A Management Style Report

Introduction

This is a management report outlining my strategic recommendations for Ooni, that is, the management style or styles that Ooni’s management team can use to improve the performance of their organization. The second part of the management report will identify three implementation issues that Ooni must consider when implementing the strategic recommendations provided. In the third section, a reflective piece of writing that evaluates the strategy process that led to strategic recommendations in the first section will be outlined, accounting on my experience of this process. Lastly in the fourth section, a further reflective piece of writing that outlines the skills and competencies that I have developed while working through this module, particularly on the collaborative activity, will be provided.

Management-Style Recommendations Report

Executive Summary

This section of the report entailed providing management style recommendations for the Oon’s management team to improve their management and team collaboration. The section has highlighted some ideal management concepts that the team can embrace to improve leadership and team collaboration. The section has first of all highlighted how the team can improve their management and leadership by developing good management skills and how to build and nurture a good team. Additionally, the report has touched on several leadership styles which can be adopted to improve the team’s management.

Areas that Oon’s need to improve

The team should first of all look at its management and leadership style to assess whether its approach is appropriate. Some of the areas that should be probed is if its leadership style is the best for its operations and performance and if it works best in the specific industry. The team should also asses and find a management style that suits all its team members.

How to develop good managers

Good managers in the contemporary information-rich and innovative workplaces are individuals who can make use of the information to make the right decisions for the team. These are leaders or managers who can adopt the right leadership styles and the information to create a leadership structure that can help meet their leadership and performance needs. According to Ricart and Llopis (2019), good managers know about the theories and systems that can improve the performance of its organisation. They also know about their employees. These authors opine that good managers know how to bend the rules and when they should be flexible enough, using appropriate management styles that suit the different circumstances to improve their team’s performance (Ricart and Llopis, 2019). According to Ricart and Llopis (2019), the important thing is to select the right management structure and style that suits the industry, the organisation’s goal and the team. The organisation should look at how to best lead the team through projects and achieve the best results for its team members, service and product users, executives and stakeholders (Ricart and Llopis, 2019).

Oon’s organisation can nurture its team by making sense of workflows and how its team dynamics is affected by the chosen leadership styles that are being experimented in the company. Good managers also understand their team’s weaknesses, strengths and how these can be improved to achieve the best practice (Ricart and Llopis, 2019). There are different leadership styles or models which Oon’s can choose from, including affiliative style of management, the coaching style of management, democratic management, pacesetting style of management, and visionary management model (Ricart and Llopis, 2019).

Affiliative leadership model

This is one of the leadership styles that Oon’s company can use is affiliative leadership style, a mode that promotes harmony and connection between employees and team members in the company (Wachira, Karanja and Iravo, 2018). This model allows team members to solve personality problems or conflicts, maintain a healthy team spirit and morale, as well as praise excellently completed work (Wachira, Karanja and Iravo, 2018). Affiliative leadership is considered as a management style that encourages the development of trust in the company (Wachira, Karanja and Iravo, 2018). Managers in the company work as coaches that help team members to work together and achieve the organisation’s objectives and goals (Wachira, Karanja and Iravo, 2018). To apply this leadership style in the company, Oon’s leaders should focus on collaboration and relationships, especially after setbacks like when conflicts due to team members’ personalities damage the company’s productivity (Wachira, Karanja and Iravo, 2018).

Kandemir et al. (2019) note that using this leadership approach, all members of the team are given sufficient time to understand their work and roles and tackle personality conflicts that arise naturally during the early phases of creating the team (Kandemir et al., 2019). Based on this approach, evidence suggests that it is important for leaders to understand each employee and how they work at their best before reorganising or restructuring operations and departments in the company (Kandemir et al., 2019). Using this approach requires patience because, as noted by (Kandemir et al., 2019), team work and collaboration needs trust that takes time to achieve. Extreme tolerance and patience is needed to bring all employees on board and to get them on track towards high performance (Kandemir et al., 2019). The affiliative leadership approach comes in handy when the company’s leadership needs to identify the weaknesses and strengths of each team members and sort out everyone’ responsibilities and roles (Kandemir et al., 2019). According to Kandemir et al. (2019), once everything gets back on track after using the affiliative model, it is important to transition into a goal-based leadership style that can challenge the team to raise their efficiency and productivity (Kandemir et al., 2019).

