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BTEC LEVEL 7: STRATEGIC

MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP SKILLS


UNIT: DEVELOPING STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
SKILLS
Assignment # 01

Mohsin Javaid MO03095PK


10/22/2010
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Course Title EDEXCEL LEVEL 7 BTEC Student Name Mohsin Javaid


EXTENDED DIPLOMA IN
MANAGEMENT STUDIES
Unit: DEVELOPING STRATEGIC Reg. No MO03095PK
MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
SKILLS
Unit Number 1 E-mail mohsin7998@hotmail.com

Batch No 1 Edexcel No

Assessor KWAKU F. DARKWAH


Semester 1 Learner
Unit Aim This unit provides the learner Signature

with an understanding of the


links between strategic
management, leadership, and
organisational direction and
the skills to be able to apply
this understanding.
Issued 23/09/2010 Date

Submission Date 22/10/2010 BY 5PM

Review Dates 30/09/2010 14/10/2010 Received By

Progress of the
student Date / Signature
Signature of
the Assessor

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DECLARATION AND STATEMENT

DECLARATION 1
The work length of this assignment is _________, excluding charts, diagrams,
bibliography/references, and appendices.
NAME OF STUDENT:
Signature..............................
Date: DD/MM/YYYY

DECLARATION 2
I hereby declare that this assignment has not already been submitted and accepted
for any degree/diploma. It is the result of my own research and investigation and all
authorities and sources which have been consulted are acknowledged in the
bibliography/references of this assignment.
NAME OF STUDENT:
Signature..............................
Date: DD/MM/YYYY

STATEMENT
This assignment is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
award of Edexcel Level 7 BTEC Advanced Professional Diploma in Management
Studies.
NAME OF STUDENT:
Signature..............................
Date: DD/MM/YYYY

Mohsin Javaid Student ID: MO03095PK


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This work is dedicated to my Family members and


Teachers

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
S. No Topic Page
1 Abstract ……….……………………………………………… 6
2 My Organization ………………………………………………. 7
4 Task 1.1 ………………………………………………………. 8
5 Task 1.2 ……………………………………………………….. 10
6 Task 1.3 ……………………………………………………….. 12
7 Task 2.1 ……………………………………………………….. 12
8 Task 2.2 ……………………………………………………….. 14
9 Task 3.1 ……………………………………………………….. 15
10 Task 3.2 ……………………………………………………….. 19
11 Task 4.1 ……………………………………………………….. 20
12 Task 4.2 ……………………………………………………….. 21
13 Conclusion ………………………………………………….. 23
14 Self-Evaluation …..…………………………………………….. 24
15 References ……………………………………………….. 25
16 Bibliography ….……………………………………………….. 25

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Abstract
Leadership and management skills and styles have been the most debatable topic in recent
history. Many people have devised new theories about leadership styles and skills. There are
many books written on this topic but none of them has reached to a common style. The styles
depend on the situation present at that time. So for a good leader/manager it is important to
exhibit different styles for different situation. Strategic Management is also an important
component of any organization. So after defining a strategy for an organization, the
leader/manager should take steps to ensure that the overall working of the organization is
going according to the strategy. A good leader/manager should be able to cope with the future
needs of the organizations and should keep in mind the impact of certain strategies on
organizations in long term.

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My organization

I choose Iceland as the best candidate for my assignment due to certain reasons. Iceland is
one of Britain’s fastest-growing and most innovative retailers, recognized as one of the best
companies to work for in the UK. The 2010 Sunday Times survey of the Best Big Companies
to Work For in the UK ranked Iceland 13th in their top 20, up from 14th place in 2009.
Iceland give their employees clear objectives and expectations, with 94% of the respondents
to their most recent staff survey revealed that they are clear about what they are expected to
achieve in their jobs. At the same time, they also allowed more freedom for individual
initiative than most other retailers, as they believe that it is ultimately this sort of personal
touch that can make all the difference to their customers.

Source: (www.iceland.co.uk accessed on 13th October, 2010)

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Answers:
Task 1:
Understand the relationship between strategic management and
leadership.

Task 1.1:
Explain the link between strategic management and leadership.

To explain the link between strategic management and leadership we should have a clear
understanding of what these two terms actually mean. After understanding these two terms
we can easily explain the link between them.

