Wolfgang Keller at Konigsbrau-Tak (a)

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”

Evaluating his approach to bringing about change in his organization. Comparing his approach with that of Jack Welch.

1. Why are Houston Fearless 76, Inc. (HF76) managers unhappy with the company’s existing sales incentive plan? Are weaknesses in this plan a major cause of the company’s performance problems?

2. Reflect on the information presented in this week’s lesson and provide an insightful response to each question writing no more than two paragraphs.

Some management styles may be best for the situation and some may not be. Therefore, awareness on different types of management styles will help the managers to handle different situations the optimal way. Different management styles are capable of handling different situations and solving different problems. Therefore, a manager should be a dynamic person, who has insight into many types of management styles such as:

An organization’s management roles can be quite different and diverse, depending on the industry, its culture and the ultimate goals of the organization. Managers on different levels of an organization play several roles and exercise multiple skills as they effectively and efficiently, integrate the work of people through planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Historically, there are three key management viewpoints: classical, behavioral and quantitative. To be an exceptional manager, it is essential to embrace a viewpoint

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.

At the beginning he was told to report to Jenkins, however, once he got to the site he was assigned to Jeff Hardy.  After the company reorganization, he found himself wondering whether he should report to Knight or Hardy. However, despite the confusion, he never brought up this question to Hardy, Jenkins or Knight. He perhaps then fell into the trap of a “boss­subordinate relationship” and went with the structure he felt was assigned without truly understanding its reasoning. ii. He didn’t take enough time to understand HQ’s perspective on various issues a. Replacing the chief engineer, rejecting frequency reuse patterns, or failing to get sign off on agreements for GMCT cell sites indicate failures in managing upward management relationships. Problem #2: Employee Dynamics Strengths 1. Peterson was committed to building an empowering environment for employees. i. Peterson called weekly construction meetings, which invited all to report on the company’s weekly progress and issues. Shortcomings 2. He failed to consider alterations in team dynamics when making hiring and salary decisions. i. He hired Trevor at a higher salary rate to the resentment of other employees, causing significant damage to the trust and respect between employee and manager.

There are many differing theories on the styles of management and leadership which attempt to differentiate the skills, strengths and personalities required between management and leadership although it is clear from the studies of these theorists that many of the skills are applicable to both.

One of the most important is that this supervisor’s employees were completely denied the opportunity to learn and grow. This definitely breeds resentment among the employees, as the entire staff begins to feel that shortness in opportunity is preventing them from moving forward professionally (Walker, 2002). Furthermore, a lack of learning and developing leads to low self-esteem, motivation, and moral. It was very obvious that the entire team felt this way, as they were not trusted to take on these situations. This, in turn, negatively affected the entire company, as talent was not being properly developed.

Wolfgang Keller is a 34 year old graduate of the Harvard Business School. After a fast moving career building a reputation for turning around failing businesses, Wolfgang Keller once again found himself facing the challenge of turning around a losing business. This time it was as managing director of the Ukrainian subsidy of the Konigsbrau Brewery. The company was experiencing €2.9 million per year with annual sales of €116 million, (Gabarro, 2008). Even though this was a bigger company that he was used to dealing with, he seemed to be well on his way to success after just three years. Sales had increased to €145 million and the company was finally turning a €7 million

In this case, we have really two different points of view: in one side, there is Philip Anderson, the Phoenix branch manager of Stuart & Co., who manages a team with his ways, his idea, his experience but the results do not reach the targets fixed by the firm. In the other side, there is the direction of Stuart & Co., which has opposite ideas to Philip Anderson.

Theory X describes a results-driven manager who issues deadlines and ultimatums, is elitist, does not build teams, is a one-way communicator and a poor listener, and a whole host of other negative traits. This is the "authoritarian" style, and while MacGregor's (Chapman, n.d.) treatment of this manager is overwhelmingly negative, these types of people often become managers because they deliver results. Theory Y managers, by contrast, as known as "participative" and are characterized by a host of positive adjectives.

Many people believe they can either be a good or great manager. The actual reality to this is some people are actually not fit to be a manager either because they do not know what to do or because they do not know how to handle themselves. Throughout this paper, management styles will be discussed, and the qualities of a good manager.

4. How does this case illustrate how strategic intent needs to be matched by both organizational capability and managerial competence; and show how such