LEADERSHIP, LEADERSHIP ROLE MODELS.doc
Content
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 1 of 20
LEADERSHIP, LEADERSHIP ROLE MODELS
CONCEPT QUESTIONS:
Give examples of ‘born’ leaders and ‘made’ leaders.
Born leader are the ones who have inborn qualities of an leader. Where else in case of
made leader it is often an mentor who shapes a leader. Examples of such leader are given
below:
Born leader: Dhirubhai Ambani, JRD Tata, Bal Thackeray
Made leader: K.M.Birla, Anil Ambani, Ratan Tata, I.K.Gujral,
The difference is only of degree and no one can be identified as being completely born
leader or made leader.
Management Styles
A management style is a distinctive way in which Planning, Organising, Actuating,
Controlling and other management functions are performed. Given the many choices in
the performance of each management function, an almost limitless number of
management styles can be visualized. In reality, however one encounters far fewer styles.
This is because styles tend to be internally coherent. If a management chooses to
coordinate activities participatively, it is also likely to set goals, develop strategies,
control operations, etc. participatively rather than in an authoritarian manner. Styles tend
to crystallize around major management convictions and commitments. That is, their
cores tend to be ideological in character, and commitment to a core management
ideology- of risk-taking in business or conservatism, professionalism in hiring staff or
intuitive choices, and so on- is likely to shape the rest of the style.
These commitments are not randomly generated. Nor are they exclusively the
commitments of the person who happens to be the CEO, although undoubtedly the CEO
usually does play a significant role in the evolution of a style of management. The style
evolved has to be viable, that is it has to be able to measure up to real-life situations. A
good deal of learning from experience plays a major part in the styles emergence. Social
processes within the ranks of management, such as information and experience sharing,
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 2 of 20
advocacy of points of view, political deals and so forth, also play a part. The purpose for
which the organisation is set up and the social, legal and economic environment, in which
it operates, too contribute to the viability of the style of management.
Good and Bad styles of Management
Human beings are an interesting species; they often talk about lofty ideals and perfection
but practice quite the opposite.
Determined by the super-ego and identity, human behavior may be repulsive or sublime.
Hence the style of management adopted is an expression of the thoughts in the mind of
the decision makers and leaders.
Depending upon these thoughts the style could be good or bad. i.e. socially desirable or
undesirable. In society, ‘good styles’ are referred as professional and participative. If
there is variety in excellence, there is variety in incompetence. The corporate sickness
and dysfunctional forms of bureaucracy and professional management have uncovered a
large number of bad forms of management.
Describe the role of ‘Karta’ in a Hindu Undivided Family:
Karta is the head of a ‘Hindu Undivided Family’ more commonly known as an HUF. The
Karta of an HUF is the supreme authority in business matters. He is the leader of this
organization. The other members of the family i.e. the co-parceners are not allowed to
have their say in the matters relating to the organization. It is usually the Head of the
family who is named the Karta.
DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS
Q 1) Critically analyze the leadership style and its central characteristic of the
Indian leading industrialist: Rahul Bajaj , Dhirubhai Ambani, Mr. N.R
Narayan Murthy and J.R.D.Tata
Rahul Bajaj
Rahul Bajaj is the man who can be given credit for building Bajaj auto are the 4 th largest
two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. He has achieved an incredible growth rate of
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 3 of 20
1852% in the last decade. Following are some of the points that explain the reason of his
success.
Education: Bajaj is a highly educated person. He has done his BA (Hons) and is a
management graduate from Harward.
Concentration of Core Competency: Rahul Bajaj collaborated with Kawasaki for
production of motorcycle but for scooter he did not go for any collaboration.
Manufacturing scooters is his core competency and he does not want to experiment
with that.
Customer is King: Bajaj has often been accused of exploiting the customers with
delivery period of 10 years, black marketing, etc. but this is not true at the face value.
A deeper insight brings to picture that there were other elements who are responsible
for these accuses. Bajaj, in spite of a heavy demand, did not raise the price of his
scooters and avoided exploitation of customers.
Staunch believer in himself: Bajaj listens to each and everyone, but takes decision
on his own. His organisation is a little centralized. In spite of strong oppositions, he
sticks to his decisions.
Never give up attitude: ‘Licence Raj’ was a nightmare for Bajaj. He does not
believe in bringing Government officials and getting his license cleared. This is a
major reason why Bajaj Auto came under MRTP and was allowed to expand its
production capacity. But he did not give up to the Government conditions and after
some years, done lobbying through business housed and putting tremendous pressure
on Government learn his license.
Jach Welch’s theory: Rahul Bajaj holds same views of Mr. Jack Welch, the former
CEO of GE. He believes that if one is no No 1 or No 2, he should get out from that
business. This principle kept him away from the four-wheeler market.
Attitude towards workers: Bajaj has less kind of words for workers. Still, there has
been only one strike in the history of 35 years of the company. He takes care of the
needs of the workers and at the same time, he views workers as a tool for production.
In his word’ “Why do they strike and lose wages? They should work more, earn
more”
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 4 of 20
BBC: Rahul Bajaj is well known for his unflinching frankness and varied opinion on
every topic under the sun. His office is therefore popularly known as BBC (Bajaj
Broadcasting Corporation)
Straightforwardness: His quotes about the Governnment have found place in the
headlines of many leading newspapers and magazines in India and have also raised
controversies. But this does not stop him from doing what he considers correct.
All the above features are the hallmark of Bajaj. They has earned him a rare reputation as
one of India’s most successful industrialists.
Squeaky clean, he has never been involved in shady takeovers. He does not engage in
street fights, nor has he ever hijacked someone else’s project. He hasn’t burnt tyres
during hard drive for meteoric growth. On the contrary, he is something of a plodder,
routinely burning the midnight oil, and devoted to the virtues of hard work. He’s India’s
most admired industrialist along with Dhirubhai Ambani and the late Adity Birla.
Dhirubhai Ambani
When we talk about Indian leaders one name, which we cannot miss out, is Dhirubhai
Ambani. He has voyaged through a journey of rags to riches. He was born on 28 th
December 1932 to a local schoolteacher in a village called Chorwad, in Junagadh district,
Gujarat.
Dhirubhai has been an opportunist right from his childhood. All he needed was the whiff
of a business opportunity and he was off to tap it. During the Mahashivratri fair, he would
sell ‘ganthia’ a gujaratri savoury to earn money. Due to shortage of money, he left
education after matriculation and went to Aden to earn money. He worked for almost
eight years in a petrol station where he learned about oil business until a day came when
he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. He came back to Bombay to start his own
business. He took a loan with which he started Reliance Commercial Corporation, which
has been a stepping-stone to one of India’s largest Corporation. They were involved in
general merchandising.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 5 of 20
Dhirubhai has always shown all the critical leadership qualities. He would always grab an
opportunity and strike on it. He then started his yarn business in the 60’s and then he
build his own spinning mill in 1966 known as Reliance Textile industries.
He believed that if a person wants to succeed in something then he should have complete
access to information on that topic. Whenever he wanted to approach the government to
get licenses, information about the competitors, market size etc. he would collect all these
information, no matter at what cost it came. He also believes in destiny and gives all the
credit to his luck. This shows how down to earth he is. Even today he has a simple ritual
of Puja when a new machine is installed. He isn’t proud of what he is and he still believes
in ‘Simple thinking, Modern thinking.’
He always followed the rule to be the pioneer/first to do anything. He would just grab an
opportunity that would come up because of some government policy changes and would
implement it successfully. He believed not in meeting demand but in creating demand.