Strategic Management:
Strategy: According to Barratt and Mottershead (2000) (p.69), strategy is described as the
way of achieving our objectives. So we can say that strategy is not about ideas only. Defining
a strategy means that you are actually defining a road map for achieving your goals. When
we define the strategy we are actually working out a plan for the betterment of our
organization. Strategy enables us to ensure that all our work and things we do every day are
going to help us in the long term interests of the organization.

Source: http://www.activestrategy.com/images/Strategy_Circle_0.jpg
(Accessed on 19th October, 2010)

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Strategic Management is the process of establishing and maintaining good strategies. Making
and defining strategy is not enough, you will have to work out a plan for implementing that
strategy in its true spirit. Good strategic management is plays a key role in approaching
business opportunities and challenges.

Source: http://barbaraevans.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/strategy.jpg
(Accessed on 18th October, 2010)

Leadership:
There are different ways of describing leadership so it is very difficult to provide a single
definition that fulfills the task. As Brindley and Buckley (2004) (p.96) argued that,
“Leadership has been identified as the process by which individual and group activities are
influenced towards organizational goals”. The same thing is narrated in Business
Management Study Manual compiled by The Association of Business Executives (p.226).
They are of the view that, “Leadership is a process by which individuals are influenced so
that they will be prepared to participate in the achievement of organizational or group goals.”
While Marcousé (2008) (p.244) narrates that, “Leadership, at its best, means inspiring staff to
achieve demanding goals.” All these things emphasize on one basic idea and that is
Inspiration or Influence. So we can say that Leadership is the art of getting things done by
inspiration or influence of the leader on its followers while Management mainly depends on
the analysis and ground realities.

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Source: http://www.natcapwfs.org/images/leadership.jpg
(Accessed on 18th October, 2010)
After all the discussion we came to the conclusion that Leadership and Strategic
management are interlinked with some minor differences. In the case of strategic
management we are trying our best to achieve some long term goals and the same is the case
with leadership. In both cases we should have someone with a broad vision; either it’s a
leader or a manager. The bottom line of all this discussion is beautifully captured by the
golden words of Field Marshal Slim that (quoted in Business Management Study Manual),
“Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality and vision: its practice is an art.
Management is more a matter of accurate calculation, of statistics, methods, timetable and
routine: its practice is a science.”

Task 1.2:
Analyse the impact of management and leadership styles on strategic decisions.

Leadership and Management Styles:


There is famous saying that, “Change is the only unchangeable thing in nature”. {Heller,
Hindle (2008)}. Similarly in our daily life things are changing rapidly and we have to adopt
ourselves to these changes. We can’t say that we will remain in the same situation forever.
We have to act according the situation. Similarly there certain ups and downs in
organizations as well. So the managers and leaders adopt different styles for different
situation. According to Whitcomb (2000), some famous and widely recognized styles are:

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Autocratic: In this style people are told what to do and how to do. They have no role in
decision making. Once made, a decision must not be questioned.
Democratic: In this style decisions are made on the views of as many people as possible
that are involved.
Passive: In this style people are given general directions on the tasks to be tackled and then
left alone to achieve them in the way they think is best.
Charismatic: In this style leader influences and motivates others because of his/her
outstanding personality or character.
As I have said earlier that these styles depend on certain situations and to be a good
leader/manager you would have to adopt all of them. All these styles of management and
leadership have certain impact on strategic decisions. The organizations led by Autocratic
leader are basically Task Oriented. According to Jenkins and Hamman (2001), the advantage
of such style is that the decisions are made quickly because people know where they stand.
But the employees in such organizations are not happy to some extent because they have no
role in decision making. As Barratt and Mottershead (2000) is of the opinion that in
Autocratic leadership the Work-force is not encouraged to think for itself, and emphasis is
more on quantity than quality.

Source: http://www.davidpiccione.com/blog/images/leadershipstyles.png
(Accessed on 18th October, 2010)
While the organizations led by Democratic leaders have proved good because they are
both Task oriented as well as Relationship oriented. But according to Barratt and Mottershead
(2000) the decision making process is slow and that can be dangerous.

