Both international and domestic commercial practice together with the growing scholarly opinion explicitly indicate the fact that before any business venture is launched, the theoretical framework of all industry-related aspects shall be meticulously and attentively scrutinized by the managers and by the Human Resources department of the future venture. Professor Herzberg in his How Do You Motivate Employees (2003) duly accentuates the fact that the effective Human Resource policy is the most integral aspect of the contemporary business conduct. However, it is natural to assume that whilst the issues connected with the motivation concern both the productive and the managerial departments of the company, the aspects of the leadership strategy promoted by the company is inherently connected with the managerial chain of the firm.
Overall, the ultimate aim of this extensive theoretical background of the firm is to achieve the best industrial performance for the company and to accrue bigger profits for the company. Professor Buckingham (2005) has asserted that the and improvement of the organizational effectiveness is inherently confined to the utilization of the existing managerial and leadership theories. The recent economic recession which fully spanned the developed European and North American countries, as well as the rapidly developing oriental countries is indeed the best illustration for the essentiality of the proper comprehension and more importantly proper utilization of the leadership concepts and motivational theories (Hallowell, 2005).
To be more exact, those companies which followed the postulates of these strategies managed to keep afloat and to stay in the business circles, while the vast majority of their competitors, especially those business structures which behaved chaotically and without any substantiated theoretical justification of their managerial actions were either driven out from the economically narrowed markets or simply went bankrupt. In contrast to them, the companies which had poorer financial or HR resources, but which properly utilized the policies managed to survive and now, with the retreat of the global economic downturn are gradually increasing their industrial capacities.
The aim of this paper is to provide an extensive exploration of the motivational theories, leadership styles with regard to the scholarly opinion discussed in conjunction with the contemporary and conventional commercial practice of the companies and the causation of those concepts with the issues of effective industrial performance of the company.
Task Specification
The aim of the task is to provide a detailed counseling on how the knowledge of Motivational Theories can help me, as Manager of High Street Retail Company, introduce the policies to increase the Motivation and the Productivity of the Employees. The company of my choice is “Xavier Ltd.”, the enterprise whose business is the organization of cafes and fast food points adjoined to the highways in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In order to respond to the posed question adequately and fully the following elements of the problem must be all-roundly analyzed:
– What are the Human Resources connected peculiarities of the company?
– What leadership styles are available for the disposition of the managers of the company?
– How the application of these styles differ in the processes of economic hardships resolution? What style is requested to be applied when the owners of the company came to the conclusion that the company needs restructuring?
– What motivational theories are relevant for the purposes of the industry-related enhancement?
– What specific motivational theories can be applied to the managers of the company?
The Peculiarities of the Company
Whatever analysis of the business entity is being conducted, the first step that must be closely followed by the analyst is the detection of the peculiarities and the individualities of the business structure, because namely this operation enables further conduct of the enterprise-related research. Both the scholars and the practice manifest that the failure to comply with this requirement invariably leads to the deterioration of the business environment of the company, which may in the long run result in the bankruptcy of the firm.
In the preset case the peculiarities of the firm are the following:
- – The ration between the managerial and the productive staff of the company is not particularly significant (30% of the entire staff of the company are the managers and the rest 70% of the company crew are those employees, who are involved in the production cycle of the enterprise, or to be more exact in the service rendering
- – The company possess aggregate average financial resources, therefore extra financial operation cannot be launched to restore the healthy business environment of the company shall any crisis-related trend emerge on the industrial horizon of the company,
- – The company operates in the normal business conditions and no specific conditions have been created for the internal and external infrastructures of the company.
Therefore, considering the following assumptions of the internal and external business atmospheres of the company it can be recapitulated that the elaboration, the choice of the most appropriate ones, the justification and the utilization of the most relevant leadership styles and motivational theories is made on the basis of the “simple and ordinary” conditions as no extra peculiarities are found within the enterprise’s integral internal and external elements.
Leadership Styles in the Period of Changes Within the Organization
First and foremost, it is necessary to accentuate the fact that various types of the changes are likely to happen in the company . The following types of changes, in accordance with the widespread scholarly opinion are likely to happen to almost any business institution operating in the retail market of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and accordingly the following managerial leadership styles are requested and admonished to be applied in the case of the changes in question:
1) The Layoffs of the Staff due to the Financial Distresses of Various Natures ( the losses exceed the profits and in order to keep solvent the expenditures shall be diminished at any cost) or due to the technological improvements of the sectors.
