What Are The Differences In Leadership At Green River And Fmc Aberdeen?

What are the differences in Leadership at Green River and FMC Aberdeen?

Green River's leadership is hierarchical and referred to autocratic/authoritarian style with the control (all decision made at the top) coming from the top management, often employing authoritarian leadership style versus participatory model (like Aberdeen), with particpatory/transformative leadership style. The former is hierarchical, whereas the latter is a more flattened structure, employing the team approach, where decisions have input from all team players - through the use of groups and teamwork.

Green River: AUTOCRATIC/AUTHORITARIAN MANAGEMENT STYLE

The premise of the autocratic management style is the belief that in most cases the worker cannot make a contribution to their own work, and that even if they could, they wouldn't. McGregor called the belief system that leads to this mindset Theory X (autocratic, like Green River). Under this Theory, workers have no interest in work in general, including the quality of their work. It argues that because civilization has mitigated the challenges of nature, modern man has become lazy and soft. The job of mangers is to deal with this by using "carrots and sticks." The "carrot" is usually a monetary incentive, such as piece-rate pay schemes. The "stick" is docked pay for poor quality or missed production targets. Only money and threats can motivate the lazy, disinterested worker.

Theory X's (like Green River) natural management style (with the above beliefs) would favor the autocratic management style. Autocratic managers attempt to control work to the maximum extent possible. A major threat to control is complexity; complex jobs are more difficult to learn and workers who master such jobs are scarce and possess a certain amount of control over how the job is done. Thus, autocratic managers attempt to simplify work to gain maximum control. Planning of work, including quality planning, is centralized. A strict top-down, chain-of-command approach to management is practiced. Procedures are maintained in exquisite detail and enforced by frequent audits. Product and process requirements are recorded in equally fine detail and in-process and final inspection are used to control quality. http://www.qualityamerica.com/knowledgecente/articles/CQMStyle2.html.

However, Dailey reported that he is closer to the participatory view management in his person values and principles.

FMC Aberdeen: Participatory Management

The premise of the participatory management style is the belief that the worker can make a contribution to the design of their own work. The belief system that lead managers to this conclusion was originally put forth as a management theory by McGregor, who called it Theory Y (as opposed to Theory X above). Theory Y (participatory style of FMC Aberdeen) advocates believe that workers are internally motivated. They take satisfaction in their work, and would like to perform at their best. Symptoms of indifference are a result of the modern workplace, which restricts what a worker can do and separates him from the final results of his efforts. It is management's job to change the workplace so that the worker can, once again, recapture his pride of workmanship. Elements of Theory Y are evident in Deming's discussion of the role of a manager of people, presented earlier. http://www.qualityamerica.com/knowledgecente/articles/CQMStyle2.html

Managers who practice the participatory style of management tend to engage in certain types of behavior. To engage the workers they establish and communicate the purpose and direction of the organization. This is used to help develop a shared vision of what the organization should be, which is used to develop a set of shared plans for achieving the vision. The manager's role is that of a leader. By her actions and words, she shows the way to her employees. She is also a coach, evaluating the results of her people's efforts and helping them use the results to improve their processes. She works with the leaders above her in the organization to improve the organization's systems and the organization as a whole http://www.qualityamerica.com/knowledgecente/articles/CQMStyle2.html. Thus, team work and brainstornimng ideas for decision making will be employed, etc. (See Leadership Pyramid attachment).

2. Will Work Groups & Teams work at Green River, why or why not?

Interestingly, there is NO agreement in management theory about what is the ultimate BEST style of management. There are several things to consider. For example, since Green River's present management style doesn't seem to be working (e.g., low employee morale, etc.), and Dailey has reported that participatory style management (like Aberdeen) is in line with his PERSONAL values, it is very likely that work groups and team work WOULD WORK AT Green River.

Before making a final decision, though, Dailey would need to consider the following:

1. What are the attitudes of the general culture of the people in which the organisation operates?

2. And is this changing?

3. What is the prime task of the organisation - to carry out strict technical procedures or to be creative?

4. Is the organisation competing with similar organizations in a changing market?

The scenario however, has provided much of this information and it seems that Green River is need of a change from autocratic/authoritarian to participatory style of management (like Aberdeen).

Why?

- Although teamwork would probably work at Green River, the teams would probably need to be more specialized for Green River than fro Aberdeen, because of the job and work structure.

- Job design and work organization and teamwork would probably be specialized in terms of contents, method and relationships of jobs to satisfy technological and organizational requirements as well as the personal needs of jobholders.

- Teamwork would also be at the organization level in order for the team,