Question

Explain what is meant by the term “management style” and why it can

be an important issue in the success or failure of a business. Support your

answer with examples that illustrate differing management styles.

Answer 1

Management Style: Every leader or manager has a unique quality or style of managing or handling people in the organization.  Management style refers to concepts or principles that explain different methods a manager use to handline and managing employees and different situations in the organization. There are so many issues a manager can face, these issues could be from the employee's side or organization side, different managers use different methods to solve those issues, these methods are derived from management style.

There are different management styles used by the different managers to manage and handle different situations in the organization. We will discuss them in the below points,

a. Directive Management Style: Directive Management style is also known as Authorization or Autocratic management style. Managers use this style when managing employees by directions, control, and giving orders. These managers have full authority in the organization and they are the key decision-maker in their department. Every employee in their department or team has to follow the manager's orders and directions to fulfilling the task given to them.

In this type of organization, clear guidelines are already formed and employees have to follow reporting structures. This type of management style could be found in Asian countries with high traditional cultures that have high power distance. This type of organization will lack creativity and innovation as the power and decision making is handled by senior authority and other employees have to follow what they have asked to do.  

One of the best examples of this kind of management style is Microsoft founder Mr. Bill Gates. He performed a directive management style in his organization. He was the key decision-maker and teams had to follow his guidelines to perform better and on time.

b. Pacesetting Management Style: In this type of management style, the manager is so obsessed with doing the work and set high standards for employees to show better performance. These high work standards are kept for both employees and self and both together will finish the tasks with full commitment and on time. Employees are motivated and will be provided with full instructions. These high standards are sometimes hard to achieve but the managers and employees give their 100% to achieve these goals.

This management style is useful with teams that are self-motivated and experienced and it created competition within the team to perform better.

This style is used for achieving short term goals and when the organization has a single big challenge at a time. Employees cannot be forced continuously as it will create frustration in them and result in a loss of motivation with employees.

Jeck Welch, CEO of General Electric is an example of this management style. He was obsessed with work and doing things faster. Sometimes he set the high standards that were harder to achieve but worked with his team to achieve those tasks properly.

c. Participative Management Style: This style is also known as a consensus, affiliative management style. In this style, management prefers of idea sharing and employee participation in day to day decision making. Management shares ideas, ask suggestions and find solutions together to achieve organizational goals but managers will have final decision-making authority.

This management style motivates employees and makes them feel valued in the organization. This created more creativity and innovation in the organization. This is one of the best management styles every manager should have and use in the organization. In this style employees are self-motivated and they find solutions themselves and respect each other.

The only issue with this management style is it is a time-consuming process and cannot be used when the decision has to be done quickly and emergency situation. In this scenario, the management has to choose a directive approach.

All kinds of social workers, NGOs are an example of this kind of management style where everyone is sharing ideas and suggestions to solve any kind of issue in the organization.

d. Transactional Management Style: Transactional management style prefers on providing incentives, bonuses and other kinds of benefits to motivate employees and make them perform better in the organization. These organizations will have more employee benefits like stock options, foreign trips, heavy paycheques to motivate employees.

This type of style is for the short term and cannot be used for longer projects where there is more complexity and everyone has to perform better to achieve organizational goals. In this style, we can found a lack of creativity and innovation as the employee's objective would finish the task only.

e. Transformational Management Style: This style is also known as Visionary and inspirational management style. In this type of leadership style, employees get motivation and feedback from the managers and managers believe that their team can handle the day to day business. Managers are open to suggestions and discussions and this type of organization will have more creativity and innovation in business processes. These managers are ready to take risks and have the ability to manage change.

This type of management style is open for innovation and change, employees are self-motivated.

If the team is new and in-experienced, this management style could be an issue and the management has to focus on the day to day business activities.

Elon Musk, Founder of Tesla is the example of this kind of management style where employees are motivated and inspired and team is ready to finish day to day task so that Elon Musk can work on other ideas for Tesla.

Importance of Management Style in Business Success or Failure:

All managers will use different management styles that depend on the situation and the manager's personal characteristics. All management styles are useful and used in different situations, so it is not like that one management style is better than another but the manager can choose any management style that suits his character, organization type, and different situations.

As we have discussed different management styles in the above points, we can say that each style is made for different situations and organization structure. For a business success or failure, we have to make sure that the correct management style has been used in proper situations.  

The wrong management style will hurt employees, the organization and the manager itself because management style is the main criterion of the decision-making process.

The correct management style motivates employees and makes them engaged in the work. It is very important that employees are self-motivated and engaged in the business process if he is not then it can create issues such as lack of productivity, longer finishing time, poor work quality, etc.

The manager should find out his management style and work with the organization in which he thinks that his management style suits the organization. Because in this way, he contributes more and also work better with teams and employees. But he should use or adopt other management styles when necessary.