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And the organizations led by Passive style are Relationship oriented. And Marcousé (2008) is
of the view that this only occurs when the manager is very busy or very lazy or has
confidence on his/her team and knows what they are capable of.
According to Whitcomb (2000), Charismatic style of leadership is very rare but can be very
successful in the extent to which they can motivate others to do things to support them.

Task 1.3:
Evaluate how leadership styles can be adopted to different situations.
Leadership styles can be adopted according to the situations. For example; during a war a
commander has to make quick decisions (Brindley and Buckley {2004}), or in the case of a
natural disaster there is no time for suggestions from the people, so autocratic style will be
perfect. The bottom line is that for quick decision you should always go for the Autocratic
style.
In the case of a Research and Development Organization, employees are highly
trained, skilled and professional people, so the style that best suits this situation is Laissez-
faire. Because employees know what they are doing and what are their goals.
And the situation that is the best candidate for Democratic style is a youth club
planning for their summer camp. They will have to take suggestions from all the persons
involved and then will make a decision. In this case the decision making process is slow but
WHO CARES.

Task2:
Be able to apply management and leadership theory to support
organisational direction.
Task 2.1:
Review the impact that selected theories of management and leadership have on
organisational strategy in your chosen organisation.
Every single person on this earth is different. The difference may be in way of thinking,
analyzing something, working or implementing something. Along the course of life humans
made many theories about things around them, some of them were wrong and some proved
successful. Human are called the most superior species on planet earth and this superiority is
due to the fact that humans learn from their mistakes. So humans learnt a lot from their

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mistakes and devised new theories. In this task we are going to focus our attention on the
different theories of leadership and management made during 19th and 20th century.
Theories of management and leadership:
According to Morris (1999), “The first-rate way of making a fool of oneself is to propose as
new an approach tried and rejected by earlier generations”. There are a lot of ways of doing
something, some of them have been tried before and some are not. So a successful manager
always learns from the past experiences and tries not to repeat the mistakes. The 20th century
has seen many theories of management applied to the organizations; some of them are
described below.
THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL: According to Morris (1999), this approach is based on the
main purpose and the structure of the organization. The organization is just like a machine,
just feed the input and get the output. The role and position of every individual is defined.
People are supposed to do things as mentioned by the higher level, human feelings are
irrelevant.

BUREAUCRACY: The main emphasis is on the performance and duties of the individuals.
The duties of the all the individuals are fixed according to the area of their expertise. And like
Classical School theory, human feelings are irrelevant.

SYSTEMS THEORY: This theory was developed in 1950s and 1960s. The theory is based
on the working of a typical system. It takes certain input (raw material, people) and
transforms them through a process into output (organizational goals).

HUMAN RELATIONS THEORY: This theory was developed in 1930s. The main theme
of this theory is the human relations. The Association of Business Executives in
Organizational Behavior mentioned that, “to understand and improve an organization, you
need to understand the people who work for it.”

Contemporary Theories: These theories are based upon the idea of sticking to the key
functions of the organization and puts emphasis on going towards excellence.

Contingency Theories: This theory emphasizes that there is no single particular way of
running an organization. Everything is dependent on the situations through which the
organization is passing by.

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Impact on Iceland:
Iceland is one of the leading organizations, with a vision of providing people everything they
need, under one roof at affordable price. Now we see the impact of the selected theories of
management on the strategy of Iceland.
The impact of Classical School theory on Iceland’s strategy is a bit disappointing
because Iceland believes in excellence with the help of its employees. So the Classical
Theory is surely going to inversely affect the strategy of Iceland.
The Bureaucratic Theory’s impact is similar to the Classic School Theory. But this
approach is providing a helping hand in organizing the overall working of the Iceland. But
only defining the duties of the employees and organizing them is not enough. The Iceland’s
strategy is to run the organization in a disciplined manner, keeping in mind the feelings of its
employees.
The impact of Human Relation Theory on Iceland’s strategy is not good enough. It
should be kept in mind that this theory alone is not enough to provide any progress in long
term. But the good thing about it is that it takes into account the ideas of all the employees.
The Contemporary and Contingency Theories have a good impact on Iceland’s
strategy. Both these theories are leading Iceland towards excellence. Changing the style
according to the situation and sticking to the overall performance is surely good enough for
Iceland’s progress in long term.