This situation unequivocally demands the utilization of the combination of the authoritarian (also known as autocratic leadership style) and the participative ( also known as democratic style) leadership approaches. Under the first concept and strategy of leadership the role of the manager, who is the ultimate decision maker is crucial to the efficacy of the decision making and the implementation of the decision. Moreover, the manager is the one who takes the decision solely substantiating the choice of the decision by his personal qualifications, experience and skills. This manager is the one, who bears the ultimate responsibility for the repercussions and the outcomes ensued from the fulfillment of the decision. The manager is therefore asked neither to have counseling from those who will be charged with the implementation of the decision, nor with his own superiors who control and monitor his performance.
The utilization of the first approach is necessary here due to the fact that the rest of the styles (the democratic, free-reins and target oriented method) do not guarantee that the personnel of the firm will be laid off ultimately. This decision always requires firmness and resolution, because sometimes there is a crying need to dismiss even those, who have been loyal to the company for years and whose dismissal is painful for the owners of the firm ethically and emotionally. Therefore, this decision shall be taken once by the manager and this decision shall be ultimate and irrevocable in its nature. Providing that these requirements are observed, it can be guaranteed, that the safe environment of the business is saved.
However, the personification of those, who are subjects to the dismissal, shall be necessarily attributed to the section of participative leadership style. In other words, although it may indirectly exercise the negative impact on the healthy collaboration of the team in future, the members of the staff shall be involved in the process of deciding who shall be dismissed. This strategic concept is especially important, when the qualifications of the professional engaged in the specific industries are outwardly equal and therefore the choice of the one who shall be fired cannot be reasonably substantiated. In this case the application of the participative (although known as cooperative leadership) strategy will help the managers to shift the responsibility for the personalized dismissals to the general staff of the company.
Overall, it can be recapitulated that when the organizational changes of the company necessitate that the number of the active employees shall be curtailed; the best way to accomplish it is to refer to the combination of the authoritarian and the participative leadership strategies.
The restructure of the company leads to the increase of the number of employees due to the production expansion or other external and internal factors. Very often the economic situation of the enterprises engaged in the retail trade sector increase the number of the active employees of the company. Mostly, this situation arises, when the ever-growing influx of the customers and the popularity of the specific markedly represented good or service dictate that the facilities of the firm are to be expanded. In other words, this situation occurs when the demand rises and there is no other way to comply with the growing demand rather than to focus the attention of the company on the increase on the number of both the production staff and the managers of the firm.
This situation definitely requires the implication of the autocratic and the engaging styles of leadership. The autocratic style is substantiated by the need to hire new employees. In this case the existing employees of the company shall not question and their opinion shall be under any conditions disregarded by the managers of the firm. The unanimous scholarly opinion and the domestic UK as well as the international practice is that all pending employees of the firm are always against the recruitment so the new staff. This paradoxical trend is often generated by the growing apprehensions of the staff of the firm that if the new people arrive, their own salary packages and the bonuses will be diminished by the necessity to finance the activity of the new people. Therefore, it is natural to assume that the decision to hire the new staff will not be approved by the existing employees of the firm.
However, when the decision to hire a new staff of the firm has been approved by the top managers of the firm and the assent of the owners have been obtained, the next step is to promote a proper Human Resource operations. In order to conduct an effective and most importantly adequate evaluation of the performance characteristics of the newly appointed/newly hired employees of the firm, the best way is t implicate the existing professionals of the firm to deliver their opinion. However professional the Human Resources department of the firm is, the shortest way to determine the qualifications of the promising members of the crew is to organize a set of interviews with the professionals that are have already been immersed in the industrial cycle. Hereby, the most effective, accurate and adequate examination of the new employees eligibility to fulfill the industrial functions can be conducted.
Overall it can be inferred that the expansion of the production of the business entity which is connected with the increase of the members of the staff of the company shall invariably implicate the conjunction of the autocratic and the engaging methods of leadership.
