Leadership & Management Development | Identification of Significant Issue

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Abstract

This report deals in the concepts of Leadership and Management Development of Technologies Ltd which was created by merging Hardy Technologies and ADD. Both the companies were good in their own ways but lacked in management development and research & development respectively. The report went in to the details of the differences of leadership and management. It also looked in the issues arising out of the LMD concept in Technologies Ltd. The issues at the strategic level were analysed with the actual and potential contributions of LMD at Technologies Ltd. The ethical and professional approach to LMD was also analysed.

On the basis of the discussions and analysis certain recommendations were provided which again was justified and the value analysis of the same was also conducted. Specific LMD methods were also discussed towards the end of the project and Coaching and E learning were suggested as the best for Technologies. 

 

1.1. Introduction to Leadership and Management Development

Leadership and management (LMD) is a term that has been in the globalised world for a long time now. It has been attracted alike by educationists as well as corporate world at large. Almost 60% of the corporate worldprovides their employees with either leadership development or Management Development(Adair, 2007).In the past twenty years the acceleration in the expenditure of enhancing LMD in the corporatehas been gearing up momentum beyond imagination to 400%. This percentage in the money is $250 Billion across industries across the world(Dalton, 2010). LMD has become the norm in the business world and can be established as a value chain in any organisation starting with Management Leadership Development leading to enhancement in Management Leadership Capability which in turns enhances the performance of the organisation and the profits of the same(Dalton, 2010)

Process of LMD

MLD                                       MLC                                Performance in an Organisation

This can be analysed through the case analysis of Technologies Ltd which is an industrial research and development organisation in UK. This analysis has been spilt in to various sections starting with difference between Leadership and Management, Nature of Leadership and Management in the new organisation Technologies Ltd., LMD Issues arising due to differences in leadership and Management, LMD Approach adopted by Technologies Ltd involving analysis of LMD issues, actual as well as potential contributions of LMD, ethical and professional approach to LMD, recommendations on appropriate LMD strategies, Justification of the rationale of the choices, value additions through proposals, evaluation of specific methods of LMD for Technologies Ltd.

1.1. a.Analysis of Difference between Leadership and Management

Even in today’s globalised era of business in some cases Leadership and Management terms are used synonymously. At this juncture it is very important to understand that leadership is a vital part of an efficient and effective management(Brown&Trevino, 2006). Leadership is a crucial component of management which lays stress on notable leadership traits emphasising the growth and development of every employee in a friendly environment. Managers developing as Leaders implement strategies that build and sustain competitive advantage and such managers are the need of the era(Brown&Trevino, 2006) 

Differences between Leadership and Management

Figure2Source: (Dalton, 2010)

With the above discussion on the differences of leadership and management one can come to a consensus that both the aspects of a business are overlapping and are coexisting in an organisational environment. It has been seen that an organisation over managed and under led does not show good performance. Both management and leadership hand in hand lead the organisation to utilise its resources well to achieve its goal(Brown&Trevino, 2006).

1.1. b. Nature of Leadership and Management in Technologies Ltd

On the basis of the above discussion there is no inclination towards LMD in the culture at Hardy Technologies which followed the traditional, conservator and bureaucratic model as followed by various public sector organisations across UK. A small group of close knit employees were very proud of their scientific and technological knowhow thinking themselves to be great researchers and did not have much inclination towards management or leading to growth in new markets under the good leadership of the Managing Director having the similar outlook. But due to the downtrend in the European market and high level pressure from the developing markets like China and India the company was under pressure and merged with a company called ADD specialising in foreign markets. The new firm was called as Technologies Ltd.

At ADD had a good entrepreneurial setup but lacked in technology so the merger was a boon to both the companies. Its managers used e learning and 360 degree feedback to know the areas requiring development and the line managers aid the employees by using coaching method to address the special requirements.

