Management and Leadership Strategies for the 21st Century

Introduction
Strategic management is defined as the set of decisions and actions resulting in the formulation and implementation of strategies designed to achieve the objectives of the organization. Strategic Managers should develop leadership abilities and formulate and execute strategies for winning over customers, creating competitive advantage, and delighting investors. In the rapidly changing global business, competitive advantage does not come easily. Strategic leadership demands that one has a deep understanding of the market and the ability to formulate, evaluate, and execute competitive strategies.

1. Understand the relationship between strategic management and leadership

Reasons for the stagnancy of the Disney organization after the death of its founder:
Disney World is one of the most popular theme parks in the world. Walt Disney was the founder of Disney World. It was performing well in the life time of Walt Disney. Soon after the death of Walt Disney it started to experience downward trend in its performance. There were various reasons that are propelled to this downturn. These are outlined below: It kept itself away from further and modern innovation. It was satisfied with its ongoing laurels of success and no steps were taken to make improvement. It was far behind fulfilling the sensation of its audience. It was resistant to change to combat the new challenges. It was not able to capitalize its potential resources. It was undercharging for its licensing of cartoon characters and admission of its theme parks etc.

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1.1 Explain the link between strategic management and leadership

The link between Strategic Management and Leadership

The strategic management process helps institutions identify what they intend to achieve and how they will accomplish outcomes. The term strategic management is used to refer to the entire decision-making process. Strategic management must evolve by predicting the future, thinking strategically and creating the future opportunities. Leadership is about strategic management, discretionary decision-making and policy development. Leadership and management are both skills that an organization should possess, courtesy of a chosen leader, with the support of its personnel. A good leadership can be attained through a practice while an effective management is learned through course. A leader is the spearhead of the group going to a direction. And once they have found the direction, manager will take over to have consistency and make the group proposer after being established. Managers decisions are based on the book or ethics that every member constructed but leaders decide based on their institutions.1
1. http://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/the-link-between-strategic-management-and-leadership-business-essay.php

1.2 Analyze the impact of management and leadership styles on strategic decisions
Management and leadership style play pivotal role on strategic decisions. They make decision according to the expectation of the organization and their decision always have the support of the team. It is the style of the management and leader which keeps organization moving. Different styles have different type of impact on strategic decision and organisation. For example if we look at the democratic style of management and leadership, in this style management always consult and discuss with their team which makes them feel more responsible and motivates them to work hard.

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It is the job of strategic manager to decide and make critical decision regarding the future of the organisation. It is the wisdom of the management and leadership that drives the organisation forward. It is their vision which has always great impact on the organisation. Their style of management and leadership plays vital role on the decision making and on the future of the organisation. They should have the style which changes according to the situation, sometime they are very much cooperative and give everybody chance to express but if situation demands them to be more authoritarian they have the style approach and power to change them.2
2.http://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/analysing-strategic-management-and-leadership-management-essay.php

1.3 Evaluate how leadership styles can be adapted to different situations

Many theories of management and styles of leadership exist. In the end, none of them are right and none of them are wrong. Different people respond better to different styles of leadership. To be a truly skilled leader, managers need to become aware of the staffs and adapt leadership style to nurture the most productivity in workers.

Step 1 Identify own intrinsic leadership style. Three main categories of leadership styles are autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire. Autocratic leaders tend to maintain control and tell workers what to do. Democratic leaders support a sense of teamwork and listen to worker opinions before making a decision. Laissez-faire leaders are very hands-off, almost not leaders at all. Step 2 Recognize the pros and cons of the three main leadership styles. Autocratic leaders often get things done in less time and their workforce is usually quite productive. Productivity slumps when the manager is not present, however. Democratic leaders often gain the respect of their workers. Workers appreciate feeling valued and will work harder for that manager. Laissez-faire leadership works when there is a high degree of skill and knowledge among the workforce but is sorely lacking when employees are less skilled. All three leadership styles are appropriate in different situations.
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Step 3 Appreciate the diversity among managers staff. Diversity in organizational psychology is often seen as differences among people that define or create the culture of the workplace. Dimensions of diversity include gender, age, sexual orientation, religions, ethnicity, education, work experience, military experience, family status and income level. Workers with more skill will most likely respond well to democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles; those with less experience will likely respond more to a more autocratic style. Step 4 Experiment with different styles to see what works best within group of workers. Managers should maintain an "open door" policy so that workers can approach managers to discuss workrelated issues. This is the way they can get to know their workers. Then they will get a sense of how much direction and how much freedom they need to be productive. 3
3. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/adapt-leadership-styles-18975.html