He always produced in large quantities. He was of the opinion that customer should be
provided with best quality goods at the lowest price. Moreover Dhirubhai as opposed to
most other leaders wasn’t expert in only one field. He was a manufacturing as well a
marketing whiz. He knew how to offer the right product mix, identify markets and
establish viable distribution structure, which holds true for one of his famous brand
Vimal. He is also referred to as ‘ Manchester of India.’
He didn’t mind copying someone else’s idea, which he could implement better than his
competitors. As in the case of copying the concept of selling through showrooms for his
brand Vimal to counter the resistance from the traditional markets which he copied from
Bombay Dyeing. He always had the dynamism and confidence in future and was always
ready to go against all odds. He always believed in himself.
He has always believed that his first responsibility is towards his company’s shareholders
and he was also concerned in protecting their interests. He also known as the ‘stock
market messiah.’ This is because when some Marwari clan were trying to bring down the
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 6 of 20
price of his shares by short selling, he counter attacked them and in turn earned a hefty
sum from them. He has always had a wide investor base and most of his subscriptions
were over subscribed. He has always been an innovator in the financial market. He
innovated and reintroduced successfully concepts like partial convertible bonds, fully
convertible bonds etc.
He has been successful in manufacturing world-class products. He always believed in
‘Think big, think fast and think ahead.’ He has never had an ego problem and he knew
how to get his work done from people. He was never ashamed to ‘salaam’ anyone.
Another incident that shows his vision as a leader is that when Reliance’s Patalganga
Complex was damaged due to floods. Technical experts from Du Pont estimated hundred
days to make the complex operational but Reliance had the complete complex operational
in twenty-one days. This was possible because of Dhirubhai’s vision, his confidence, his
dedication proper logistical planning and making available all resources.
Dhirubhai has always believed in picking up the best talent. They have a motivated
workforce. He only believes in providing leadership, vision and strategy. He thinks that
he doesn’t run his business but his business leaders do it.
Dhirubhai is criticized for manipulating the government for his benefits. Apart from that
he has paid zero tax on corporate earnings for several years due to the loopholes in the
system. He was also involved in manipulating the L&T board to gain control. Apart from
that he was heavily criticized along with Pranab Mukherjee for buying shares under
dummy companies which never existed.
But be it whatever Dhirubhai is one of the greatest leaders of India who has the zeal to
achieve something big rather than just earning money and the obsession to build. He
wants to work till his death.
As a true leader Dhirubhai had once said that, “ People think I have finally arrived but I
think I have just begun.”
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 7 of 20
Mr. N.R Narayan Murthy
Mr. Narayan Murthy was born in a middle class family in Siddalghat in Karnataka, His
father inculcated importance of determination, discipline and good values. Since
childhood he had a very good academic record.
At present he is the Chairman of Infosys. Present market capitalization of Rs. 60,000
crores Infosys started with Rs.10, 000.Mr. Narayan Murthy is influenced by Mahatma
Gandhi who ‘walked his talk’ and demonstrated by, Example He says he wants to be a
doer and respects people who do things, rather than just talk.
Some of the traits that differentiates him from others are:
His Underlying principle:
Is that, you undertake to do something you are confident of and have the capability to
do it. This helps to lay the foundation to build a healthy relationship. He also believes
that it is better to have a small part of a large, growing pie; than a large part of small
shrinking one.
Simple living-high thinking:
A man who believes in ‘Simple living high thinking’. Even though he has a personal
wealth of Rs. 2,500 crores, his lifestyle remains modest. He lives in a simple 2-bed
room flat in Santacruz-Mumbai.
Under-promising & Over-delivering:
He has tremendous respect for people and sound philosophy of “under-promising &
over delivering”. This helps him build a healthy long-term relationship with his
colleagues, employees, family, friends, business associates and network of
shareholders.
Pioneer in HRM:
Mr. Murthy says that his is an HR-based industry. Software is a knowledge business
hence the focus is shifted to Brainware. It was he who started ESOP’s that is real
distribution of wealth. Now it is very common in the industry to have ESOP’s but it
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 8 of 20
has done wonders in Infosys. Thus Narayan Murthy is honestly awe-inspiring role
model for professionals.
Performance Oriented:
He is a man who always measures performance against value. According to Murthy
peoples performance in the knowledge industry is as valuable as gold. Thus by
introducing ESOP’s he motivated his employees to work smart and hard.
Strategy: ( Customer is the King):
Even though there is a lot of competition in the market he believes in one thing that
is, being unique in the market place and making sure that you are the 1st mover.
Tap the need of the customer and give them more than they expect. Believes in giving
value to the customer, being fair to people and transparency in working.
Mr. Murthy says that “Growth comes from repeat business, repeat business comes
from relationships, and relationships with customers are built on trust and trust is built
by delivering quality products.
Social being:
He believes in putting the public good ahead of private good in every decision he
makes. This differentiates the developed world from the developing world. Infosys
practices its Social responsibility very well. Rehabilitation drive, literacy programme,
donations etc are few ways in which he works for the society.
Visionary:
Though Infosys had so many professionals it did not venture into dotcom because of
the vision of Mr. Narayan Murthy. This saved them from going down. The downfall
of dotcoms has not affected his business much. Before starting Infosys this visionary
got together with 6 professionals and wanted to start have India’s first software
company
of the professionals, for the professionals, by the professionals, and
because of his farsightedness Infosys has come this far and proved to be a winner.
Thus Narayan Murthy is honestly awe-inspiring role model for the professionals.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 9 of 20
JRD TATA
When talking about India’s greatest leaders, one name just cannot be skipped—J.R.D.
TATA. For decades the sole Indian businessman, global leaders had ever heard of, was
Tata. It’s different today—the Sunday Times, Forbes and even the hallowed Harvard
Business Review now carries articles written by Indian mgt. gurus on Indian case studies.
But for years the world passed India by. Only J.R.D. Tata made an impact.
When J.R.D. became chairman of Tatas in 1938, British firms dominated the
environment, but the House of Tata towered above all others. It had 14 companies with
sales of Rs. 280 crores. The year he died, 1993, it was still India’s biggest business house.
Sales had mushroomed to Rs. 15000 crores and there were over 50 large manufacturing
companies besides innumerable holdings and concerns. He was a distinguished and
respected industrialist who was also awarded the “BHARAT RATNA”, remarkable
achievement.
What sort of value system made the great man achieve his greatness?
Following is an analysis of some of the virtues & vices, which J. R. D. displayed through
the course of his eventful life:
Virtues:
J.R.D. was………
Approachable: - J.R.D. had no problems making friends easily. He had one of the
most comfortable personalities that was probably his benchmark of becoming a
successful individual.
Diplomatic: - One of the most difficult talents is to say ‘no’ in a nice manner. But
Diplomacy was never a problem for J.R.D. Even when he was angry at Nehru for
going against industrialists, he was never rude but made his point diplomatically and
walked away friends.
Realistic: - J.R.D. never plunged into unviable projects, howsoever exciting they
might be. He briefly flirted with the idea of making bombers with “Tata Aircraft”—
but despite his love for flying, he shot down the project himself when it became clear
that there was no money to be made.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 10 of 20
Charismatic: - When J.R.D. was elected chairman of the group, there was no
question about the selection. There was no one else who could have been chosen by
the board. J.R.D. by then was a hero. The daring pilot, the shrewd businessman. He
was already outstanding.
Courageous: - J.R.D. had always supported Nehru’s views on socialism. Something
that the board of Tata sons did not agree with. But J.R.D. refused to sign the
manifesto against socialism. It must have required considerable courage for a 30something to stand up for views, which differed so widely from those of the old
guard.
Compassionate: - People talk of Russi Mody but he manipulated people. J.R.D.
genuinely felt for workers. His approach to labor was that of Fabian socialism. After
J.R.D.’s entry, the management of Tisco changed its policy of confrontation. The
trade union became not only acceptable but also an association which was vital to the
interests of the workers.
