At the present moment the SilkQueen company faces the organizational difficulties caused by the misunderstanding between the line manager and the employees of the enterprise. In spite the vast working experience in Asian companies and the undeniable professional skills, Sally Dawson has the definite difficulties in relations with the staff of the company. Sally, who is the new line manager of the company, has implemented the new model of the working process, aiming the increasing of the productivity of the enterprise. Sally has succeeded in the improvement of the enterprises earning yields. Moreover, she has managed to reduce the working hours of the employees for the same pay.
By doing so, Sally has not adjusted the implementation of the new model with the authorities of the enterprise and with its shareholders. The same goes for the employees who are greatly dissatisfied with the changing of the working hours. Now Sally faces misunderstanding and even hostility towards her. The question discussed at the last meeting of the employees was the vote of censure against Sally.
The problem of the company is that Sally Dawson is the typical manager of the directive leadership style. Though this style has its own benefits, it does not suit the given situation in a full manner. Directive leadership implies the assignment of the specific tasks to the employees. This style suggests a distinct definition of work duties and procedures and a planning of work activities (McShane & Steen 2012).
Moreover, it is necessary to mention that the enterprise has a female-dominated workforce. In spite of the increase of the production output and the benefits of the reduced working hours for the same pay, “women are more likely to be feeling types than thinking types” (Introduction to organizational behavior 2015, para.35). It was necessary to confirm the changes in the working model of the enterprise on the general meeting.
The problem may be also emphasized by the gender prejudices towards Sally. Because of the gender stereotypes, female leaders are expected to be more participative (McShane & Steen 2012).Thus, women more often use the participative leadership style as compared to men. Having changed the existing working model of the enterprise without the consultation with the authorities, Sally has showed herself as a directive leadership manager. Several surveys report that due to gender stereotypes women are evaluated negatively when they use the directive or autocratic approaches in management (Gonos & Gallo 2013).
Moreover, in this particular case it is obviously seen that Sally has not been given any recommendations from the authorities. She has a vast working experience as a HR manager, but at the present moment she occupies the position of the liner manager. General manager Michael Ribero has not provided Sally with the position where her experience and the leadership style would suit in a best way.
There may be several possible ways of this problem solution. First of all Sally has to change the style of the leadership. The major part of the researchers in this field are apt to think that the right choice of the leadership style depends upon the definite situation. According to the path-goal theory, an effective leader is able to choose the most appropriate behavioral style or maybe the combination of styles in accordance with the situation (McShane & Steen 2012).
The successful manager has to choose between the directive, supportive, participative and achievement oriented styles. Sally has already approved herself as the directive and achieve oriented manager. For the solution of this problem, she has to use some techniques from the supportive and participative styles. It is necessary to organize the working process in such a way that every employee feels the friendly assistance from the manager. Moreover, the biggest Sallys mistake was her autocratic decision concerning the changing of the working model of the enterprise. Taking into consideration the existing problem, it is possible to involve the working staff of the enterprise in the discussion before making a serious decision in future.
Moreover, Sally has to realize the fact that no matter what a professional she is, according to the implicit leadership theory people always want a leader to possess those qualities that correspond to their common prototypes. In the imagination of the subordinates, the males and females leaders are endued with different qualities. To be effective manager it is necessary to take this fact into account.
From the previous Sallys experience it is seen that she has used to work in Asian countries. The cultural peculiarities of these counties imply the authoritative forms of the management. The authority of a manager is indisputable in these countries (Jogulu 2010). Having changed the place of her work, Sally uses the same patterns that have shown their effectiveness in other countries, without taking into consideration the cultural peculiarities of the new employees. It is known that the manager who acts inconsistently with the cultural expectations of subordinates is probably to be perceived as an unsuccessful leader (McShane Glinow 2010).
Due to the improved economic indicators of the enterprise, Sally has proved herself as a good specialist. At the same time, in spite the fact that the employees have the reduced hours for the same pay, they are not satisfied with the changes. As a possible way of the working staff motivation, it is possible to modify the existing system by increasing the working hours to the previous norm with the pay rise.
Reference List
Gonos, J & Gallo, P 2013, ‘Model for leadership style evaluation’, Management, vol.18, no.2, pp.157-168. Web.
Introduction to organizational behavior 2015. Web.
Jogulu D, 2010, ‘Culturally-linked leadership styles’ ,School of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Law, vol.31, no.8, pp.705-719. Web.
McShane, S & Glinow, M 2010, Organizational behavior: emerging knowledge and practice for the real world, McGraw Hill, New York. Web.
McShane, S & Steen, S 2012, Canadian organizational behavior, McGraw Hill, Toronto. Web.