2. Application of management and leadership theory to support organisational direction

Role of is Michael Eisners in the progress of Disney world:
After the departing of Walt Disney, father of Disney world Disney organization was at stake. Then is Michael Eisner took the helm of that very organization to rejuvenate it from the further downturn. He tried to picture him like Walt Disney and committed to take the organization back in its position. After analyzing the situation carefully, he devised a plan that would encourage openness to change, and a culture of strong creativity that was always a hallmark to Disneys success. He came up with a number of new and creative ideas including new health food restaurants and he encouraged and induced creativity among others and creativity became one of the top priorities. His idea of creating a Euro Disneyland in Paris came into high focus. He met with twelve of the most respected architects in the wildly creative session to bring out as best design of the theme park as possible. He encouraged and rewarded new ideas, opened the
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channels of communications and took the members into confidence by sharing with them his strategic plans and ambitious growth strategies. Success of the entire organisation depends upon the philosophy of its Chief Executive officer, the statement is mostly true, and because the good strategic leader can make good footsteps that every subordinate can follow. As Michael Eisner was at the front line to lead so it was completely upto him to take proper course of actios to ensure success of Disney world. On the other hand there may be still some contingencies that are out of a Chief Executive Officer. Hence, above all facts it can be said thats success of the entire organisation depend upon the philosophy of its Chief Executive officer.

2.1 Review the impact that selected theories of management and leadership

have on organizational strategy

Leadership and management qualities are very important to make average organisation into a very successful organisation, at the same time there are lots of leadership and management theories which create big impact on the organisational strategies. Leadership and management apply different theories according to situation to make organisation move forward. There are some theories which are practiced very effectively in most organisation. Some of the important leadership theories are as follows: Blake and Moutons Managerial Grid Houses Path Goal Theory Great Man Theory Trait Theory Leadership-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory Transformational Leadership Transactional Leadership Continuum of Leadership Behaviour Likerts Management System

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Here two most influential theories are discussed:

i. Charismatic leadership and management theory:

Charismatic leadership theory is very important and it plays very critical role on Organisations success. A manager should have charismatic leadership and management style which is very inspirational for all management team and through their leadership and management style he is driving their organisation forward and expanding the business all over. Then he should have the power to influence workers by the style and approach toward work so that he inspires workers to by their own working style and wisdom. Through his style and leadership he must show trust toward his sub-ordinate which motivates them to work hard for the organisational goals and objective. A manager should be a result oriented professional. He is a team player with an objective-driven approach that gives priority to company best interest at all times strongly backed by efforts that are focused on determination, dedication, follow-up and successful completion of result oriented initiative.

ii. Transformational leadership and management theory:

Transformational theory of leadership is also in practice very effectively in most business organisations. According to this theory, leaders and followers both work together and help each other for the organisational goal. This theory brings positive change in the sub-ordinates behaviour and approach, sub-ordinate get motivation which helps him to perform according to expectation of the leaders. A manager is responsible for sales, marketing and distribution and it is the requirement of the job that he needs to be more transformational in his management style. He is through his transformational leadership and management style can motivate his team and working very closely with them to bring more productivity in his organization. Transformational theory has great impact on organisational, with this kind of theory leaders can bring good teamwork among employees and they can work together for organisational objectives. Transformational leadership is a process which leaders and followers help each other to advance to higher level of morale and motivation.

