Management Assessment Midterm

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Case Assignment: Management Assessment
Stacey Troup
Managing & Leading Organizations/MGT-322
January 20, 2017
Glenn Zimmerman

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Case Assignment: Management Assessment
During this midterm case assignment, I will be reviewing leadership and management from
a multitude of levels. First, the differences between leadership and management will be defined
as well as how both could be used to their best advantages in a business environment. Different
leadership and management styles will be discussed as well as how both of these approaches are
used in strategic decision making. Finally, I will discuss the fine line that both managers and
leaders must walk in their personal relationships with their staff as well as what the proper line to
“walk” is in these relationships so that they do not create problems for the company. All of these
areas will lead to a greater understanding of the need of managers and leaders in the strategic
decision making process and overall success of the company.
Leadership vs. Management
Managers and leaders play integral yet separate roles in any corporate structure.
Managers tend to be the people who carry out the ideas from leaders in order to define the
purpose. They tend to organize workers in order to inspire results and may engage in skills
nurturing, professional development and corrective behavioral plans (Murray, N.D.).
Leaders are viewed as innovators who focus on people and inspire trust amidst their
employees. They have a vision for the long range perspective of the company’s success and
often ask “what and why?” to proposed ideas. Their eye is forever on the end game of success as
they always challenge the “status quo”. Their innovations come from their own stance that they
are their “own person” and they always do the right thing for the company as a whole (Murray,
N.D.).
Managers roles tend to be more administrativce in nature and they copy the ideas of the
leaders they report to. They maintain the structures and procedures given to them and act as

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“good soldiers”. Their positions rely on control and the bottom line of the company’s business
and they are often people who accept the “status quo” without challenge. Whereby leaders “do
the right thing” managers, on the other hand, do “things right” while maintaining a short range
view of the vision (Murray, N.D.)
Managers are the delegators of leaders. They are responsible for delegating the
responsibility of tasks to complete the goal or task at hand as well as for the reporting of task
milestones or completion. Be the reporting information good or bad, an effective manager in a
healthy environment will always report the truth and not make excuses for the end result. The
information that managers provide to leaders help the company determine the next steps to be
taken in terms of production, staffing, financial obligations, stock levels and a number of other
variable goal oriented data figures. Managers are also responsible for determining when an
employee is in need of as well as beyond the point of help through corrective action plans and
additional training. In some cases, employees are just not meant for the role they hold and
training would never make a difference but managers must make this determination on a case by
case basis and provide the necessary professional development as well as communicate these
problems and corective actions to the employees so that they may begin work on their success.
Leadership & Management Styles
As we look at the various management and leadership styles there is always one method
which is more favorable to our own personal styles as we see them as the most productive way to
engage a team. From personal perspective, the visionary leadership style is the most sought after
model of leadership style and has been adapted by companies such as Google.com.
While Google has found favor with the use of the visionary style, one might make the
argument that they also ecompass portions of other management styles including affiliative and

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democratic while the company itself embraces a pacesetting style overall. By removing the
heiarchy from their company philosophy and embracing the ideas of their employees at all
levels, Google has set itself ahead of their competitors through their most valuable asset – their
employees (He, 2013).
To clarify why these leadership styles are part of what gives Google its flat leadership
style, it is important to understand what the visionary style is so favored by employees. The
visionary style, in its basic definition and form, allow for people to feel free to suggest or
develop innovations for the company’s product offering while taking calculated risks and
working toward shared company goals (Murray, N.D.). This innovation is showcased during the
weekly meetings whereby Google allows for any employee at any level to make a suggestion
about a product idea and Google has had some of its most valuable or most popular innovations
come from this environment (He, 2013).
Beyond the styles of leadership, it is important to have a management style that is
complimentary to the leadership style so that we do not have a “butting of the heads” in terms of
how things should be accomplished. The participative manager is most likely the type of
manager within Google as they are known to provide an “everyone has input” mentality. The
participative manager encourages input from all levels of the team as they also believe this
fosters true teamwork. This is the best management style for experienced staff members, such as
the people Google hires, as it also provides a steady working environment free of
micromanagement (Cardinal, N.D.).
Managers feed information up through channels into leaders hands so that strategic
decisions can be reached. This information can be in the form of things like the sales figures for
the month, the average packages shipped vs the orders for the day, product defective returns and

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the like. This type of information in a sales setting allows for leaders (executives) to determine
staffing needs for peaks and valleys in sales cyles, when training is necessary, when it is time to
hire additional staff or to terminate ill performing staff. All of this adds up to how the managers
and leaders interact within the strategic making decision process. Integral lower level data drives
the mechanisims of business success and feeds the funnel of information for these key decisions
in business.
Walking the Line of Propriety: Frienships in Businss
In the world of business, the landscape is such that among coworkers, friendships are
often formed over time of working together. This is usually the result of similar interests,
backgrounds, positions or other outside influences and is generally a positive one provided that
everything is kept professional during working hours and a limited amount of personal
information which might be shared is also kept out of the walls of business operations (and
subsequent rumor mills) (Shiao, 2016).
When it comes to these interpersonal relationships among leaders, it is always good to
have a professional, healthy relationship with the employees. However, it is important to ensure
that these relationships do not interfere in the world of business or cause “cliques” to form which
may be coutnerproducitve to the team environment. In fact, a Gallup State of the American
Workplace Poll uncovered that satisfaction among workers who participated in a workplace
friendship with a supervisor (or the like) had increased more than 50%. While this is a
staggering argument to employee happiness and retention, it does not come without concerns and
proprieties which must be followed in order to maintain proper boundaries (Hedges, 2015).
Among the boundaries of propriety which need to be followed are the need for effective
confict resolution skills, clear communication methods and a need for realistic expectations and