Supportive towards innovation: - Apart from his supportive attitude towards Tisco’s
lab technicians, perhaps Tata chemicals provides the best demonstration of J.R.D.’s
willingness to support innovation in his business and among his managers.
Aware of a sense of responsibility: - There were opportunities for J.R.D. where he
was tempted to joined politics. But he rationalized to himself by concluding that he
could do more for the country in business and industry than in politics. He says, “I
had no doubt that freedom was on its way. But who knows, I might one day have an
opportunity to serve in more useful ways than by going to jail today!”
Committed to values: - J.R.D. never believed in paying under the table for getting a
license approved. He never believed in exploiting the workers, society and earning
more profits. It was believed that wealth and respect are disjoint. J.R.D. was
considered to be an exception to this rule.
A visionary: - J.R.D. was the only director on the board of the Tata group who
supported Ratan Tata’s plan to enter high investment – high risk industries like oil
manufacturing & computers. He believed, that being that stalwart business house of
India, such investments were a responsibility.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 11 of 20
Vices:
J.R.D. was………..
Conservative: - J.R.D. always preferred the more conservative approach. His
conservativeness left Tisco unprepared for the outbreak of the second world war and
the license-permit raj of free India.
Aloof: - Unlike G.D. Birla, J.R.D. had kept aloof from the congress leadership. For a
group that depends as much as the Tatas did on government patronage, this was a
major lacuna.
Bad tempered: - Instead of trying to patch up the differences, J.R.D. withdrew into
himself. He rejected Nehru’s invitations to the UN session in Paris, and the invitation
to lead Indian Rare Earths, one of the first PSU’s. J.R.D. forgot the Public Relations
implications of these prestigious invitations and the signals his refusal emitted.
After going through the above virtues and vices of India’s greatest industrialist, we learn
a lot about what it takes to be successful in business, career, and in …………..life.
Q 2) Critically analyze the differences in the leadership styles of a family managed
Indian business organizations and MNC’s in India?
Ans. Family business is same like any other organization because essentially it is a
venture for profit like any other MNC’s. But the difference stems up because of the fact
that family business is a fusion of business system and the family system this fusion is
absent in other forms of organizations. This difference manifests itself in the style of
leadership of an organization, which is given in detail below:
Variables under
consideration
Family managed Indian
business organization
Multi national corporations
in India
Born vs made leader
More often then not, made
leader
Many a times deviates from
policy formation, planning
etc. and role is reduced to
More of born leader
Role of a leader
Involved more in business
issues and concentrates in
formulating long term
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Funding strategy
Partnerships & strategic
alliances
Recruitment &
remuneration policy
Profitability &
empowerment
Strategic financial
planning
conflict manager engaged in
solving clashes and reduces
the role of leader to merely a
mediator
Conservative equity funding.
Does not believe in
‘participative funding’.
Domestic, local currency
funds are preferred financers
(mostly family friends or
relatives)
Family-relationships were
more important than ‘high
value – high return
partnerships with outsiders’.
Low wages, high job security
to the employees. Trusted
persons are generally
preferred to others who may
be better qualified.
As empowerment was
limited, employees were (at
the most) responsible for
volumes & costs. Sharing of
business results was missing.
Inward-looking, conservative
financial strategies are used
for business growth.
Decision making
process
Control is tight and is
achieved by posting relatives
of owners or members of
their community in decisionmaking process
Leader member
More of emotions based.
relationship
Leader holds sympathy for
others because they are his
own family members.
No one style can be said to be the best. Each style
Page 12 of 20
business plans. Keeps away
from day to day operations.
Capital has no colour or
quality. It has only cost &
applicability. Hence, ‘live and
let live’ policy with global
capital is welcome, with
hedging arrangements.
Do not bother for close
linkages. Growth is welcome,
from whatever sources
available
Higher wages with profitsharing but without job
security. Recruitment is based
on pure merits.
Extreme of empowerment is
possible i.e. an employee may
be treated as a ‘profit centre’.
‘Responsibility Accounting’ is
predominantly used.
Long term strategic plans are
well-designed with greater
clarity.
Decentralized decision
making. There is more
delegation of authority
Relationship is very
professional and has empathy
towards other.
has its own advantages and
disadvantages. One cannot deny that, we need phase of multinational leadership style
and grace of Indian family business style.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 13 of 20
Q 3) Depending upon the structure of task-high or low - analyse what impact will it
have on leadership
Ans: Task structure refers to the degree to which the task is clearly defined. A bank
teller’s job has relatively high task structure; the branch manager’s job has less. The
nature of the situation, specifically the characteristic of the task affects the impact of the
leader’s behaviour on follower satisfaction and effort.
Basically, the leader chooses among four styles:
1. Directive. The leader tells employees what he expects of them, gives them
guidance about what they should do, and shows them how to do it.
2. Supportive. The leader shows concern for the well-being and needs of her
employees by being friendly and approachable.
3. Participative. The leader involves employees in decision making, consults with
them about their views of the situation, asks for their suggestions, considers those
suggestions in making a decision, and sometimes lets the employees make the
decisions.
4. Achievement oriented. The leader helps employees set goals, rewards the
accomplishment of these goals, and encourages employees to assume
responsibility for achieving the goals.
Situational
Leadership styles
characteristics
Task
Directive
Supportive
Achievement
Participative
Structured
Unstructured
Clear goals
Ambiguous
Yes
No
Yes
No
oriented
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
goals
When the task is structured; the supportive, achievement oriented and participative
leadership styles are preferred. But the directive style of leadership is not preferable
when the task is structured. This is because when the employees are aware of what
the task they are supposed to finish there is no need for the employer to direct them.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 14 of 20
When the task is unstructured, the directive and achievement oriented styles are
preferred rather than the supportive and participative style. This is because the
employees are not fully aware of the task to be performed and therefore a leader who
tells or helps employees to set goals would be more effective rather than a leader
shows concern or involves employees. Consider the president of a new start-up
company in which the ten employees are hand picked, the tasks are highly
ambiguous, but the president’s authority is clear. A directive or achievement oriented
style would work well.
When the goals set are clear the leadership style that is preferred is supportive and
participation. The only difference between a structured task and clear goals is that an
achievement oriented leadership style is not preferred. This is because when the goals
are already set, you don’t require a leader who sets them and rewards them.
The last case where the task has ambiguous goals, the leadership style to be adopted
is similar to that of the unstructured task. This is because one would require a
directive and achievement oriented leader to set goals, instruct the employees, guide
them, reward them when the goals are ambiguous.
Conclusion: there is no golden rule as to which leadership style to be adopted
depending upon the task structure but the analysis given above would have a higher
probability of success ratio so as to effectively lead.
Q 4) Explain the conservative, entrepreneurial, professional, bureaucratic and
organic styles of management.
Along with the ten pure styles of management, a defective version of each pure style was
also developed. The pure styles were developed on the basis of research done on
management styles both in India and abroad, as well as extensive management
consultancy and training experience. Similarly, the defective forms were conceptualized
on the basis of research and consultancy and training experience.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 15 of 20
The ten pure management styles are the conservative style and the sharply contrasting
entrepreneurial style, the professional style and contrary to it the intuitive style, the
participative and the opposing authoritarian style, the organic or free form and the
opposing bureaucratic style, the familial style or paternalistic style, and the altruistic
style.
Some of the important ones are enumerated below:
a) The conservative style:
The essence of conservatism is conservation of what has worked in the past and has
demonstrated survival value. The principle of survival is at the core of the conservative
style of management. Conservatism does not necessarily mean refusal to change. It
means instead, caution in changing.