The above discussion lays the picture of both the companies and the resultant company is a mixture of both to aid each other. But it clearly states that Hardy was unable to survive because of its lack of LMD in its organisation and ADD was flourishing with the LMD across its employees. Technologies Ltd’s managers have aimed to    become more professional with higher emphasis on Leadership and Management Development to attain all the objectives of both the merged companies. To fulfil this aim the company has got a LMD consultant who looks in to the situation as LMD is the requirement of the day. Though Management has been doing good yet the Leadership development is missing in the new company. There arecertain issues that Technologies Ltd will face in the wake of underdevelopment of LMD. The next section dwells in this aspect.

1.2. Identification of Significant Issues for LMD Arising from the Differences of Leadership and Management

In spite of a pervasive characteristic of LMD it is very clear that not all organisations have same kind of approach having different leaderships and management process. Each organisation will have its own requirement depending upon the needs, methods, standards and unique values of leadership and management. The organisation’s external and internal environment has to be considered while implementing LMD across the organisation as it faces a lot of set back before settling in(Gold, Mumford& Thorpe, 2010). The issues for LMD implementation that are arising due to the differences between the leadership and management of both companies coming under a single umbrella of Technologies Ltd are being discussed here:

At Technologies Ltd the top management hasto face strategic issues in implementing the Leadership and Management Development due to the differences in the outlooks of the merged companies. The aim of Technologies Ltd it become more professional having a better leadership with a fresh agenda for achieving the demands and expectations. For achievingthis organisation requires aligning LMD by developing the existing multi culturaldifferences, strategies and training needs(Gold, Mumford& Thorpe, 2010). Yet the company has to face a lot of setbacks due to the senior management of Hardy Technologies as a part of the board. This is because of the bureaucratic and conservative approach of the employees and the management of Hardy Technologies. But the technological Development at Hardy Technologies is the strength of the organisation which needs to be tapped along with the strength of a good management of ADD to transform Technologies Ltd in to a well led and well managed company across borders. Yet the major hurdle will be to address to the senior management with vitality of Leadership and Management Development for their own benefit and enhancement as successful leaders.

There might be conflicts involving women employees and racism in the organisation against some employees working from the developing countries. The company is in the process of expanding to various other countries with the strength of good Research and Development thus requires good leadership and management to provide them the support required.The things it lacks is a unified culture, flexible and flat management structure, professional managerial skills with leadership traits, International team work, work efficiency with cost reduction with competitive edge. All these can be achieved with Leadership and Management Development as it is a long term investment with uncertain returns with the odds of the requirements of short term performance(Gold, Mumford& Thorpe, 2010).

2.1. Examination of Strategic Level Issues in LMD at Technologies Ltd

On the basis of the above discussion it can be seen that Technologies Ltd has been created with a view of having the following strategies in place for the growth and betterment of the company. The company is intending to integrate the teams from both the merged companies in a year’s time for which the following strategic issues are to be focused on

  1. Organisational Culture: Technologies Ltd needs to understand the culture to be followed by it in the coming years as it is a blend of two culturally different companies. Hardy technologies were a British firm that had bureaucratic and conservative culture having no inclination towards management development. In contrast ADD was well managed with flexible and entrepreneurial culture and a specialist in the foreign market for new products. To bank on the technical knowhow of Hardy Technologies the strategic move of merger was done by ADD. Thus Technologies has to look in to benefits of both the cultures and adapt the best for the growth in the future.
  2. Management Structure:Hardy had traditional management style of technical specialisation rather people orientation but ADD had learning and development in place and was people oriented with 360 degree appraisal(Dalton, 2010) and Coaching by line managers in place for employees. The management structure at Technologies Ltd has to be flat and well developed as both the companies have followed different management structures and have different outlooks towards the same for a better outlook towards business.
  3. Management and Leadership Skills: At Hardy the management and leadership skills were based on the technological expertise the employees held and the development activities also included the technical training in the form of technical seminars ending with certification on the other hand at ADD the technical knowhow was not up to the mark but management and leadership skills were quite well developed(Dalton, 2010). Thus both these skills should blend well to the benefit of Technologies Ltd.

4.International Management Team: Hardy Technologies had bad exposure in the international arena as it did not have much management exposure on the other hand ADD was well established in the International borders with well developed learning and development approach. There are chances of racism coming place as the company is located in UK and is going to expand its borders worldwide and the glass ceiling against women may also appear.

