ORGANISATION AND BEHAVIOUR.

Organisation and Behaviour.

Introduction2

Discussion2

Comparison of Walmart and Debenhams6

Conclusion11

References12

Introduction

Leadership in an organization has an important role for all parties involved, and has lately taken on an investigative role especially in North America. It has been observed that before the 80's, leadership was based around the trends and development of traits, styles and contingency approach. Since then however, new alternate approaches have been making headway in large scale organizations to characterize leadership traits, motivational factors, perception and achievement of goals and so on( Katz, 1955). Marketing and management philosophies have been helping organizations create strategies and plans which have been tested in theory and hence are applicable on real life situations. Therefore, in this paper, I will be analyzing the American retail establishment Walmart's leadership front, as well as the U.K based, high street retail store Debenhams, in order to examine both their successes and failures.

Discussion

Although a lot of people from diverse backgrounds may find themselves performing the duties of a leader, it doesn't mean that everyone is fit for the role, or that effective in their ability to handle a pressuring situation. Recognizing the needs of a group and catering them is an ability that not many would have, as there are individual personality types that are more able to handle leadership responsibilities. A few features seem to be repeated among leadership n business as well as different industries.

In an authoritarian style of leadership, one individual is usually in chanrge of overlooking plans and keeping the workforce motivated. The leader will tell their employees what they want done as well as how they should go about doing it, but do not consult them or console them in case of any problems arising. An appropriate situation in which to use an authoritative style of leadership would be when a small workforce is present and all the information needed in order to provide solutions for a problem are available. An authoritative style of leadership should also be utilized if one is short on time and there is a critical problem in need of an immediate solution. Bad leaders are often prone to using an authoritative style for a dictatorship method, and use demeaning language or use oppresive means of power and abuse. Threats and demeaning language would be a main characteristic of such leaders. Thus it may not be a style of leadership that is suited for everyone. At times when commitment and motivation from the employees is required, effective authoritative leaders are able to get a lot done in a short amount of time but if the title is given to someone who exploits their position and uses it to boss others around, the problem could escalate rather than being solved.

The second style of leadership is called democratic, and is the most widely used. Even country leaders try to adopt a democratic style although they do not always succeed. There is a delicate balance that can only be achieved by the most skilled leaders in ...