The pure conservative style was defined as follows:
‘A cautious one-step-at-a-time approach to problems. Decisions are generally
compromises between the conflicting demands of board, unions, government managers,
customers, etc. Precedents and traditions are given importance. The primary concern is
with stability and steady growth’.
b) The entrepreneurial style:
While conservatism facilitates survival, enterprise facilitates conquest and the unfolding
of opportunities for growth. The entrepreneurial style has emerged from this spirit of
adventure, probing and innovation. Entrepreneurship not only creates new industries,
opens up new markets and transforms old or mature industries, it also builds civilizations.
The pure entrepreneurial style was defined as follows: ‘active search for big new
opportunities; large, bold decisions despite the uncertainty of their outcome; a forceful
leader at the top wielding great power; and rapid growth as the major organization goal’.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 16 of 20
c) The Professional style:
A scientific approach, high level of formal expertise, reasonable consensus about do’s and
don’ts and formal training are traits of a professional approach to management.
One focus of this movement was the manual work performed in the organization. The
other focus was managerial work performed in the organization.
The pure professional style was defined as follows: ‘systematic search for growth
opportunities and systematic anticipation of problems through formal forecasts; a
systematic consideration of costs and benefits of alternatives and a carefully coordinated
formalized top management strategy’. The
emphasis is on long-term planning,
professional management, a sophisticated control and information system and the
extensive use of expertise and all-pervasive research before making decisions.
d) The Bureaucratic Style:
The core of bureaucratic style is quite primeval: management by programming the
behavior of the members of collectivity. According to Max Weber, the bureaucratic mode
of management was more efficient as well as more fair. It was more efficient because by
programming everyone’s behavior rationally the organization could operate like a welloiled machine. And it was fair because everyone knew what he or she was to be evaluated
on.
The pure bureaucratic style was defined as follows: ‘a strong emphasis on smooth
functioning by prescribing in writing objectives, procedures, rules, and the powers, duties
and responsibilities of managers and other staff. The emphasis is on clear reporting
relationships, precise job descriptions, formal communications, strict control and above
all, correctness of procedures and accountability’.
e) The Organic Style:
Following are some of the characteristics of organic management:
Tasks are seen in their total contexts
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 17 of 20
Continuous redefining of individual tasks through interaction with others, as
during product design
Commitment to getting a job done overrides definitions of responsibilities, rights ,
obligations or methods to be used
The pure organic style was defined as follows: ‘A strong emphasis on the free flow of
information and communication within the organization. Widespread awareness of the
organization’s goals, problems and business plan of actions among managers at all levels.
Dislike for paperwork and formalized procedures and job descriptions. The emphasis is
on administrative flexibility, openness, innovation, the importance of the effective
problem solver, and above all on resourcefulness and getting things done’.
Q 5 Explain the importance of values in leadership? How leader/managers should
respond to human values?
Ans:Leadership is an indescribable ability based on concrete principles and a tool that
anyone can learn that helps one guides an organization or group of people in a beneficial
direction or to a valuable destination.
A value is something considered worthy in and of itself by a person or a group. It can be a
one-word standard of conduct or a policy everyone in a company adheres to and believes
in. it helps people to understand what is desirable behavior and what isn’t. They are more
powerful than rules.
Values play a very important role in everyone’s life and also in leadership. A leader is
someone who has followers. Thus he has to follow a pattern of ethics and values. Our
nation needs ethical and imaginative leaders at every level. The future of the
society depends on leaders who are capable of providing strong leadership, who
understand that leadership means service, and who believe that their very citizenship
carries the obligation to lead when circumstances require. The study of ethical leadership
is a critical component of any leader, and he must incorporate it along with the traditional
emphasis on policy analysis and formulation.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 18 of 20
The long-term success of an organization, community or society depends on good
leadership, not just on technical proficiency and skillful management. Good leadership
must be grounded in ethical values. There are tensions between personal values and
goals, on the one hand, and organizational, community, or societal values and goals on
the
other.
Ethical
leadership
involves
recognizing
and
reconciling
those
tensions.
A leader should be able to identify human values and act on them. Human values include
gratitude, loyalty, humility, patience, gentleness, dignity, honesty, etc. and a good leader
has to consider all these characteristics. It must be understood that archetypal human
being in a sustainable, living earth system has to be nearer the ascetic rather than in
acquisitive type, even if the former re-emerges conspicuously only a hundred years or
more.
Therefore to be a leader Reflection is essential i.e. he should respond to a particular
situation as it generates the inner toughness needed to be an effective person of action.
Leadership is the sum of two vectors: competence (your specialty, your skills, your
know-how) and authenticity (your identity, your character, your attitude). For e.g. When
leaders get stuck, they tend to apply more steam, more competence, to what got them into
trouble in the first place: "If I try harder, I'll be successful," or "If we exert more control,
we'll get the results we need.”
The problem is, when you're stuck, one not likely to make progress by using competence
as his tool. Firstly, the leaders need to dedicate to understanding himself better, in the
philosophical sense of understanding what it means to exist
as a human being in the
world. Second, need to change his habits of thought, for e.g. how you think, what you
value, how you work, how you connect with people, how you learn, what you expect
from life, and how you manage frustration. Changing those habits means changing ones
way of being intelligent. It means moving from a nonleadership mind to a leadership
mind.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 19 of 20
Values are extremely powerful and they guide the leaders to identify what human
behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not while practicing leadership. Leadership
and learning are important individual values and form a symbiotic relationship for a
leader.
Q 6)Does leadership style change according to situation?
Any style of leadership cannot be successful under any situations. Although a leader
tends to have one dominant style, but he needs to make alterations depending upon the
situation. By taking example of work in an organisation, different styles of leadership
and different situations can be explained as follows:
Different leadership styles are:
1. Autocratic: leaders with this style centralise the power and decision making in
themselves. The employees are expected to do what they are told. Autocratic
styles mostly is negative, that is, it is based on threats and punishments, but
sometimes it is positive as it also gives rewards to employees.
2. Consultative: a leader adopting this style makes decisions after consulting groups.
He is supportive and accessible. However he retains the responsibility with
himself.
3. Democratic: A leader making most use of this style shows that he has greater
confidence in his employees. The decision-making is placed in the hands of the
whole group. All members participate actively and the leader only supports.
The situation in the work environment can change based on the following
parameters:
1. Employees’ task:
it may be structured or unstructured, routine or new and
challenging. Structured task requires less backing from a leader, but when task is
highly unstructured, the employee will not be motivated to work if his leader does
not guide him.
2. Leader-member relation: this shows how is how is the leader’s acceptance in the
group and what is the attitude of the employees, i.e. whether they like to work
independently or want more support.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 20 of 20
The main aim behind finding all this is to evaluate whether the situation is favorable
or unfavorable and accordingly he has to adjust his style to get the desired output.
This is because, the situation (the external environment) cannot be changed, but the
leadership style can be changed as per the demand of the situation.
For example, when an emergency order has to be completed, the decision cannot be
left on the employees of how they will execute the order. The leader has to be quick,
take decision on his own and has to have the capability that everyone follows his
isstructions. Although, under normal circumstances he may be allowing group
participation, but in that course of time he should develop such credibility that his
authority is not challenged and accepted without resistance during emergency.
Similarly, if the situation demands creative thinking, he can get the best out of his
employees if he allows group participation. To stimulate creative thinking, he has to
give them more liberty even though otherwise he has always centralized the decisionmaking process.
The leader sets an example for his followers and his success depends on his ability to
handle different situations. It can be noted that any leader has one style permanent
that makes him a leader, that differentiates him from the others and that has made him
the leader.
But that cannot be so rigid that it becomes a hurdle in managing
situations.
In the dynamic environment, where things change rapidly, one style of working
cannot be an answer to all situations. However, one ting has to be permanent, the
determinacy to get the work done from employees under all situations and to keep
that unchanged, the styles need to be changed.
