MD4042 Leading, Managing & Developing People Assignment Sample
1. Introduction
Organisational management involves myriad roles and responsibilities like staffing, planning, controlling, directing, and organising and leadership is one of the important parts of this management. Leaders play a pivotal role in the development of people as they lead the workforce towards the appropriate direction to achieve long term business goals. The following report is expected to critically interpret the significance of leadership in growth based on the organisational context of Madras Rubber Factory or MRF Tyres. The pertinence of maintaining healthy workplace culture and different dimensions of MRF Tyres’ leadership style will also be explicated in this report. Along with interpreting the advantages and disadvantages of the existing leadership approach, the study will also recommend better growth.
2. Brief background and overview of MRF tyres
According to Thorpe(2016), a leader is expected to envision the long-term business goals and develop strategies to inspire employees to achieve the goals. Selection of leadership style depends on a complete understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the leaders and this sound knowledge of the leadership approach is important in a company like MRF Tyres that operates in multiple countries. MRF Tyres is recognised as the number 1 tyre manufacturing company in India. In 1946, K.M. MammenMappillai started the company as a small toy balloon unit and it turned into a tyre manufacturing company(NDTV, 2021).
The product line of MRF Tyres include mainly tyres, pretreads, conveyor belting and so on. According to the global study by TNS 2006, MRF Tyres has been awarded the “Most Trusted Tyre Company”. The company has also conducted a technical collaboration with the USA-based organisation Tire & Rubber. MRF Tyres has successfully expanded its manufacturing operation and now it exports tyres to more than 65 countries including the Middle East, America, Japan, Europe, and the Pacific region. As observed in the financial performance of the company in the last five years, that the company has maintained consistency and gradually increased its sales rate and total income (MRF Tyres, 2021).
3. Leader and style of leadership in MRF tyres
3.1 Leader
As mentioned earlier that leaders play an important role in inspiring the workforce and involving them to perform at their best to achieve the desired goals. As observed in the case of MRF Tyres that, from a small balloon manufacturing unit, it has become the most trusted company in India(NDTV, 2021). In the entire journey of MRF Tyres, the role and contribution of K M MammenMappillai as the leader is remarkable. So, as the founder of MRF, K M MammenMappillaihas always been the most successful leader of this organisation, who paved the way for growth and future prosperity to a greater extent.
3.2 Leadership style
K M MammenMappillai started the journey of MRF in 1946 as a young entrepreneur and initially, the manufacturing unit was in a shed at Tiruvottiyur in Madras. At the very initial stage, the manufacturing unit was operated without any machines and gradually K M MammenMappillai moved to the manufacturing of tread rubber(NDTV, 2021). As the leader of the organisation, Mappillai has never compromised with the quality of products. This quality of products and high standards have always been the strengths of MRF, due to which it became the market leader in India with almost 50% share of the market of tread rubber. Thus, as a leader K M MammenMappillai has always tried to carry out the business of MRF as a customer-centric organisation, where customer satisfaction and trust is obtained by providing the best quality products and services.
The leadership style of K M MammenMappillai has a few similarities with the style of transformational leadership. As stated by Sarah K. White(2018), a transformational leader always has high expectations from the employees and this type of leader acts as an inspirational mentor. Typical behavioural attributes of transformational leaders include encouragement to workers for better performance and to inspire the employees, these leaders set quality goals. Similarly, in MRF Tyres, the employees are inspired to achieve quality goals so that the company can achieve a strong competitive position in the market with unique products and services.
Like a transformational leader, K M MammenMappillai has always developed an organisational structure in MRF that allows employee training and skill development. MRF Tyres has developed multiple training centres in different states in India for its employees. Instead of commanding from outside, K M MammenMappillai has worked as a part of the team like a transformational leader. As MRF Tyres started its journey as a very small scale business, so the leader has immense involvement from the very initial stage of its operation. Therefore, it can be stated that the leadership style ofK M MammenMappillai adhered to the idea of transformational leadership to a greater extent.
4. Personality and characteristics related to leader
Successful people management practices and systematic organisation of tasks and other activities stringently depend on the characteristics of the leader. Mehrabani & Mohamad(2015)have firmly stated that effective communication is one of the key characteristics of a leader and this communication is the key to motivating and engaging the team. In MRF Tyres, K M MammenMappillai started a business as a young entrepreneur so initially, he was directly involved in the core operational activities and responsible for the business outcomes. So, it can be stated that K M MammenMappillai has been a successful leader because of his profound knowledge of the work and complete involvement.
Integrity, ability to delegate, learning agility, empathy, and influence are some of the important characteristics of an efficient leader. The learning agility of K M MammenMappillai reflects from his direct involvement in MRF Tyres’ operations. His learning agility inspired him to do something different beyond the balloon factory, which is why he walked the streets of Chennai and gradually started manufacturing tread rubber(T Thomas, 2003). His integrity led him to focus on an industry in India, which was dominated by foreign companies. As a true leader, with the capability of influence, he expanded the practice of learning. The MRF Institute of Driver Development (MIDD) is a notable initiative, which aimed to develop proficient light and heavy commercial vehicle (LCV and HCV) drivers. MIDD trains unemployed young men and it has successfully turned out 700 HCV and 2000 LCV drives in two decades since 1988(MRF Tyres, 2021). This is how, along with ensuring the growth of the organisation, Mappillai has explored opportunities of growth and excellence for road transportation in India.
