Leadership style of Steve Arnold
This paper will highlight the leadership quality of Steve Arnold who is the production manager of Acme Manufacturing Company. The type of leadership carried out Steve can be referred to as laissez faire leadership. This type of leaders depends on the high level of communication from the co-workers and the management to meet their particular goals (Bottomley et al. 2014). Steve could not carry out his duties without the help of the employees. He only motivated the employees and thus it has helped in increasing the efficiency and productivity of the employees through better communication. Moreover, this type of leadership also requires the management to meet their particular goals (Wong and Giessner 2015). Steve as a leader has focused on the organization and he has delegated upon his employees and co-workers. As a leader he was very careless and on his employees. He had no idea of how then work was being done in the company and thus relied on his employees. There are certain instances in the case where he was questioned from the management team but still he transferred his responsibilities to his employees and made them answer to undertake his job efficiently
Steve was not bothered about his job and he did not reach his office on time. On an important day, he reached his office late and he was focused only on the production report rather than the quality. He was such kind of leader who always relied on his employees and assigned them his work. When there was several urgent meeting, he could not reply or participate in those discussions as he was not aware of the happenings in the company. The biggest mistake of Steve was his irresponsibility towards his job. The employees took advantage of the situation and they did not perform their duties properly. The management committee used to blame Steve as he was assigned with the designation. He did not take care of the office documents and trusted his employees blindly. When the Sales vice president enquired him about the status of a particular order, he could not answer to the vice president immediately. Moreover, he was not aware that whether the job which was assigned to Lucy was completed or kept pending. He was not able to keep a track of the employees and thus always found difficulty in communication or there was communication gap among the employees and Steve. Steve also did not possess managerial skills and he was not capable to monitor the employees. He did not have proper idea of the different departments and when the management enquired him about the task, he could not answer them timely. As Steve was not from technical background, it became difficult for him to keep a track of the sites and the changes that were needed in those particular sites. His greatest mistake was that he never tried to get the work done by him. He was so dependent on his employees that when the management enquired him about the various production processes, he was not able to answer them. He mentioned that his top priority was to maintain the monthly production report rather than focusing on the quality information. Instead he should focus on the quality and thus this would provide satisfaction to the client. It was the fault of management as well as Steve as they could not manage the employees properly.
Impact on the productivity and efficiency of the company
Steve must try to allocate different members for different job roles and he must also keep a track of the jobs that were assigned to them. He must keep a close monitoring on them so that the employees become bound to do their duties efficiently and diligently. It would also become easier for Steve to keep a track of the production as well as maintain the quality of production if there was proper work division. Moreover, another mistake which was Steve was he did not carry out his duties in a systematic way. As he was the production manager of the company and he was assigned with different jobs. It was also his duty to handle the task at the same time. He must possess such skills or he must keep a note of all the duties that are assigned to different employees (Buch et al. 2015). He must also keep the status of the work every day and this will make his work easier as well as it will become easier for him to carry out his duties properly.
Steve must try to make two departments and engaged the employees accordingly. There must be some employees who will be responsible for the production processes and the other group of employees must try to maintain the quality of production. As the employees are under pressure, they try to finish their job within the stipulated time and they do not pay attention to the quality of production. The employees must be given proper training so that they can carry out their job efficiently. Steve must make a rule that the employees must send the report to him at the end of the day to keep a close monitoring of them. The employees must also send the report to the other concerned managers and thus they can also consult Steve and keep a track of the employees. This procedure will help Steve and thus he can carry out his duties efficiently. Moreover, there must be two managers or the senior team members so can assist the two departments in the absence of Steve. There must be an assistant who would visit the different production sites and thus help Steve in keeping a track of the production processes.
Steve must also not rush to anything deliberately when the higher authority pressurizes him. He must look into the matter carefully and take necessary time to solve the matter carefully. The memos and the vouchers must be kept in separate files and arranged accordingly so that it becomes easier to keep a track on them. This will help me to keep a track of all the vouchers and thus his time will be saved. There must be separate person engaged in keeping a track of the orders and thus managing the entire process (Batool 2013). Moreover, there must be a proper schedule of the meeting so that it does not become hectic for Steve to carry out his regular duties in a proper way. He must also try to get an in-depth knowledge of the various departments so that it becomes easier for him to monitor them accordingly. He must conduct timely meetings with the employees to know the progress of the work. He must not only assign the duties and responsibilities to the employee’s but he must communicate with him properly to get a proper garb of the business dealings.
Identification of Steve’s strengths and weaknesses
It is not feasible on his part as a manager to get all the works done by the employees rather than him getting involved in all those work. To hold such a responsible position in the office, it is necessary for Steve to interact with the engineers and also gather some technical knowledge. This is necessary so that he can provide proper explanation to the management or take some steps so as to improve the process (Aithal 2015). Moreover, Steve must also carry out regular meeting with the employees on a weekly basis so that it becomes easier for me to get the current status and updates of the production process and maintain the stock accordingly. Steve must also co-operate with the assistant managers and the higher authority and it is necessary for him to get proper training so that he can lead the team effectively. The production report must be taken to the managers on a weekly basis and this will also help them as well as Steve to work for the next target accordingly. Steve must also interact with the clients and this will help him to get a better idea of the needs and demands of the customers. There must be proper co-ordination between the employees, Steve and management for the smooth and efficient functioning of the company.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be said that Steve as a production manager must have proper knowledge so that it become s easier for him to lead his team successfully. He must try to focus on the quality of data rather than focusing on the production process. As the company is facing steep competition, it is necessary and vital to keep a track of the production processes as well as maintaining the quality of production. Before assuming an important charge in a company, it is necessary to get proper training, but this was not done in case of Steve. As he did not have proper knowledge of the data quality, he could not answer the managers when he was asked several questions. Moreover, he must actively participate in all the dealings of the company which will help him to become a successful production manager. Thus, it can be said that it is not easy to hold a responsible position without proper knowledge and skills.
Reference
Aithal, P.S., 2015. How an effective leadership and governance supports to achieve institutional vision, mission and objectives. Browser Download This Paper.
Batool, B.F., 2013. Emotional intelligence and effective leadership. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 4(3), p.84.
Bottomley, K., Burgess, S. and Fox III, M., 2014. Are the behaviors of transformational leaders impacting organizations? A study of transformational leadership. International Management Review, 10(1), p.5.
Buch, R., Martinsen, Ø.L. and Kuvaas, B., 2015. The destructiveness of laissez-faire leadership behavior: The mediating role of economic leader–member exchange relationships. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 22(1), pp.115-124.
Wong, S.I. and Giessner, S.R., 2015. The thin line between empowering and laissez-faire leadership: An expectancy-match perspective. Journal of Management, p.0149206315574597.
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