Page 1 of 20
LEADERSHIP, LEADERSHIP ROLE MODELS
CONCEPT QUESTIONS:
Give examples of ‘born’ leaders and ‘made’ leaders.
Born leader are the ones who have inborn qualities of an leader. Where else in case of
made leader it is often an mentor who shapes a leader. Examples of such leader are given
below:
Born leader: Dhirubhai Ambani, JRD Tata, Bal Thackeray
Made leader: K.M.Birla, Anil Ambani, Ratan Tata, I.K.Gujral,
The difference is only of degree and no one can be identified as being completely born
leader or made leader.
Management Styles
A management style is a distinctive way in which Planning, Organising, Actuating,
Controlling and other management functions are performed. Given the many choices in
the performance of each management function, an almost limitless number of
management styles can be visualized. In reality, however one encounters far fewer styles.
This is because styles tend to be internally coherent. If a management chooses to
coordinate activities participatively, it is also likely to set goals, develop strategies,
control operations, etc. participatively rather than in an authoritarian manner. Styles tend
to crystallize around major management convictions and commitments. That is, their
cores tend to be ideological in character, and commitment to a core management
ideology- of risk-taking in business or conservatism, professionalism in hiring staff or
intuitive choices, and so on- is likely to shape the rest of the style.
These commitments are not randomly generated. Nor are they exclusively the
commitments of the person who happens to be the CEO, although undoubtedly the CEO
usually does play a significant role in the evolution of a style of management. The style
evolved has to be viable, that is it has to be able to measure up to real-life situations. A
good deal of learning from experience plays a major part in the styles emergence. Social
processes within the ranks of management, such as information and experience sharing,
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 2 of 20
advocacy of points of view, political deals and so forth, also play a part. The purpose for
which the organisation is set up and the social, legal and economic environment, in which
it operates, too contribute to the viability of the style of management.
Good and Bad styles of Management
Human beings are an interesting species; they often talk about lofty ideals and perfection
but practice quite the opposite.
Determined by the super-ego and identity, human behavior may be repulsive or sublime.
Hence the style of management adopted is an expression of the thoughts in the mind of
the decision makers and leaders.
Depending upon these thoughts the style could be good or bad. i.e. socially desirable or
undesirable. In society, ‘good styles’ are referred as professional and participative. If
there is variety in excellence, there is variety in incompetence. The corporate sickness
and dysfunctional forms of bureaucracy and professional management have uncovered a
large number of bad forms of management.
Describe the role of ‘Karta’ in a Hindu Undivided Family:
Karta is the head of a ‘Hindu Undivided Family’ more commonly known as an HUF. The
Karta of an HUF is the supreme authority in business matters. He is the leader of this
organization. The other members of the family i.e. the co-parceners are not allowed to
have their say in the matters relating to the organization. It is usually the Head of the
family who is named the Karta.
DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS
Q 1) Critically analyze the leadership style and its central characteristic of the
Indian leading industrialist: Rahul Bajaj , Dhirubhai Ambani, Mr. N.R
Narayan Murthy and J.R.D.Tata
Rahul Bajaj
Rahul Bajaj is the man who can be given credit for building Bajaj auto are the 4 th largest
two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. He has achieved an incredible growth rate of
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 3 of 20
1852% in the last decade. Following are some of the points that explain the reason of his
success.
Education: Bajaj is a highly educated person. He has done his BA (Hons) and is a
management graduate from Harward.
Concentration of Core Competency: Rahul Bajaj collaborated with Kawasaki for
production of motorcycle but for scooter he did not go for any collaboration.
Manufacturing scooters is his core competency and he does not want to experiment
with that.
Customer is King: Bajaj has often been accused of exploiting the customers with
delivery period of 10 years, black marketing, etc. but this is not true at the face value.
A deeper insight brings to picture that there were other elements who are responsible
for these accuses. Bajaj, in spite of a heavy demand, did not raise the price of his
scooters and avoided exploitation of customers.
Staunch believer in himself: Bajaj listens to each and everyone, but takes decision
on his own. His organisation is a little centralized. In spite of strong oppositions, he
sticks to his decisions.
Never give up attitude: ‘Licence Raj’ was a nightmare for Bajaj. He does not
believe in bringing Government officials and getting his license cleared. This is a
major reason why Bajaj Auto came under MRTP and was allowed to expand its
production capacity. But he did not give up to the Government conditions and after
some years, done lobbying through business housed and putting tremendous pressure
on Government learn his license.
Jach Welch’s theory: Rahul Bajaj holds same views of Mr. Jack Welch, the former
CEO of GE. He believes that if one is no No 1 or No 2, he should get out from that
business. This principle kept him away from the four-wheeler market.
Attitude towards workers: Bajaj has less kind of words for workers. Still, there has
been only one strike in the history of 35 years of the company. He takes care of the
needs of the workers and at the same time, he views workers as a tool for production.
In his word’ “Why do they strike and lose wages? They should work more, earn
more”
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 4 of 20
BBC: Rahul Bajaj is well known for his unflinching frankness and varied opinion on
every topic under the sun. His office is therefore popularly known as BBC (Bajaj
Broadcasting Corporation)
Straightforwardness: His quotes about the Governnment have found place in the
headlines of many leading newspapers and magazines in India and have also raised
controversies. But this does not stop him from doing what he considers correct.
All the above features are the hallmark of Bajaj. They has earned him a rare reputation as
one of India’s most successful industrialists.
Squeaky clean, he has never been involved in shady takeovers. He does not engage in
street fights, nor has he ever hijacked someone else’s project. He hasn’t burnt tyres
during hard drive for meteoric growth. On the contrary, he is something of a plodder,
routinely burning the midnight oil, and devoted to the virtues of hard work. He’s India’s
most admired industrialist along with Dhirubhai Ambani and the late Adity Birla.
Dhirubhai Ambani
When we talk about Indian leaders one name, which we cannot miss out, is Dhirubhai
Ambani. He has voyaged through a journey of rags to riches. He was born on 28 th
December 1932 to a local schoolteacher in a village called Chorwad, in Junagadh district,
Gujarat.
Dhirubhai has been an opportunist right from his childhood. All he needed was the whiff
of a business opportunity and he was off to tap it. During the Mahashivratri fair, he would
sell ‘ganthia’ a gujaratri savoury to earn money. Due to shortage of money, he left
education after matriculation and went to Aden to earn money. He worked for almost
eight years in a petrol station where he learned about oil business until a day came when
he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. He came back to Bombay to start his own
business. He took a loan with which he started Reliance Commercial Corporation, which
has been a stepping-stone to one of India’s largest Corporation. They were involved in
general merchandising.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 5 of 20
Dhirubhai has always shown all the critical leadership qualities. He would always grab an
opportunity and strike on it. He then started his yarn business in the 60’s and then he
build his own spinning mill in 1966 known as Reliance Textile industries.
He believed that if a person wants to succeed in something then he should have complete
access to information on that topic. Whenever he wanted to approach the government to
get licenses, information about the competitors, market size etc. he would collect all these
information, no matter at what cost it came. He also believes in destiny and gives all the
credit to his luck. This shows how down to earth he is. Even today he has a simple ritual
of Puja when a new machine is installed. He isn’t proud of what he is and he still believes
in ‘Simple thinking, Modern thinking.’
He always followed the rule to be the pioneer/first to do anything. He would just grab an
opportunity that would come up because of some government policy changes and would
implement it successfully. He believed not in meeting demand but in creating demand.
He always produced in large quantities. He was of the opinion that customer should be
provided with best quality goods at the lowest price. Moreover Dhirubhai as opposed to
most other leaders wasn’t expert in only one field. He was a manufacturing as well a
marketing whiz. He knew how to offer the right product mix, identify markets and
establish viable distribution structure, which holds true for one of his famous brand
Vimal. He is also referred to as ‘ Manchester of India.’
