DIRECTING/LEADING FUNCTION

Directing is constituted of three aspects of management which are: motivation, leadership and
communication.
MOTIVATION
Motivation is a key part of the managers job because through it the manager is able to make people want to
perform activities so that goals can be achieved.
Motivation has been defined as the set of processes that determine behavioural choices. That is the processes
which influence people to behave the way they do. Motivation is therefore concerned with the reasons for
human behaviour, it explains why people behave in a certain manner.
Motivation is derived from motive which is an inner force that moves a person to behave in a certain way.
Motives may stem from both physiological and psychological needs.
Motivation is greatly affected by the environment in which the employee is operating, and therefore
management of the environmental factors that affect workers is one way to lighten the function of
motivation.
The concepts of reward and punishment are basic to motivation. For example most modern theories of
motivation stress rewards as motivational factors. While punishments can also serve to motivate, it is difficult
to draw reliable evidence that punishments help produce more effective or desirable behaviour. For example
few prisoners get rehabilitated by prison conditions. How rewards and punishment are used in management
depends on each individual manager. Management thinking on motivation has progressed through three
distinct stages:

(a) Traditional view

this view of motivation was held during the era of Frederick W. Taylor and scientific management. This was a
simplistic way of looking at employees. The opinion was that employees worked only for economic reasons
and presumably the more they were paid, the harder they worked. It is also known as the rational or
economic concept of motivation.
(b) Human related view
this approach was advocated by the behavioural school of management thought. It argued that social forces
were the primary determinants of motivation. The opinion was that the more satisfied people were with their
jobs the harder they worked. Also known as the social concept of motivation.
(c) Human resources review
this view takes the most positive attitude towards employees' motivation. It argues that people are actually
resources that can benefit the organization. It also argues that people want to help and managers should look
upon them as assets.
5.1.2 The Motivational Process
Human motivation is a complex process that begins with human needs. (Needs are drives or forces that
initiate behaviour).
When needs become very strong people engage in efforts to fulfil these needs. As a result of such efforts
people experience various levels of need satisfaction. The extent to which people find their needs satisfied
serves to influence the future choices to satisfy the same or similar needs. The diagram illustrates:

NEEDS

FUTURE
EFFORTS
CHOICES

LEVELS OF

SATISFACTION

The motivational process is a dynamic one. An individual has at any one time several needs to satisfy and one
can be at different positions in the cycle for each need. Satisfaction of the needs also takes different time
frames but at any rate the starting point is always needs.

Motivation is a complex problem in organizations because the needs, wants and desires of each employee
differ. Each employee is unique in his biological and psychological make up.

Motivation is further complicated by the fact that it is not exactly clear who is responsible for employee
motivation i.e. whether the manager or the employee himself (is the individual expected to provide his own
motivation or is motivation a function of management?).

Motivation can either be external or internal.

External motivation emanates from management, and employees react either positively or negatively to what
their managers do. Managers must therefore use external motivation that generates positive responses from
employees.

Internal motivation originates from within the individual as he tries to satisfy his various needs. It may be
caused by factors within the individual e.g. personality or factors that are under the control of management
e.g. job context (salaries, policies, working conditions) and job content (recognition, advancement, status and
responsibility).

Persons find that organizations allow them to achieve goals that they cannot achieve alone. This may imply a
large degree of self-motivation or internal motivation on the part of each individual. Many people however do
not realize that by working toward the organizational goals they are also achieving their own individual goals.
Such people are rarely self motivated enough to share in organizational goals and usually want jobs with
salaries that can pay bills. For such people management must provide external motivation in order to
encourage them to work towards organizational goals.
Theories of Motivation
Motivation theories are divided into two main categories:

i. Content Theories
ii. Process Theories

Content Theories attempt to explain the specific things that actually motivate an individual at work. They are
concerned mainly with identifying people's needs, their relative strengths and the goals people pursue in order
to satisfy these needs. Their main focus is on what motivates. Included here are Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy
of Needs, Herzberg's Two Factor Theory, Alderfer's Modified Need Hierarchy and McClellands achievement
motivation.
Process Theories concern themselves with identification of the dynamic variables that make up motivation.
Mainly process theories focus on how behaviour is initiated, directed and sustained. They include,
expectancy-based models of Vroom and Porter, and Lawler and Adam's equity theory.

CONTENT THEORIES
[Link]'s Two Factor Theory
The two factor theory was developed by Fredrick Herzberg from his study of 200 accountants and engineers.
It is also known as the hygiene theory. It is a theory of external motivation because the manager controls the
factors that produce job satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Prior to Herzberg's study it was generally believed that employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction and hence
motivation or lack of it were two opposite ends of the same continuum (scale) i.e. people either satisfied with
their jobs or they were dissatisfied or something in between. Herzberg's study however showed that this was
not the case. He found out that satisfaction was influenced by one set of factors while dissatisfaction was
influenced by another set (hence the two factor theory). Factors which influenced dissatisfaction he called
dissatisfiers (hygiene or maintenance factors). This included company policy, administration, supervision,
working conditions, salary, status, job security and interpersonal relations. If these factors are present in high
quality and quantity, people are simply not dissatisfied and not necessarily satisfied. So presence of these
factors does not motivate in the sense of yielding satisfaction. When these factors were absent or deficient,
people were dissatisfied yet when they were present people were not necessarily satisfied—instead they were
simply not dissatisfied.
Factors which affected satisfaction, he called them satisfiers or motivators. Included here were achievement,
recognition, responsibility, growth and advancement. When these factors fell below an acceptable level, they
contributed very little to job dissatisfaction but they did prevent satisfaction i.e. when they were present
employees tended to be satisfied, but when they were deficient employees were merely not satisfied, but were
not necessarily dissatisfied. If a job does not offer an employee advancement, challenging work, responsibility
and recognition he will not necessarily be dissatisfied with it but neither will he derive any satisfaction from it.
This theory has a clear message for managers in trying to motivate employees, the first step should be to
eliminate dissatisfaction by ensuring that pay, working conditions, company policies are reasonable. But pay
and those other improvements will not lead to motivation, so the next step would be for managers to
enhance motivation by improving factors that cause satisfaction. So managers should ensure there are
opportunities for advancement, achievement, authority, status and recognition. From the theory it can be
concluded that:

(a) The factors that cause job satisfaction are separate and distinct from the factors that cause job
dissatisfaction.
(b) The opposite of job satisfaction is no job satisfaction and not dissatisfaction.
(c) The opposite of job dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction and not satisfaction.
The applicability of this theory has been questioned and it must be approached with caution and not treated
as a solution to motivational problems.
II. Abraham Maslow's Need Hierarchy
Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs theory of motivation based on the idea that human needs can be
arranged in order of importance from the most basic. Once a need is fairly well satisfied it no longer
motivates behaviour and man is then motivated by the next higher level of needs. Maslow divided human
needs into five levels:

(a)Physiological Needs
These are the most basic human needs for sustaining life e.g. food, air, shelter and clothing.
These needs have certain characteristics:
• they are relatively independent of each other
• they can be identified with specific location of the body
• to remain satisfied, they must be met repeatedly within a short time
• unless these needs are satisfied to the degree necessary to sustain life other needs will not motivate
people.

(b)Safety or Security Needs

These needs are expressed as desire for protection against danger, threat or deprivation. The desire may be
economic, physical or for social safety. Employees may for example desire economic security, orderly
working relationships etc.
(c)Social Needs
These include need for belonging, love, acceptance, friendship, association, and need to give and receive love.
Man being a social being will aspire for a place in his own group and will strive to achieve it.
Some managers who fear informal organizations may attempt to direct and control employee relationships in
ways that frustrate their natural grouping and employees may react by being antagonistic, hostile and
uncooperative.
(d)Esteem Needs (EGO)
According to Maslow these needs do not become motivators until the lower level needs have been reasonable
satisfied. These needs are rarely completely satisfied. Once these needs become important to an individual he
will continually seek satisfaction of them. The typical industrial organization offers only limited opportunity
for the satisfaction of these needs at the lower levels of employment. Esteem needs consist of both self
esteem and esteem by others. Self esteem needs include achievement, self confidence, self respect,
competence independence and freedom. Satisfaction of these needs leads to feelings of worth, power,
prestige, status, capability, strength and feelings of being useful and necessary in the world. Frustrating these
needs may lead to feelings of inferiority, weakness and helplessness.
(e)Self Actualization Needs
These needs according to Maslow emerge after all other needs have been satisfied. Self actualization needs
include the realization of one's potentialities, self fulfillment, self development and creativeness.
The form these needs take varies from person to person just as human personalities vary. Self actualization
can be satisfied through any of these ways, athletics, politics, academics, family, religion, hobbies or business.
A creative state is involved since creativity is realizing one's own potential to the fullest degree whatever it
may be. It is a feeling of accomplishment and attainment and being satisfied with one self.

