Management Theory: Understanding The Difference Between Leadership And Task Orientation

Studies on the subjects of leadership and management have the underlying difference between a leader and a manager as “managers maintain things and leaders change things.” Gill (2006:26) explains their difference as “Managers plan, allocate resources, administer and control whereas leaders innovate, communicate and motivate”

Understanding the difference and similarities between managers and leaders can be enlightening. Managers develop and manage plans that impact the strategic vision of an organization while leaders set strategic visions for the organization. Managers establish plans, support strategic plans, and organizational objectives. Managers also evaluate and track the achievement of tactical plans that have been assigned to specific staff. While on the other hand leaders motivate staff to achieve the object and task set forth. Managers serve as problem solvers. Managers are the people who assign resources to groups. On the hand leaders serve as persuasive change agents.

Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.

Much has been written about the difference between management and leadership. In the past, competent management staffs ran effective companies. In light of our ever-changing world, however, most companies have come to realize that it is much more important to lead than to manage. In today's world the old ways of management no longer work. One reason is that the degree of environmental and competitive change we are experiencing is extreme. Although exciting, the world is also very unstable and confused. In an article entitled What’s the Difference between Your Hospital and the Other? Gary Campbell states that the difference between a manager and a leader is that the manager “finds himself quite willing to

This report will be look into extent to which the Managerial Escalator, the Managerial Hybrid and Managerial Gap (Rees and Porter, 2008) fits in the experience of two managers. This report focus on two parts; firstly on giving the details on theories explained by Rees and Porter. Secondly this report will analyze and discuss the results from both managers with managerial responsibilities, their process to achieve current position, difficulties in the role of being manager, what motivate them to work and if they got support from their mentors etc. It was found that their working styles match the concept of managerial escalator.

In general, we are familiar with the quote managers do things right while leaders do the right things. In essence, the analytical versus the holistic approach of leadership addresses these two separate and distinct functions within an organization. For instance, a manager focuses on the daily operations of an organization with an emphasis on team delivery, budgeting, and supervising the employees. Contrarily, leaders within an organization focus their time on improvements and innovation. In particular, leaders can perform this function since they are not culpable for routine tasks and mired in the minutia. As a result, there is a misnomer that managers are leaders and leaders remain managers, but they are not exclusive. Therefore, being a manager and a leader requires different abilities and dispositions.

Organizational theory as it applies to health care introduces a complex and challenging situation. The health care environment introduces challenges to a structured organization which may not be present in traditional business. For example, measuring output may be difficult in an environment of daily uncertainty, it would be nearly impossible to predict or plan for all of the specific tasks, activities and business interactions in any one unit in the hospital setting. Additional challenges include complex, variable work that cannot often be deferred, work performed under emergency circumstances, high degree of

Organizational theory studies the various variables that influence the behavior of an individual(s) working within an organization, but also, “prescribes how work and workers ought to be organized and attempts to explain the actual consequences of organizational behavior (including individual actions) on work being performed and on the organization itself.” (Milakovich & Gordon, 2013, p.145). Of the many approaches to organizational analysis, Classical Organizational theory has been, even to this day, extremely influential by focusing on more formal concepts such as bureaucracy, rationalization and scientific management. Although, over the decades organizational management has taken on a more human relations approach to getting more productivity out of employees, it is contributors like Max Webber, Fredrick Taylor, and Luther Gulick that laid down the basic foundation organizational theories by recognizing the need for control and procedures.

Management has experienced remarkable shifts in the way that organizations conduct business particularly in the last century, due to the evolving workplace as well as tremendous changes in the roles of leaders in organizations. Early managers often relied on authoritative tactics to get the job done, which we have learned from history does not work very well for many modern organizations. In this paper, I will be analyzing the management approach my organization takes and whether this is the best approach to meet organizational goals and whether or not my organization may benefit from adopting a different approach or combining multiple approaches.

In addition to knowing who I am, I must continually practice and refresh my skills to become an effective leader. In his article, Kotter (2001) has differentiated the roles of a manager from those of a leader. A manager organizes and promotes stability, while leaders inspire others to achieve a vision and embrace change. Kotter’s work has given me a clear understanding of where to exercise my leadership skills when they are called for. I have been working in a management position for almost 12 years, but this article allowed me to fully appreciate that a manager’s role might vary while overseeing the operations of a unit, whereas a leader must be able to assist those who follow him or her through an organization’s constant changes.

In corporate America the term used to describe a person in a position of power is “Manager”. A leader can be a manager, but a manager is not necessarily a leader. Leaders motivate, challenge, and influence others to achieve goals. Great leaders have the necessary skills and attributes which allow them to connect with the team and organization. Being a leader is not the same as managing an organization. Leader’s posses the interpersonal skills needed to influence others to achieve a goal willingly. Leading is a major part of a manager’s job. Leaders do not need to be a manager to lead people, but managers must know how to lead as well as manage.

With the support of relevant examples, examine the development of management theories and how these theories may affect the management practices in PRIMARK:

I believe you learn about leadership by acting as an example. You should be prepared to do the things you are asking others to do by getting on your hands and knees, if need be, and get your hands dirty. This engraves a picture into the mind of an employee or subordinate to what type of a manager you are. In this paper, I will cover the role a manager plays in an organization describing four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. I will then describe three traits: conceptual, human, and technical, which an individual must possess to become a successful manager within an organization and how they fit in with the four functions.

As Alan Murray write in his essay “Guide to Management” “The manager’s job is to plan, organize and coordinate. The leader’s job is to inspire and motivate”.

The main focus behind the development of management theory is the quest for good ways to make use of managerial means. Management theory evolves constantly with the continuous stream of new ideas that come from the attempts to transform theory into practice, and vice versa (Aguinaldo & Powell, 2002). Progression in management theory normal happen as key personnel discover great methods to accomplish the most important management responsibilities: planning, organiz-ing, leading, and controlling human and other managerial means. This paper will show how man-agement theory having to do with suitable management processes has emerge in modern times, and view the main aspects that have led to its prosperity.