
Middle-of-the-road Leadership (Politician)- Medium Production/Medium People This style seems to be a balance of the two competing concerns. The leader is normally regarded as indifferent, resigned and pathetic and is doing enough to keep his/her Job. The result is a place of disorganisation, dissatisfaction and disharmony. They have neither a high regard for creating systems for getting the Job done, nor for creating a work environment that is satisfying and motivating. These leaders are mostly ineffective and avoid getting into trouble and use this style to preserve Job seniority and protect them. Impoverished Leadership – Low Production/ Low People This is a delegate-and-disappear management style. This pattern corresponds to the traditional authority-based style of command and control management style typically found in army and high productivity concentrated organisations. In this case, whilst high output is achievable in the short term, much will be lost through an inevitable high labour turnover. It is often applied by companies on the edge of real or perceived failure, such as in crisis management. This style, lso referred to as dictatorial style, is based on Theory X of Douglas McGregor. He pressures his employees through rules and punishments to achieve the company goals. There is little or no allowance for co-operation or collaboration. He provides his employees with money and expects performance back. Communication is de emphasised and conflict is resolved by suppression. The leader concentrates almost exclusively on achieving results and people are viewed as commodities used to get the Job done. This type of leader is very autocratic, has strict work rules, policies, and procedures, and views punishment as the most effective means to motivate employees. Employee needs are always secondary to the need for efficient and productive workplaces. Produce or Perish Leadership – High Production/Low People Also known as Authoritarian or Compliance Leaders, people in this category believe that employees are simply a means to an end. Charity and church related organisations tend to follow this kind of leadership style. This leadership style is defined as non-confrontational, comforting and uncontroversial as it mainly emphasises human relations. What tends to result is a work environment that is very relaxed and fun but where production suffers due to lack of direction and control. The organisation will end up to be a friendly atmosphere, but not necessarily very productive. This inability results from fear that using such powers could Jeopardise relationships with the other team members. He is almost incapable of employing the more punitive, coercive and legitimate powers. These people operate under the assumption that as long as team members are happy and secure then they will work hard. Using the axis to plot leadership ‘concerns for production’ versus ‘concerns for people’, Blake and Mouton defined the following five leadership styles: Fig 1: Blake and Mouton Managerial grid I Concern for People I High I Team management (9 9) I Middle of the road management I Country Club management (1 9) Low I Impoverished management(l, 1) I Medium I Low I Produce/ Perish/Authority-compliancl I Concern for Production (Task) Country Club Leadership – High People/Low Production This style of leader is most concerned about the needs and feelings of members of his/her team. The Model The Managerial Grid is based on two behavioural dimensions: Concern for People – This is the degree to which a leader considers the needs of team members, their interests, and areas of personal development when deciding how best to accomplish a task Ђ Concern for Production – This is the degree to which a leader emphasises concrete objectives, organisational efficiency and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task. By plotting ‘concern for production’ against ‘concern for people’, the grid highlights how placing too much emphasis in one area at the expense of the other leads to low overall productivity. Five positions on the grid were plotted, representing five differing managerial behaviour patterns. In order to provide a framework for describing management behaviours, the two variables of “concern for production” and “concern for people” were plotted on a grid showing nine degrees of concern for each, from 1 indicating a low level of concern, to indicating a high level of concern. Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid Essay Example