5. Organizational culture and how it helps in growth and achieve goals
Organizational culture is defined as the appropriate way to operate and behavior within the company culture(Shahzad, et al., 2012). It consists of shared values and beliefs among the stakeholders and employees that establish the managers and the leader to reinforce and communicate the methods to shape the perception of the employee and their understanding and behavior. In terms of the said organisation, it can be identified that the organisational culture of the company sets the context for its operation, and due to the situations and industry varying significantly, it does not consider one-size-fits-all culture within the organisation. Hence it can be stated that a strong culture remains the common denominator for the company to become successful in a competitive market environment. By considering the cultural priorities the stakeholders and leaders of the organisation are able to focus on the value that helps in achieving the goals.
It is considered that the leaders in successful organisations live the culture in every aspect or level of operation. It becomes a significant way to communicate the cultural identity to the stakeholders and employees as well as the new employee who gets involved in the organisation. Since the leaders and managers have a clear idea about the value of the organisation, healthy customer relationships, reduced employee turnover rate, and increased profit are identified. Terms of MRF acquisition and merging with other companies belonging to the Sector are brought with cultural issues. However for most of the successful business as even when the organisational culture work in favor of developing this functional culture after acquisition and business merging failure due to cultural issues require the companies to redefine the business operations(Gavric & Sormaz, 2016). As a result, the operations of the company shift away from blending into the varied organisational culture to move towards specific business objectives.
6. Role of leadership in organizational growth
With appropriate business agenda and planning strong corporate culture is developed that improves the overall performance of the company and in the long run shares strategic competitive advantage to the organisation. As the organisation increases branches and tends to increase in size, upholding and sharing greater values and beliefs maintain stronger cultural benefits and enhanced trust. The organisational culture when efficiently dealt with provides informal control mechanisms and shared understanding among the stakeholders regarding the aspects that are necessary to be considered while achieving the organisational goal(Sarros, et al., 2002). In this regard, it can be said that a strong sense of identification is required among the managers of the companies to define the cultures and justify the behaviour to the workers in order to fit within the organisational culture. Since the leaders and managers of the company play instrumental roles in sustaining and shaping the organisational culture therefore if the behaviour or the strategies of the leaders does not fit the culture prominent identification for job Failure is recognized by the employees. Despite having the requisite ability and skill the managers are not able to fit within the organisational culture and the inclusive workplace culture gets hampered.
The actions the decision made and the values are perceived to collaboratively contribute to the earlier success of the company. It can be managed through Organizational Management leaders and excessive awareness. For an international organisation such as MRF, the culture requires focussed effort in order to sustain every element of the business and support the organisational effectiveness(Gholamzadeh, et al., 2014). The customs, behavioral norms, rituals, traditions, general way and symbol of operating different aspects required for visible manifestation of internal workplace culture. The existing organisational culture of MRF is resulted in or exists due to the factor that has already been positive for the company previously.
7. Advantages and disadvantages of leadership approach
The leader of the company needs to have a thorough understanding of the culture and Organisation specific culture that can be followed to achieve the organisational goal. At different levels, the culture of the organisation is based on the values that are derived from the examinations of emotional effectiveness, the relationship environment of the organisation, and human nature(Szczepańska-Woszczyna, 2015). The organisational culture and the leadership style are nebulous concepts that usually remain and are defined within the organisational operation. Most of the company culture is somewhat similar even if they are operating in disparate industries. There are different factors that impact the leadership style to shape the organisational culture. For example, the degree of Hierarchy in the company values urgency people and task orientation in organisational subculture are some of the most significant factors that impact the organization’s culture.
The degree of Hierarchy refers to the extent to which the value of the organisation prefers the traditional channel of authority. MRF having higher degrees of Hierarchy has a well-defined structure where the expectation of every level of the people work through official channels and therefore the structure becomes acceptable to all the levels of authority. A company with a high level of Hierarchy operates more formally but grows to the expected level although slower than the other companies that have lower hierarchy trends. Similarly, the degree of urgency that is usually initiated by the leaders and managers of the organization is identified as the extent to which the organization drives the innovation and decision-making process to provide real-time services to the customers. In this aspect, trust places a very significant role where the need of responsibility projects consistent value to the fast Pace and supportive decision for the management style. The leadership style within an organization tends to emerge and shape with time.
8. Conclusion and Recommendations
8.1 Recommendations
Employee strike and unrest are some common incidents in MRF Tyres, which has a massive impact on organisational performance and productivity. Therefore, the organisation can be recommended to focus on mitigating this issue. In Chennai, MRF workers protested against the delay in wage revision(Financial Express, 2019). So, the leaders can be recommended to strengthen their internal communication system so that the employees can share problems with them. Regular interaction and review of employees’ feedback may help to understand the demands of the employees and the senior executives should consider this point and strategically manage the wage revision system. When the company is making a profit, then it is recommended to provide all facilities and perks properly to the employees.
Conclusion
The management of the organisational culture starts with the aspect of identifying the cultural trait of the organisation. The core business activities help in identifying the specific trait that includes ideological material and social culture. Managers and leaders of the organisation should approach cultural management by gaining an appropriate understanding of the common traits that are identified within the business operation. However in order to maintain a positive organisational culture within a company from the very elementary level the practices need to develop the culture. Therefore the hiring practices of stakeholder training onboarding program performance management reward and recognition should follow a similar trait that justifies the existing organizational culture of the company and can result in a positive outcome to achieve the company objective. The stakeholders of the company who share aspirations and values tend to outperform within the workplace environment of the company in the long run. Therefore the common purpose and cohesiveness usually are not identified due to lack of performance management. It is the responsibility of the organisational leaders to shape and clearly outline what exactly is expected from the stakeholders as well as regularly provide feedback to inform the employer about the same
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