  1. Cost Reduction and Efficiency Implementation:With good Research and Technology Hardy Technologies was cost effective but was not efficient without good management skills on the other hand ADD was well managed and cost effective yet was poor in Research and Technology. Technology Ltd has both the advantages and disadvantages work on.
  2. Maximising Competitive Advantage: Though Technologies Ltd has all the ingredients to become a competitive firm in the world at large yet it has its own drawbacks which include lack of common culture, improper management structure, women employee treatment, racism etc. These issues are strategic issues that are to be looked in to a better future of Technologies Ltd.

Based on the above revelation of the strategic issues involved in implementing the LMD in Technologies Ltd one can come to a consensus that Leadership and Management Development has to be developed keeping in mind management, leadership, strategy and culture as they are so intertwined that any treatise of leadership and management development has toinclude discussion of strategy and culture(Dalton, 2010).

2.2. Analysis of the actual and potential contribution of Leadership and Managementdevelopment to Technologies Ltd

2.2. a. Actual Contribution of LMD to Technologies Ltd

In the real scenario at Technologies Ltd the contributions of LMD are to the minimal as it is a blend of Hardy Technologies and ADD where Hardy Technologies never had an exposure to LMD and suffered when the market was moving towards LMD. It did not have much expertise in the area of Leadership and Management Development so it failed to evolve in China where it had initiated its subsidiary. On the other hand ADD had better management practices implanted in its organisation with managers providing 360 degree appraisal and line managers adopted Coaching as the method to train their subordinates as leaders(Lussier&Achua, 2010).Yet the LMD is underdeveloped in the organisation as it requires better managers who would be good leaders to provide better leadership to drive the business to profit maximisation with cost efficiency.The implementation of LMD approach is the need of the hour in Technologies Ltd and as a LMD consultant the potential contributions of LMD for Technologies Ltd are discussed below.

2.2.b.Potential Contribution of LMD to Technologies Ltd

The potential contributions of LMD to Technologies Ltd can be defined through Leadership and Management Development Process(Dalton, 2010). This process has three phases as explained in the below figure 3

Three Sections of Leadership and Management Development Process

  1. Knowledge Enhancement Phase: The initial Phase of LMD process is the knowledge enhancement Phase where in an organisation’s existing knowledge base is enhanced and the knowledge gap is filled(Lussier&Achua, 2010). This is possible if the leaders and managers possess technical knowhow to help themselves as well as their subordinates for taking up proper decisions, interact effectively with everyone, organise work efficiently, enhance critical thinking etc(Brown&Trevino, 2006). Yet this knowledge sharing may not be done well as there might be a knowing – doing gap that is translation of knowledge may not be done effectively for the well being of individual, team and the organisation(Lussier&Achua, 2010). In case of Technologies Ltd, it needs to develop the knowledge base it acquired from Hardy Technologies but may not be sufficient as spelt above it needs behavioural enhancement with the aid of ADD’s behavioural influence.

b.Behavioural Enhancement: The second phase of LMD is about bridging the knowing- doing gap for the benefit of better thinking and smarter acting of the employees in an organisation(Brown&Trevino, 2006). This phase let the knowledge to change in to behaviour as the employees get so used to the knowledge that it turns in to their behaviour. This is done in line with the knowledge leaders and managers have gained and imparted(Dalton, 2010). In case of Technologies Ltd the managers of ADD have to take up the initiative to impart the learning and development they have from ADD for the behavioural development of the employees across Technologies Ltd.

  1. Cultural Enhancement: For the basic validation of the organisational effectiveness and collective well being in an organisation the third phase is essential(Dalton, 2010). This phase involves cultural alignment which entails inculcating and communicating values as well as standards for behaviour that involves employee and aid the organisation at large(Adair, 2007). Both ADD and Hardy Technologies had their own cultures across their setup but once merged in to Technologies Ltd there needs to be a shift in the culture followed. As the company is going global it should open up to cross cultural exchange of ideas and should have managers and leaders giving strategic support providing proper insight in to the working of the company.