Note
• forever wanting, so all needs are never fully satisfied once the importance of a need diminishes another
need emerges to replace the already satisfied ones.
• The process of need satisfaction is never ending and it serves to continually motivate people to achieve
their needs.
 • The needs are interdependent and over lapping since one need does not disappear when another need
emerges.
• Maslow's theory applies only to a typical healthy [Link] most rich and developed countries, or
among the rich of society physiological and safety needs may not be motivators but for the poorly paid
low class workers and in poor economies physiological needs are strong motivators—for example in
regions hit by famine and/or epidemics physiological needs may remain the only motivation of
behaviour.
• Maslow's hierarchy theory has general and not specific application. One may deny himself one need so
as to satisfy another much better e.g. a student who denies himself sleep and social interaction in order
to attain higher grades in examinations, or a father may deny himself social needs by working on two
jobs in order to be able to send his children to school.
• Need theory claims that money can satisfy some needs but contends that the worker is motivated
primarily by intrinsic rewards which are provided by the worker himself.
• Maslow's theory is important to managers because it spells out the needs that people have. When
managers know what people need, they can know how to help them satisfy these needs. Knowledge of
each category of needs can help management in making management decisions especially those
regarding employees. The decisions made by management must show concern for people's needs.
Management can for example meet people's esteem needs by providing them with opportunities for
advancement.

It must however be realised that needs even the basic ones like clothing and shelter are elastic—its hard to
identify how much is enough! Research has also shown that even the lowliest employee has needs for esteem
and self-actualization. In practice therefore managers must take a situational or contingency approach to the
application of Maslow's theory. What needs they appeal to will depend on personality, wants, desires and
interests of individuals.

III. Alderfer's Modified Need Hierarchy Model (ERG Theory)

Alderfer gives a variation of Maslow's need theory and refers to his version as the ERG model of motivation.
Alderfer condenses Maslow's five levels of needs into three levels based on the core needs of existence,
relatedness, and growth.

Existence Needs are concerned with sustaining human existence and survival and cover Maslow's
physiological and safety needs. They include all the various forms of material desires such as food, water, pay
and good working conditions.
Relatedness Needs are concerned with relationships to the social environment and cover love, belonging,
affiliation and meaningful interpersonal relationships of a safety or esteem nature.
Growth Needs are concerned with the development of potential and cover esteem and self actualization.

Note:
The difference between Alderfer's and Maslow's theory is deeper than just in the number of levels.
Alderfer does not exactly see the needs as a heirarchy but he finds that one class of needs might remain
strong, whether or not another class has been satisfied. But ideally he (like Maslow) suggests that individuals
progress from existence needs, to relatedness, to growth needs as the lower level needs become satisfied.
• He suggests that more than one need (level) may be activated at the same time.
• He also suggests (unlike Maslow) that individuals do progress down the hierarchy e.g. for a person
who has been continually frustrated in attempting to satisfy growth needs, relatedness needs may
assume most importance.

Alderder had certain propositions:

1. The less existence needs are satisfied the more they will be desired (like Maslow).
2. The less relatedness needs are satisfied the more existence needs will be desired (disagrees with
Maslow).
3. The less relatedness needs are satisfied the more they will be desired (agrees with Maslow).
4. The less growth needs are satisfied, the more relatedness needs will be desired (unlike Maslow).

By simplifying the class of needs Alderfer is subject to less misunderstanding. The result of Alderfers work
suggest that lower level needs do not need to be satisfied before higher level needs emerge as motivators
(unlike Maslow). His theory however agrees with Maslow in as far as that lower needs decrease in strength as
they become satisfied.

IV. McGregor Theory X and Theory Y

McGregor idenfied two styles of managing:

Theory X = Autocratic Management
Theory Y = Participative Management

Theory X assumes the following:

• The average person dislikes work and will try to avoid it

• Because people dislike work, they must be coerced through threat and punishment if they have to
contribute to organizational objectives
• Above all, people want security, they prefer to be led and avoid responsibility.

Theory Y assumes:

• Work is as normal as play

• Threat of punishment is only one way to make people work
• Committed people are self motivated and self directed
• Under the right conditions the average person will seek and like responsibility
• The ability to think creatively, to innovate and solve problems are widely distributed among people.

McGregor felt that theory X assumptions were used in most industrial organization but were inadequate for
the full utilization of each worker's potential. Theory X advocates for external motivation mainly through
threat or punishment. Theory Y looks at employees as self fulfilling and highly internally motivated. With the
proper environment i.e one which employees can best achieve their own goals by committing themselves to
the organizational goals, employees will exercise a large degree of internal motivation.

The heavy emphasis on internal motivation (Y) implies that all employees will be motivated by self esteem
and self actualization needs while on the job. This is not always so—some people are uncomfortable with too
much freedom.

Managers must remember that each employee is unique and should be understood and treated as such.
Therefore external motivation should be flexible enough to accomodate each unique person in the
organization. People should not be forced to fit into rigid theory or into one manager's view point.

V. McClelland—Need based motivation

He said that human beings have three basic needs (motivational) power, affiliation and achievement.
 • Power is shown in strong desire to alter the course of events.
• Affiliation is need for friendship, love and group approval.
• Achievement is shown by desire to succeed not to fail.

He found out that scientists, business men and professionals have above average desire for achievement
motivation. He suggested that a person with high achievement motivation possesses certain characteristics.
• he prefers tasks in which he can take personal responsibility for the outcome.
• he sets moderate goals and takes calculated risks.
• wants precise feedback concerning his successes or failures.

He prefers co-workerscsc sc who are competent despite his personal feelings about them. McClelland's
theory is important to the study of motivation because he maintains that the achievement motive can be
taught. He indicates that the achievement motive can be acquired through training by teaching a person to
think and behave in terms of the achievement motive.

VI. Skinner—motivation through positive reinforcement

Skinner said that all behaviour is as a result of stimulus.

In management a motivational stimulus can be anything that results in change of behaviour. It can be positive
such as promotion, pay rise or negative such as threat of demotion. Stimulus that causes positive motivation
are positive reinforcers and Skinner emphasized positive reinforcement. Managers who follow the Skinner
style of management emphasize praise, encouragement and assistance in solving problems at work.

PROCESS THEORIES

I. The Vroom Model—A Contingency View

Vroom looks at effective motivation as a result of three factors:

• The goals that a person wants to achieve

• These might include a higher salary, promotion, job security and more interesting work. Each
individual may have a different arrangement of goals. Vroom lays emphasis on what goals the
employee sees as important.

Relationship Between Productivity And Personal Goal Attainment

• Each person has a perception on how productivity is related to personal goal attainment. If a person
sees high productivity as leading to achievement of personal goals, then high productivity will be
desired. If not, not much value will be attached on productivity by that person. Here it is the
employees perception that counts.

• Extent to which a person can influence his/her own productivity

• If an individual believes that there is little or nothing he can do to influence his output, then he may
not attempt to do so.

II. Productivity and Satisfaction—Porter & Lawler Model

Basing their work on the assumption that a relationship existed between satisfaction and productivity, Lawler
and Porter developed their model of managerial motivation. Their model is based on the assumption that
rewards cause satisfaction and that sometimes performance produces rewards. They hypothesized that
satisfaction and performance are linked by rewards. They see good performance leading to rewards which
lead to satisfaction. According to them satisfaction performance leads to rewards which are either intrinsic or
extrinsic. Intrinsic rewards are given to the individual by himself for good performance and they include
feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction of higher level needs. Extrinsic rewards are given by the
organization and include pay, promotions, status, job security etc. and they mainly satisfy lower level needs.
This means that at times extrinsic rewards are not related to performance. To be considered a reward the
individual must value it positively so both the individual worker and the organization are responsible for
motivation. But despite the organization's influence the greater responsibility for motivation lies with the
individual. Therefore his motivation or satisfaction depends on his performance as it is affected by the value
he places on rewards, the probability that effort will result in rewards, his efforts, his abilities, his traits and his
role perception.

Motivating Factors
Despite the fact that scholars of management have not agreed fully on what motivates people, there is a
general consensus that the listed factors do cause motivation.

(a) Participation in Planning—when employees are given a choice to plan their own work and contribute to
organizational planning, the plans are more acceptable to them—after all they have taken part in making
them.

(b) Challenging Work—when work is not challenging boredom sets in and this is likely to cause
sluggishness and dissatisfaction at the place of work.

(c) Recognition and Status—most people want approval by peers, friends and bosses. Benefits that show
status e.g. company car, credit card, club membership may increase motivation.
Recognition is shown by items distinction e.g. a key to the executive lift, or washroom, carpeted offices,
reserved parking etc.

(d) Authority, Responsibility and Power—some people are motivated greatly by being responsible for
the work of others. Many people stay in organizations with a hope of rising to upper levels. Management
should therefore devise plans for advancement and growth.

(e) Independence of Action—being allowed to work without close supervision.

(f) Security—especially financial security achieved mainly through secure and comprehensive labour
contracts e.g. that involve medical covers and insurance.

(g) Advancement—people could become demotivated if the organization has little room for upward
mobility.

(h) Personal growth—people want to grow wholesomely both in aspects related to the job like skills and
those outside the job like potentials in such fields as sports.

(i) Good working conditions

The environment in which people operate is very important to their importance. Excessively noisy,
congested, dirty or poorly arranged places may demotivate employees.

