Human resources

Table of Contents

1. Topic pack - introduction
2. 2.1 Human Resource Planning - Notes
3. 2.1 Human resource planning - questions
4. 2.2 Organisational structure - notes
5. 2.2 Organisational structure - questions
6. 2.3 Communication - notes
7. 2.3 Communication - questions
8. 2.4 Leadership and management - notes
   1. Leadership and management
   2. Leadership styles
   3. Trait and situation theory
   4. Tannenbaum and Schmidt's leadership model
   5. R. Blake and J. Mouton: The Managerial Grid
   6. Rensis Likert's four management styles (1967)
   7. Difference between leadership and management
   8. Key functions of management
   9. Henri Fayol - Functions of management
   10. Peter Drucker: Management by objectives (MbO)
   11. Charles Handy
   12. Exam tips
9. 2.4 Leadership and management - questions
10. 2.5 Motivation - notes
11. 2.5 Motivation - questions
12. 2.5 Motivation - simulations and activities
13. 2.6 Organisational and corporate cultures - notes (HL only)
14. 2.6 Organisational and corporate cultures - questions
15. 2.7 Employer and employee relations - notes (HL only)
16. 2.7 Employer and employee relations - questions
17. 2.8 Crisis management and contingency planning - notes
18. 2.8 Crisis management and contingency planning - questions
19. Printable version

Difference between leadership and management

The terms leadership and management, like many business terms, are often used interchangeably and in many cases this is unimportant as the terms have clear overlaps. However, there is an important difference between managers and leaders. A manager may be a leader, or a leader may be a manager, but a manager is not necessarily a leader and a leader is not necessarily a manager! Leadership is a specific and difficult task.

Warren Bennis attributes at least 15% of a firm's success directly to its leader, but clearly this leaves the other 85% attributable to other factors - one of which is the quality of the management. Management, like leadership is difficult to define and categorise, which has left the field open for millions of books on the subject. In this section, we will examine some of the more seminal research on the subject. However, as a starting point, we will explore some general differences between the two terms:

The Role of the Manager

Management's function is the effective and efficient deployment of the resources of the firm. A manager is someone who, as a result of appointment to a particular role or position, has legitimate power to carry out that function. Great managers tend to have one thing in common: they possess the ability to turn employee skills and talents into improved performance and the satisfaction of organisational goals. The essence of management is delivering excellent quality and customer service. However, these are measures of management success and outcomes; the real focus of management is transforming employee skills and talents to deliver these outcomes. The coaching instinct is, therefore, a core skill of good managers.

It can be argued that management is more about tactical decisions in an organisation, leaving the vision and strategy to the leader. Management is mostly about processes. Managers establish and/or follow rules and procedures and follow the culture of the organization. This is a simple way to see how leadership is different to management:

The Role of the Leader

Leaders need to win the hearts and minds of their followers to ensure that their vision of the future is understood and followed by everyone. Leadership is mostly about behaviour. It is particularly important at significant change points in the firm's development. When the business is young the founder needs to provide the vision for the organisation and to drive this forward. When large organisations change, leaders need to re-energise the workforce, refocus the vision and set the new strategic direction of the business.

At the core of leadership is an ability to cut through individual differences and focus on common needs. Leadership relies most strongly on less tangible and less measurable things like trust, inspiration, attitude, decision-making, and personal character. Unlike managers, leaders are instigators of change, so they are risk-takers and decision makers. They:

• Identify the fundamental elements of an organisation; who it serves and its core strengths
• Set the strategic direction of the organisation
• Are optimistic, innovative, entrepreneurial and creative

Leadership is centrally concerned with people. The leader focuses on the future and rallies others to this vision. Of course leadership involves decisions and actions relating to all sorts of other things, but leadership is special compared to any other role because of its unique responsibility for people.

Summary