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2.2 Create a leadership strategy that supports organisational direction

Leadership plays important role to take organisation toward right direction and it is the responsibility of leadership to make strategies which support the organisation directions and objectives. It is very important for manager and leaders to understand clearly what are the objectives and should find the right path and strategies to achieve these objectives and goals. There are certain things on which leaders need to work to support organisation direction and objectives and they can bring better result and more productivity in Business Organisation. However, some leadership strategies are as follows: i. Developing Professionalism:

It is the responsibility of an organizations leadership and management to make strategies to solve this kind of issues. Leaders need to develop certain rules and regulation at working place which each and every employee should follow; these standards should be met to create more effective professionalism between employees. If a leader can bring up plan or strategy to develop professionalism it can support the organisational strategies and directions more efficiently. ii. Developing trust and belief:

Trust between staff and leaders or manager create healthy working environment which brings positive effect on the performance of the employees. To create trust and belief leader should be friendly, honest and more close to the staff. He should be more consistent and in his behaviour and attitude toward work and his employees, if leader can develop trust and belief in his staff then it will be lot easier for him to achieve objectives. iii. Developing Respect:

It is very important factor for organizations if they want to grow and go on right direction to have sense of respect for each other; through this a leader can bring good teamwork in the organisation and build up better understanding between staff. Leader should not discriminate employees and leader should treat everyone equally and respect them, it is the duty of leader to promote the culture in which everyone respect each and through this a better working
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environment can be established. It is the responsibility of leader to bring certain type of organisational policies which will prevent incident of disrespecting each other. iv. Training Program:

To achieve organisation objective one of the major factor is training program to support the organizational direction. It is very important for leadership and management to identify the need of training and development for the staff, as it is a fast growing world and to keep up with the new and advance techniques one should keep planning for training and development plan to compete with new challenges. If a leader can train his team it can bring lot of benefit for organisational direction and it can help an organisation to grow and develop with great speed.4
4. http://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/analysing-strategic-management-and-leadership-management-essay.php

3. Ability to assess leadership requirements

Internal and external forces that necessitated the change in the various outlooks of Disney operations. Internal Forces: The internal forces that lead to change in the various outlooks of Disney operations are given below: Change in its management style: the death of Walt Disney and appointment of Michael Eeishner cause a huge change in its internal management. Creativity and Innovation improvement requirements: With the change of time it is required to change the outlooks of Disneys operations by continuous creativity and innovations. Human Resources: Human recourses of Disney World need to change or put in right tracks.

External Forces: The External forces that lead to change in the various outlooks of Disney operations are given below:
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Customers demand: With the changing needs of customers demand Disney needs to change its outlooks of operations. Competitors position: Competitors continuous improvements forced Disney to change its outlooks to keep its competitive advantages.

3.1 Use appropriate methods to review current leadership requirements

The methods that are being used in Business Organisation to develop management, employees into leaders are as follows. Coaching Learning Communication Engaging Attitude skills

These methods are also used to help with the continuous development of leaders, organizations are no longer dealing with customers on a national scales they are now dealing with customers and employees on a global scales leader has to be more vigilant to understand the need and demands of the world as it is a very common trend for companies to trade globally..

Coaching - Coaching & mentoring, both of which focus on the individual, can enhance morale, motivation and productivity and reduce staff turnover as individuals feel valued and connected with both small and large organisational changes. Coaching and mentoring programmes generally prove to be popular amongst employees as coaching achieves a balance between fulfilling organisational goals and objectives whilst taking into account the personal development needs of individual employees.

Learning - Learning involves much more than information transfer that is why it is ineffective to present this Learning Organization concept as only another training technique. Learning and Learning Organization concept cant be imposed, it requires an internal desire to learn and change. Additionally, learning, knowing and changing are complex and interdependent
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phenomena that will require researchers and managers to understand the logic embedded in the Learning Organization idea before its implementation.

Communication - Communication is even more valuable in a business environment as there are several parties involved. Various stakeholders, whether they are customers, employees or the media, are always sending important information to each other at all times. Business organisation is therefore constantly using some form of communication or another to send a message across. Without these different methods of communication available today, it would holder back the development of employees into managers and possible leaders, the effect would also reduce the development of current leaders.

