- Subject: Leadership in Organizations. - Mandatory book for this week's assignment (file attached - please include in citations): Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations. Harlow, Boston: Pea
Answer these essay questions:1.Define “trait,” “behavior,” and “power-influence” approaches. List the unique
insights that each approach provides about effective leadership.
2
.Compare the following theories of leadership and explain why all types of theory
are useful or not: 1
.Descriptive theory
2
.Prescriptive theory
3
.Universal theory
4
.Contingency theory
3
.How is a crisis likely to affect managerial activities and behavior? For example, the
machinery broke down at your factory and you have to get the product out within a
24-hour deadline or the contract will be broken and your customer will go to
another company “that can produce.”
4
.Case Study: Acme Manufacturing Company
Steve Arnold is a production manager at Acme Manufacturing Company in New Jersey.
When Steve drove into the parking lot at the plant on Tuesday morning at 8:35, he was
already 35 minutes late for work. Steve had overslept that morning because the night
before he had stayed up late to finish the monthly production report for his department.
He parked his car and entered the rear of the plant building. Passing through the
shipping area, Steve spotted his friend George Summers and stopped to ask how work
was progressing on the new addition to George’s house.
Entering the office at 8:55, Steve greeted his secretary, Ruth Sweeney, and asked
whether anything urgent needed his immediate attention. Ruth reminded him of the
staff meeting at 9:30 with Steve’s boss — Frank Jones, the vice president for
Production — and the other production managers. Steve thanked Ruth for reminding
him (he had forgotten about the meeting) and continued on to his adjoining inner office
to look for the memo announcing the meeting. He vaguely remembered getting the
memo in an email one or two weeks earlier, but did not take the time to read it or look at
the attached materials.
His phone rang, and it was Sue Bradley, the sales vice president, who was inquiring
about the status of a rush order for one of the company’s important clients. Steve
promised to look into the matter and get back to her later in the day with an answer.
Steve had delegated the rush order last week to Lucy Adams, one of his production
supervisors, and he had not thought about it since then. Stepping back into the outer
office, Steve asked Ruth if she had seen Lucy today. Ruth reminded him that Lucy was
at a training workshop in California. She would be difficult to reach until the session
ended late in the afternoon, because the workshop facilitators regard cell phone calls
and text messages as an unnecessary distraction.
Going back into his office, Steve emailed a message to Lucy asking her to call him as
soon as possible. Then, he resumed his search for the memo about the meeting with
his boss and the other production managers. He finally found it in his large collection of unpro ce sse d e m ails . T he p urp ose o f th e m ee tin g w as to d is cu ss a p ro pose d c h ange in
q ualit y c o ntr o l p ro ce dure s. B y n o w it w as 9 :2 5, a nd th ere w as n o tim e to r e ad th e
pro posa l. H e h urrie d o ut to g et to th e m ee tin g o n tim e. D urin g th e m eetin g, th e o th er
pro ductio n m anagers p artic ip ate d in th e d is cu ssio n a nd m ad e h elp fu l c o m ments o r
su ggestio ns. S te ve w as n ot p re pa re d fo r th e m ee tin g a nd d id n ot c o ntr ib ute m uch
e xce pt to s a y th at h e d id n ot a ntic ip ate a ny p ro ble m s w it h th e p ro pose d c h anges.
T he m eetin g e nded a t 1 0:3 0 a nd S te ve r e tu rn ed to h is o ff ic e , w here h e fo und P aul
C hen, o ne o f h is p ro ductio n s u p erv is o rs , w ait in g fo r h im . P aul w ante d to d is cu ss a
p ro ble m c a use d in th e p ro ductio n s ch edule s b y a m ajo r e quip m ent b re akd ow n. S te ve
ca lle d G le nda B ro w n, h is a ssis ta n t m an ager, a nd a ske d h er to jo in th em to h elp
r e arra nge th e p ro ductio n s ch ed ule s fo r th e n ext fe w d ays. G le nda c a m e in s h ortly a nd
th e th re e o f th em w ork e d o n th e p ro ductio n s ch edule s. A t 1 1 :2 5, R uth c a m e in to
a nnounce th at M r. F erris w as w ait in g a nd h e c la im ed to h ave a n a ppoin tm ent w it h
S te ve a t 1 1 :3 0. S te ve lo oke d a t h is c a le ndar b ut c o u ld n ot fin d a ny e ntr y fo r th e
appoin tm ent. S te ve a ske d R uth to te ll M r. F erris th at h e w ould b e r e ady s h ortly .