He didn’t mind copying someone else’s idea, which he could implement better than his
competitors. As in the case of copying the concept of selling through showrooms for his
brand Vimal to counter the resistance from the traditional markets which he copied from
Bombay Dyeing. He always had the dynamism and confidence in future and was always
ready to go against all odds. He always believed in himself.
He has always believed that his first responsibility is towards his company’s shareholders
and he was also concerned in protecting their interests. He also known as the ‘stock
market messiah.’ This is because when some Marwari clan were trying to bring down the
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 6 of 20
price of his shares by short selling, he counter attacked them and in turn earned a hefty
sum from them. He has always had a wide investor base and most of his subscriptions
were over subscribed. He has always been an innovator in the financial market. He
innovated and reintroduced successfully concepts like partial convertible bonds, fully
convertible bonds etc.
He has been successful in manufacturing world-class products. He always believed in
‘Think big, think fast and think ahead.’ He has never had an ego problem and he knew
how to get his work done from people. He was never ashamed to ‘salaam’ anyone.
Another incident that shows his vision as a leader is that when Reliance’s Patalganga
Complex was damaged due to floods. Technical experts from Du Pont estimated hundred
days to make the complex operational but Reliance had the complete complex operational
in twenty-one days. This was possible because of Dhirubhai’s vision, his confidence, his
dedication proper logistical planning and making available all resources.
Dhirubhai has always believed in picking up the best talent. They have a motivated
workforce. He only believes in providing leadership, vision and strategy. He thinks that
he doesn’t run his business but his business leaders do it.
Dhirubhai is criticized for manipulating the government for his benefits. Apart from that
he has paid zero tax on corporate earnings for several years due to the loopholes in the
system. He was also involved in manipulating the L&T board to gain control. Apart from
that he was heavily criticized along with Pranab Mukherjee for buying shares under
dummy companies which never existed.
But be it whatever Dhirubhai is one of the greatest leaders of India who has the zeal to
achieve something big rather than just earning money and the obsession to build. He
wants to work till his death.
As a true leader Dhirubhai had once said that, “ People think I have finally arrived but I
think I have just begun.”
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 7 of 20
Mr. N.R Narayan Murthy
Mr. Narayan Murthy was born in a middle class family in Siddalghat in Karnataka, His
father inculcated importance of determination, discipline and good values. Since
childhood he had a very good academic record.
At present he is the Chairman of Infosys. Present market capitalization of Rs. 60,000
crores Infosys started with Rs.10, 000.Mr. Narayan Murthy is influenced by Mahatma
Gandhi who ‘walked his talk’ and demonstrated by, Example He says he wants to be a
doer and respects people who do things, rather than just talk.
Some of the traits that differentiates him from others are:
His Underlying principle:
Is that, you undertake to do something you are confident of and have the capability to
do it. This helps to lay the foundation to build a healthy relationship. He also believes
that it is better to have a small part of a large, growing pie; than a large part of small
shrinking one.
Simple living-high thinking:
A man who believes in ‘Simple living high thinking’. Even though he has a personal
wealth of Rs. 2,500 crores, his lifestyle remains modest. He lives in a simple 2-bed
room flat in Santacruz-Mumbai.
Under-promising & Over-delivering:
He has tremendous respect for people and sound philosophy of “under-promising &
over delivering”. This helps him build a healthy long-term relationship with his
colleagues, employees, family, friends, business associates and network of
shareholders.
Pioneer in HRM:
Mr. Murthy says that his is an HR-based industry. Software is a knowledge business
hence the focus is shifted to Brainware. It was he who started ESOP’s that is real
distribution of wealth. Now it is very common in the industry to have ESOP’s but it
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 8 of 20
has done wonders in Infosys. Thus Narayan Murthy is honestly awe-inspiring role
model for professionals.
Performance Oriented:
He is a man who always measures performance against value. According to Murthy
peoples performance in the knowledge industry is as valuable as gold. Thus by
introducing ESOP’s he motivated his employees to work smart and hard.
Strategy: ( Customer is the King):
Even though there is a lot of competition in the market he believes in one thing that
is, being unique in the market place and making sure that you are the 1st mover.
Tap the need of the customer and give them more than they expect. Believes in giving
value to the customer, being fair to people and transparency in working.
Mr. Murthy says that “Growth comes from repeat business, repeat business comes
from relationships, and relationships with customers are built on trust and trust is built
by delivering quality products.
Social being:
He believes in putting the public good ahead of private good in every decision he
makes. This differentiates the developed world from the developing world. Infosys
practices its Social responsibility very well. Rehabilitation drive, literacy programme,
donations etc are few ways in which he works for the society.
Visionary:
Though Infosys had so many professionals it did not venture into dotcom because of
the vision of Mr. Narayan Murthy. This saved them from going down. The downfall
of dotcoms has not affected his business much. Before starting Infosys this visionary
got together with 6 professionals and wanted to start have India’s first software
company
of the professionals, for the professionals, by the professionals, and
because of his farsightedness Infosys has come this far and proved to be a winner.
Thus Narayan Murthy is honestly awe-inspiring role model for the professionals.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 9 of 20
JRD TATA
When talking about India’s greatest leaders, one name just cannot be skipped—J.R.D.
TATA. For decades the sole Indian businessman, global leaders had ever heard of, was
Tata. It’s different today—the Sunday Times, Forbes and even the hallowed Harvard
Business Review now carries articles written by Indian mgt. gurus on Indian case studies.
But for years the world passed India by. Only J.R.D. Tata made an impact.
When J.R.D. became chairman of Tatas in 1938, British firms dominated the
environment, but the House of Tata towered above all others. It had 14 companies with
sales of Rs. 280 crores. The year he died, 1993, it was still India’s biggest business house.
Sales had mushroomed to Rs. 15000 crores and there were over 50 large manufacturing
companies besides innumerable holdings and concerns. He was a distinguished and
respected industrialist who was also awarded the “BHARAT RATNA”, remarkable
achievement.
What sort of value system made the great man achieve his greatness?
Following is an analysis of some of the virtues & vices, which J. R. D. displayed through
the course of his eventful life:
Virtues:
J.R.D. was………
Approachable: - J.R.D. had no problems making friends easily. He had one of the
most comfortable personalities that was probably his benchmark of becoming a
successful individual.
Diplomatic: - One of the most difficult talents is to say ‘no’ in a nice manner. But
Diplomacy was never a problem for J.R.D. Even when he was angry at Nehru for
going against industrialists, he was never rude but made his point diplomatically and
walked away friends.
Realistic: - J.R.D. never plunged into unviable projects, howsoever exciting they
might be. He briefly flirted with the idea of making bombers with “Tata Aircraft”—
but despite his love for flying, he shot down the project himself when it became clear
that there was no money to be made.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 10 of 20
Charismatic: - When J.R.D. was elected chairman of the group, there was no
question about the selection. There was no one else who could have been chosen by
the board. J.R.D. by then was a hero. The daring pilot, the shrewd businessman. He
was already outstanding.
Courageous: - J.R.D. had always supported Nehru’s views on socialism. Something
that the board of Tata sons did not agree with. But J.R.D. refused to sign the
manifesto against socialism. It must have required considerable courage for a 30something to stand up for views, which differed so widely from those of the old
guard.
Compassionate: - People talk of Russi Mody but he manipulated people. J.R.D.
genuinely felt for workers. His approach to labor was that of Fabian socialism. After
J.R.D.’s entry, the management of Tisco changed its policy of confrontation. The
trade union became not only acceptable but also an association which was vital to the
interests of the workers.