Task 2.2:
Create a leadership strategy that supports organisational direction in your chosen
organization.
In the case of Iceland, we should create a leadership strategy that is able to maintain a
technical superiority, enhances the standards of the employees, reviews new theories for
creating scope of rapid future success and finally selects, develops and retains senior
colleagues who will help steering the organization in the future.
Source: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=sl
(Accessed on 13th October, 2010)

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Source: http://www.womenpr.com/site/images/stories/leadership.jpg
(Accessed on 19th October, 2010)
We have seen the impact of different theories of management and leadership on the strategy
of Iceland. And we came to the conclusion that there is no single theory that can support
Iceland’s strategy. Everything depends on the situation of that organization in a particular
time frame. So in the case of Iceland the best strategy that supports organizational direction is
the Bureaucratic approach along with a flavor of Human Relation theory. The Bureaucratic
approach will be helpful in achieving the organizational goals and keeping everything on
track. It will also help Iceland to maintain its day-to-day budgets in control and will make
some serious profits for the organization. The Human relation approach will take into account
the feelings and needs of the staff and the people attached with Iceland. It will ensure that the
workforce is enjoying its time working with Iceland and take their work to perfection. This
new combination will be very helpful in maintaining the discipline in the organization and
will be very beneficial for the employees. So the working and the progress of Iceland will be
very smooth. The people will be aware of their position and duty in Iceland and they will be
free to work out a plan for performing their duties efficiently. Although this new leadership
strategy seems a bit odd to many people but if it is implemented in its true spirit, it will be
very helpful.

Task3:
Be able to assess leadership requirements.
Task 3.1:
Use appropriate methods to review current leadership requirements.

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There are certain methods available for reviewing the leadership requirements. Some of them
are listed below.
Blake and Moulton’s Managerial grid: According to Mullins (2005), Blake and Moulton’s
Managerial grid is one of the several methods available for reviewing leadership
requirements. According to this method, all managerial and leadership styles are reviewed on
the basis of two main rules.
1. Concern for Results; and
2. Concern for People.
In the first case, manager diverts all its energy on the accomplishing of tasks in given time.
This is shown along the horizontal axis on the grid. While in second case, employees and
their needs are given importance. And this is represented along the vertical axis of the grid.
Barratt and Mottershead (2000) have narrated this grid as a Matrix of managerial styles.

Blake and Moulton’s Managerial Grid


Source: http://www.gridod.com/images/LeadershipGrid.jpg
(Accessed on 19th October, 2010)
The numbers inside the grid indicate the degree of concern of the mangers. For example;
managers with a rating of (9,1) practice Autocratic style because they show little concern for
the employees. On the other hand, a rating of (1,9) depicts the behaviour of a Democratic
manager. It is also referred as “Country Club” management by some authors.
According to my research and findings, the management style of Iceland, on the basis
of Blake and Moulton’s managerial grid, should be rated as (7,5).

360° Feedback:

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According to Mullins (2005), “The idea of 360° feedback involves an appraisal and feedback
from different groups within the work situation – peers and subordinates as well as bosses,
and possibly internal and external customers.” The main purpose of the 360° feedback is to
highlight the strengths and weaknesses of an individual or an organization. It may include a
self-assessment questionnaire. This feedback helps in overcoming the weaknesses and
exploiting the strengths of the organization.

Source: http://recordtracker.net/images/pic_360.gif
(Accessed on 19th October, 2010)
MBO (Management by Objective):
Another common approach in reviewing leadership and management styles is Management
by Objectives commonly known as MBO. According to Mullins (2005, p. 249), MBO is a
system of management which is aimed at relating the organizational goals to individual
performances and development through the involvement of all levels of management. While
Morris (1999), is of the view that the top manager should set an overall objective, and should
convey it to the lower management for completion.
MBO is potentially an attractive system. It provides an opportunity for staff to accept
greater responsibility and to make a higher level of personal contribution. {Mullins (2005)}

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Source: http://leapcomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/mbo-process-cycle2.gif
(Accessed on 19th October, 2010)

Mc. Gregory’s Theory X and Theory Y:


The figure defines both the theories in detail. The bottom line is that Theory X is Task
oriented and Theory Y is Relationship oriented.