The Coaching style of management

In this leadership style, managers and leaders are coaches that encourage, guide and inspire their team members to higher efficiencies and outputs (DiGirolamo and Tkach, 2019). These leaders balance affiliative and authoritative leadership models (DiGirolamo and Tkach, 2019). Even though they use feedback from the whole group, they reserve decision-making to themselves and facilitate good or positive team member interactions also letting everyone to know their stand (DiGirolamo and Tkach, 2019). The company can apply this model to their maturing team who understand their specific instructions (DiGirolamo and Tkach, 2019). This approach requires team members who can work independently because they know what they are expected to do in the company (DiGirolamo and Tkach, 2019). The coaching style of management is suitable with staff members who are competent and have earned the trust of their co-workers (DiGirolamo and Tkach, 2019). This model is also appropriate in bringing team members to work together, especially after a much lenient style of management has been used, to accommodate more difficult environments and new employees (DiGirolamo and Tkach, 2019).

Democratic style of management

This model values investment, collaboration and leadership and allows people the space and time to develop the best services and products possible (Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski, 2018). This style of leadership involves allowing all members of the team to take part in decision-making (Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski, 2018). This approach can be used by Oon’s to make sure that everyone’s voice is listened to, allowing the most feedback and information to be acquired (Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski, 2018). This leadership model also increases the engagement of all employees in important decision-making processes and organisational activities (Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski, 2018). It helps build consensus, a factor that can lead to immense success in the company (Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski, 2018). According to Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski (2018), democratic leadership is best for situations where resources and time do not inhibit debate and brainstorming (Jony et al., 2019). However, dangerous environments and rigid teams can take advantage of the ideas and different voices to improve their performance because this model makes everyone feel as part of the team, increasing their sense of belonging and improving their dedication and individual output (Jony et al., 2019).

Pacesetting style of management

In this leadership style, leaders make use of their experiences in specific niches or markets to improve the performance of their company with the help of highly-motivated employees (Dagondon, 2021). Pacesetting leaders act as role models in terms of performance and are the high achievers in the company that set the performance standards through developing long-term and short-term goals (Dagondon, 2021). This model can be used by Oon’s team with the help of detailed performance data and metrics to motivate followers to reach high performance and get high output from each team member and the whole team (Dagondon, 2021). Pacesetting encourages high achievers to perform better and stay aware of the company’s long-term goals and perspectives (Dagondon, 2021). By setting appropriate and reasonable goals, Oon’s can avoid costly turnover and employee burnout (Abdelhadi, 2019). It is important to note that this approach is best for fast-pacd settings like the sales department where large customer numbers are witnessed (Abdelhadi, 2019). In such environments, smart pace-setter managers need to encourage healthy competition and the achievement of long-term goals and not simply focusing on short-term achievements/results (Abdelhadi, 2019).

Visionary style of management

Visionary leaders are the kind of leaders who can inspire trust among employees and facilitate the engagement of all employees in high-reward, high-risk settings (Prestiadi, Zulkarnain and Sumarsono, 2019). Visionary leaders depend on robust central leadership to achieve teamwork and collaboration (Prestiadi, Zulkarnain and Sumarsono, 2019). This approach can help Oon’s team to achieve incredible performance results and significant organisational growth (Prestiadi, Zulkarnain and Sumarsono, 2019). Inspirational leaders inspire and attract followers who enjoy meaningful ventures and being part of a team (Prestiadi, Zulkarnain and Sumarsono, 2019). These are leaders who known how to inspire and empower team members to improve their performance through trust and team building (Prestiadi, Zulkarnain and Sumarsono, 2019).

Conclusion

It is important for Oons to find the leadership or management style they resonate with and find one that is valuable based on their goals and needs. They should narrow down their ideas into few that match their team and the industry. Oon’s leadership should attempt to build on their strengths and start with low-risk management styles and assess how the team reacts to the new changes. Finally, the team should find the right balance using a style that can build teamwork and collaboration and improve the performance of all members and the organisation as a whole.

Implementation Issues that Ooni should consider in the recommendations

There are at least three key implementation issues that Ooni will need to consider when implementing the above strategic recommendation. These will include change management and resistance, support from high level employees, and getting the adopted strategic plan started.