(j) Money
A good salary is a basic motivator. In fact for some people money could be the greatest motivational force.
For example for people who are financially hard pressed money remains the biggest motivator. However,
people also look for other things in a job other than money and they may even accept lower paying jobs that
have those other things.
Conclusion
Most of the important questions in motivation remain largely unanswered. Most of the theories seem to
conflict but nevertheless they do shed light on those areas of motivation that still need extensive studies.
Motivation is a vital area in the study of organizations and management and it cannot be ignored even with
the many unanswered questions. Employee motivation remains a complex and difficult task, which is further
complicated by the following factors:

(a) Human Nature

which is dynamic. Over time people change and their needs, wants, desires and interests also change. Their
attitudes towards certain things change and what may have motivated them at one time may cease to be a
motivator.
(b) Dynamic Environment
the social, economic, political, legal, cultural and technological environment in which employees live are
dynamic. When these environments change they affect people's attitudes towards many things e.g. towards
authority or towards work in general. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the factors are out
of the control of management and so more often than not management is unable to influence the effects of
these factors on employees. Despite these constraints managers must strive to make work as attractive to the
employees as possible. If work is more satisfying to employees, then the employees are likely to have higher
morale.

MANAGING WORK GROUPS

Formal And Informal Work Groups

An organization can be described as a group of people working toward common goals. Within any
organization there are two groups, formal groups and informal groups.

Formal groups are official and created by management e.g. divisions, departments, units, work teams and
committees. Informal groups arise from member interactions e.g. people having tea together meet to share
ideas.

Why People Form Groups

(a) Natural attractions—people have inborn tendencies to form into groups, to work and live together.
(b) Survival—people gather together to survive being alone for long periods of time can affect our
emotional health badly e.g. what happens to people put under solitary confinement.
(c) Interdependence—people interdepend mainly because of human limitations and weaknesses. People
form into groups to overcome personal limitations.

Kinds of Groups
A group is two or more people who interact regularly to accomplish a common goal

• at least two people must be involved

• must interact regularly
• have a common purpose

(a) Functional Group is created by the organization to accomplish a range of goals without a definite
time limit.
(b) A Task Group is created by the organization to accomplish a limited number of goals within a stated
or implied time.
(c) Informal Group also called interest group created by organizational members for purposes that may
or may not be related to the organization and has no time horizon. Managers should recognize the existence
and importance of the informal organization (the overall pattern of influence and interaction defined by the
total set of informal groups within the organization).

Group Dimensions – Characteristics Found In Groups.

(a) Conformity
human beings and their behaviour are amazingly diverse, but within any given culture or group there is
considerable agreement. Compliance with existing rules, or customs is called conformity. All groups make
certain demands on their members.

i. to obey the norms of the group

ii. to accept sanctions or forms of punishment
iii. to give up rights (individual rights in favour of group interest).

Group members may conform for the following reasons:

i. Fear—fear of sanctions e.g. to alienate

ii. Insecurity—some individuals are very insecure and will easily conform.
iii. Good judgement, because conformity produces good results.

The extent to which conformity is necessary depends on several factors e.g. the type of organization as people
move up managerial levels, the less the conformity required. While conformity is necessary to the
organization's everyday operation it does not necessarily result in creativity, innovations, and new ideas
needed to improve and

organize. Most people have been strongly used to conforming in schools, churches, family etc. As a result
relatively few individuals are able to think original thoughts, plans or to develop new concepts.

(b) Aggression
this refers to offensive behaviour e.g. fights at work, for resources, for friends, for power etc. The fight may
be either acceptable or unacceptable. Aggression is mainly as a result of:
• Frustration (especially when somebody faces bottlenecks to goal attainment)
• Annoyance (feeling of being upset)
• Attack (physical or mental harm done to an individual or a group is an attack)

Note
To curb aggression managers should come up with rules and regulations to govern peoples conduct at work,
or seek ways to direct aggression tendencies towards the attainment of organization goals in socially
acceptable ways.

(c) Competition
competition involves struggle for resources or other items. People compete when resources are limited or as a
result of societal pressure. Organizations will also compete between themselves for resources, markets and
personnel (external). Internal competition arises between individuals, groups or units in the organization.
When properly managed competition can produce beneficial results e.g. increased efficiency, less boredom
help weed out unproductive people. It would also lead to more mistakes, accidents, waste or duplication of
efforts.
(d) Cooperation
another aspect of group dynamics is cooperation which simply means working together willingly. Where
people's tasks are interrelated or where a group of people have to accomplish one task then cooperation is
not only essential but is critical, without it there would be no results.
Managers must concern themselves with cooperation because the survival of their organizations is in part
determined by other organizations (external). But they also must guard against illegal cooperation e.g.
collusion in price setting.

Cooperation between individuals and groups with the organizations (internal) is very important. For an
organization to remain cohesive managers must seek willing internal cooperation because without it group
goals cannot be achieved.
(e) Role Dynamics
people in groups play roles, some work to accomplish goals, others serve the leaders, others keep every one
happy, while some do very little but still remain part of the group. Role dynamics explains how a person’s
expected role is transformed into his/her enacted role.

Expected role is what is expected of a group member and is transmitted in the form of a sent role and
translated into a perceived role. If the sent role is not clear then the role becomes ambiguous. Sometimes the
sent roles may be clear but are inconsistent and this leads to role conflict.
(f) Cohesiveness
refers to the extent to which members of a group are motivated to remain together. A group where members
enjoy working together and eagerly pull together and are contented with being members is highly cohesive.
A group with low cohesiveness is one where members do not like to be together and are eager to leave the
group. High cohesiveness may result from small size, clear goals and constant interaction. The results are that
group members are highly motivated and there is goal attainment.
Low cohesiveness may be due to large size, ambiguous goals and roles and little interaction and the result may
be low goal attainment, low morale and death of the group.

(g) Group Norms

norms are standards of behaviour that group members develop and which become accepted behaviour.
Group members may develop norms on ways of communicating, dressing, passing free time, sharing meals
etc. and norms on the acceptable minimum level of production or performance.

Managing Groups In The Organization

As stated earlier structured organizations consist of two kinds of groups (formal and informal groups)

A formal group has several prescribed characteristics e.g.

• an official and designated leader

• a specific mission
• established goals
• specified performance standards
• known rewards and punishment
• rules to be followed

The informal group on the other hand has the following characteristics:

• created by members
• no official leader
• if rulers exist they are developed by the group
• the group also establishes peer sanctions and rewards
• it may mainly thrive on mutual trust and interest, and confidence in members ability
to keep information within the group.
Informal groups mainly exist due to the following reasons:

(a) Transmission of information

not all information is transmitted through the official channels. Some managers can be very secretive and pass
very little information. Informal groups manage to gather both official and unofficial information and pass it
around through their communication channel popularly known as the "grapevine". Information through the
grapevine is undocumented and is based mainly on hearsay, rumours and it undergoes changes as it is passed
around.
(b) Fear
people may form an informal group because they fear what they do not know hence they form protective
grouping.
(c) Amusement (entertainment)
mainly from knowing the personal lives and affairs of the managers from the gossip passed around.

Management of Committees
A committee is an official group mainly formed to deliberate on a specific subject or matter. Other names
include task forces, commission project teams etc. A lot of managerial work is usually delegated to
committees.

Characteristics of Committees
Committees usually range in size from two to several people.

• they are found at all levels in the enterprise

• Committees are either standing committees i.e. they are permanent, or ad hoc i.e. formed for
a specific purpose and mainly temporary. Whereas management may create certain
committees for purposes of delegation of some matter, some forms of committee are
created by law e.g. Board of Directors, PTA in schools and Board of Governors.
Committees can be made more effective if managers follow specific guidelines.

(a) The goals and limits of authority of the committee need to be clearly specified so as to keep the activities
of the committee in focus.
(b) The committee should have a specific agenda to work from.
(c) Members of committees should not devote too much time to the committee and forget their regular jobs.
(d) The results or output of the committee should be specified and clearly communicated to the committee.
(e) The size of the committee should be appropriate. It should only be large enough to be most efficient.
Large committees may be desired if many different experts are needed and if the scope of the task is wide.
Smaller committees may be needed if (i) speed in action is necessary, (ii) if the matter is highly confidential.
(f) The committee should have the right members i.e the people selected to the committee should be suited
for the work. They should be people with the interest of the committee at heart, they should be
psychologically compatible with each other and they should be qualified i.e. they are able to provide the
needed information.
(g) The person heading the committee i.e. the chairperson should be suited for the position. He is the person
to set the mode and to be held accountable for the success of the committee. He should be a person who
possesses the following qualities:- planning ability, objectivity, diplomacy, experience and efficiency.
(h) The committee should be provided with the needed or necessary information and resources to
accomplish their task e.g. they should have the necessary staff assistance.
(i) The committee should be provided with realistic and reasonable deadlines for the completion of its
assignment. Frequent checks on the committee's progress are also necessary so as to review whether the
committee need any extra information.
(j) The committee should be asked to provide a final report writing and the report should be acted upon.
Why The Wide Use Of Committees
(a) Committees may be used because they are likely to produce more information for decision-making,
especially when they are made of experts from different fields.
(b) Use of committees ensures that authority is distributed as decisions are made by a group.
(c) Committees are likely to facilitate coordination—each committee member may be reporting about or
representing each of the functional areas in the organization.
(d) Committees may foster support for decisions—usually through the use of committees’ employees are
given the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process as they are allowed to represent their
viewpoints.
(e) Committees can lead to employee development. Because of the expensive contact with people from
different fields, committee members get to broaden their knowledge. Young managers can learn a lot by
sitting in committees.

