Discussion Question 2 - (CLO 1)

It is likely that different managerial styles work best in different environments. What kind of
manager succeeds in your organization and which kind fails to thrive? Why?
The working styles of managers vary from person to person. One type of managerial style

may be suitable in one environment but may not be suitable in another different environment.

Organization should select a manager which suits in its environment (Bamber, Jiang, & Wang,

2010). For example, manager with democratic style will not work in a military organization.

Such organization will require directive style of management where the leader expects

immediate obedience from the soldiers.

There are six key management styles according to Hay-McBer which are as follows

(Cardinal, 2015):

1. Directive Style: Manager tells how to do a work, tightly controls staffs and uses negative

motivation such as disciplinary action. This type of managerial style is useful when there is

crisis such as wars, natural disasters, etc and when deviation from the standard practice is

very risky such as in military operations. (Cardinal, 2015)

2. Authoritative Style: Manager is fair enough and provides proper direction to employees.

He/she uses positive motivations such as rewards, feedback on performance, etc. This style is

useful when organization has clear vision and works are standardized. Manager should be

credible i.e. employees should trust him/her and employees should be competent enough for

this style to succeed. (Cardinal, 2015)

3. Affiliative Style: This style gives importance to the employees over the work. It tries to

establish good relationship between employees and avoid conflicts at the work. It tries to

create happiness to motivate staffs. This style is used as supplementary to other styles, used

in counseling and managing conflict in an organization. (Cardinal, 2015)

4. Participative Style: These type of managers encourages employees participation in decision

making. Peter Drucker pioneered in this style (Cherrington, 2012). This approach is useful in

organization such as Apple Inc. where employees work together to develop innovative new

products. The employees need to be skilled, talented and qualified for this style to be

successful. (Cardinal, 2015)

5. Pacesetting Style: This style is used when accomplishing a job requires very high standard of

work. The leader himself/herself personally handles the tasks and leads by example. For

example, a leader of reputed law firm would handle high profile legal cases by himself as it

requires very high service standard. (Cardinal, 2015)

6. Coaching Style: This style is useful when the aim is to empower professional development of

staffs. It persuades the staffs to work out on their strengths so that their performance

increases. This is useful in sports organizations where the coach/managers help players to

enrich their skills. The leader needs to be expert in their related field. (Cardinal, 2015)

I work in one of the leading commercial bank in Nepal. I think authoritative management

style will be the best style suitable for my organization. The top management prepares the

strategy, mission and vision for the organization. This will clearly spell out the short term, mid-

term and long term goals and deliverables for the employees. The top management then allows

other line managers to play their role which will help in achieving the overall objectives of the

Bank. The Board and the top management steps in to remind the mission and vision of the Bank

and what is expected from the employees. The Bank recognizes the contribution of employees

and rewards them by financial and non financial incentives for their valuable contribution. This

style allows enough freedom for the competent, skilled and expert employees to contribute to
achieve overall objectives of the Bank. The line managers are credible hence employees work

happily under them. Hence, I think authoritative style is suitable for my organization (Bank).

References:

Bamber, L. S., Jiang, J., & Wang, I. Y. (2010). What's my style? The influence of top managers

on voluntary corporate financial disclosure. The Accounting Review .

Cardinal, R. (2015, March 15). 6 Management Styles and When to Use Them. Retrieved from

Huffingtonpost: Cherrington, D.J. Organizational Behavior: The Management of

Individual and Organizational Performance. 2nd ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and

Bacon, 1994.

Cherrington, D. J. (2012). Orgnaizational Behavior: The Management of Individual and

Organizational Performance. Allyn and Bacon.