Change management and resistance issues

Implementing a new leadership style in the company can be daunting for any management team (Rosenbaum, More and Steane, 2018). It is important for Oon’s management to come up with an appropriate way to navigate through the change process. Change resistance is a common phenomenon in organization because as is noted by (Rosenbaum, More and Steane, 2018), it is normal or natural to be quite resistant to new modifications because they can upset previously established emotional stress and balance or lead to more risks. New changes can also led to power struggles and conflicting interests. To efficiently facilitate changes and transitions when introducing the new leadership style, Oon needs to identify the possible reasons for employee resistance. Some of the possible reasons why employees might resist change, according to (Rosenbaum, More and Steane, 2018) include the fact that individuals often find it quite convenient and comfortable to do things the usually way and might find it difficult doing something new. Additionally, changes often alter people’s duties, influences and powers. Therefore, the individuals affected by these changes might react negatively by resisting because they do not want their current statuses to be affected (Rosenbaum, More and Steane, 2018). Culture is another reason why people might resist the implementation of new leadership styles. Employees that are particular about maintaining the current customs or cultures instead of taking new risks can be insecure about the new changes or even lack the skills or creativity to operate in a new environment with new ways of doing things (Buick, Blackman and Johnson, 2018).

High level support is important for the implementation of any planned changes in the organization (Gigliotti et al., 2019). Resistance from the organisation’s top leadership can halt the whole process of implementing new leadership models in the company (Gigliotti et al., 2019). According to Gigliotti et al. (2019), the other factor that might impede the implementation of new strategic leadership styles in the company is getting the process of implementing the change started.

In the phases of any form of resistance to the new proposed changes in leadership, there are various models that are proposed to overcome change resistance in organisations (Stouten et al., 2018). However, it is important to select one that suits the company, its team’s needs and organizational goals or objectives (Stouten et al., 2018). A proven change management mode like Kurt Lewin’s model can come in handy when dealing with resistance by Oon’s team or team members (Pawar and Charak, 2017). Kurt Lewin is a Germany who moved to the United States in the 1930’s. He is considered a social psychology pioneer (Pawar and Charak, 2017). His model focuses on the factors which influence individuals to change (Pawar and Charak, 2017). The model offers three stages required to achieve change successfully, including the unfreeze, change, as well as the freeze again stages (Pawar and Charak, 2017).

The first stage of unfreezing involves getting the team ready to accept the new changes by making them to understand what it is inevitable to implement it and shift away from their usual comfort zones (Mtongana and Musundire, 2019). This phases is all about preparing the entire team before initiating the change process and ideally establishing a situation where everyone wants the proposed changes (Mtongana and Musundire, 2019). These lead to the unfreezing process and getting the employees motivated to change by carrying out the force-field analysis and assessing the cons and pros of the whole process before starting the action (Mtongana and Musundire, 2019). The second phase of the whole process is transition or change implementation where Kurt Lewin proposed starting the process or journey or direction of doing things (Mtongana and Musundire, 2019). This is the phase where support from all stakeholders is needed after communicating clearly what is aimed at and the advantages or benefits that will be achieved so that everyone do not forget or lose sight for the direction that is taken and how things are expected to be in the company (Mtongana and Musundire, 2019). Kurt Lewin then proposed the third and last phase of refreezing or freezing again that involves establishing stability after the intended changes are implemented (Mtongana and Musundire, 2019). This stage involves accepting the changes and making them the new culture and norm of behaving and doing things in the company. Employees establish new relationships and get comfortable with the new routine (Mtongana and Musundire, 2019).

The use of either a bottom-up approach with the help a balanced scorecard tool that can help highlight whether or not the company is achieving some of the already defined performance measures (Dinçer, Hacıoğlu and Yüksel, 2017) or using a top-down approach where the team can formulate its vision and missions to be achieved and the expected targets that the whole team should work towards (Dinçer, Hacıoğlu and Yüksel, 2017). The other tools which can help towards this endeavour is the use of Key performance indicators in the company, to assess, for example the increase of sales or profits and employees individual performance (Bressolles and Lang, 2019).

The strategy process that led to the development of the strategic recommendations

My team first conducted an analytical procedure and the selection of a suitable path of action for Oon’s team to increase team collaboration and meeting of the company’s vision and organisational objectives (Lopez Hernandez et al., 2018). This process is similar to the development of a strategic plan and allowed me to examine the company’s challenges and management issues to develop the best action plan to improve their performance (Heath, 2018). Part of my team was assigned the role of assessing the organisation’s and teams objectives, particularly the long term objectives to understand what the company intended to achieve (Heath, 2018). It was clear what Oon and the entire team wanted to achieve, which were to improve the company’s performance and profitability but also to provide customers with the best customer experience through high quality goods and customer service. The organisation also wanted to achieve this through improved team collaboration. From my experience, I have realised that a company’s vision and mission, as well as vision play a significant role in setting them on a clear path they would like to take. As Oon’s consultant, I wanted to know whether they had a precisely set goals and objectives and whether or not they understood how they wanted to achieve them.

