2.3 Leadership and Management

• Management is the process of dealing with or controlling people and making sure tasks are accomplished. “Management” can also refer to a group of people in an organisation who are in charge of the aforementioned things.
• From Handy’s perspective, managers perform three functions: General Practicioners, Confronters of dilemmas, balancers of cultural mixes
• Fayol believed that there are five management functions: Planning, Commanding, Controlling, Coordinaing, Organising
• Leadership is the process of leading people.
• Leader is not an official position in the hierarchy, unlike manager. Very often, real leaders in organisations are not necessarily managers at all.
• Autocratic leadership style means that leader makes all the decisions and delegates tasks, but not responsibility. On the one hand, autocratic leadership implies quick decision-making and it is suitable for crisis-management. On the other hand, the stakes are really high because decision-making is not spread across the organisation, so if the decision is bad, then the entire organisation is jeopardised. In addition, autocratic leadership is quite inflexible and demotivating for employees who like showing initiative and being part of the decision-making process.
• Paternalistic leadership style means that leader expresses superiority and treats subordinates as if they are family members. On the one hand, this leadership style is suitable for inexperienced employees who are at the start of their careers. In their case, when they really don’t really know what they want, what’s good and what’s bad, it’s very nice to be paternalised by a more experienced mentor for a while. On the other hand, employees’ interests might be neglected and this leadership is not suitable for experienced employees.
• Democratic leadership style means that leader involves employees in decision-making before making the decision. On the one hand, democratic leadership is usually motivating and engaging, serves the best interests of employees. However, decision-making might be slow, might result in loss of control, and this leadership is not always applicable (for example, in some cultures it is perceived as weakness; in addition, it might not be suitable for crisis management, when quick decisions and quick implementation are important).
• Laissez-faire leadership style means that leader has minimal interference with the work of subordinates. On the one hand, this leadership style motivates employees, builds trusts among managers and subordinates, and it is completely applicable to skilful professionals. However, it is inapplicable to inexperienced employees, it might result in chaos and lack of authority if it’s “too laissez-faire”.
• Situational leadership style means that leader chooses the most appropriate leadership style in the given situation. On the one hand, situational leadership is the most flexible of all, it is in line with employees’ interests and needs. However, it might be unstable and difficult to predict, which might confuse employees as it is difficult to plan in an environment that’s constantly changing.
• Scientific management is an approach to management that is based on analysis of data. Scientific management is based on scientific thinking that prioritises rationality, methodical and systematic problem-solving and decision-making. This approach is more quantitative because it is based on analysing objective hard data (numbers).
• Intuitive management is an approach to management that is based on instinct, intuition and gut feeling. Intuitive management is based on intuitive thinking that prioritises emotions, empathy, unsystematic and irrational problem-solving and decision-making.
• Unit 1 - Introduction to Business Management:

  • Types of organizations include the private and public sectors
  • Organizational objectives are important in business management
  • Stakeholders play a crucial role in organizations
  • External environment factors impact business operations
  • Multinational companies have a significant impact on host countries
• Unit 2 - Human Resource Management:

  • HRM involves factors that influence HR planning
  • Organizational structure affects how a company operates
  • Leadership and management styles are essential in HRM
  • Motivation theories and strategies are crucial for employee engagement
  • Organizational culture and communication play a role in HRM
• Unit 3 - Finance:

  • Various sources of finance exist, including internal and external sources
  • Understanding costs and revenues is essential for financial management
  • Final accounts like profit & loss statements and balance sheets are crucial for stakeholders
  • Profitability and liquidity ratio analysis help assess financial health
  • Efficiency ratio analysis and cash flow management are important for financial stability
• Unit 4 - Marketing:

  • Marketing plays a vital role in business success
  • Marketing planning and sales forecasting are key components
  • Market research helps companies understand consumer needs
  • The marketing mix includes product, price, promotion, and place strategies
  • International marketing and e-commerce are important in a globalized world
• Unit 5 - Operations Management:

  • Operations management involves production methods and quality management
  • Location decisions impact operational efficiency
  • Production planning and research & development are crucial for success
  • Crisis management and contingency planning are essential for business continuity
• Efficiency ratio analysis
• Insolvency versus bankruptcy
• Cash flow:

  • The difference between profit & cash flow
  • Working capital
  • Liquidity position
  • Cash flow forecasts
  • Relationship between investment, profit & cash flow
  • Strategies for dealing with cash flow problems
• Investment appraisal:

  • Payback period & Average rate of return
  • Net present value (NPV)
• Budgets:

  • The difference between cost & profit centres
  • The roles of cost & profit centres
  • Constructing budgets
  • Variances
  • The importance of budgets & variances
• Marketing:

  • Introduction to marketing
  • Market orientation vs Product orientation
  • Market share
  • Market growth
  • Importance of market share & market leadership
• Marketing planning:

  • The role of marketing planning
  • Segmentation, targeting, and positioning
  • Difference between niche & mass market
  • Importance of having a USP
  • How organizations differentiate themselves
• Sales forecasting:

  • Benefits & limitations of sales forecasting
• Market research:

  • Why & how organizations carry out market research
  • Methods/techniques of primary market research
  • Methods/techniques of secondary market research
  • Qualitative & quantitative research
  • Methods of sampling
• The seven Ps of the marketing mix:

  • Product:
  • The product life cycle
  • Extension strategies
  • Relationship between the PLC, investment, profit & cash flow
  • Aspects of branding
  • The importance of branding
• Price
• Promotion:

  • Above the line promotion
  • Below the line promotion
  • Through the line promotion
  • Social media marketing
• Place:

  • The importance of different distribution channels
• People
• Processes
• Physical evidence:

  • Appropriate marketing mixes
• International marketing:

  • Opportunities & threats posed by entry into international markets
• Operations management:

  • Introduction to operations management
  • Operations methods
  • Lean production & quality management
  • Break-even analysis
  • Production planning
  • Crisis management & contingency planning
• Management Information Systems (MIS):

  • Data analytics
  • Database
  • Cybersecurity and cybercrime
  • Critical infrastructures
  • Virtual reality
  • The internet of things
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Big data
  • Customer loyalty programmes
  • Digital Taylorism
  • Data mining
  • Benefits, risks, & ethical implications of MIS
• BMT:

  • SWOT analysis
  • Ansoff matrix
  • STEEPLE analysis
  • Boston Consulting Group matrix
  • Business plans
  • Decision trees
  • Descriptive statistics
  • Circular Business Models
  • Gantt chart
  • Porter's generic strategies
  • Hofstede's cultural dimensions
  • Force field analysis
  • Critical path analysis
  • Contribution
  • Simple linear regression
• Operations methods:

  • Lean production & quality management
  • Features of lean production
  • Methods of lean production
  • Cradle to cradle design & manufacturing
  • Quality control & quality assurance
  • Methods of managing quality
  • The impact of lean production & TQM
  • National & international quality standards
• Break-even analysis:

  • Contribution
  • Aspects of break-even analysis
  • Changes in price and costs
  • Limitations of break-even analysis
• Production planning:

  • The local & global supply chain process
  • The difference between JIT & JIC
  • Stock control charts
  • Capacity utilization rate
  • Defect rate
  • Productivity
  • Cost to buy & Cost to make