3.2 Plan for the development of future situations requiring leadership

World is changing day by day. Many new situations are also arising. So there should be plan for the leader to cope with new situations. Such plannings are like below: Merger and Takeover As world is changing very fast and every day something new happening in this world so for this situation every organisation is working hard. Every organisation wants to grow fast in this competitive world and one the fastest way to grow as an organisation is merger and takeover. It is the requirement for current and future leadership to understand the need of merger and takeover; it is very complicated and sensitive issue because wrong analyses of a merger could cost an organisation huge amount of money. It is requirement of leadership to have innovation and skill to understand what is the right time and time organisation for this type of acquisitions.

Emerging of new Technologies One of the major challenges for the current leadership is technology; technology is growing very fast and taking over everything in an organisation. Now there is more concept of virtual business
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or e-business where business in done mostly online and employees are scattered in most part of the world. There are so many successful businesses in current world which just base online, for example Google, Face book, and EBay they are run by people globally from their computers. It is requirement for leadership to learn more skills have more control; leadership needs to bring new innovation into their thoughts to have better management of these types of challenges.

4. Plan the development of leadership skills

If I were Michael Eisher
Michael Eisner was indeed a good strategic manager. He has done a lot for the Disney World; he was a great innovator and a risk taker that leads the organization to achieve success. If I were in Michael Eisners shoes then I would do some additional actions to keep the legacy intact. Take care of my employees. Because they can make or break me. Give my best to the organization. Research, not only the market, but your competition and future needs. Best quality Customer service. Never, Give up.

4.1 Plan the development of leadership skills for a specific requirement

Leadership is a very important area for any organization regardless of the size of the organization, in today fast moving business environment business have to make future plans therefore it is very important that the leaders of the future develop the necessary skills that will help them to lead the company in the right direction. Leaders can develop their skills and employees skills by on the job training or formal Learning.

Formal Learning There are several new products being introduced, therefore companies have to groom their leaders and their employees. These can be done by sending the employee for formal training, seminars or in some case sending the leaders back to the class room.

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On the job training - It is one of the most effective development methods in the companies. The process of the on the job training is to arrange and the purpose is to enhance the abilities of the employees in the corporate settings of the organizations. Training is not just offered to executives or managers but training is in-fact offered to all members of staff regardless of their position.

Organizational Leadership - The Organizational Learning which is the learning method in the organization which is highly appreciated and required. The organizations should influence the employees on the regular bases with the knowledge and information. Organizations that promote learning is more likely to continue to enjoy great success. In-order to compete in the global market business, it has to empower their leaders and employees to a high standard. Employees are the most important asset of any business organization. With good training employees will be in a better position to represent the company very well and leaders will be in a better position to lead the company into the future while competing on a global scale.5
5. http://researchpasspapers4u.blogspot.com/2013/06/developing-strategic-mgt-leadership.html

4.2 Report on the usefulness of methods used to plan the development of leadership skills
It is important for leaders to develop more skill to cope with future challenges, globalization and demands. As discussed earlier about current and future leadership requirements and leadership plan, it is very important that the method used for the improvement of leadership skill should be more effective and useful so that the objective can be achieved. Leadership requires vision, enthusiasm, self-confidence, empowerment, action enabling of others, getting things done, and making things happen.

Formal learning is a very good way to improve skill and get further knowledge about upcoming challenges. The extent of which leadership competencies are acquired and used depends on the type of development activities that occurs facilitating condition.
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Conclusion

Effective performance management is important process that can be achieved by setting realistic expectation, goals and targets that need to be established together with management and employees. Leadership style in an organization has explained the good point of democratic style of leadership and management. In 21st century, business world is getting complex day by day that makes the world more competitive and a lot of variables are there. So in order to improve the productivity and profitability managers must lead their organization effectively and efficiently.

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References:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. http://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/the-link-between-strategic-management-and-leadership-business-essay.php http://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/analysing-strategic-management-and-leadership-management-essay.php http://smallbusiness.chron.com/adapt-leadership-styles-18975.html http://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/analysing-strategic-management-and-leadership-management-essay.php http://researchpasspapers4u.blogspot.com/2013/06/developing-strategic-mgt-leadership.html

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