Limitations Of Committees
(a) They are expensive both in terms of time and resources.
(b) Committees often lead to slow decision-making especially due to the consultations they need for
consensus.
(c) Committees could lead to compromise solutions in a bid to avoid conflicts.
(d) Since it is a group decision making with no one person responsible for the results, members may lack
commitment on that account.

An example of a Committee (Board of Directors)

A board of directors is the supreme governing body of a corporation. It is a permanent and legally required
committee. The C.E.O. in any organization is accountable to the board and serves at the pleasure of the
board. Sometimes majority shareholders do serve on the board with the largest shareholder probably serving
as the chairperson to the board.

The operation of the board should be such that it aims to achieve key objectives. Outsiders to the firm are
more objective board members than insiders and they can offer significant observations and criticism.

Responsibilities
(a) Obey the provisions of the corporate charter—which stipulates the authorized activities for that
corporation.
(b) Avoid conflicts of interest e.g. collusion in price setting by sitting on boards of competitive companies.
(c) Elect corporate officers e.g. the managing director or the C.E.O.
(d) Decide on key financial matters (investments).
(e) Give broad direction to the enterprise.
(f) Maintain the survival or community of the firm.

Advantages of Group Decision Making

(a) Use of groups in decision-making tends to lead to higher quality decisions than a single individual working
alone might have obtained.
(b) More information is available to the group than is available to an individual—members have varying
experiences, education and qualifications.
(c) A group is likely to generate more alternatives—so each person may have their own differing ideas.
(d) Acceptance of the decision will probably be greater than it would be if an individual made the decision
alone—it involves an element of democracy.
Disadvantages
(a) Groups tend to take longer to reach a decision, because all members may wait to discuss every aspect
of the decision.
(b) The group may try too hard to compromise to the exclusion of a superior decision that the group
could have attained with more effort.
(c) A single individual may dominate the process—setting aside all the potential advantages of group
decision-making.
(d) Groups may succumb to group think i.e. become interested in maintaining cohesiveness and good
feelings towards one another and lose sight of the groups original goals.
(e) Here the group makes decisions that protect its members and individuals and the group as a whole
rather than decisions that are in the best interest of the overall organization.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Also included in organizing are the management of organizational conflict and change.

Nature of Organizational Conflict

This is the disagreement within the context of an organizational setting between individual employees, groups
or departments, or between employees and the organization.
Organizational conflict can either be positive or negative, some conflicts lead into better performance while
others result into reduction in performance.

Causes:

(a) Multiple Value Sources—people's values differ as they come from different backgrounds (different
religions, philosophies, education etc.)
(b) Idealized individual values (interest) vs. practical organizational values. The organization may demand
behaviour at variance with personal wants and interests.
(c) Interdependency between people or groups within the organization.
(d) Competition—between people or groups can also cause conflict.
(e) Difference in goals—can cause conflict between departments.

For management conflict may arise when:

(a) Their authority is challenged

(b) Their private rights are questioned (does a manager have a private life beyond his work in the
company?)

Note
Whatever the cause of conflict it must be noted that the consequences are the same: either

(a) hostility—people refuse to cooperate and are antagonistic

(b) withdrawal—refusing to socialize or leaving the organization
(c) motivation—where conflicting parties strive to prove each other wrong.

Managing Conflict

Depending on the expected outcome managers can manage conflict in either of these ways:
(a) Encouraging Conflict
Where conflict is likely to lead to increased performance and motivation then management can encourage
conflict through competition, through contests or by publicizing results and performance.
(b) Preventing Conflict
Some cases require that conflict be prevented in the first instance e.g. cases where departments are arguing
over use of resources.
Rules and procedures can be used to govern how issues are to be resolved.

(c) Resolving Conflict

Conflicts will always occur in organizations and management must devise ways of resolving them. The
following are a few ways in which management can resolve conflicts.

iAvoidance
Ignoring the problem and hoping that it will go away. Strategy works if the conflict is minimal.
ii. Smoothing
Similar to avoidance, but here the manager acknowledges the existence of the conflict while developing its
importance.
iii. Compromise
Involves reaching a point of agreement between what each of the conflicting parties wants.
The conflicting parties meet half way so to speak—each gives up a bit of its demand.
It works okay so long as none of the parties feels cheated afterwards.
[Link]
The direct way of addressing the conflict and working together to resolve it also called problem solving—as
there is open exchange of information. The best method of resolving a conflict should result in a no win no
lose situation. If one party feels cheated then the likelihood of additional conflict is very high.

Note
Where conflict is between the organization and the individual mainly because the goals of the organization are
at variance with individual goals management can deal with the conflict through the following ways:

(a)Use of a blend
amounts to administration by objectives cater for both organization and individual goals.
(b)A fusion
a personalizing process where individuals pursue their own goals so as to seek fulfilment and self-
actualisation.
(c)Socializing
the organization tends to get people to devote their efforts to pursuit of organizational goals.
(d)Integration
management comes up with an agreeable "mix" (individuals are given a chance to come up with their own
goals and ways of achieving them.)

INTER-GROUP CONFLICTS
Organizational conflict is sometimes referred to as inter-group competition because forces of competition are
involved. The nature of organizations is such that it is difficult if not impossible to avoid conflict between
and among groups in an organization. In itself, such conflict may not be bad and may be preferable in some
cases. It is the manner in which conflict is managed that may make conflict bad.

Stages in Inter-group Conflict

Organizational groups (inter-group) conflicts develop in stages namely:

 i. Antecedent conditions;
ii. Perceived conflict;
iii. Felt conflict;
iv. Manifest conflict;
v. Conflict resolution of suppression;
vi. Conflict aftermath

• Antecedent conditions refers to those conditions that have potential for the development of conflict.
These are the sources of conflict and could be such factors as role ambiguities, competition for scarce
resources and differences in values, goals and politics.
• Perceived conflict is a situation where one or more of the interest groups become aware of the existence
of a source of conflict.
• Felt conflict occurs when perceived conflict affects feelings thereby creating tension in one or more of
the concerned groups.
• Manifest conflict refers to the situation where perceived or felt conflict is expressed in some action by
one or some of the involved groups. Manifest conflict can be resolved in the sense that the courses of
conflict are corrected. It can also be suppressed in that although no change in causing conditions occurs,
the manifest conflict behaviour are controlled.
• Conflict aftermath refers to the consequences of conflict. The consequences may be functional or
dysfunctional.

The way a given conflict is handled can affect other conflicts and an unresolved conflict continues to
promote future conflicts over similar issues. Truly resolved conflicts may establish conditions that reduce
future conflicts of a similar nature and which help other eventual conflicts to be resolved in a constructive
manner.

A manager should be sensitive to the influence of conflict aftermath on future conflict episodes.

SOURCES OF INTER-GROUP CONFLICTS

The following are some of the major potential sources of conflicts in organizations:
1. Aggressive Nature of Man
A man is aggressive in nature and seeks expression of his aggressive impulses. Some conflict in organizations
stems from the normal need of some people to find outlets for their aggressive impulses.
2. Competition for Limited Resources
Inter-group conflict may arise when groups in the organization compete to win their share of the
organization's scarce or limited resources such as money, materials and manpower.
3. Clashes of Values and Interests
Differences in value and interests of various groups may result into conflict between or among the groups
involved.
4. Antagonistic Roles
Inter-group conflicts may arise because different groups occupy different roles that are apparently
antagonistic to each other, e.g. the accounts department whose main role is to conserve the organizations
funds may be in conflict with the marketing department whose role in promotion may require it to spend
quite an amount of the organizational funds.
5. Drives for Power (Political Manoeuvring)
Inter-group conflicts may arise due to political manoeuvring that certain groups may engage in as they try to
acquire power in the organization, e.g. wanting to be in charge of certain new responsibilities.

6. Poorly Defined Responsibilities

When job responsibilities are for example ambiguous, conflict may arise from disagreements about which
groups have got certain responsibilities over certain tasks.
7. Introduction of Change
Changes such as acquisition and mergers creates a lot of competition and conflict at the initial stages. For
example, when an organization is merged into another, a power struggle often exists between the acquiring
and acquired organizations. Similarly, where certain changes are introduced into the organization conflict may
arise between management and workers between those opposed to and those for the change.
8. Organizational Climate
An organizational character, personality or climate such as the amount of psychological distance
organizational units maintain from each other, can be a major source of inter-group conflict. For example,
there would be minimal conflict when professional groups have very much or very little distance
psychologically from the administration than when they have medium distance.
9. Distortion of communication.
10. Attitude and value difference

LINE VS. STAFF CONFLICT

Line managers are those in charge of main operations of an organization while staff managers are those in
advisory or supportive positions to provide line managers with specialized and expert services as may be
required.