2.3. Evidence of Ethical and Professional Approach  to LMD

The case analysis lays the foundation for the ethical approach of Technologies Ltd to take up Leadership and Management Development with the strategies proposed for the betterment of the organisation. An ethical organisation is an organisation having management with ethical experience and take responsibility of being the part of what it does(Adair, 2007). This kind of ethical approach can be brought in place by a leadership development which has integrity to adhere to the code of business ethics and moral values. Such leadership does not bad mouth management privilege but is respected for his conviction(Gold, Mumford& Thorpe, 2010). This kind of leadership development is looked upon as a role model in formulating policies, professional ethics and corporate culture. Such Ethical Approach of LMD can be seen at Technologies Ltd as the board of Technologies Ltd has taken up strategies to take care of the employees in other parts of the company from racism and the ethically women employee should also be given growth at par with the male counterparts. The leadership and management development approach with ethics in mind leads the organisation to take decisions that are viable and do not go overboard(Brown&Trevino, 2006).

In the same way Technologies Ltd has been a professionally run company with the base companies like Hardy Technologies and ADD merging for mutual benefits. Being a professional company means to be following the code of conduct, professional ethics and should have integrity to move on in any situation(Brown&Trevino, 2006). A management development should aid the professional approach of a leader or a manager in the organisation whereby providing a total professional outlook to the organisation with ethics and cultures followed at all levels of the organisation(Lussier&Achua, 2010). Such an approach can be seen at Technologies Ltd as the line managers act as coaches and follow Coach Approach to lead their subordinates for better professional attainment in their work environment.

The ethical and professional approach to Leadership and management development is very essential for any company to have better employee and manager relationship. This is available in Technologies Ltd yet it is required to be improvised further

2.4. Recommendations on Best LMD Strategies for the Technologies Ltd

The recommended Leadership and Management Development Strategies for Technologies are as follows:

  1. To have a strategy in place to lay emphasis on alignment of leadership with the organisation’s operating environment and strategic objectives.
  2. All the senior level managers should be a part of every phase of LMD process
  3. Create positive momentum and communication detailing the success rate of LMD across the business world.
  4. Determine the correct set of employees and leaders to be a part of the LMD process for future process and standards.
  5. To initiate with the goal in mind like what kind of competencies and behaviours to be altered and catered for.
  6. Broader LMD process should be brought in place for future development of leaders of tomorrow linking with succession and talent development processes etc.
  7. LMD being continuous process support systems have to be in place to aid action planning, on job training, and follow up for better future of Technologies Ltd.

2.5. a.Evaluation and Justification of the Rationale for the Choice of Strategies

The strategies are evaluated and justified in this section one by one:

  1. To have a strategy in place to lay emphasis on alignment of leadership with the organisation’s operating environment and strategic objectives.

This strategy has been advised to Technologies Ltd as the company is a blend of traditional and modern organisation structures thus it requires an alignment of leadership in a flat and flexible organisation structure within the globalised operating environment across the developed and developing countries.

  1. All the senior level managers should be a part of every phase of LMD process.

As it has been discussed beforehand that there might be problems arising due to the senior members of Hardy Technologies on board in bringing about LMD in Technologies Ltd so the strategy of involving them in all the stages of LMD will give them the sense of being wanted in the organisation as well as it will provide them a chance to enhance themselves for the betterment of the self and the company.

  1. Create positive momentum and communication detailing the success rate of LMD across the business world.

By having the above said strategy put in place there will be positive reinforcement put in place in the organisation at large by propagating the success rate of LMD approach across organisations in the field and also across various other markets to make the employees and the managers to go through the LMD process in a positive way.

  1. Determine the correct set of employees and leaders to be a part of the LMD process for future process and standards.

The initiation of Leadership and Management Development program should be done with a set of people who are commendable and capable of taking it up so that they portray to the rest of the set of employees the goodness of the program so that they are motivated to take it up without any hesitation.

