Leadership and management

The company selected for the task is Tesco. Tesco is one of the British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailers. Headquarter of Tesco is in Welwyn Garden City, England, United Kingdom.  It has been analyzed that Tesco is one of the customer oriented company and it provide products at value for money to its customers so that it can be easy to maintain the overall quality of the service. The leader of the company is Dave Lewis and from September 2014, he has been the CEO of the company and was born on 12 March, 1965 (Tesco, 2018).

In the workplace it is important that there should be effective leadership style so that it can be easy for the employees to give their best towards the activities of the company.  It has been observed that the leadership style considered in the company is related to the customer focused leadership style. Customer focused leadership is one of the wide approach related with the customer satisfaction and service and it lead to the loyalty of the customers.  In the workplace Dave Lewis focuses on boosting the overall working pattern of the employees by considering the objective related to satisfy the customers (Wood,Wrigley and Coe, 2016).

Tesco is one of the companies that run and manage the routine activities by customer focused leader. Tesco emphasizes on developing the leadership qualities of the employees throughout the company, from administrators and customer assistants to the board of the directors.  Leadership is related to influencing, motivating and inspiring the people. It is also related with coaching and developing the people so that it can be easy for them to achieve the goals in the competitive market. It has been identified that the leader possessed various qualities (Antonakis and Day, 2017).

 One of the qualities of Dave Lewis is related with confidence and it has been seen that he is confidence towards work and boost the confidence of the employees so that they can be efficient towards overall activities of the company. Like before taking any decision in the workplace, the focus is given on maintaining the relation with the customers (Shapiro and Stefkovich, 2016).

 To boost the confidence level of the employees and to motivate them the leader focused on giving rewards and incentives according to performance. By introducing this concept, it has been seen that employees are efficient towards the work and offer effective services to the customers that satisfy the customers (Iqbal, Anwar and Haider, 2015).

Also, the leader emphasizes on considering the democratic leadership style in the company. It has been analyzed that appointment of Terry as the CEO of Tesco marked the new era. He considered democratic leadership style in which the employees participate in the decision process of the company (Ward, 2016). The CEO focuses on appointing the employees so that it can be easy to manage the overall process of the company. He emphasized on taking opinion and views from the employees so that they can have positive behavior towards their work (Cuthbertson, Furseth and Ezell, 2015).

Leader’s qualities, characteristics and behaviors

Democratic leadership style plays an important role in context to the management of the company. It has been evaluated that in Tesco, the democratic leadership style is present as they have the flat structure which enable the employees to be a part of achievement. The democratic leadership style considered by the company boosted the overall motivation level of the employees and also it enhanced the productivity level of the company in the competitive market. So, it motivated the employees and enhanced the productivity is the importance in context to leadership style of management (Bolman and Deal, 2017).

Also, it has been identified that the management style of the company is democratic as their way of managing is decentralized and also the information is given from the top management to the subordinates.  The employees are also free to speak and can give their opinion in context to the overall growth of the company (Collinson, 2014).

In the workplace it is important for the leader to focus on managing the activities by considering the authority. It can be stated that in context to the democratic leadership style considered by the leader, the power relates with the referent power.  Referent power focuses on the trust and at the time of making the decision the leader of Tesco have trust on the employees that they will consider the right decision (Guardian, 2018). So, Leahy delegated the leadership role to the people in the company so that it can be easy to manage the entire activities in the workplace. The management of the company empowers the employees and they are considered as the asset of the company and it helps the company to achieve success.

Also, in this it has been stated that the leader of the company have the authority to empower the employees so that it can be easy to boost the growth of the company.  By having authority or the power they emphasize on delegating the overall work to the employees so that it can be managed in a proper manner (Heifetz and Linsky, 2017). By delegating the work, the aim of the leader is to engage the employees towards the work. To engage the employees towards work, the leader consider the motivation theory related to Maslow hierarchy of needs in which focus is given on satisfying the needs of the employees. The leader has the authority to satisfy the needs of the employees in the workplace. So, they consider the concept of Maslow hierarchy of needs. So, in context to the democratic style of leadership, the leader has the power to exercise control over the activities through delegation of work and also by enhancing the employee engagement (Referenceforbusiness, 2018). By considering these factors the positive impact is also seen on the overall culture of the company.

It can be seen that the leader have the power to delegate the work to the employees and also to take decisions of the workplace. But, the democratic leadership style considered by the leaders can involve the employees in the decision making process but the leader will not involve themselves in the office politics. The office politics arise in the workplace due to favoritism given by the leaders to the employees, self-interest and also due to avoidance. But it has been seen that the leader of Tesco do not engage themselves in the office politics. Democratic leadership is considered by the leader and the power is Referent, so it has been seen that this power reduces the office politics in the workplace (Renz, 2016). The leader gives chance to every employee in the workplace and everyone have the chance to share their views and opinion. Also, the leader has the authority to appraise the employees, so it is also done by analyzing the overall performance of the employees in the workplace. As democratic leadership style is considered, the leader do not engage in the office politics and they try to reduce it by giving chance to every employees to engage themselves in the process of decision making process.

