Management Final Exam Paper

My preferred style of leadership is to treat an organization as if it is a flowering plant; that is, provide support and nurturing from the top of the hierarchy all the way down to low-level managers and employees (“trickle-down” management, if you will.) This does not necessarily mean that I favor an authoritarian style of ruling, but rather that I believe a good manager should realize the impact of any single managerial action on each and every level of the organization. To provide some context, my mother grew her own tomato plants when I was in High School; she explained that you must constantly monitor and nurture each level of the plant in order for it to thrive as a whole. For example, you must always consider the appropriate height at which to suspend the lights above your plants: if they are too high, the lower layers of the plant won’t receive adequate light for necessary photosynthesis; if the lights are too low, however, the top layers of the plant will wither under the intensity. There are many other factors that must be considered before and during the growth process: what type and intensity of light bulb to use; which variety of soil or compost to utilize; which nutrients should be added at specific times to foster ideal growth conditions; what temperature should the water be as well as when & how often to water; what the costs are versus the benefits; and finally, should you utilize economies of scale by continuing to grow tomatoes after covering the costs of your first batch. Before I continue with this metaphor, I must emphasize that I am not a botanist nor do I have a degree in agriculture; regardless, the metaphor aptly relates to my style of leadership.

From the beginning of his or her tenure as an organizational leader, a good leader must craft a clear, long-term vision for the organization and articulate their goals for realizing this vision to all relevant stakeholders. By constructing a strategic plan, the leader should outline all of the organization’s goals as well the actions necessary to achieve them; that is, the goals should be SMART---specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and time bound. As Locke explains, goal setting helps direct attention, regulate effort, increase persistence, and foster plans of action. By setting goals that are SMART, a good leader can inspire participation & motivate employees by minimizing role ambiguity & role conflict while simultaneously uniting the employees for a common purpose. Thus, Management by Objectives (MBO) appears to be the ideal managerial system; the idea is to get individual employees to “own” a piece of the collective effort by encouraging participation into decision-making, goal setting, and objective feedback. Yet at the same time, a good leader must prioritize employee recommendations and act decisively in a manner that best suits the goals and interests of the organization. More importantly, a good leader should always ensure