Line personnel are usually generalists while staff personnel are usually specialists. Conflicts between line and
staff are quite common. These conflicts arise from the sources already discussed as well as the following:

i. Territorial Encroachment
In general the staff personnel advises the line person. Often conflict arises when the line personnel feel that
staff advice is taken too far while staff on the other hand may feel that they have a responsibility and right to
give the advice.
ii. Conflicting Loyalties
Staff specialists may get into conflict with line personnel because what line personnel may require them to do
in the interest of the organization may conflict with professional ethics of the staff personnel. This is
especially so when the staff specialists want to adhere to a professional order that conflicts with tasks assigned
by the organization.
iii. Separation of Knowledge and Authority
Some line executives may not have sufficient knowledge to carry out their responsibilities and may depend on
lower ranking staff advisers to furnish them with the appropriate information. Such cases where higher
authority lacks the necessary knowledge and has to rely on his juniors for knowledge may be a source of
conflict between the groups.
CONSEQUENCES OF ORGANIZATION CONFLICTS
Organizational conflicts can be functional or dysfunctional to individuals and organizations.

i. Functional Consequences

Among the major functional results are:

1. Dissociating elements in a situation may be removed and unity may be established. After open
expression of conflict the combatants may feel closer to each other.
2. After conflict new leadership may be brought into the organization because the former leaders may
be found unsuitable under the pressures of conflict.
3. All goals and policies may be modified or replaced by more relevant goals as a result of the conflict.
4. Conflict may become institutionalised. After several instances of inter-group conflict, outlets may be
established where potential conflict may be resolved.
Informal group discussions between members of management and employees is an example of
institutionalization of conflict.
5. Motivation of energy available to complete tasks may be increased under the influence of inter-group
conflicts.
6. Conflict may increase innovation because of the greater diversity of view points and heightened sense
of necessity.
7. Each group member may develop increased understanding of his own position because conflict
forces people to bring forth all supporting arguments, think more clearly about issues and seek support of
evidence of the views.
8. Groups may achieve awareness of their own identities, each group thereby becoming more limited.
They may identify where they belong more clearly.
9. Inter-group conflicts may satisfy the aggressive urges inherent in many people.

ii. Dysfunctional Consequences

1. The mental health of some combatants may be adversely affected because of the emotional stress
reactions precipitated in such people. Tolerance levels are different i.e. low and high.
2. Inter-group conflict of a high intense nature usually results in a misallocation of organizational
resources i.e. time wanted to fight or combat one another; material and personnel are likely to be misused.
People waste the organizations time, funds, materials and personnel in carrying out the warfare.
3. Sub-optimization of part of the system occurs when disputants push their own position to the
extreme.
4. The distortion of goals may occur as people begin to concentrate their attention on petty issues or
embark on fault-finding, regarding their opponents instead of pursuing their assigned missions.

STRATEGIES OF MAINTAINING ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICTS

Conflicts may be managed by the conflicting parties themselves or by third parties. Organizational conflicts
can be met with non-attention, suppression or resolution.

1. Lose-Lose Strategies
In lose-lose strategy both parties in the conflict lose in the sense that neither achieves its true desires in the
conflict. Conflict is managed in such a way that its underlying reasons remain unaffected. Consequently future
conflict of a similar nature is likely to occur.

There are three basic approaches to conflict management in the lose-lose strategy;

i. Avoidance
Managing conflict by avoidance is an extreme form of non-attention. In this approach there is no direct
attempt to deal with a manifest conflict. Everyone pretends that conflict does not really exist or if it does
exist, it is such that it will simply disappear. Consequently, in this strategy, the conflict is left to develop on its
own into a constructive or destructive force within the organization.

ii. Smoothing
This is managing conflict by playing down differences among the conflicting parties and high-lighting
similarities and areas of agreement. The aim is to encourage peaceful co-existence through a recognition of
common interests. Smoothing may ignore the real essence of a given conflict. It is a form of a non-attention
of a minor form.

iii. Compromise
In this approach accommodations are made such that each party in the conflict gives up something of value
to each other. As a result neither party gains its full desires and the reasons for conflict remain unsolved.

2. Win-Lose Strategy
In win-lose strategy, one party in the conflict wins while the other loses. One party wins by achieving its
desires at the expense of the other party's desires. The root causes of conflict are not addressed. Instead, there
is a tendency to suppress desires of at least one of the parties. Therefore future conflicts of a similar nature
are likely to occur.

i. Competition
In this approach, a victory is achieved on the part of the winning party.

ii. Authoritative Command

Here a formal authority simply dictates a solution and specifies what is gained and lost and by whom e.g.
government intervenes in strikes and gives workers time to conform. When the authority is a party to the
conflict, it is easy to predict who will be the winner and who is the loser.

3. Win-Win Strategy
Win-win strategy provides the best solution to conflict. It is a strategy that truly resolves conflict. It involves
the recognition by all conflicting parties that something is wrong and needs attention. Both parties in the
conflict win as both achieve their goals.
LEADERSHIP

5.3.1 Meaning of Leadership

Several definitions of leadership have been given by different management writers. Van Fleet describes
leadership as an influence process directed at shaping the behaviour of others (leadership is shaping the
behaviour of others through influence).

David Schwartz describes leadership as the art of inspiring subordinates to perform their duties willingly,
competently and enthusiastically. So a leader becomes one who by example and talent plays a directing role
and commands influence over others.

In simple terms leadership could be described as getting others to follow or getting others to do things
willingly. In management leadership could be seen as the use of authority in decision making.

Leadership could be exercised as an attitude of position, or because of personal knowledge and wisdom, or as
a function of personality. So leadership could be looked at from many perspectives but what is clear is that it
is a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour of others. If for example your friend
convinces you to try a new product in the market, he is leading.

5.3.2 Leadership Versus Management

The question of whether leadership is synonymous with management has long been debated. While they are
similar in some ways, they are different in more ways.

People can be leaders without being managers, managers without being leaders or both leaders and managers.

• A manager usually directs others because of formal authority and power.

• A manager is by essence required to perform the four functions of planning, organizing, directing and
controlling.
• leadership is a little of management but not all of it—it involves ability to persuade others to seek set
goals willingly.
• Leadership binds a group together and motivates it towards agreed goals.
• A leader needs only to influence his followers or their behaviour in whatever direction he chooses.
• Unlike the manager a leader does not rely on any formal authority, because while a manager can force
people to comply by using formal authority a leader has no such power.

However, people can be both and effective leadership does increase a person's managerial capabilities.

5.3.3 Need for Leadership

Effective leadership gives direction to the efforts of workers.

• leadership guides organizational efforts towards achievement of organizational goals.

• It has been said that without leadership an organization is a muddle of men and machines.
• Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined goals enthusiastically, and it is the leader who
triggers the power of motivation in people and guides them towards goals.

• Leadership transforms potential into reality.

• Leadership is indispensable if an organization is to be successful.
• workers need to know how they can contribute to organizational goals.
5.3.4 Power and Leadership
The foundation of leadership is power. Leaders have power over their followers and they wield this power to
exert their influence. There are five basic types of power that can be used by leaders.

i. Legitimate Power
This is based on the perception that the leader has the right to exercise influence because of his position and
roles. It is power created and conveyed by the organization.

ii. Reward Power

The power to grant and withhold various types of rewards. These rewards may include pay increases,
promotion, praise, recognition, etc. The greater and the more important the reward, the more power a leader
has.

iii. Coercive Power

The power to force compliance through psychological, emotional or physical threat. In industrial
organizations coercion may be subtle through oral reprimands, fines, layoffs, demotion. In military
organizations coercion could actually be physical.

iv. Expert Power

Power based on knowledge and expertise. The more knowledge one has and the fewer the people who are
aware of it, the more power he has.

v. Referent Power
Power based on subordinates identification with the leader, it usually distinguishes leaders from non leaders.
The leader exerts influence because of charisma and reputation. The follower wishes to be like the leader or
to be associated with him.

Note:
Most leaders use several different types of power at the same time. However, regardless of the manager's
skills power always has its limits. Generally people can only be influenced up to a point and willingness to
follow usually is limited. Few leaders can maintain a long term support for their ideas and programs.

Employees usually react to attempts to influence them either by showing commitment, compliance, or
resistance.

5.3.4 Approaches to Leadership

There are three basic approaches to studying and describing leadership: trait, behavioural and contingency
approaches.

(a) Leadership traits

Assumes that great leaders possess a set of stable and enduring traits or characteristics that set them apart
from followers. Adherents of this theory attempted to identify these traits so that they could be used as a
basis for selecting managers. Attention was focused on the search for traits and researchers. Studied common
traits such as intelligence, height, self confidence and attractiveness. However, traits proved to be ineffective
bases for selection of leaders because the known good leaders had such diverse traits that it was impossible to
draw a list of common traits.
(b) Behavioural Approach
This approach sought to define behaviours that set effective leaders apart from ineffective leaders. A leader
may have either job centred leader behaviour or employee centred leader behaviour (Michigan Studies).

Two critical leader behaviours were also identified by the Ohio State studies i.e. initiating structure behaviour
similar to job centred behaviour and which focuses on the job being done, and the consideration behaviour
similar the employee centred behaviour and which focuses on employee satisfaction.

(c) Contingency Approaches

Contingency approaches to leadership suggest that situational factors must be considered. One kind of
behaviour may work in one setting but not in another. The goal of contingency approaches is to identify the
situational variables that managers need to consider in assessing how different forms of leadership will be
received. There are four popular contingency theories of leadership; the LPC model, the path goal model, the
participation model and lifecycle theory of leadership

(1) The LPC Model

Called the Least Preferred Co-Worker. This model was developed by Fred E. Fieldler. According to him
leaders become leaders not only because of their personality but also because of the various situational factors
that they face. He came up with three critical dimensions of leadership situations that affect a leader's style.
These were:

i. Position Power—the degree to which a position enables a leader to get enough members to comply
with his directions.
ii. Task Structure—degree to which tasks are spelled out clearly and people held responsible i.e. how
much each person knows his roles.
iii. Leader-Member Relation—the extent to which group members like, and trust a leader and are willing
to follow him. From these situations Fieldler identified two types of leadership style:

Task-oriented whereby a leader gains satisfaction from seeing tasks performed.

