Essay About Organizational Life And Customer Needs

Leadership or Management – Do We Have to Choose?
Essay Preview: Leadership or Management – Do We Have to Choose?
Report this essay
What is leadership? This is a question that has been answered differently by many people over the past
few decades. Every persons scope is different and it depends on the reality they live every day. This
paper will focus in organizational life, so the previous question will be rephrased and the discussion will
start from there. What is leadership for a business organization? According to Zaleznik (1977) “Business
has contributed its answer to the leadership question by evolving a new breed called manager”. This
could be confusing for some and as a consequence the terms leadership and management are often
used interchangeably in the business world to describe someone that manages a team of people
(Coach4growth, 2010). In reality, both terms have different meaning.
Leadership can be defined as “the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its
efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement” (Buchanan & Huczynski 1985, p 596). On the other
hand, Management is “the coordination and the direction of the activities of oneself and others towards
some particular end” (Witzel 2004, p 1). At first glance, both concepts might seem comparable, but if
we look deeply into their implications, differences show. The only common thing between them is the
objective: accomplish something! But, leaders and managers fulfill their goals in a different way.
Management is about solving problems and like Kotter (1990) says; it is also about coping with
complexity. Twenty first century organizations are complex; divided into business units that target
different markets, trying to satisfy what they think are the customer needs, distributing proper tasks
along the organizational structure and setting objectives that need to be met to achieve all the
previously said. Here is when management comes in, to keep organizations in order while reaching its
objectives. A manager asks: “What problems have to be solved, and what are the best ways to achieve
results so that people will continue to contribute to this organization?” (Zaleznik, 1977). The answer to
this question involves among others: budgets, resource allocation, strategy development, analytical
skills, knowledge of organizational limitations and capabilities, monitoring results, quality assurance,
reports and staffing. It might seem boring if compared with other job functions, but all those processes
are essential to avoid organizational chaos.
Since the past century, organizations have become more competitive within or outside their industry,
technology changes are fast, research and development is nonstop. The environment around
organizations is pushing for a rapid change and this sends them a strong message: adapt or withdraw.
Any success industry is a living proof of these changes; the oil industry is one of them. Worldwide
demand for oil has pushed companies to search and extract it from hostile environments like deep
water in the North Sea, or extremely high temperature reservoirs like the ones found in Mexico.
Operating companies want to get the most even from their depleted reservoirs. Technology is a key
factor; oil service companies who have it and can provide it efficiently and safely to the operating ones
have a competitive advantage. Oil service companies are always in the quest of better technologies and
processes to keep up with their customer needs, which are basically the markets needs. Stock markets
are so volatile these days, that an accident like BPs oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 can unleash a
disaster in the economy and deeply affect industrys reputation. Here is where I believe leadership plays
its important role.
Leadership seeks to influence peoples emotions and needs (the need to be valued by the senior staff or
the need to develop their careers, for example) to achieve the leaders goals, but it is also focused in
organizational success and driven by the changes in the environment (Kotter, 1990). Because of this;
leaders also develop strategies to accomplish their vision. A leader asks: what do the people in the
organization have to do to overcome these rapid changes successfully and how do I make both the
changes and the people part of my vision for the organization? Based on the given definition of
leadership, a leader exerts influence in the workforce so they align to his goals and envision them. In
order to do this, a leader has to motivate and inspire people (Kotter, 1990), so they will follow the
strategic path given and overcome with the best attitude any obstacle they encounter, foreign or
domestic to the organization.
What is needed now days are managers that can lead! It is not easy to find people that can be both a
manager and a leader, but managers can work on their leadership skills with the proper training.
Organizations should take very seriously these last two points. It is not a matter of finding effective
leaders to run a company. “Companies should remember that strong leadership with weak
management is no better and