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Source: http://www.vectorstudy.com/management_theories/img/theory_x_y.gif
(Accessed on 19th October, 2010)

Source: http://leadershipchamps.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/image.png?w=497&h=480
(Accessed on 19th October, 2010)
Task 3.2:
Plan for the development of future situations requiring leadership.
A good leader is always prepared for the any kind of challenge. He acts quickly and accurately
according to the given situation. We can say that a good leader takes the right decision at the right
time. I have listed a couple of future situations here that will require a firm leadership.
Conflict Resolution: You cannot stop conflicts from occurring between individuals and organizations.
Sometimes these conflicts are useful and sometimes they are not. When I say useful, it means that
sometimes new ideas are created from these conflicts. Or these conflicts point to a deficiency or a
week point in the management of the organization. So they are helpful in pinpointing the lapses. On
the other hand sometime these conflicts leave a bad impression. Whatever the reason is, conflicts
should be resolved smoothly. So for the purpose of conflict resolution a leader should be there with a
remedy. And it is then up to the leader to resolve that conflict in any way he likes; whether by
choosing Autocratic style or by Democratic style.
Merger and Acquisition: Another most important situation for an organization is merger or
acquisition. It’s a really very difficult decision. You have to be very accurate in your calculations and
should have a good insight of market trends. A leader with a vision and deep thinking is essential in
this case. Either you are going for merger or going for acquisition, you should be able to foresee the
state of your employees and organization in coming years.
Recession: A couple of years ago there was no concept of recession on a large scale. But now
many of the world’s most popular economies are facing difficult times. Now-a-days recession
has become a worst nightmare for many people around the globe. And according to the

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economist it is the only chance for organizations to control their budget. So for recession
there should be a strong leader with a clear cut policy. This is the worst case scenario and a
true test of a leadership that how it overcomes recession.
Adaptation for change in technology, taste and performance: Change is the unchangeable
law of nature. And adaptation for change is very difficult for certain organizations and it may
be due to many factors. One of the key factors is that many old employees don’t welcome
change because they are used to work in old fashion and any change in technology, taste and
performance is a bit difficult for them. So a sincere leadership is required for any change to
become successful in organization, a leadership that is able to remove the ambiguities from
the minds of all employees about the nature of the change.
Natural Disaster: Another very important situation that requires a leadership is a natural
disaster. During the period of a natural disaster many employees and organizations are in a
state of ambiguity. They are unable to perform their duties efficiently. That’s why a firm and
dedicated leadership is required, that is capable of overcoming the difficulties, and is capable
enough to restore the confidence of the employees and organization.

Task4:
Be able to plan the development of leadership skills.

Task 4.1:
Plan the development of leadership skills for a specific requirement.
There are certain skills that every leadership should possess. True leaders have these skills in
their genes and others adopt them during the course of their life. But one thing is certain that
these skills are present in all the great leaders of the world. The possession of these qualities
is not enough; a good leader should be able to develop these skills and to be able to apply
them in accordance with the requirement. A good leader possesses the right skills and uses
them in the behaviour that best suits the current situation.
The main skill of a leader is its influence. A good leader always uses its influence on
its followers to obtain the best results. Inspiration can bring huge changes in organizations.
So a good leader should always try to develop and enhance its influence by empowering its
employees. So this skill can be developed by self-help by learning from mistakes. A good
leader should have good communication skills. He should be able to communicate easily with
his team members. Now-a-days the world is becoming a global village and to become a good