People-oriented where the leader aims at achieving good interpersonal relations. Fieldler concluded that
"Leadership performance" depends both on the organization and the situation. One cannot speak of effective
leaders but only of leaders who tend to be effective in one situation and ineffective in another situation.
Effective leadership requires both training and a conducive organizational climate. The LPC model sees
appropriate behaviour as a function of the favourableness of the situation as defined by the three situations.

(2) PATH-GOAL THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

by Martin G Evans and Robert J. House (1971)

 Manager

clarifies

‘paths’

for ‘reward’

Goal (reward) Goal (reward)

This theory was developed by the above said persons in 1971. The Path-goal approach to leadership
effectiveness is based on the expectancy/valence model that states that “An individuals motivation depends
on his or her expectation of the reward and the valence or attractiveness of that reward.”

This theory focuses on the leader as the source of rewards.

It attempts to predict how different types of rewards and different leadership styles affect motivation,
performance and satisfaction of subordinates. Managers have at their disposal a number of ways to influence
subordinates. According to Evans the most important are the managers ability to provide rewards and to
clarify what subordinates must do to earn them. Thus managers determine the valibility of “goals” (rewards)
and make clear the “paths” to be taken to reach them. Evans suggests that a managers leadership style
influences which rewards will be available to subordinates as well as subordinates perceptions of what they
have to do to earn those rewards. An employee centred manager for example will offer a wide range of
reward to subordinates not only pay and promotions but also support encouragement, security and respect.

A task oriented manager on the other hand will offer less set of rewards. However according to Evans such a
manager will usually be much better at linking subordinates performance to rewards than an employee
centred manager.

(3) The Participation Model

Involves a much more narrow segment of leadership than the other two models. It addresses the question of
how much subordinates should be allowed to participate in decision making. The model includes five
different degrees of participation.

AI → The manager makes the decision alone with no input from subordinates [A = Autocratic].

AII → The manager asks subordinates for information that she or he needs to make the decision
but still makes the decision alone.

CI → The manager shares the situation with selected subordinates and asks for information and
advice the manager still makes the decision but keeps subordinates actively involved [C = Consultative].

CII → The manager meets with subordinates as a group to discuss the situation information is
freely shared although the manager still makes the decision.
GII → The manager and surbodinates meet as a group and freely share information and the entire
group makes the decision [G = Group].
This model suggests that managers need to consider several factors in choosing the degree of participation in
decision making.

• is there quality required?

• do I have enough information to make a high quality decision?
• is the problem structured?
• is acceptance by subordinates critical to implementation?
• do subordinates share the organizational goals to be achieved by making this decision?
• is conflict among subordinates likely in the preferred solution?

(4) Lifecycle Theory of Leadership

This theory was developed by Paul Hersey & Kenneth Blanchard
The theory holds that most effective leadership styles varies with the “maturity” of subordinates.
Hersey and Blanchard defined maturity not as age or emotional stability but as desire for achievement and
willingness to accept responsibility.
They believed that the relationship between a manager and subordinates moves through four phases as
subordinates develop and mature

Phase1:
When subordinates enter the organisation a high orientation by the manger is most appropriate. Subordinates
have to be instructed in their tasks and familiarise with the organisation rules and procedures. At this stage a
non-directive manager may cause anxiety and confusion among employees. A participatory employee
relationship approach would be inappropriate at this stage because according to Hersey and Blanchard
employees cannot yet be regarded as colleagues.

Phase2:
As subordinates begin to learn their tasks, task orient leadership remains essential because subordinates are
not yet willing or able to accept full responsibility. However, the mangers trust in and support of subordinates
can increase as the manager becomes familiar with subordinates and willing to encourage further effort on
their part. At this stage mangers can start using employee oriented behaviour.

Phase 3:
At this phase the subordinates ability and achievement motivation are increased and subordinates actively
begin to seek greater responsibility. The manager will no longer need to be directive (close direction might be
resented). Mangers will however continue to be supportive and considerate inorder to strengthen the
subordinates residue for greater responsibility.

Phase 4:
As subordinates gradually become confident self- directing and experienced the manger can reduce the
amount of support and encouragement. Subordinates can then be left on their “own” and no longer need
directive relationship with the manger.

5.3.5 Leadership Styles

The method or style of leadership a manager chooses to use greatly influences his effectiveness as a leader.
An appropriate leadership style coupled with a proper external motivational technique can lead to the
achievement of both individual and organizational goals. If the style is inappropriate goals could suffer and
workers may feel resentful, aggressive, insecure and dissatisfied.
There are three main styles of leadership:

(a) Autocratic Style

All authority and decision making is centered in the leader. He makes all decisions, exercises total control by
use of rewards and punishment. An autocratic leader requires conformity from his subordinates and always
considers his decision to be superior to those of his subordinates. One advantage of autocratic leadership is
that it allows faster decision making but it can easily cause workers to experience dissatisfaction, dependence
on the leader or passiveness towards organizational goals.

(b) Democratic or Participative Style

This style of leadership seeks to obtain cooperation of workers in achieving organizational goals by allowing
them to participate in decision-making.
It does not relieve the leader of his decision-making responsibilities or of his power over subordinates, but it
requires that he recognise subordinates as capable of contributing positively to decision making. Participative
decision-making can lead to improved manager-worker relations, higher morale and job satisfaction,
decreased dependence on the leader and better acceptance of decisions. However, it also has certain
limitations, delayed decision-making, `group think', time consuming and diluted decisions due to
compromising.

(c) Laissez Faire Style (Free Reign)

This style does not depend on the leader to provide external motivation but, the workers motivate themselves
based on their needs, wants and desires. They are given goals and left on their own to achieve them. The
leader assumes the role of a group member.

This approach increases worker independence and expression and forces him to function as a member of a
group. The main disadvantage is that, without a strong leader the group could lack direction or control, which
may result into frustration in the workers. For laissez faire to work the subordinates must be competent,
reliable and well versed with the goals of the organization.

5.3.6 Continuum of Leadership

In reality there is not only three leadership styles but styles could be many ranging from highly boss centered
styles to highly employee centered leadership. According to Tannenbaum and Schmidt the leader has
flexibility in choosing the most appropriate style. The choice of the style depends on three factors:

(a) Forces in the leader which include his value system, confidence in own leadership inclinations,
feelings of insecurity and unncertainty, and confidence in his subordinates.

(b) Forces in subordinates—each employee has different needs, wants, desires, experience, training
abilities, skills etc. It is therefore beneficial for the manager to understand the forces at work within his
employees. A manager could for instance allow participation in decision making if the employees are
competent, well trained, ready to assume responsibility, have high needs for independence, understand and
identify with the goals of the organization and necessary knowledge. If these are absent then the leader may
be forced to lead autocratically.

(c) Forces in the situation

Include environmental pressures such as type of organization, effectiveness of work group, type of problem
and urgency of the problem. For example production workers may work better under one style while
professionals may work better under a different style.
5.3.7 The Managerial grid
In considering the leadership orientation that a manager can take, it appears that he can either be people
oriented or production oriented.

A people oriented leader is concerned with the human aspects of the organization. A production oriented
leader's main concern is the tasks—seeing that work is accomplished. The best managers are both people and
production oriented. By combining his people and production scores a manager will obtain his managerial
score according to the grid. The managerial grid was developed by Blake and Mouton and its objective is to
bring about a managerial style that maximises concern for both people and production.

A low score in either area is a good indication of a poor approach to management. The points on the grid
give these types of management.

1 Impoverished Management
Has no concern for people and also little concern for production. Effective production cannot be achieved
because people are lazy, apathetic and indifferent. Sound and mature relationships are unobtainable.

2 Task Management
Maximum concern for production and low concern for people. People are seen as a commodity just like
machines. The manager aims to plan direct and control peoples activities.

3 Country-Club Management
Highest concern for people but little concern for production. Production is incidental to lack of conflict and
good interpersonal relations.

4 Dampened Pendulum (middle of the road)

"Be fair and firm", push for production but not all the way, "give some but not all attitude of management".

5 Team Management
Highest concern for both people and production. Production is seen as a function of the integration of task
and human requirements. Better managers are described by points towards this type of management.

5.3.8 Personal Qualities of Leaders

i. Ability to inspire others

ii. Ability to understand human behaviour
iii. Similarity with the group
iv. Verbal assertiveness
v. Willingness to communicate honestly
vi. Dedication to the goals of the organization
vii. Ability to inspire through example
ix. Willingness to take risk
x. Willingness to assume full responsibility for the group
xi. Skill in the art of compromise
xii. Ability to tolerate criticism
5.3.9 Factors Influencing Leadership effectiveness

Identification of situational factors within the work environs and the choice of appropriate leadership style is
the essence of effective leadership.
The following factors influences leader effectiveness in different work situations: -

1. Leader personality and past experiences:- managers value background and experiences will affect his
or her choice of leadership styles. A manager who has had success in exercising little supervision or values the
self-fulfilment needs of subordinates may adopt an employee-oriented style of leadership. A manger who
distrusts subordinates or who simply likes to manage all work activities may adopt a more authoritarian role.

