadership approach(es) that leaders in organisations in Singapore apply, and its impact on their organisations.

· Draw conclusion(s) about the approaches to leadership in Singapore, and to what extent organisations need to change, if at all, and why change to leadership approaches may be needed.

Qn 3. A minimum of 15 references should be utilized within the report. In addition to the references provided in the Topic 4 and Assignment 1 link, you are expected to research information from a wider range of sources.

PART 2

Individual (20%, 500 words):Write an individual short essay on the contribution that critical analysis of leadership theories makes to your understanding of organizational leadership, and how this knowledge will make a difference to your development as a future leader.A minimum of 4 references drawn from a range of sources should be applied.

USE HARVARD REFERENCING STYLE FOR ALL 🙂

Organisationsand Leadership

Organisational Behaviour

Developed by Dr. Ruth Barton

Dr. Margaret Heffernan, OAM

RMIT University©20

This lecture is the
core topic

for
Assignment 1.

Aims of the lecture

What is leadership?

Define leadership

Approaches to leadership

Mainstream and emerging theories

Leadership styles and behaviours

Competencies of leadership

What is Leadership?

• ‘A social process in which one individual
influences the behaviour of others without the
use or threat of violence’ (Buchanan & Huczynsci,
1985 in Thompson & McHugh, 2009)

• ‘The acid test of leadership must be its ability to
improve organisational leadership’
(Fiedler, 1967, in Thompson and McHugh, 2009)

Leadership

• Leadership is broadly distributed,
rather than assigned to one person,
such that people in the tram and
organisation lead each other.

• (McShane et al. 2013: 382)

Shared
leadership

Approaches to Leadership

LEADERSHIP

Individualism

Essence of
leadership

Dualistic
views of

power and
influence

Untheorised /
exaggerated

agency

Fairhurst (2007)

Competency (Trait) Perspective of Leadership

Competency

Drive

Emotional
intelligence

Cognitive
ability

Knowledge
of the

business

Self-
concept

Integrity

Personality

Skills, knowledge,

aptitudes

and other

personal

characteristics

that lead

to superior

performance

Traits and Characteristics
eg Stodgill (1974), Handy (1980)

Limitations:

 Assumes that all effective leaders have the same

personal characteristics that are equallyimportant in all

situations.

 Alternative combinations of competencies may be

equally successful

 Views leadership as something within a person

 Indicates leadership potential, not leadership

performance

Leadership Styles and Behaviours

• McGregor (1960)

• Theory X

• Theory Y

Types and Roles

Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939)

Autocratic

Democratic

Laissez –faire

Benne and Sheats (1948)

Task maintenance act

Group maintenance act

Types and Styles
Blake and Mouton’s (1978) Leadership Grid

Authentic leadership

Develop
own
style

Receive
feed-back

Being
yourself

Reflect

RMIT University©2013
Emotional
intelligence

Effective
leaders need to act

consistently
with their values,
personality, and

self-concept

Source: McShane et al 2013: 384-385

Contingency (Situational) Perspective of Leadership

Path-goal
theory

Servant
leadership

Situational
leadership

Fiedler’s
Contingency

model

Leadership
substitutes

The most

appropriate

leadership style

depends

on the

situation.

Leaders

must be

insightful and

flexible,

and adapt

behaviours and

styles

to the

immediate situation.

Contingent Leadership
Fiedler’s (1974) Contingency Model

Favourable Unfavourable

Charismatic Leadership
Applied to a certain quality of an individual

considered extraordinary

treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman,

specifically exceptional powers or qualities.

qualities are not accessible to the ordinary person

regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary , and the

individual concerned is treated as a “leader”’

(Weber,1968: 241)

Transformational Leadership

Visioning the new

corporate future

Communicating the

vision

Implementing the

vision

Popular in 1980s and 1990s

(Dunphy and Stace,

1990)

Elements

Create a
strategic

vision

Communicate
the vision

Model the
vision

Build
commitment
towards the

vision
RMIT University©2013

Source: McShane et al. 2013: 393

Paternal Leadership Style

Paternalism
Dependence
on the leader

Personal

relationships

Moral
leadership

Harmony
building

Conflict
diffusion

Social
distance

Didactic
leadership

Subtle,
dialogue

Paternal Leadership Tactics

Paternalism Centralisation

Non-specific
intentions

Secrecy

Protect
authority

Selective
favours

Non-emotional
ties

Differential
treatment

Reputation
building

Narcissistic Leader

Narcissism

They must be more than they are

Their value as people is dependent upon the

image they project

People are objects to be manipulated to get the

validation narcissists need

Post Heroic Leadership

Associated with transformational leadership but

with a greater emphasis on developing

subordinates

(Bradford and Cohen, 1984)

Distributed or collective leadership

Heifetz and Laurie (1997)

Followership

• Followership is the role of the group

member in supporting (or not) the

leadership role

• Leadership prototypicality

(Hogg, 2001)

• Social identity and leadership

(Haslam , 2001)

Implicit Leadership Perspective

 People evaluate a leader’s effectiveness in terms of

how well that person fits preconceived beliefs about

the features and behaviours of effective leaders

(leadership prototypes)

 People tend to inflate the influence of leaders on

organisational events

 Followers perceptions about the characteristics and

influence of people they call leaders

Source: McShane et al. 2013: 395- 396
21

The Three Levels of Leadership

Public

Private

Personal

Leadership is very much a relational product of the societies

in which organisations operate.

 Cultural variables will affect how leaders from different

cultural backgrounds manage in foreign cultures and with

culturally diverse groups.