Supportive towards innovation: - Apart from his supportive attitude towards Tisco’s
lab technicians, perhaps Tata chemicals provides the best demonstration of J.R.D.’s
willingness to support innovation in his business and among his managers.
Aware of a sense of responsibility: - There were opportunities for J.R.D. where he
was tempted to joined politics. But he rationalized to himself by concluding that he
could do more for the country in business and industry than in politics. He says, “I
had no doubt that freedom was on its way. But who knows, I might one day have an
opportunity to serve in more useful ways than by going to jail today!”
Committed to values: - J.R.D. never believed in paying under the table for getting a
license approved. He never believed in exploiting the workers, society and earning
more profits. It was believed that wealth and respect are disjoint. J.R.D. was
considered to be an exception to this rule.
A visionary: - J.R.D. was the only director on the board of the Tata group who
supported Ratan Tata’s plan to enter high investment – high risk industries like oil
manufacturing & computers. He believed, that being that stalwart business house of
India, such investments were a responsibility.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 11 of 20
Vices:
J.R.D. was………..
Conservative: - J.R.D. always preferred the more conservative approach. His
conservativeness left Tisco unprepared for the outbreak of the second world war and
the license-permit raj of free India.
Aloof: - Unlike G.D. Birla, J.R.D. had kept aloof from the congress leadership. For a
group that depends as much as the Tatas did on government patronage, this was a
major lacuna.
Bad tempered: - Instead of trying to patch up the differences, J.R.D. withdrew into
himself. He rejected Nehru’s invitations to the UN session in Paris, and the invitation
to lead Indian Rare Earths, one of the first PSU’s. J.R.D. forgot the Public Relations
implications of these prestigious invitations and the signals his refusal emitted.
After going through the above virtues and vices of India’s greatest industrialist, we learn
a lot about what it takes to be successful in business, career, and in …………..life.
Q 2) Critically analyze the differences in the leadership styles of a family managed
Indian business organizations and MNC’s in India?
Ans. Family business is same like any other organization because essentially it is a
venture for profit like any other MNC’s. But the difference stems up because of the fact
that family business is a fusion of business system and the family system this fusion is
absent in other forms of organizations. This difference manifests itself in the style of
leadership of an organization, which is given in detail below:
Variables under
consideration
Family managed Indian
business organization
Multi national corporations
in India
Born vs made leader
More often then not, made
leader
Many a times deviates from
policy formation, planning
etc. and role is reduced to
More of born leader
Role of a leader
Involved more in business
issues and concentrates in
formulating long term
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Funding strategy
Partnerships & strategic
alliances
Recruitment &
remuneration policy
Profitability &
empowerment
Strategic financial
planning
conflict manager engaged in
solving clashes and reduces
the role of leader to merely a
mediator
Conservative equity funding.
Does not believe in
‘participative funding’.
Domestic, local currency
funds are preferred financers
(mostly family friends or
relatives)
Family-relationships were
more important than ‘high
value – high return
partnerships with outsiders’.
Low wages, high job security
to the employees. Trusted
persons are generally
preferred to others who may
be better qualified.
As empowerment was
limited, employees were (at
the most) responsible for
volumes & costs. Sharing of
business results was missing.
Inward-looking, conservative
financial strategies are used
for business growth.
Decision making
process
Control is tight and is
achieved by posting relatives
of owners or members of
their community in decisionmaking process
Leader member
More of emotions based.
relationship
Leader holds sympathy for
others because they are his
own family members.
No one style can be said to be the best. Each style
Page 12 of 20
business plans. Keeps away
from day to day operations.
Capital has no colour or
quality. It has only cost &
applicability. Hence, ‘live and
let live’ policy with global
capital is welcome, with
hedging arrangements.
Do not bother for close
linkages. Growth is welcome,
from whatever sources
available
Higher wages with profitsharing but without job
security. Recruitment is based
on pure merits.
Extreme of empowerment is
possible i.e. an employee may
be treated as a ‘profit centre’.
‘Responsibility Accounting’ is
predominantly used.
Long term strategic plans are
well-designed with greater
clarity.
Decentralized decision
making. There is more
delegation of authority
Relationship is very
professional and has empathy
towards other.
has its own advantages and
disadvantages. One cannot deny that, we need phase of multinational leadership style
and grace of Indian family business style.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 13 of 20
Q 3) Depending upon the structure of task-high or low - analyse what impact will it
have on leadership
Ans: Task structure refers to the degree to which the task is clearly defined. A bank
teller’s job has relatively high task structure; the branch manager’s job has less. The
nature of the situation, specifically the characteristic of the task affects the impact of the
leader’s behaviour on follower satisfaction and effort.
Basically, the leader chooses among four styles:
1. Directive. The leader tells employees what he expects of them, gives them
guidance about what they should do, and shows them how to do it.
2. Supportive. The leader shows concern for the well-being and needs of her
employees by being friendly and approachable.
3. Participative. The leader involves employees in decision making, consults with
them about their views of the situation, asks for their suggestions, considers those
suggestions in making a decision, and sometimes lets the employees make the
decisions.
4. Achievement oriented. The leader helps employees set goals, rewards the
accomplishment of these goals, and encourages employees to assume
responsibility for achieving the goals.
Situational
Leadership styles
characteristics
Task
Directive
Supportive
Achievement
Participative
Structured
Unstructured
Clear goals
Ambiguous
Yes
No
Yes
No
oriented
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
goals
When the task is structured; the supportive, achievement oriented and participative
leadership styles are preferred. But the directive style of leadership is not preferable
when the task is structured. This is because when the employees are aware of what
the task they are supposed to finish there is no need for the employer to direct them.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 14 of 20
When the task is unstructured, the directive and achievement oriented styles are
preferred rather than the supportive and participative style. This is because the
employees are not fully aware of the task to be performed and therefore a leader who
tells or helps employees to set goals would be more effective rather than a leader
shows concern or involves employees. Consider the president of a new start-up
company in which the ten employees are hand picked, the tasks are highly
ambiguous, but the president’s authority is clear. A directive or achievement oriented
style would work well.
When the goals set are clear the leadership style that is preferred is supportive and
participation. The only difference between a structured task and clear goals is that an
achievement oriented leadership style is not preferred. This is because when the goals
are already set, you don’t require a leader who sets them and rewards them.
The last case where the task has ambiguous goals, the leadership style to be adopted
is similar to that of the unstructured task. This is because one would require a
directive and achievement oriented leader to set goals, instruct the employees, guide
them, reward them when the goals are ambiguous.
Conclusion: there is no golden rule as to which leadership style to be adopted
depending upon the task structure but the analysis given above would have a higher
probability of success ratio so as to effectively lead.
Q 4) Explain the conservative, entrepreneurial, professional, bureaucratic and
organic styles of management.
Along with the ten pure styles of management, a defective version of each pure style was
also developed. The pure styles were developed on the basis of research done on
management styles both in India and abroad, as well as extensive management
consultancy and training experience. Similarly, the defective forms were conceptualized
on the basis of research and consultancy and training experience.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 15 of 20
The ten pure management styles are the conservative style and the sharply contrasting
entrepreneurial style, the professional style and contrary to it the intuitive style, the
participative and the opposing authoritarian style, the organic or free form and the
opposing bureaucratic style, the familial style or paternalistic style, and the altruistic
style.
Some of the important ones are enumerated below:
a) The conservative style:
The essence of conservatism is conservation of what has worked in the past and has
demonstrated survival value. The principle of survival is at the core of the conservative
style of management. Conservatism does not necessarily mean refusal to change. It
means instead, caution in changing.