2. Expectation of superiors:- a superior who favours task oriented leadership may cause a manager to
adopt that style of leadership. A superior who favours an employee-oriented style on the other hand may
encourage the manager to adopt the employee-oriented leadership.

3. Subordinates characteristics and expectations:- the response of subordinates to managers will be

subordinates characteristics in terms of skills and training influence the mangers choice of style. Highly
capable employee would normally require less directly approach. The expectation of subordinates is another
factor in determining how appropriate a particular style will be. Subordinates who have employee centred
managers in the past may expect a new manager to have similar style and may react negatively to authoritarian
leadership.
4. Tasks requirements: Jobs that precise instructions are to be followed demand more task oriented
style than jobs whose operating procedures can be left largely to the individual employees e.g. University
teaching.

5. Organisational climate and policy the “personality” or climate of an organisation influences the
expectations and behaviours of organisation members.

In organisations where climate and policies encourage strict accountability for expenses and results, managers
usually supervise and control subordinates tightly.

6. Peer expectation and behaviours: - Ones fellow managers so as not to appear odd. Also conformance
to their expectations is required.

5.4 COMMUNICATION
5.4.1 Meaning of Communication
To communicate is to make known, to impart or to transmit information. Communication forms the bridge
between managers and employees.

Communication is an integral part of managing because it is only through communication that a manager can
make himself understood by his employees.

Managers must receive and give ideas, reports, instructions, explain problems and give demonstrations. An
organization must also keep in touch with its relevant environments—customers, suppliers, dealers,
regulations etc. Talking, listening, attending meetings, reading and writing occupies most of the manager's
time.

Communication is therefore essential for effecting organizational performance. An excellent plan that is
poorly communicated is useless. Effective and efficient communication results in better overall performance.
Ineffective communication leads to loss of meaning or misunderstanding which in turn leads to mistakes. The
success of an organization is a reflection of the effectiveness of its communication. Many mistakes and
negative results in a firm e.g. accidents, waste, duplicated work and incomplete work can be traced directly to
poor communication. Communication is needed to:

(a) Establish and disseminate goals of an enterprise

(b) Develop plans for their achievement
(c) Organize human and non human resources
(d) Select, develop and appraise staff
(e) Control performance
(f) Direct, lead and motivate employees

Communication is a two way process where everyone is both a receiver and sender of information. Effective
communication must involve transfer of meaning from the sender to the receiver i.e. the information received
must be understood by the receiver. If the receiver does not understand the meaning of the message then
communication is not effective.
5.4.2 The Communication Process
The process traces the movement of information from the sender to the receiver. The process has the
following elements.

1. Sender
Any one who wants to communicate something to someone else. The sender has a thought or idea. The
thought or idea must be put into a language understood by the receiver and the sender (this is called
encoding).

2. Message
The information the sender wants to communicate.

3. Channel (vehicle/media)
The link between the sender and the receiver of the message. i.e. the mode of transmission of the message
e.g. letter, telephone or gesture. Choice of the channel is affected by the following factors.

i. Urgency —when the message is very urgent a telephone call may be the most appropriate.
ii. Importance — mportant messages are better communicated face to face.
iii. Need for documentation
iv. Delicacy of the message
v. Costs involvedIf sender is constrained by cost the mass media may be the most appropriate.
vi. Future reference —Where future reference is required then written messages must be used.
vii. Noise—Anything whether in the sender, channel or receiver that hinders communication e.g. a noisy
or confined environment may affect thinking by clogging the mind. Ambiguous symbols and words may
distort meaning.

4. Receiver
The person the sender wants to reach with the message. Once the receiver gets the message he/she must
decode it. This is the process by which the receiver interprets the message and attaches meaning to it. If
communication has to be complete (understood) the receiver and the sender must attach the same meaning
to the message.

5. Feedback
The action taken by the message receiver once the message has been conveyed. It is only through feedback
that the sender can know whether the process was successful.
Note
be able to communicate effectively it is important that one gains and holds the attention of the receiver. This
is difficult because the competition for attention is enormous. One receives too many messages at the same
time and because naturally the attention span is limited, peoples minds keep wandering. Managers at the top
face more noise than their subordinates. They must keep up to date with many institutions outside the
organization and each institution keeps sending different messages to the manager which all require his
attention.

For communication to be effective the message sender must have a good knowledge of the receiver.
A SIMPLE COMMUNICATION MODEL

NOISE

SENDER MESSAGE CHANNEL RECEIVER

FEEDBACK

Note
The process is affected by many situational and organizational factors. Factors in the external environment
include educational factors, sociological factors, legal factors, political factors, technological factors and
economic factors. Time and geographical distance are also other factors that affect communication. The
manager may not have the time to send out communication or the message may become invalid with passage
of time. Communication is also affected by internal factors such as the structure of the organization,
managerial styles and changes in technology. Using the communication process model managers are able to
pinpoint problems and to take corrective action.

5.43 Types of Communication

Communication in an organization is either external or internal.
Internal communication takes place between people within the organization while external communication
occurs between people in the organization and others outside the organization.
Today's organizations are complex and big and the amount of information handled is very large. Therefore a
lot of efficiency in communication is required. All organizations generate internal communication and the
communication flow is multidirectional.

It could either be:

(a) Vertically upward—from lower to higher level through the chain of command.
(b) Vertically downward—from higher to lower levels.
(c) Direct horizontal—when an individual from one department communicates to another in another
department but at the same organizational level.
(d) Indirect horizontal—occurs between people of different organizational levels and in different
departments.
(e) Depending on the nature of the firm zigzagging or diagnosing of messages cannot be ruled out.

The informal group through the grapevine forms an important communication channel. All organizations
have a "grapevine" or informal communication channel. News flow through the grapevine with or without
the approval of the management. The information that flows through the grapevine is rarely ever true as it is
based on gossip and half truths. Where management has not devised ways of passing information promptly
the "grapevine" thrives. So the more fully and accurately management keeps people informed, the weaker the
grapevine.

The firm also invites communication with groups outside and as the organization grows external
communication grows. These groups include customers, suppliers, government, competitors etc.

Written Communication
Written communication is in form of letters, memos, manuals or minutes. It has the advantage of providing
records and references. Written messages are to a large extent uniform.

However, written communication may:

• increase paperwork
• provide no immediate feedback
• one is never sure the receiver got the written document
• it can be made ineffective by poor writing
• involves danger of using technical jargon not understood by the receiver.

Oral Communication
Most communication in organizations is oral. It provides immediate feedback and unclear issues can be
classified immediately. The communicator knows the effects of communication immediately. It can easily be
altered or adjusted to suit the receiver. Face to face communication when used by managers gives the
subordinates a feeling of importance and self worth.

Non Verbal Communication

Includes facial expression, body gestures, eye movements, distance maintained etc. These can either reinforce
what we say or contradict it. Communicators must know that its actions that count finally so a manager must
be able to supplement what he says with actions.

The Art of Active Listening

Active listening refers to a method of listening for the total meaning of a message. A sender's message has a
verbal and a non verbal component as well as a feeling component.

The receiver must be aware of both components in order to understand the full meaning of the message.
The feeling component expresses the feelings the communicator is experiencing at the time of
communication. These may be of joy, hate, resentment or anger and are contained in the way the words are
expressed Very sweet words may be expressed in a way to convey a sour message.

People can become more active listeners if they follow these guidelines.
(a) Suspend premature judgement—premature judgement prevents the receiver from listening for the
total meaning of a message and this makes the sender defensive.
(b) Listen with understanding—the receiver should try and understand what is being said from the
senders perspective.
(c) Listen and respond to feelings—the content of a message often plays a small part in interpersonal
communication. The emotions and feelings during communication should be recognised.
(d) Note all non verbal cues.
(e) Rephrase the sender's message. The receiver may restate or paraphrase the sender's message in his
own words to see if she/he understands the sender's message.

Commandments for active listening

• stop talking and listen
• put the talker at ease
• show the talker you want to listen
• remove distractions
• empathize with the talker
• be patient
• hold your temper
• avoid argument and criticism
• ask questions

5.4.5 Barriers to Communication

Communication barriers can arise from either sender, channel, receiver or from the surroundings.

(a) Lack of planning to communicate—good communication is not by chance. Clear thinking must
precede talking or writing. Often people talk or write without clear thinking and without a clear purpose for
their work.
(b) Unclarified assumptions—most messages have an underlying assumption. For a message to be clearly
understood both the sender and the receiver must understand the underlying assumption.
(c) Semantic distortion (language)—where words are not clearly understood because they are
ambiguous. Besides some words have several meanings and when used in a message they may mean different
things to different people.
(d) Poor expression (language)—caused by poorly chosen words, omissions, lack of coherence, awkward
sentence structure and unfamiliar jargon.
(e) Loss of transmission—as the message is passed around people insert their own words or they
paraphrase the message and this distorts the original message.
(f) Poor retention—few people retain things for a long period. People forget too fast.
(g) Poor listening—human minds keep wandering and as a message is being passed people keep
pondering their own things. Some use the opportunity to make impressions on others and such people give
ideas and comments totally unrelated to the message.
(h) Hasty (premature) evaluation—people have a common tendency to judge, approve or disapprove
what is being said rather than trying to understand the speaker.
(i) Distrust, threat and fear—in an organization plagued by fear and distrust communication is difficult
as each message is viewed sceptically.