The Application of the Motivational Theories Within the Workplace
Contemporary domestic and international commercial practice together with the opinion of the scholars carefully identifies the trend that the motivational theories shall be indeed applied in the business development and subsequent expansion of the business structures. As it has already been mentioned in the introductory statement of this paper, the failure to comply with this requirement may lead to catastrophic results for the company. In other words, those companies which have decided on the chaotic motivational approaches, are permanently on the verge of the bankruptcy, the staff turnover is higher and the retention of the most qualified and talented members of the staff. The relevance and substantiation of this assumption was proven during Great Depression in the United States of America during the 1995 economic recession in Europe and during the latest 2008-2010 financial downturn in Europe.
The Employees Theory and its Vitality for the Purposes of the Present of the Present Case Study
Generally, two aspects are subjects to close analysis. First and foremost, extrinsic factors are relevant for the examination. In other words, the salaries, the bonus packages, the holidays and the availability of the day-offs and the presence of the post-employment bonuses. The intrinsic aspects of this theory mandate that in order to inspire and to motivate the employees of the firm to further accomplishments and to raise their dedication and loyalty to the firm, their subjective needs , like promotion, sense of competiveness, equal attitude and gender, racial and social equality principles are to be carefully observed.
For the purposes of the present situation, the most effective theory is the one discussed. Naturally, the employees of the firm are routinely encouraged and admonished by the managers to achieve their personal and the corporate goals, and the application of this theory is the best tool to accomplish these goals in the context of retail trade business of the UK.
Fundamental Human Needs Theory
In accordance with the postulates of this theory, the people are get employed in order to satisfy their basic human needs, like to provide them and their families with nutrition and clothing. This theory does seem to be obsolete nowadays, and therefore it is only partially applicable here. Specific circumstances shall undoubtedly arise to justify the implementation of these theories, namely there is a need of drastic economic straits, so that the employees of the company shall be fully concentrated on the retention of their job place.
Specific Theories to Inspire and Encourage the Performance of the Managers
The managerial staff of the company necessitates that specific attitude and therefore specific approaches to accomplish their industrial efficiency are to be cultivated (Herzberg, 2003).
The first concept to be applied is the so-called strategy of achievement. Under the postulates of this doctrine, the individual financial and non-financial remunerations of the managers are in the direct causation with the profit brought to the corporation by the activity of the managers. In other words, the managers prosper financially only when the firm thrives at the same time .
The second inspirational scheme for the managers is the social learning approach. Under the postulates of this strategy, it is highly advisable to accentuate the attention of the managers of the fact that the experience and the skills they accumulate within their activity of the firm, will help them to perform more effectively in future and therefore to secure their personal financial well-being.
Introduction to Task 2
The aim of this task is to outline the differences and the similarities of the leadership styles and motivational theories applied in the fast food industry. The targets of evaluation have been chosen from the US markets. The first analyzed business structure is the Subway Fast Food Retail Chain. The net profit for 2011 fiscal year was reported to be $ 11; 4 billion and the 24, 722 points of food distribution are reported to be located throughout the United States of America. The second object for the study, is one of the closet competitors of the firm, the Starbucks Fast Food Retail chain. The gross sales for 2011 have been reported to be $ 9, 75 billion wit 10,787 active fast food points throughout the United States of America.
The last but not the least stipulation of this task which is to be accentuated is the fact that the contrasting and comparison of the companies will be confined to the limits of the theory promoted and advocated by the outstanding scholars and business practitioners Marguilles and Raia in 1979. The main message of this theory is the fact that the human resources of the company are regarded in the first turn as the human beings, but not as the productive facilities of the firm.
a) Differences and Similarities of the Organizational Structures and Cultures of the Companies
Having reviewed the contemporarily available scholarly research, the annual financial statements, cash flowcharts of the both firms, several important conclusions can be drawn.
The similarities of the companies in the context of employees’ theories
Both companies cultivate and employee-friendly approach. In other words, favorable conditions have been created to assure that the excising employees of the firm are satisfied with their working conditions are new employees are attracted and subsequently retained by the firm. The managerial line of the both companies encapsulates 3 lines of the managers. In accordance with the contemporary commercial practice standards, this managerial structure has been classified as the most effective for the purposes of the fast food chain.
As far as the corporate organizational cultures of the both enterprises are concerned, it must be elucidated that both firms promote and maintain flexible approach to the comprehension of the corporate culture. In other words, in contrast to the “white collar firms” the organizational structure of the companies is primarily determined by the employees engaged in the industrial cycles themselves. In other words, there are no mandatory requirements imposed by the managerial authorities of the firm. Naturally, specific procedural aspects really exist. In particular, there is a set of obligatory principles related to the activity of the both firms which define the corporate principles with regard to the customers relations management (i.e. the way the customers are treated by the staff of the company).
