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Lt Gen Tunner : Leadership Theory, Theory And Management Theory

Decent Essays

Leadership is often seen as the most critical factor in the success or failure of teams. General Ronald Fogleman once said that to become a successful leaders, we must first learn that no matter how good the technology or how shiny the equipment, people-to-people relations get things done and that if you are to be a good leader, you have to cultivate your skills in the arena of personal relations (AFDD 1-1, 34). One way to prepare our leaders for these challenges is to study the history of other leaders who also had to overcome great challenges. Lieutenant General William H. Tunner—a key leader in the planning and execution of the Hump and Berlin Airlift—provides a great opportunity to bridge the gap between leadership theories and practice.
This paper provides an analysis of a case study on Lt Gen Tunner titled “When you get a job to do, do it” by Major Davis S. Hanson. Leading off will be a discussion of the elements of leadership theory by Lt Gen Tunner in his career. In this case the focus will be on Scientific Management Theory. The second objective will be to explain the use of Social Systems Theories and Systems Design as Gen Tunner led his teams. Finally, this paper will wrap up with a discussion on how Tunner managed productivity through either human resources or a pure “production” perspective.
As stated, Scientific Management Theory will begin the dialogue on leadership theories. Scientific Management is a theory introduced by Fredrick Taylor (Hughes,

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