  1. To initiate with the goal in mind like what kind of competencies and behaviours to be altered and catered for.

This strategy is a farfetched strategy in place which is goal oriented towards the enhancement of the competencies of the organisation for which the behaviours of the employees have to be altered or catered for. Such a strategy will aid in positive reinforcement of better professional and ethical environment for the employees as well as the organisation at large.

  1. Continuous LMD process should be brought in place for future development of leaders of tomorrow linking with succession and talent development processes etc.

This strategy is a farfetched strategy in place with the LMD process need to be planned as a continuous process which will be the stepping stone for the further development of the leaders by providing the future details of the success rates and the development of talent in the long run.

2.5.b. Justification for Value Additions by Proposals to Technologies Ltd

In the knowledge economy, an organization cannot grow or prosper beyond the capability of its leadership and the commitment and skill of its workforce. The LMD effectiveness is directly related to organizational effectiveness, employee engagement and competitive advantage(Lussier&Achua, 2010).

Retention, talent development, organizational performance and employee engagement are objectives that can be delivered only through the LMD role—the relationship that people experience each and every day(Bass&Steidlmeier, 1999)

The complexity, pace and challenges facing organizations today necessitate the development of a competent, skilled and engaged leadership and management cadre.  This is important for the development of the leaders and managers of the organisation(Dalton, 2010).

The strategies proposed by the LMD Consultant as explained above are in place to add value to Technologies Ltd and to move it in the direction of progress and profit maximisation.

2.6. Analysis of the Methods used in LMD

For implementing the LMD across the organisation there are a few methods used namely E Learning, Coaching, Mentoring and Action Learning.

E Learning: It is a process through which the information and communication technologies aid in the training and development of the leadership and management in the organisation through internet and web based programs. It is a part of a new dynamic organisation which is going to be globally recognised(Brown&Trevino, 2006). This method is useful in spreading the communication on training across the organisation without a clinch of loosing track.

Coaching:This method is basically used in instances when a particular issue or condition needs to be addressed. Such issues would have been related to an aim or objective, performance of a set of skills, acceptance of required actions or mindset, a key erudition or growth area or support in the process of problem solving(Avolio, Walumbwa&Weber, 2009). At ADD Coaching had been an integral part and will be carried over to the new organisation for the betterment of the employees of both ADD and Hardy Technologies.

Mentoring: This method is based on the relationship amongst two people who more often than not share a occupational association. The path a mentee is about to take is already been covered by the mentor and is provided with priceless insight and know-how as to the challenges, obstacles, as well as needs the mentee is likely to face along the way(Javidan&House, 2001). Mentoring plays a vital role in a leadership or management development as it pairs employees with senior management, peers, and people in a particular goal area(Javidan&House, 2001).

Action Learning: This method takes advantage of the real time and the future trade issues having a base on the Learning and Development. It dwells in various methods like Simulation, case study, group projects, case scenarios etc(Yukl, 2002). The mentors or sponsors are involved in such methods and presentations are made to senior management by them.

Each of the above discussed method of LMD can be used by any organisation for a better future of the LMD process but in case of Technologies Ltd Coaching is already a part of the LMD process. Other than this method E learning can be used for a better LMD as Technologies Ltd is going to expand further in developing countries so the spread of LMD process will be easier and wide spread with E learning,

The case study on the whole provides learning in the basics of LMD and shows how Leadership Development and Management Development go hand in hand for any business to become successful in today’s globalised world. The Case study of Technologies Ltd shows that a company cannot perform well with technological advancements only not can a company come well with only management development. There has to be a blend of Technological leadership with Management development. Thus when apart as ADD and Hardy both the companies were striving hard for their success in their field but were not able to achieve it as each one was following one development. Hardy was a technologically developed company with technical leadership of the Managing Director whereas ADD had the management development in place to motivate its employees to work well. So both the companies lacked either management development or leadership development. Once both got merged as Technologies Ltd, it had the expertise of technological leadership combined with management development to support it. Thus professionally the company was a strong company but on personal grounds it might face some setbacks from the senior members on board from Hardy Technologies as they are hell bent technologists who will be difficult to train for management development for the betterment of the organisation in the competitive globalised market.

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