The Differences of the Structures and the Cultures
The major differences between the Subway and Starbucks are the leadership approaches chosen by the owners of the companies and most importantly discrepancies are present in the hierarchical structures and the staffing policy. To be more exact, the decisions of the managers who run the Subway fast food company are never subjected to the approval by the Board of Directors ( naturally, the strategic decisions are made by the board itself, and this passage is solely confined to the decisions taken in the daily course of the business). In contrast, the managers of their closest competitors are encouraged to take decisions are their own discretion and they are not accountable to any authority.
Another aspect is the way the employees are reviewed. In this case, the first company flagrantly violates the principles promoted by Marguilles and Raia, while the second firm precisely sticks to those set of principles. In other words, the Subway Company does not view the employees as merely the productive tools of the firm. The favorable conditions for the promotions of the staff have been created. On the other hand, the Starbucks Company is open for the professional growth and personal development of the employees. The official employment with the company enables those engaged in the industrial cycle to attend the vocational courses financed by the company which are not necessarily connected with the professional activity of the firm.
Individual Behavior and Leadership Styles and Management Approaches of the Companies
With regard to the employees encouragement and inspiration strategies promoted by the both companies, it can be recapitulated that individually the employees of Starbucks perform better than their colleagues who are employed by the competitor. The convergent scholarly opinion with regard to this issue is that the workers employed by Starbucks realize completely that their dedication and commitment are the pledges for the promotion and the professional growth within the company. Moreover, if they ultimately decide to relocate to other company, the skills and the experience obtained will enable them to find more favorable job opportunity.
In contrast, the employees of Subway are concentrated solely on the money making process and no other priorities determine their professional growth and their personal development.
As far as the leadership strategies are concerned, it shall be noted that while for the needs of the first company the most appropriate style is the autocratic style. Definitely, very often harsh decisions are to be somehow substantiated and the most effective tools to comply with this task is to implicate this style. The second company is solely confined to the engaging and cooperative styles, because these styles exclusively can guarantee that the conditions of effective personal development are observed.
Groups Work within the Organization
This part of the paper examines the factor which directly or indirectly influences the assessment of the groups (i.e. the professional communities and departments) in a contemporary business environment. The accent is made here on the factors which contribute to the development of the collaboration, to the factors which mechanically and by other means inhibit the development and on the technological impact of the problem in question.
The most illustrative example is the leading global auditing law firm DLA Piper which has recently (2007) re-focused the market segmentation. To be more exact the company has opened a number of legal practices within the internal structure of the company. Therefore, for the purposes of this paper it is reasonable to provide an analysis of the two professional communities, i.e. the lawyers and the accountants.
The factors which directly or indirectly impede the effective collaboration among the professionals of the different department can be classified into the two major groups. The first group is the external factors. In particular this factor is focused on the demand of the services. To be more exact, considering the business reputation of the DLA Piper as the leading auditing giant, the demand for the lawyers is not so significant. Following this assumption, it can be inferred that when the collaboration of the two groups is required the deadlines and the schedules of the more “sturdy” auditing team can be broken by the lawyers who are not in the habit to meet such severe requirements. Another factor is the perception of the customers, who regard the audit analysts of the company as the most qualified professionals, while the lawyers still have to prove and establish their reputation.
As far as the favorable factors are concerned, it shall be stressed that the employment process to this company is very selective. In other words, in order to get hired by this firm, the professional has to cultivate extremely high qualifications and academic preparedness. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that all professional of the firm are of the same professional level. If the cooperation of these professional groups is necessitated by the company, it can be easily assumed that the professionals will easily find a common language and the issue of professional gap will not be a problem for this firm.
The Technological Impact
As far the impact of the technology on the development of the cooperation and collaboration among the professional groups is concerned, it shall be stressed that with the advent of the contemporary technological advancements the cooperation among the professional groups have been simplified. First the technology helps to remove the professional barrier among the groups ( the qualifications can be enhanced immediately with the recur to the available database) and secondly the communicational approaches have been simplified substantially. Therefore, the technology has enabled the professional groups to save the time and to economize the resources of the firm to keep in touch with each other.