References

• Fulop, L and Linstead, S (2009) ‘Leadership and Leading’ [Ch. 10], in

Linstead, S, Fulop, L and Lilley, S 9eds) Management and

Organization: A critical text, 2nd ed, Palgrave, Houndmills.

• McShane, S Olekalns, M and Travaglione, T (2013) Organisational

Behaviour: Emerging knowledge. Global insights. McGraw Hill,

Sydney

• Rollinson, D (2005) Organisational Behaviour and Analysis: An

integrated approach, Prentice Hall, Harlow .

• Scouller, J. (2011). The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop

Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, Management Books

• Cirencester: Thompson, P and McHugh, D (2009) Work

Organisations: A critical approach, Palgrave, Houndmills.

The

Organisation Society

Organisational Behaviour

Developed by Professor Martin Wood

Last Week: Recap and Glossary

• Modern industrial capitalism arose from the inherent

inefficiencies in traditional and customary models;

• The emerging rationality of the labour process of capitalist

production that combines new technical knowledge with

increased scale of efficiency and exploitation

• Growth of industrial capitalist production built around the notion of

bureaucracy

Today

• Overview and analysis of attempts to theorise the ongoing

managerial problem of the structure of enterprise

The Appliance of Science

• Decline in Protestant Ethic

• Rise in interest in reform of society through
discoverable scientific methods

• „More than ever, the world‟s greatest need is a
science of human relationships and an art of
human engineering based upon the laws of …
science‟ (Whyte, 1956: 24, added emphasis).

Scientific Management

„the American system of “scientific management” enjoys the

greatest triumphs in the rational conditioning and training of work

performances. The final consequences are drawn from the

mechanization and discipline of the plant, and the psycho-

physical apparatus of man is completely adjusted to the

demands of the outer world, the tools, the machines, in short to

an individual “function”. The individual is shorn of his natural

rhythm as determined by the structure of his organism: his

psycho-physical apparatus is attuned to a new rhythm through a

methodical specialisation of separately functioning muscles,

and an optimal economy of forces is established corresponding

to the conditions of work‟

(Clegg and Dunkerley, 1980: 82, added emphasis)

Frederick Winslow Taylor

• aka Freddy „Speedy‟ Taylor

• How do you control and coordinate work in large scale

(industrial) bureaucracies?

• Produced accurate and scientific study of unit

production times The Principles of Scientific

Management (1911)

• Led to division of labour

Principle Aims

Aims:

1. To point out the loss through inefficiency

2. Scientific management

3. Emphasis on measurement, control and

predictability

Among Taylor‟s Recommendations

1.Division of labour

2.Work measurement

3.Individual task prescriptions Motivation through
incentive schemes

4.Role of management

5.Development of management thinking

Scientific Management Associates

Henri Fayol

• First comprehensive application of rationalisation principles at the

level of management

Gulick and Urwick

• Early U.S. based (Urwick was English) management consultants

who adapted Fayol‟s principles to rationalise work processes in

large conglomerates;

• More sophisticated approaches to enhancing worker performance

Henry Ford

• All encompassing Fordism widened the scope of Taylorism

Some Notable Dissociates

• Antonio Gramsci – Italian formal theorist of (and for)

labour and resolutely against Taylorism:

• Braverman – another Marxist who argues scientific

management deskills though separation of mental and

physical.

• Durkheimian – further erodes social solidarity at the level

of the

firm

• Weberian – Iron cage

• Rarely implemented fully

• Develops to serve and benefit bureaucrats

• Privileges past decisions and status quo

• Unimaginative and non-entrepreneurial

• Wasted talent / knowledge of workers

• No promotion (if good at role)

• Intrinsic value? More than just economic animals?

• Turnover, absenteeism

• Quantity not quality

Final Analysis: Efficiency and

Effectiveness?

New VISA Paywave

• Aimed at mass adoption by consumers

• Transaction times are crucial to the consumer
experience and the retailer business

• Marketed as a new and exciting consumer
experience

• Continuing emphasis on measurement, control
and predictability

McDonaldization Rationalization

and Mass Production
• McDonaldization is “The process by which the principles of the fast-

food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of
American society as well as of the rest of the World.” (George Ritzer
The McDonaldization of Society p1)

• The processes are those of Rationality

– Bureaucracy – of organization

– Taylorism – of work design

– Fordism – of mass production

• The principles are

– Efficiency – the shortest distance

– Calculability – measure everything

– Predictability – time-space compression

– Control – non-human for human substitution

Elton Mayo and the Human

Relations Movement

• Human Relations School = a form of neo-Durkheimian

intervention to repair social solidarity at the level of the

firm

• Aimed at reducing likelihood of workplace unrest

through the study of the informal social relationships

• Contrasted the doctrine of possessive individualism

with that of the function of groups

• The famous „Hawthorne Studies‟ (1924-32)

Development of Human

Relations Theories

• Distinction between formal/informal organisation

• Formal and informal prescriptions need not (and often do
not) cohere: consensus as a myth?

• The worker does not always behave as the formal
organisational logic would prescribe Management training in
human relations techniques to address the question of the
control and coordination of work

• Psychological bias

Human Relations as Crusade?

„[The Human Relations School] may neglect the fact that
many problems of organization are in fact only problems
of and for management, and that these problems cannot
be spirited away through a change of supervisory style or
the learning of social skills. They are in fact structural
contradictions inherent in the hierarchical organization of
work in terms of distinct levels of mental and manual
labour, for the private appropriation of the fruits of the
collective product, and the inegalitarian treatment and
reward of organization members in the process‟

(Clegg and Dunkerley, 1980: 134, added emphasis)

References

Whyte, W. (1956) The Organization Man. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania.

Wright Mills, C. (1951) White Collar. London: Oxford University

Press.

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