T he s ch edule s w ere c o m ple te d a ro und 1 1 :4 0. S in ce it w as n early n oon, S te ve in vit e d
M r. F erris to jo in h im fo r lu nch a t a n earb y r e sta ura nt. D urin g lu nch S te ve le arn ed th at
M r. F erris w as fr o m o ne o f th e fir m s th at p ro vid ed m ate ria ls u se d in th e p ro ductio n
pro ce ss a t A cm e, a nd th e p urp o se o f th e m ee tin g w as to in quir e a bout s o m e c h anges
in m ate ria l s p ecif ic a tio ns th e c o m pa ny h ad r e queste d. A s M r. F erris ta lk e d, S te ve
re aliz e d th at h e w ould n ot b e a ble to a nsw er s o m e o f th e te ch n ic a l q uestio ns. W hen
th ey r e tu rn ed to th e p la nt a t 1 :1 5, S te ve in tr o duce d M r. F erris to a n e ngin eer w ho c o uld
a nsw er h is q uestio ns.
S oon a fte r S te ve w alk e d b ack t o h is o ff ic e , h is b oss ( F ra nk J o n es) s to pped in to a sk
a bout th e q ualit y r e port fo r la st w ee k. S te ve e xp la in ed th at h e h ad g iv e n to p p rio rit y to
f in is h in g th e m onth ly p ro ductio n r e port a nd w ould d o th e q ualit y r e port n ext. F ra nk w as
ir rit a te d, b eca use h e n eeded th e q ualit y d ata to fin aliz e h is p ro posa l fo r n ew
pro ce dure s, a nd h e th ought S te ve u nders to od th is ta sk w as m ore u rg ent th an th e
pro ductio n r e port. H e to ld S te ve to g et th e q ualit y d ata to h im a s s o on a s p ossib le a nd
le ft. S te ve im media te ly c a lle d G le nda B ro w n a nd a ske d h er to b rin g th e q ualit y d ata to
h is o ff ic e . T he ta sk o f r e vie w in g th e d ata a nd p re parin g a s h o rt s u m mary w as n ot
dif f ic u lt , b ut it to ok lo nger th an h e a ntic ip ate d. It w as 2 :4 0 b y th e tim e S te ve c o m ple te d
th e r e port a nd a tta ch ed it to a n e -m ail to h is b oss.
L ookin g a t h is c a le ndar, S te ve n o tic e d th at h e w as a lr e ady la te fo r a 2 :3 0 m eetin g o f
th e p la nt s a fe ty c o m mit te e. T he c o m mit te e m ee ts w eekly to r e vie w s a fe ty p ro ble m s,
a nd e ach d epartm ent s e nds a r e pre se n ta tiv e . S te ve r u sh e d o ut to th e m eetin g, w hic h
w as h eld in a noth er p art o f th e p la nt. T he m ee tin g w as d ull th is w eek, w it h out a ny
im porta nt is su es o r p ro ble m s to d is cu ss. T he m ee tin g e nded a t 3 :3 0, a nd a s S te ve
w alk e d b ack th ro ugh h is s e ctio n o f th e p la nt, h e s to pped to ta lk to h is a ssis ta nt
m anager. G le nda w ante d s o m e a dvic e o n h ow to r e so lv e a p ro ble m in th e p ro ductio n
assig nm ents fo r th e n ext d ay. T hey d is cu sse d th e p ro ble m fo r a bout a h alf h our. W hen Steve returned to his office at 4:05, his secretary was just leaving. She reported that
Lucy had called before leaving to fly home from the conference.
Steve was feeling tired and decided it was time for him to go home also. As he drove
out of the parking lot, Steve reflected that he was getting further behind in his work. He
wondered what he could do to get better control over his job.
Questions1.What specific things did Steve do wrong, and what should have been done in each
instance? Provide a critique of Steve's analysis of the situati
on: What assumptions
remained unquestioned? Critique his logic and the conclusions he must have
reached to take the actions he deployed.
2. What should Steve do to become more effective as a manager? Discussion Question:
Compare and contrast the similarities and differences in the way leadership has been
defined with an explanation of whether it really matters how one defines leadership.