The other team was asked to evaluate Oon’s company’s internal and external environment. Through a SWOT analysis, an approach or tool that allows organisations to examine their weaknesses, strengths, threats and opportunities in the market (Gurl, 2017), I was able to identify different areas which could be improved to enhance their performance. Some areas that were problematic included poor down-top communication and leadership style. Junior employees had little say in critical decision-making and were less motivated to work as a team. I realised that it was important for the team to adopt and implement a new leadership style, hence the recommended leadership model changes in the first section. I realised that with a change in their leadership and communication (adopting the 360 degree communication and feedback acquisition) approach, Oon’s team would be able to work together and use the feedback acquired from all employees, the complaints and suggestions on how to improve performance, to perform better and stay ahead of competition because this is the only area, a management issue that if corrected or improved, would lead to excellent performance in the company.

I have in the past worked under an autocratic leader who involved us, the junior employees, in critical decision making. We had no voice in the company and were rather required to simply perform our duties without complaining or even suggesting how our performance would be improved. This dictatorship kind of environment motivated us less to perform better and as such the company’s performance became poor compared to our competitors in the food industry. However, things started changing when an expert brought in helped the company to restructure its leadership with the help of new leadership styles like democratic leadership and the use of change management and motivation theories. One of the motivation theories that the expert used in the process to improve the performance of this company’s performance is making the top leadership understand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how this could be used to motivate us the junior employees (Velmurugan and Sankar, 2017). After understanding the weak areas in the company, our leaders and managers were made to understand, according to Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs that humans have competing needs that must be satisfied according to their level of priority (Velmurugan and Sankar, 2017). In their training and our involvement, it came out clearly that the physiological needs like food and sleep come first before the safety needs like health, employment, personal security, property or resources. And that belonging and love come before esteem needs or self-actualization needs (Velmurugan and Sankar, 2017).

This experience has shown me that employees and people in general are motivated by their needs and that when these are met in some way, employees will have nothing to worry about but to complete their tasks in the company. After understanding the company’s environment, it was vital to create goals that specific goals that are to be achieved within a specific period, for instance, to use rewards under the new leadership style that is adopted to reach teamwork and collaboration in Oon’s team. I then searched for the right change management model that would be helpful in case the team experiences change resistance. At one point, I head of a situation in a country hospital where the doctors and nurses were unwilling to adopt and use new technologies in care delivery. It was proposed that they should use a new digital approach of information management to management patient information. Manages and top executives in the facility learned the concept of change management and adopted the Kurt Lewin’s three cycle model of unfreeze, change and refreeze model that enabled them to successfully navigate their change resistance.

Lastly, I looked for different ways that can be used to assess whether the implemented change led to desired changes and meeting of the organisation’s goals. Here I came across the balanced scorecard that examines the performance of performance using different performance measures and the use of key performance indicators or KPIs. The two previous companies that I have worked with have successfully used these tools to check on whether their implemented strategic plans and leadership models have led to the intended success objectives. Therefore, I believe that these tools would also be useful to Oon’s team while implementing their chosen tools. The process I chose for implementing change in Oon’s company can thus be categorised into three distinct steps including achieving strategies, change management and monitoring effectiveness or success of the enacted change.

The skills and competencies developed through this collaborative activity

Leadership skills were necessary to participate in this collaborative activity. The collaborative activity and the implementation of new leadership models in the company individuals with good communication skills with the ability to succinctly explain to all employees the objectives of implementing the new changes. It also needed managers and leaders who are good listeners who can make use of other people’s excellent ideas. Additionally, implementing the proposed strategy required motivation and the ability to build team members’ self-esteem either through rewards and recognition. One other thing that I noted is the need for excellent conflict resolution skills to reduce change resistance by other employees. It needed all the project leaders to come to one table and have a common interest, which needed a leader who can negotiate and bring people together through excellent communication and the ability to create a picture of the potential benefits that the intended plan will bring.

I have learned that a person is needed to have several core skills to be a strategist in an organization. One of this abilities is to be able to think long-term and to perceive the effects of a proposition in future and how it will affect employees and the performance of an organization in future. I have also learned that it is important to avoid quick decisions which might be problematic to the organization in the long-run and instead think everything through to find different ways in which one thing can be done before selecting the best option. Lastly, I have learned the importance of listening to other people’s opinions and ideas because most often, brainstorming on a challenge or an issue leads to some brilliant ideas that can lead to satisfactory solutions. Block five weeks in this module has provided me the opportunity to develop academic research skills and refine my ability to find information and use it as evidence to support a theory or an idea. The module has generally given me the chance to sharpen my research and writing skills, as well as my critical analysis abilities to be able to look at an issue from different perspectives.

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