Essay on Roles of Managers and Leaders

If I were the current CEO for the United States Postal Service, I would be gravely concerned about the future of my business, as it has recently taken a steep plummet from its success and popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries. The USPS is now faced with the decision to renovate itself due to the extreme loss of business as technology takes over the 21st Century. Some say that the USPS should be entirely reconstructed because the business is only headed further downhill, while others say that paper mail is still very practical, more so than e-mail, and we must each write more letters to do our part in reviving the business to profitability again. Because the USPS has been such a vital part of our country through

Leadership is a facet of management. It is just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess. The main aim of a manager is to maximize the output of the organization through administrative implementation. To achieve this managers must undertake the four functions of management: planning, organization, leading and controlling. In some cases leadership is just one important component of the leading function. Predpall (1994) said, "Leaders must let vision, strategies, goals, and values be the guide-post for action and behavior rather than attempting to control others". In some circumstances, leadership is not required. For example, self-motivated groups may not require a single leader and may find leaders dominating. The fact that a leader is not always required proves that leadership is just an asset and is not essential.

Throughout this assignment a discussion will take place into the theories of leadership, whilst examining the role of managers within the context of the early years. A series of management competences will be evaluated, whilst investigating the notions of leadership and collaboration.

According to a Case Study-United States Postal Service (Jan 06, 2010), retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/bakeursilly/usps; since 1175 when Benjamin Franklin was appointed as the first postmaster general of the United States, the agency known as the United States Postal Service (USPS) has grown to become an institution that delivers about half of the world’s mail in snow, rain, and the dark of the night. Employing about 656,000 workers and 218,684 vehicles, 36,496 total retail and delivery facilities nationwide, 599 processing facilities, 584 million pieces is the average volume per day, and a total work hour of 1,258,025 per year delivering over 200 billion items per year via air and highway.

For over two centuries, people relied on the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way to receive their letter and packages from people around the country. It is their only way where a person can obtain a parcel when there are no technologies to assist them. Nowadays, in the modern world, there are different kinds of ways where one can receive a package or a letter, from an email or other companies. This results in the USPS decreasing its values. In order for the USPS to keep up with the fast-paced society, it should consider changing their ways of working.

Within this assignment I will describe my understanding of the links between management and leadership, the skills and styles of management and leadership, the application of management and leadership theories in an organisational context and planning for the development of management and leadership skills.

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

Not only is the USPS delivering less and less mail each year thanks to the internet, the business is also spending too much on gas due to gas prices steadily going up. When each postal truck has to visit several neighborhoods, using about a tank of gas every other day, the cost of transportation starts to outweigh the actual profit being made. McDevitt supports such a statement by saying, “It’s [the USPS] being pummeled by the high fuel costs.” In a nation where people are becoming more and more concerned about the environment, such a high use of gas is even more of a problem. Also, the junk mail received is troublesome and often times annoying, which is incredibly frustrating since there is no way to stop it from getting into the mailbox. So much money is being spent on the transporting of useless mail to millions of people who would rather not be receiving it, and there is no way to profit from the. If it wasn’t already believable enough, numbers speak louder than words, and the numbers provided by the USPS exemplify just how real the loss of the company is (Source B). Since 2000, the number of pieces being transported to mailboxes around America has decreased by more than 40 billion pieces. With such a loss in business comes a decrease in the overall revenue for the company. So, it is surprising that there have been barely any changes to the way that the USPS is catering to the new society that it is supposed to be servicing. If the USPS would like to start making a profit yet again, the business needs to consider taking a step into the digital world along with reducing their

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” These words were scripted on the wall of one of the very first post offices in the United States. And, in the past, those very words rang true, starting with the very first man who inquired to the British about a postal service. The Pony Express was soon to follow. Many brave, young men rode across many miles of dangerous country, risking their own lives in order to deliver the mail to its final destination. Planes and trains came along soon after. And the United States Postal Service was booming. But nowadays many people seem to think that the United States Postal Service is running downhill. We all have something to thank them for whether it is a yearly birthday card, endless love letters, or our monthly paychecks.

The United States Postal Service is a natural monopoly in the delivery of first class mail, as the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act prevents any other firms from delivering letter mail (Jaag, 2014). The reason for this was to allow one firm to specialize in mail delivery; therefore being the most efficient way to ensure the rest of the country received their mail on time. After all, receiving mail in a timely manner is critical for society to function. Imagine if everyone received their bills and letters weeks late? However, the USPS has begun to face a dilemma in recent years, in that it is seeing a sharp decline in revenue (Carbaugh, 2011). Not only is this bad for the postal service, but consumers will suffer as well because the postal

The USPS is at a point where it does not have the financing available to maintain its operations. One reason for the annual net losses is due to the declining rate of first-class mail. The second reason has to do with the required prepayment of $5.5 billion per year toward retirees’ healthcare costs. In order for the USPS to overcome this deficit, they will need to consider their short time frame, government restrictions and labor union backfire in considering the best alternative. One alternative would be to privatize postal services operations which would allow the USPS to change its pricing structure, yet it would potentially significantly reduce market share. A second alternative would be to undergo a system-wide

Successful organizations have strong leaders and managers that develop, support and encourage employee longevity within a company. There is a significant difference between leadership and management however both skills have to be used collectively and both are important to a profitable organization. Leadership is a notion of communicating an organization’s vision, whereas management is more of the implementation of the organization’s vision. The manager typically carries out the responsibilities written by the organization and has a good team underneath them to carry out the duties and meet the goals. Most companies have a mission statement that mirrors and supports a company’s vision. When referring leadership and management, the two

The act of directing and controlling a group of people for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing the group towards accomplishing a goal beyond the scope of individual effort. Management encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.

Is every good manager a good leader? Is every leader a good manager? Leadership and management are often used in similar perspectives, yet they do not share the same meaning. Leaders are exactly what the name says - they lead team members to success. Managers, like leaders, have the meaning referenced in the name. Managers manage over employees, striving for success. The two titles can be used simultaneously with one person, but this is a rare occurrence.

Within each organization there should be effective leaders who should be able to maintain an organization’s vision and mission. These leaders are part of the management that can effectively lead a growing organization to succeed. There are various tools such as character traits, influence, persuasion, and change which can help an effective leader manage. A manger/leader should be prepared to persuade and influence others by using their character traits. Theories of leadership, management, and influence and change will be a major topic in this paper. This paper will discuss each of the elements of leadership and management, and how influence, persuasion, and change can affect the outcome.