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leader, one has to be able to understand the feelings of others. So a leader should practice
more and more to master this skill.
A good leader should always be adaptable to change. He should have a vision and he
should try to introduce modern ways of getting things done. He should encourage his staff to
use new technology and new techniques for their routine work. He should be confident and
determined in his vision. So he should arrange seminars and workshops to convey his vision
to his followers. A good leader should be unbiased; he should be able to manage diversity
within an organization. He should be role model for all the employees from any origin. He
should be punctual and honest. It’s only through his own punctuality that he can maintain
discipline in the organization.
A good leader should be able to communicate the policy and regulations of the
organization to every single employee. And that can only happen when he first exercises
them himself before communicating to others. He should be able to expand the organization
in all ways possible. He should be able to appoint new staff and train the old staff according
to the new technology. He should arrange training courses and other developmental activities
for his company. He should also use his powers to keep the organizations on track. And most
importantly he should use his power of rewarding for winning the heart of his employees. He
should be a good speaker so that in any situation he is able to explain the position of
organization in an effective manner.
A good leader should possess good coordination skills for maintaining the integrity
between different departments of the organization. Discipline should be the main thing for a
leader and there should be no excuse for it. Because it is the main factor that can change the
fate of the organization. A good leader should be honest and well-wisher of its people. He
should stick to his commitments and promises. A leader should be a good listener; it helps
him in overcoming the weaknesses of the organization and sometimes gives him a chance to
grab some new ideas as well.
Source: {By Akhil Shahani http://top7business.com/?id=2113}
(Accessed on 20th October, 2010)
Task 4.2:
Report on the usefulness of methods used to plan the development of leadership skills.
There are certain methods that we can use to plan the development of leadership
skills. One of the best methods is to call a meeting of the staff and ask about their ideas. The
best method, however, is 360° feedback. It helps you in understanding your exact position in

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organization. Another widely used method is to gather as much information as you can about
the life of great leaders. It will help you in adopting their skills and their secrets of the trade.
Another way of developing leadership skills is to get familiar with your followers. It will help
you in understanding their feelings and their needs, which in turn will help you in managing
their needs.
So we used different plans for the development of leadership skills including;
seminars, meetings, training courses, self-help, learning from mistakes and a lot others. All
these methods are very useful to plan the development of leadership skills. Seminars and
workshops are very helpful in understanding the point of view of other people. Training
courses help in understanding and overcoming new challenges. These courses help
organizations to implement effective ways of getting things done. They also help in creating a
learning environment in an organization. Meetings should be arranged regularly; this will
help a leader in developing his communication and coordination skills.
Another very important method is exchange visits. These are very helpful in
developing leadership skills. These visits may be between different sections of the same
organization or between different organizations. These are very helpful in developing the
leadership skill of managing diversity.

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Conclusion
This unit explained the link between strategic management and leadership. Leadership is the
art of getting things done by influence; while management is the science of getting things
done by the employees. Leaders are born and the leadership traits are in their genes; while
management is the game of statistics. Anyone can become a good leader by adopting certain
skills and techniques and applying them in their daily life. There are different styles of
leadership. No single leadership style is best for every situation. These styles have certain
impact on the working and progress of the organization. For a good leader all styles should be
adopted and applied according to the situation in hand. There are certain theories about
leadership like Classical School theory, Bureaucracy, Contingency and Contemporary
theories etc. These all define typical styles of leadership in different situations.
After all this discussion we came to the conclusion that for every situation there is a
different style of leadership and management. And good leaders use these styles in a balanced
way to fulfill their vision. There are different ways of enhancing the leadership skills for
future requirements. And there should be a plan of developing these skills. The plan should
cover all the current and future needs for leadership and is helpful in the overall progress of
the organization. Secondly, everyone should try to become a leader, and should have a vision.
It gives the direction and purpose to our lives.

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Self-Evaluation
This unit was really very helpful in understanding the concepts of leadership and
management. It helped me in understanding the similarities and differences between
leadership and management. It was useful in understanding the leadership requirements,
skills, styles and different theories in detail. This unit was helpful in understanding different
theories of leadership and management in practice. And the impact of these theories on
different organizations was helpful in understanding the whole picture. It helped me in
mastering the basic skills and techniques for making good strategies for organizations. The
strategies that are made after keeping in mind all the factors that are necessary for the
prosperity of any organization. It provided a base for understanding the future situations that
may arise for any organization. We practice different techniques for making a plan for the
future situations. Then we learnt how to remove any drawbacks from that plan. After all this
we had a good plan that was ready to resolve those situations in a proper way. This unit was
helpful in developing the skill for doing long term planning and setting a long term objective.

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References:
1. Barratt, Mottershead. (2000), Business Studies, Italy, G. Cannale & C. S. p. A
Borgano T. se – Turin.
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Mohsin Javaid Student ID: MO03095PK


Strategic Management and Leadership Skills Page 26 of 26

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Mohsin Javaid Student ID: MO03095PK

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