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transparency in your management style. These boundaries are put in place should a situation
arise where corrective behavioral actions are needed to be taken against a subordinate who
reports to a manager they are friends with so that the friendship is unaffected by the need for
disciplinary actions (Hedges, 2015).
Should managers and their employees draw lines which are unhealthy in nature such as
becoming romantically involved, showing favortism over the rest of the team or refusing to
discipline a team member when the situation calls for it, this can lead to a mass dissatisfaction in
their jobs among other team members as well as a loss of great employees due to the biased
behaviors of the manager (Hedges, 2015). In situations where the corruption of propriety is with
the owner of a company to a manager, the staff is often made to feel that no matter how wrong
something is, it will never change because the manager is given a “golden ticket” to reign rather
than manage a healthy environment.
In terms of leadership thories, as we review the 1970’s theory of Transformational
Leadership, which dictates that “leaders transform their followers through their inspirational
nature and charasmatic peronalities” (Leadership Theories, N.D.) a question immeditely arises:
what happen when transformational leadership is riddled with personal bias, unprofessional
relationships and corruption while harboring an anti-team environment?
The question is asked from personal experience whereby I worked for someone who
drove a wedge between team members, subscribed to no particular management style or set of
ethics, and rewarded unhealthy behaviors in the workplace while driving away educated, skilled
employees who refused to play her brand of politics.
When a manager has no firm set of ethical principles they lead by, they mite as well lead
with a blindfold on. When they are less skilled than the people on their team this can lead to

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problms of jealousy and spite which are almost always the result of lack of communication
(When You're More Qualified Than The boss, 2013).
Often employees will feel more qualified than their superiors or bosses because of factors
relating to their hire which are beyond the control of the staff. Managing these animosities for
the employee can be tricky but are not out of reach. First, evaluation of if your boss is good at
their job, remembering to always be positive and not resentful, spiteful or otherwise vindictive
against them. It is important to work with these supervisors (managers) and not against them in
order to forge successful work relationships. Finally, it is important to focus on your own job
and success and not the shortcomings of your boss in order to truly find success. By this it is
implied that you should never “trash talk” about your boss or otherwise try to sway others to
your idea that your boss is unqualified for their job but rather focus on your own situation to find
overall success (When You're More Qualified Than The boss, 2013).
Conclusion
Throughout this paper an examination has been done into both management and
leadership styes as well as interpersonal relationships between staff members at different levels
and how to effectively manage these relationships for the benefit of business. What we learn is
that there is a healthy balance to managing employees we also wish to be social with outside the
office.
During my time in the business world, which is significant, I have hoaned my
managaement style to be very understanding but firm and to keep my personal relationships
within boundaries and proprieties of business. I learned that I hated to be micromanaged and,
therefore, would never micromanage anyone else unless they were in a training phase of their
employment whereby the had many questions and needed the one-on-one relationship.

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By fostering a healthy management or leadership style encompassing clear
communication and visibility, you gain a trust among your employees and a sense of teamwork
which is hard to come by. I would definitely listen more in my next management role, however,
I tend to manage floors and very few people directly. The people I support are a higher level
than I am and I have had the instance where I was forced to turn in one of my bosses for illegal
activities. We must maintain our ethical standards as we manage a staff of people of any level
while working to maintain the company vision and mission as well as a healthy bottom line in
business.

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References
Cardinal, R. (N.D.). 6 Management Styles and When Best to Use Them. Retrieved from Leaders
In heels: https://leadersinheels.com/career/6-management-styles-and-when-best-to-use-
them-the-leaders-tool-kit/
He, L. (2013, 03 29). Google's Secrets of Innovation: Powering its Employees. Retrieved from
Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurahe/2013/03/29/googles-secrets-of-innovation-
empowering-its-employees/#427fddd87eb3
Hedges, K. (2015, 03 31). New Rules: How Managers Can Be Friends With Employees.
Retrieved from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2015/03/31/new-
rules-how-managers-can-be-friends-with-employees/#160b6cb27612
Leadership Theories. (N.D.). Retrieved from Leadership Central: http://www.leadership-
central.com/leadership-theories.html#axzz4WQOtkmQ7
Murray, A. (N.D.). What is the Difference Between Management and Leadership. Retrieved from
The Wall Street Journal: http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-
style/what-is-the-difference-between-management-and-leadership/
Shiao, V. (2016, 08 06). Drawing the Line With Work Friends. Retrieved from Business Times:
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/cubicle-files/drawing-the-line-with-work-
friends
When You're More Qualified Than The boss. (2013, 08 28). Retrieved from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/08/28/when-youre-more-qualified-
than-the-boss/#12372a63167e