Reference no: EM132279220

Case study - Leadership styles, decision-making and communications

Instructions: You are required to analyse the following case using the STAR method. Your response should be 750 words.

For this case, you should consider the following topics regarding management:
• Leadership styles,
• Decision making
• Team management

Section One - Leadership and decision-making

Jim was well liked by his subordinates and was considered to be a great manager. His staff knew from the moment he announced that he was being promoted to Head Office that they would miss him: they soon found out just how much.

Jim was the type of manager who made everything look easy. He was organised and coped with even the worst emergencies with a confident smile.

Probably his greatest skill was that he could explain anything to anybody; from the most highly skilled down to the newest recruit or part-timer. He had the ability of linking things together in a way that made his requests always seem sensible and his style always personal. Everybody loved Jim, and because they did they would do anything for him.

The new manager Brian was a nice guy, but the change in style could not have been greater. He began his first day with a short meeting where he seemed to be saying he would make a lot of changes and to "get ready for a shake-up".

Brian's decision-making process appeared to be opposite to what Jim used to do. For instance he never consulted his work group preferring simply to dictate what should happen without allowing any discussion. He said that he used his "gut-feelings" when making decisions and that he didn't need to consult or even to do any analysis. "You have either got the capacity to make decisions inside you or you haven't," he used to say, "and I have it - that's why I'm the manager."

Often Brian would insist that things be done in particular way, his way, and then within a few hours change his mind, and set other tasks, or tell them to do the job another way. Most people got very frustrated, some got very mad.

Brian also had the habit of asking for things to be done, and then saying that what was done was not what he wanted, and he would usually blame some poor staff member for the problem. His staff were beginning to avoid Brian, and some were considering requesting a transfer to another department.

Section Two - effective teams

Senior management were aware that problems were developing in Brian's department and called him in for a meeting. Brian was told by the senior managers that the staff should be allowed a greater level of responsibility and input to decision making. Brian complained loudly that his staff were not interested in responsibility or hard work, that most of them were "losers" and that all this "team building nonsense" would prove to be a waste of time.

But as required Brian gathered the staff at the regular team meeting, but this time instead of telling them all the information he had to pass on, as he usually did, he sat back and told them:

"You are to become a team, that means you have to make more decisions for yourselves, and you are to be given some freedom to change how we operate."

He explained word for word what he had been instructed to tell the staff by his managers, allowed no questions, and gave no further examples or explanation of what was required of them.

With that Brian got up and, with a silly grin on his face left the meeting, saying "best of luck."
Within an hour the meeting broke up in absolute confusion and anger. No one knew what they should do, what they could do, or even why they should bother.

Every time anybody tried to make a decision it ended up in an argument, one group even ended up actually throwing punches.
Within the week all the good will that had been developed by Jim over many years was gone, many people no longer spoke to each other, and very little work got done.

Brian would only respond to his managers by slowly shaking his head and saying"I told you so."

Use the STAR technique to analyse this case.
Situation: A problem has arisen in a department. Describe the problem and what events generally (not the little things Brian did - that's for the action section) may have caused this problem to arise

Theory: You should consider the following theories: McGregor's theory X and theory Y, Lewin's leadership styles and the management grid, Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership. You should also consider issues relating to effective communications and decision-making techniques.

When should the manager use classical, behavioural or heuristic techniques? Is Brian using the correct technique? Also what are the theories about how to manage teams effectively?

Action: Link the actions taken by Brian and Jim to the theories you have discussed in the previous section. For example: what is Brian not doing correctly in managing the team? What did Jim do correctly in terms of Hersey and Blanchard's management styles with regard to different employees? Etc.

Reflection: Reflect on Jim and Brian's actions in relation to the theories. Would Brian have managed better had he used the theories - or don't the theories work in reality and why not?

Attachment:- Case study.rar