(j) Insufficient period for adjustment to change—the essence of communication is to effect change.
Change usually disrupts the way people have been carrying on their work and usually people need enough
time to adjust to change.
(k) Noise—noise or interruptions from without the communication e.g. giving instructions in a noisy
environment, disease, weather etc.
5.4.6 How Can Communication Be Improved?

Both the sender and the receiver of the message can improve communication.

What the sender can do to improve communication:

1. (a) Clarify ideas before communicating

(b) Examine the purpose of communication

2. Remove hierarchical barriers

Status differences in organizations can limit the effectiveness of communication between superiors and
subordinates—this creates a psychological distance which makes employees filter the information they give to
management, withholding any information they feel is distasteful.
3. Remove interpersonal barriers
Communication is an interpersonal process, interpersonal barriers such as distrust, defensiveness, and
domination hinder open communication.
4. Be sensitive to the receiver's perspective
The communicator should be empathetic to the receiver i.e. be able to put himself in the shoes of the
receiver.
5. Develop and maintain credibility
Credibility is usually measured by one's expertise on the subject matter being communicated.
6. Support words with action.
7. Avoid information overload
i.e. giving employees more information than they can handle or process. A gate keeper could be used to
screen the information, or filtering and prioritising of information could help reduce overload.
8. Avoid information underload
Giving too little information, this often leads to employee dissatisfaction.
9. Be a good listener
Effective communication takes place only when the sender is satisfied with the receiver’s response.

What the receiver should do ?

Feedback is the process of responding to what another has told you i.e. communicating how you feel.
Feedback can either be responsive where the sender's message is restated or corrective where one
communicates the effects of the message. Certain guidelines could be observed for effective feedback by the
receiver.

(a) Aim to help the recipient.

(b) Consider the recipient's ability.
(c) Focus on behaviour rather than on person.
(d) Be descriptive rather than evaluative.
(e) Respect the recipient's privacy.

5.4.7 Other Ways To Improve Communication

(a) Brief message—a lengthy message gives room for distortion
(b)Appropriate vocabulary—language used must be understood by both the sender and the receiver
(c) Accuracy and Completeness
(d) Selective Communication
(e) Empathy
(f) Use of visual devices
 (g) Use of combined media
(h) Follow up
Good listening

5.4.8 Other Qualities For Improving Organization Communication

1. Define specific communication goals prior to actual communication.
2. Establish communication mechanisms through which organizational members can interact regularly.
3. Facilitate frequent face-to-face interactions between supervisors and employees.
4. Encourage employees to express their ideas and concerns in dealing with their jobs.
5. Solicit information from employees concerning their careers and personal problems.
6. Involve employees in formulating their task goals and responsibilities.
7. Provide employees with timely feedback on their job performance.
8. Inform employees on any changes in the company's goals and policies as soon as possible.
9. Periodically evaluate the firm's communication effectiveness.

5.5 CORPORATE CULTURE

5.5.1 Meaning of Culture
Vijay Sathe defines culture as "the set of important understandings that members of a community share in
common". These shared understandings consist of norms, values, attitudes and beliefs. The community may
be a society, industry, company, department or work unit.

The culture of an organization can be determined from the things, doings, feelings and sayings held in
common by organizational members.

5.5.2 Factors that determine the culture of any organization:

Values held by top management—top management through their orientation and values set the tone that
prevails in the organization. For example a management that is antagonistic to competitors creates this
atmosphere for its employees.

History of the organization—the way things have always been done in the organization determines to a great
extent the things held in common by its members. For example the character of the founder of a company is
maintained in the company through out the years.

Top management vision for the company—what top management feel about the future of the company
permeates into the entire organization. If the CEO for instance has no faith in the future of the company a
tone of hopelessness may prevail among employees.

Work Group
The nature of the immediate work group will affect one's perception of the quality of culture. Commitment
refers to whether this group is just going through the routine motions of work. Sixteen people are just going
through the motions, it is difficult for a particular individual to obtain high levels of output and satisfaction.
Hinderance is concerned with the degree to which a great deal of busy work of doubtful value is given to the
group. Morals and friendliness within the group are factors with which most readers are familiar.

Organizational Characteristics
The leadership style of the immediate supervisor will have a considerable effect on the culture of the group
and vice versa. If the manager is always pursuing for output, this alters the environment. Trust refers to
supervisory behaviour characterised by personally working hard and setting an example. Consideration is a
leadership characteristic. Organizational characteristics may also affect the type of culture. Organizations vary
on such attributes as size and complexity.
Large organizations tend toward higher degrees of specialization and greater impersonalization. Labour
unions often find that large firms are easier to organise than smaller ones because smaller firms tend to be
closer and have more informal relationships between employee and management. Complex organizations
tend to employ a greater number of professionals and specialists which alters the general approach to solving
problems.
Organizations also vary in the degree to which they write things down and attempt to program behaviour
through rules, procedures and regulations (standardisation of processes).
They can also be distinguished on the basis of the degree of decentralization of decision making authority,
which affects the degree of autonomy and freedom of personnel within the organization.

Administrating Process
Corporate culture can be affected by administration processes. Firms that can develop a direct link between
performance and rewards tend to create cultures conducive to achievement. Communication systems that are
open and free flowing tend to promote participation and creative atmospheres. The general attitudes that
exist toward the handling of risk and the tolerance of conflict will, in turn, have considerable impact on the
type of team work affected. They also affect the amount of organizational innovation and creativity.

A strong and widely recognised culture is one of the factors that may contribute to the success of a company.

A company's predominant culture can be changed by various environmental factors e.g. competition,
government action or social movement. For example the current issues of gender balance, environmental
friendliness, economy deregulation, privatisation and even transparency and accountability may change the
cultures of many companies here in Kenya.

Culture emerges from the actions of organization members and any attempt to change culture must focus on
what people do. If a manager can get organizational members to behave differently then cultural change is
possible. Culture gives organizational members a sense of how to behave and what they ought to be doing.

Organizational culture has an impact on the employee's degree of satisfaction with the job, as well as the level
and quality of their performance. The assessment of how good or poor the organization's culture is may
differ from employee to employee.

5.5.3 The Need To Change Culture

When major changes occur companies usually must alter their culture in order to survive. The reasons for
changing culture need not be negative. A company that enters a new market might copy the cultures of
successful competitors in the market. A new management team, for example, often changes corporate culture
to match its higher ideals. Organizations should strive for an open and participative culture. This type of
culture is characterized by such attributes as:

• Trust in subordinates
• Openness in communications
• Considerate and supportive leadership
• Group problem solving
• Worker autonomy
• Information sharing
• High output goals

Some behaviouralists contend that this culture is the only viable one for all situations. The opposite of the
open and participative culture is a closed and autocratic high output goals. But such goals are more likely to
be declared and imposed on the organization by autocratic and threatening leaders. There is greater rigidity in
this culture, resulting from strict adherence to the formal chain of command, shorter spans of management
and stricter individual accountability. This emphasis is on the individual rather than teamwork. Employees
reactions are often characterised by going through the motions and doing as they are told. Despite criticism
by behaviourists, a closed and autocratic culture (philosophy) may prove better than an open one in certain
situations. Some organizations’ cultures are neither purely open and participatory or closed and autocratic.
Although employees may be expected to dress conservatively and otherwise follow company rules, new ideas
may be encouraged and rewarded through incentives compensation.

5.5.4 Developing a participative culture

The prevailing managerial approach in most organizations has been one characterised as being highly
structured. Consequently, most attempts to alter organizational culture have been directed toward creating a
more open and participative culture. The theme or participation developed by McGregory, Herberg and
Maslow, among others relates primarily to self-actualisation, motivator factors, consultative and democratic
leadership, job enrichment and M.B.O.

Value of Participation
The possible values of involving more people in the decision making process within a firm relate primarily to
productivity and morale. Increased productivity can result from the stimulation of ideas and from the
encouragement of greater effort and co-operation. Psychologically involved employees will often respond to
shared problems with innovative suggestive and unusual efforts. Open participative cultures are often used to
improve the level of morale and satisfaction. Specific values in this area include:

• increased acceptability of management's ideas;

• increased co-operation with members of management and staff;
• reduced turnover;
• reduced absenteeism;
• reduced complaints and grievances;
• greater acceptance of changes;
• improved attitudes toward the job and the organization.

In general, the development of greater employee participation appears to have a direct and immediate effect
on employee morale. Employees take a greater interest in the job and the organization. They tend to accept,
and sometimes initiate changes not only because of their understanding of the necessity for change but also
because their fears or insecurity has been reduced because they know more about the change. Most
experience and research indicate a positive relationship between employee participation and measures of
morale, turnover, and absenteeism.

Limitation of Participation
Despite the values of a participative approach to management, there are some limitations. The requirements
for greater participation in decision-making are:

i. Sufficient time
ii. Adequate ability and interest on the part of the participants, and
iii. Restrictions generated by the present structure and system.