INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

MS-01: MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS AND BEHAVIOR

Assignment
Q. 5 Explain different leadership styles. Is there any difference between successful and
an effective leader? Discuss with suitable examples from an organization you are
familiar with. Describe the organization you are referring to.
The answer to above question will cover the following

Meaning and Definition of leadership

What are leadership styles?

Types of leadership styles application and criticisms

Why different leadership styles are adopted by different Organization and leaders

Difference between Successful leader and Effective leader with illustration

Case Study of STARLIGHT GARMENTS NOVELTIES Co. WLL

Recommendations

References

Answer:
Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself
before others and you can become a leader among men-Lao Tzu.)

MEANING AND DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP

Ability to lead effectively is one of the keys to be an effective manager. Bernard Bass said
there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted
to define it!. But a common theme in leadership can be identified i.e. influence.
Definitions centre on the fact that leaders exist to influence behavior and feelings of
followers.

Leadership is persuasion, not domination; persons who can require others to do

their bidding because of their power are not leaders. Leadership only occurs when
others willingly adopt, for a period of time, the goals of a group as their own.
Leadership concerns building cohesive and goal-oriented teams; there is a causal

and definitional link between leadership and team performance (Robert Hogan,
Gordon J. Curphy, & Joyce Hogan,1994).

WHAT ARE LEADERSHIP STYLES AND THERE TYPES?

Leadership style is pattern of behavior used by leader to influence followers. Style is you, the
person. Each leader has its own style, and no one style is the best. There are classically three
leadership styles (U.S. army handbook, 1973). Good leaders use all three styles, with one of
them dominant, bad leaders tend to stick with one style.
1.

AUTOCRATIC-

Such leaders run the whole show by themselves with no delegation of authority. He doesnt
explain decisions to the subordinates nor asks for their suggestion. There are structured set of
punishments and rewards.
Application:

All information to solve a problem is available

Short on time

Employees are well motivated.

Routine and unskilled jobs

Criticism:

Used as vehicle for yelling, using demeaning language, and leading by threats and
abusing their power.

Employees become dependent on decisions of leader and avoid initiative resulting in

lack of creativity

Fear of punishment causes employees to resent there work leading to absenteeism and
high turnover

2.

DEMOCRATIC-

Leader welcomes participation of the group in the formulation of policies and decision
making. He encourages initiative and seeks suggestion. He seeks self-regulating and selfdisciplining mechanism. Leader maintains the final decision making authority.
Application:

Normally used when leader has part of information, and employees have other parts.

Allows employees to become part of team and make better decisions.

Criticism:

Time consuming style. Some opportunities requires prompt action, where it can lead
to opportunity loss

Requires highly qualified and skilled employees who are competent to suggest and
understand situation.

3.

FREE REIN

Leader allows his subordinates free to decide things for themselves. It is called hand off
style. Leader doesnt provide any direction or guidance and leaves subordinates to make own
goals and decisions.
Application:

Not to be used to blame others when things go wrong, rather it is used when you fully
trust and have confidence in the people below you.

Highly skilled and experienced self-starters willing to take challenges

Criticism:

Poor quality work, misbehavior and lack of motivation

Lack of interest in subordinates welfare creates a sense of insecurity and anxiety

When the focus shifts from decision making to motivating, other styles evolve
1. TRANSACTIONAL

It's considered to be "by book" approach where person works within rules. It's seen in large,
bureaucratic organizations. These people are good at rearranging the deck chairs on the
Titanic", but they cant keep ship from sinking.
2. TRANSFORMATIONAL
Leader who inspires his team with shared vision of future, highly visible and spend a lot of
time communicating. They dont necessarily lead from front, as they tend to delegate
responsibility.

3. PATERNALISTIC
Leader is concerned with comforts of his subordinates. He is sentimental in approach. He is
always interested in protecting them. Pampering hampers growth and advancement of
subordinate.

WHY DIFFERENT LEADERSHIP STYLES ARE ADOPTED BY

DIFFERENT LEADERS?
Forces influencing style used

Time available

Information availability

Training of employees and skills

Internal conflicts

Type of task

Established procedures

Situation is catchword: Situational leaders are able to modify style to fit their followers
and situations in which they work.
Example, manager of a small factory trains new machine operatives using bureaucratic style
to ensure operatives know the procedures that achieve the right standards of product quality
and workplace safety. The same manager may adopt a more participative style of leadership
when working on production line improvement with team of supervisors.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESSFUL LEADER AND EFFECTIVE

LEADER WITH ILLUSTRATION
Successful leader: A leader who achieves his objective and the organizations objective but
the objective of the follower is not achieved. This leads to short term success. Followers do
the job only because they are fearful of punishment or reward. The basic task of leadership
which is influencing is achieved but influence doesnt last for long.
Effective leader: They are visionaries. Make others feel important, promote vision with
mission, admit mistakes, criticize others only in private and make a game of competition.