Importance of leadership style as a part of management and identification of the management style

It can be stated that influence of the democratic leadership style and management style considered by Tesco has an influence on the overall culture of the company. By considering this style, the organizational culture is positive as the employees have the equal opportunity to share their views and opinion (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 2017). Equal rights are assigned to the employees in context to engaging themselves in the activities of the company. In context to management style, it has been observed that flow of communication is from the top management to the subordinates.  The employees are also free to speak and can give their opinion in context to the overall growth of the company. So, it boosts the motivation of the employees and creates positive culture in the workplace. Also, to motivate the employees the company emphasizes on the motivation theory which is considered for every employee in the workplace (Samantara and Sharma, 2015). 

Also, the leader has a positive behavior towards the activities of the company. It has been seen that due to positive behavior, he focused on maintaining the positive culture in the workplace.  He guides the team and manages the conflicts with the positive behavior which boost the overall the positive culture of the company (Tourish, 2014). By having positive behavior towards the employees they feel motivated and also it maintain the culture of the company.

 Maslow hierarchy of needs theory is considered by the management in which the first stage is related with physiological need that emphasizes on the basic needs like food and shelter. The leader emphasizes on this stage by offering salary to the employees. The next stage is safety and security need in which the leader emphasizes on maintaining the culture of the company. The next is social needs in which teamwork is considered. Self-esteem is also one of the step which focuses on promoting the employees. Tesco emphasizes on 360 degree feedback and appraisal system which assist in recognizing the contribution of the individual. The last step is self-fulfillment need in which the company offers personal development plans and also career progression programs. So, the authority to empower the employees in the workplace is done by engaging the employees towards work by considering Maslow hierarchy of needs theory (Tesco, 2018). This motivational theory is considered by company as it helps to boost the confidence level of the employees in the workplace. So, it can be stated that Maslow hierarchy of needs it one of the effective theory will help to enhance the employee engagement in the workplace.

Tesco also consider motivational theory which reduces the politics in the workplace. If politics in the workplace is not there then the employees can have positive behavior towards each other which can lead to positive culture in the workplace.  The leader of Tesco give equal opportunity to every employee and exercise their authority or power equally so it reduces the workplace politics and boost the confidence level of the employees in the workplace (Raelin, 2017).

Also, democratic leadership style considered by the company impacts the effectiveness of the company.  The leader involve in the employees in decision making process which enhance the motivation level of the employees.  The motivated employees in the workplace boost the overall productivity level and also profitability of the company in the competitive market. Also, due to less politics in the workplace it has been seen that the employees are retained in the workplace of longtime. So, it can be stated that due to leader qualities and skills, the efficiency of the employees in the workplace has been enhanced (Shamir and Eilam-Shamir, 2018).

Conclusion

So, it can be concluded that in Tesco, the leaders focused on Customer focused leadership and democratic leadership style. With the help of this the employees of the company are able to share their views and opinion. Also, they engage themselves in the overall decision process of the company. Due to effective leadership style considered by the company, the leader reduced politics in the workplace which has led to overall growth of the company in the competitive market.   

References 

Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.

Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley & Sons.

Collinson, D., 2014. Dichotomies, dialectics and dilemmas: New directions for critical leadership studies?. Leadership, 10(1), pp.36-55.

Cuthbertson, R., Furseth, P.I. and Ezell, S.J., 2015. Tesco and Sainsbury’s: The Need to Turn Ideas into Action. In Innovating in a Service-Driven Economy (pp. 159-165). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Guardian, 2018. Manners maketh management: Tesco bosses told to be nicer to staff. [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/16/tesco-managers-polite-new-initiative. [Accessed on 24 December, 2018].

Heifetz, R. and Linsky, M., 2017. Leadership on the Line, With a New Preface: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Change. Harvard Business Press.

Iqbal, N., Anwar, S. and Haider, N., 2015. Effect of leadership style on employee performance. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(5), pp.1-6.

Raelin, J.A., 2017. Leadership-as-practice: Theory and application—An editor’s reflection. Leadership, 13(2), pp.215-221.

Referenceforbusiness, 2018. LEADERSHIP STYLES AND BASES OF POWER. [Online]. Available at: https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Int-Loc/Leadership-Styles-and-Bases-of-Power.html. [Accessed on 24 December, 2018].

Renz, D.O., 2016. The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John Wiley & Sons.

Samantara, R. and Sharma, N., 2015. