Management and Leadership Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management and Leadership Development - Essay Example This study looks into management is fundamentally a human social craft necessitating the ability to interpret the wants and thoughts of others. On the other hand, leadership has been defined as an influence relationship among followers and leaders who are determined to introduce real changes reflecting their mutual purposes. However, some authors have commented that leadership is nothing more than a romantic myth based on untrue and unrealistic hopes and expectations. A number of management approaches have been developed to address contemporary ideas in the leadership and management development. For example, Longenceker and Neubert contend that the constant state of change has diminished the potential for actual long term benefits. However, they fail to realise that the change has become an internal part of today’s business environment and there is no way to avoid the presence and implications of the change. Contrary to the above contemporary idea in the management development , a number of authors who believe that with the changing requirements in the organizations, the organizations have welcomed the phenomena of change and have moulded their organizational structure along with the management development. They also maintain that managers face the issues such as more work for less rewards as organizations re-invent themselves in order to remain competitive and attain competitive advantage. Organizations do not survive without appropriately satisfying the needs of all stakeholders including managers. No organization prefers to increase its labour turnover cost under normal circumstances. In the following parts of this literature review, first, definition of management is provided and is followed by the definition of leadership. Subsequent to that, the critical evaluation of the management development has been included before the description of critical evaluation of the leadership development. A summary of literature review is provided after the critical evaluation of leadership development. Definition of Management Management is essentially a human social craft requiring the ability to interpret the thoughts and wants of others who could be employees, competitors, customers or whatever; management is the facility to shape values, meanings and human commitments (Watson 1994, p.223). Moreover, management is responsible for others, maintaining and controlling processes and implementing policies as well. Definition of Leadership Defining leadership has been elusive and complex problem largely because he nature of leadership itself is indistinct (Daft & Lane 2008). Some have even stated that leadership is nothing more than a romantic myth based on false hopes and expectations that someone will come along with an utter ability to solve their issues and problems. However, Rost (1991) defines that leadership is an influence relationship among followers and leaders intending real changes that reflect their mutual objectives. Critical Evalua tion of Management Development Historically, management theory and practice have been largely influenced by the classical approach of Taylor’s scientific management movement, Weber’s bureaucracy and Fayol’s administrative principles (Mighty and Ashton 2003). In these aspects, managers are assumed to be â€Å"heroes† making a considerable positive contribution to organizational effective and performance (Mintzberg 1973, 1975). However, particularly in the last quarter of the twentieth century, this perspective was seriously challenged. Pfeffer (1977) for example, contended that organizational outcomes were significantly attached or linked primarily to a range of external, contextual factors rather than the policies and actions of the organizational leaders. New challenges such as increased competition on a global level, constantly changing technological means along with the growth of information and knowledge age have largely influenced and challenged the traditional methods of managing the organizational