I believe major difference between two is VISION OVER SHORT SIGHTEDNESS It is

necessary that leader has vision because you can seize only what you can see. Its important
not only to see but to see things differently.
Tom Watson, CEO of IBM, was key figure in information revolution. Watson demonstrated his
abilities as a leader.
An executive made bad decisions costing company several million. He was summoned to
Watsons office, expecting to be dismissed. As he entered office, executive said, I suppose
after

that

set

of

mistakes

you

will

want

to

fire

me.

Watson

replied,

Not at all, young man, we have just spent a couple of million dollars educating you.
( Edgar Schein ,1992, Organisational Culture and Leadership)
Short sighted leader would have fired employee and recruited some one better but effective
leader sees mistake as investment and have confidence to start anew even in disaster.

CASE STUDY- Starlight Garments Novelties & Co. WLL

Starlight Garments novelties & Co. ,established in 1980, is a small family run company
founded by Mr. Saifuddin Haji, the senior most member of the family. He started its
operations with wholesale garments business. Between 1983 and 1990 it expanded
substantially developing distinct business in garments designing and tailoring and retailed
garments chain stores in Kuwait with around 50 employees. The employee relationship had
been exceedingly good, the main characteristic being informality. He had close relationship
with them and everyone respected him immensely. He was everything to the company.
The business flourished. In 2000, the company diversified its business into computer parts
and services under the name of Zaini supplies. It quickly became a regional player in the IT
market with operations and partners covering the entire Kuwait market. His main line of
work was in garments and even though the company was diversifying he kept garments as the
companys core business. Within the Business Units, there was no common management
structure as each evolved according to the needs.
The health of the founder started deteriorating and in 2002, the founder finally decided to
resign from work. Asger ali , the younger brother , an MBA with specialization in marketing
succeeded him. He was ambitious and aggressive. To cut costs, he decided to lay off 7
employees out of 25 from the major retail store, Kids Palace. In 2004, He expanded the IT
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business by setting up 2 more stores which provided customer with state-of-the-art solutions
and services. His focus towards garments sector reduced. Employees have been demanding
pay raise on and off but he didnt make any substantial move in this regard leading to a high
employee turnover. Four years down the line, business is still good but he has been having
trouble in keeping people on job for both computer and garment sector.
ANALYSIS
Saifuddin Sucessful and effective leader

He was considered as a visionary by his employees because he was a man from a

small village, not highly educated yet he started the company with nothing but his value
system

He was closely related to his employees and maintained close relationship with them.
He inspired himself and others .

He followed the golden rule of Treat others as you yourself would like being treated
as

Not only did the business develop during his time it also developed people

Asger Ali Successful But Not Effective Leader

What Asger ali is facing today is due to short sightedness and short term success
drive. Contrary to the belief of many, groups do not automatically accept a new "boss" as
leader. We see a number of ineffective managers who didn't know the behaviors to use
when one taking over a new group.

He started of with laying off people leading to loss of trust of employees even before
they could understand him. It created an atmosphere of fear and resentfulness.

Though business is thriving, people are not thriving to work for him because of lack
of motivation whether it be financial or non financial. Obviously the company is earning
profits because of the dedicated employees it has but it is more or less due to necessity of
work or reward.

CONCLUSION
The above example shows that there is a thin line between successful and effective leader.
Both the above leaders have attained financial success and developed the business far more
than expected. Saifuddin has the reputation of building a company from scratch and Asger ali
has ability for expansion and diversification. Both are influencing and successful leaders.

RECOMMENDATION

The company needs to be redefined in terms of its present and future business
propositions.

There is an urgent need of considering employees demands and having a heart to

heart talk to them ,if possible in the presence of the former head, taking them into
confidence of what the future holds for them in terms of personal and organizational
growth

In small family run business , people expect to be well informed about each move
the company makes. Growth and development strategies should be discussed with
employees.

REFERENCES
Hogan,R. ,Curphy,G.J. & Hogan,J., June 1994, What We Know About Leadership:
Effectiveness and Personality, American Psychologist
Leadership Styles, Available at http://www.skagitwatershed.org/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html
Schein, E.H. 1985-2005,Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Ed., Jossey-Bass Series
Tzu, L., Tao Te Ching (The Law of Virtue and it's Way)
U.S. Army Handbook 1973, Military Leadership.