This management/leadership style is more likely to lead to increased levels of morale and motivation among the staff, because they feel that people are listening to them and care about what they think.
The downside to the democratic management style is that because so many people are involved in discussing and making the decisions, it can mean that it takes far more time to achieve any results.
Democratic management would be used in business if an important change or decision had to be made. Before these changes would be made, the management team would talk to the workforce and see what they thought. The mangers would listen to the opinions of their employees and then a more joint decision would be settled on.
LAISSEZ – FAIRE.
This leadership style involves groups of employees being set tasks, which they then have to decide how best the achieve them using the resources available. This method can result in an increase in the enthusiasm for the task in-hand because the employees can do things their own way, but it may sometimes rely too much on the skills of the workforce and they may take too long over one job as they have the opportunity to work at their own pace. But it may also sometimes mean that the manager can lose control over the staff, and formal communication links can often break down.
This style of leadership would probably only be used in a business where the managers can totally rely on their workforce, knowing that they are skilled enough to handle the tasks, and that they will do the work quickly and efficiently, not wasting a lot of time.
FACTORS THAT WILL AFFECT LEADERSHIP STYLES.
There are several factors that can and do affect which management or leadership style a business chooses. They are:
- The size of the business.
- The experience and behaviour of the employees.
- The business activity.
- The structure of senior management.
- The employee activity (what each employee is doing).
- Public image.
- The success or failure of the business.
- The skill or experience of the manager.
- Deadlines.
THE LEADERSHIP STYLE OF McDONALDS.
The leadership style of McDonalds is mainly autocratic. Because they are a fast-food restaurant, they have to work incredibly quickly. In order to do this successfully, the managers must instruct each employee on what to and when to do it. If any employee doesn’t know what they doing, the quick service will be slowed down, causing problems.
McDonalds will also sometimes use democratic management because they do care about each and every one of their employees. They have a policy called the “People Promise”, in which they describe their promise to employees. They promise to be the best employer and provide any support or help needed by the workforce.
BUSINESS CULTURE.
Culture within a business is the shared attitudes and behaviours that characterise the functioning of a group or organisation.
There are many different types of culture that businesses operate.
They include:
- Role culture.
- Task culture.
- Person-oriented culture.
- Power culture.
- Change culture.
Below, I have outlined what each of the above business cultures involves.
ROLE CULTURE.
Role culture is mainly used in organisations that operate in a bureaucratic way, where the business relies on procedures and a strict hierarchy. Within this type of organisation, everybody has a specific role to carry out, in order for the business to be a success, achieving all work set and meeting all deadlines.
Some departments within the Government operate in this way. Role cultures are more likely to thrive in a stable and predictable environment.
TASK CULTURE.
Task culture involves teams or groups of experts being assembled to focus and work on a particular task. Task culture mainly focuses on problem solving. Expertise, flexibility and creativity are all important factors within task culture. Employees are normally highly skilled.
Businesses such as management consultants may operate a task culture, as the staff within this type of business tackle problems regarding the management of other companies, providing solutions and ideas on how to improve the general performance of the business.
PERSON-ORIENTED CULTURE.
Person-oriented culture involves focusing more on the employees of the business. It aims to help fulfil the needs of individuals, allowing them freedom and independence. With this style of culture, it is important that employees are highly skilled and motivated. This type of culture will often be found within businesses staffed by professionals, e.g. accountants or solicitors.
POWER CULTURE.
Power culture involves having a centralisation of power. It works a bit like a spider’s web, with the key figure of power in the middle. The influences spread out across the business from the source in the middle.
The type of culture is often used in small organisations such as sole trader businesses.
CHANGE CULTURE.
Change culture involves being very flexible and responsive. It is often used within industries involving technology etc, where the market is changing constantly and the business needs to adapt. It is used within highly competitive environments, where changes will be occurring rapidly.
THE CULTURE AUDIT.
The culture audit is a recording of all the factors that go into making up the culture of an organisation.
They are split into two groups; NORMS and CORE VALUES.
THE NORMS:
The norms include:
- How managers treat subordinates.
- How subordinates react.
- Status, and the attitude to status.
- Attitudes towards ambition, performance, internal politics and loyalty.
- Approachability of senior management.
- Degree of formality.
CORE VALUES (especially if not defined in a mission statement) IN RELATION TO:
- Care and consideration for people.
- Care for customers.
- Excellence.
- Competitiveness.
- Teamwork.
- Social responsibility.
- Productivity.
- Quality.
- Equity in the treatment of employees.
- Focus on organisational needs rather than people’s needs.
- Innovation.
THE CULTURE OF McDONALDS.
The McDonald’s organisation operates with a role culture. As McDonald’s is a fast-food restaurant/outlet, they are constantly aiming to work quickly and efficiently. Each order they receive is like a mini deadline that they try and meet as soon as possible. They use role culture to do this because it means that each and every employees has a specific role/job to carry out, for example, taking orders, cooking the food, clearing/cleaning the tables etc, which in an overall view, helps the company to achieve any task that is set.