The pure conservative style was defined as follows:
‘A cautious one-step-at-a-time approach to problems. Decisions are generally
compromises between the conflicting demands of board, unions, government managers,
customers, etc. Precedents and traditions are given importance. The primary concern is
with stability and steady growth’.
b) The entrepreneurial style:
While conservatism facilitates survival, enterprise facilitates conquest and the unfolding
of opportunities for growth. The entrepreneurial style has emerged from this spirit of
adventure, probing and innovation. Entrepreneurship not only creates new industries,
opens up new markets and transforms old or mature industries, it also builds civilizations.
The pure entrepreneurial style was defined as follows: ‘active search for big new
opportunities; large, bold decisions despite the uncertainty of their outcome; a forceful
leader at the top wielding great power; and rapid growth as the major organization goal’.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 16 of 20
c) The Professional style:
A scientific approach, high level of formal expertise, reasonable consensus about do’s and
don’ts and formal training are traits of a professional approach to management.
One focus of this movement was the manual work performed in the organization. The
other focus was managerial work performed in the organization.
The pure professional style was defined as follows: ‘systematic search for growth
opportunities and systematic anticipation of problems through formal forecasts; a
systematic consideration of costs and benefits of alternatives and a carefully coordinated
formalized top management strategy’. The
emphasis is on long-term planning,
professional management, a sophisticated control and information system and the
extensive use of expertise and all-pervasive research before making decisions.
d) The Bureaucratic Style:
The core of bureaucratic style is quite primeval: management by programming the
behavior of the members of collectivity. According to Max Weber, the bureaucratic mode
of management was more efficient as well as more fair. It was more efficient because by
programming everyone’s behavior rationally the organization could operate like a welloiled machine. And it was fair because everyone knew what he or she was to be evaluated
on.
The pure bureaucratic style was defined as follows: ‘a strong emphasis on smooth
functioning by prescribing in writing objectives, procedures, rules, and the powers, duties
and responsibilities of managers and other staff. The emphasis is on clear reporting
relationships, precise job descriptions, formal communications, strict control and above
all, correctness of procedures and accountability’.
e) The Organic Style:
Following are some of the characteristics of organic management:
Tasks are seen in their total contexts
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 17 of 20
Continuous redefining of individual tasks through interaction with others, as
during product design
Commitment to getting a job done overrides definitions of responsibilities, rights ,
obligations or methods to be used
The pure organic style was defined as follows: ‘A strong emphasis on the free flow of
information and communication within the organization. Widespread awareness of the
organization’s goals, problems and business plan of actions among managers at all levels.
Dislike for paperwork and formalized procedures and job descriptions. The emphasis is
on administrative flexibility, openness, innovation, the importance of the effective
problem solver, and above all on resourcefulness and getting things done’.
Q 5 Explain the importance of values in leadership? How leader/managers should
respond to human values?
Ans:Leadership is an indescribable ability based on concrete principles and a tool that
anyone can learn that helps one guides an organization or group of people in a beneficial
direction or to a valuable destination.
A value is something considered worthy in and of itself by a person or a group. It can be a
one-word standard of conduct or a policy everyone in a company adheres to and believes
in. it helps people to understand what is desirable behavior and what isn’t. They are more
powerful than rules.
Values play a very important role in everyone’s life and also in leadership. A leader is
someone who has followers. Thus he has to follow a pattern of ethics and values. Our
nation needs ethical and imaginative leaders at every level. The future of the
society depends on leaders who are capable of providing strong leadership, who
understand that leadership means service, and who believe that their very citizenship
carries the obligation to lead when circumstances require. The study of ethical leadership
is a critical component of any leader, and he must incorporate it along with the traditional
emphasis on policy analysis and formulation.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 18 of 20
The long-term success of an organization, community or society depends on good
leadership, not just on technical proficiency and skillful management. Good leadership
must be grounded in ethical values. There are tensions between personal values and
goals, on the one hand, and organizational, community, or societal values and goals on
the
other.
Ethical
leadership
involves
recognizing
and
reconciling
those
tensions.
A leader should be able to identify human values and act on them. Human values include
gratitude, loyalty, humility, patience, gentleness, dignity, honesty, etc. and a good leader
has to consider all these characteristics. It must be understood that archetypal human
being in a sustainable, living earth system has to be nearer the ascetic rather than in
acquisitive type, even if the former re-emerges conspicuously only a hundred years or
more.
Therefore to be a leader Reflection is essential i.e. he should respond to a particular
situation as it generates the inner toughness needed to be an effective person of action.
Leadership is the sum of two vectors: competence (your specialty, your skills, your
know-how) and authenticity (your identity, your character, your attitude). For e.g. When
leaders get stuck, they tend to apply more steam, more competence, to what got them into
trouble in the first place: "If I try harder, I'll be successful," or "If we exert more control,
we'll get the results we need.”
The problem is, when you're stuck, one not likely to make progress by using competence
as his tool. Firstly, the leaders need to dedicate to understanding himself better, in the
philosophical sense of understanding what it means to exist
as a human being in the
world. Second, need to change his habits of thought, for e.g. how you think, what you
value, how you work, how you connect with people, how you learn, what you expect
from life, and how you manage frustration. Changing those habits means changing ones
way of being intelligent. It means moving from a nonleadership mind to a leadership
mind.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 19 of 20
Values are extremely powerful and they guide the leaders to identify what human
behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not while practicing leadership. Leadership
and learning are important individual values and form a symbiotic relationship for a
leader.
Q 6)Does leadership style change according to situation?
Any style of leadership cannot be successful under any situations. Although a leader
tends to have one dominant style, but he needs to make alterations depending upon the
situation. By taking example of work in an organisation, different styles of leadership
and different situations can be explained as follows:
Different leadership styles are:
1. Autocratic: leaders with this style centralise the power and decision making in
themselves. The employees are expected to do what they are told. Autocratic
styles mostly is negative, that is, it is based on threats and punishments, but
sometimes it is positive as it also gives rewards to employees.
2. Consultative: a leader adopting this style makes decisions after consulting groups.
He is supportive and accessible. However he retains the responsibility with
himself.
3. Democratic: A leader making most use of this style shows that he has greater
confidence in his employees. The decision-making is placed in the hands of the
whole group. All members participate actively and the leader only supports.
The situation in the work environment can change based on the following
parameters:
1. Employees’ task:
it may be structured or unstructured, routine or new and
challenging. Structured task requires less backing from a leader, but when task is
highly unstructured, the employee will not be motivated to work if his leader does
not guide him.
2. Leader-member relation: this shows how is how is the leader’s acceptance in the
group and what is the attitude of the employees, i.e. whether they like to work
independently or want more support.
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
Page 20 of 20
The main aim behind finding all this is to evaluate whether the situation is favorable
or unfavorable and accordingly he has to adjust his style to get the desired output.
This is because, the situation (the external environment) cannot be changed, but the
leadership style can be changed as per the demand of the situation.
For example, when an emergency order has to be completed, the decision cannot be
left on the employees of how they will execute the order. The leader has to be quick,
take decision on his own and has to have the capability that everyone follows his
isstructions. Although, under normal circumstances he may be allowing group
participation, but in that course of time he should develop such credibility that his
authority is not challenged and accepted without resistance during emergency.
Similarly, if the situation demands creative thinking, he can get the best out of his
employees if he allows group participation. To stimulate creative thinking, he has to
give them more liberty even though otherwise he has always centralized the decisionmaking process.
The leader sets an example for his followers and his success depends on his ability to
handle different situations. It can be noted that any leader has one style permanent
that makes him a leader, that differentiates him from the others and that has made him
the leader.
But that cannot be so rigid that it becomes a hurdle in managing
situations.
In the dynamic environment, where things change rapidly, one style of working
cannot be an answer to all situations. However, one ting has to be permanent, the
determinacy to get the work done from employees under all situations and to keep
that unchanged, the styles need to be changed.
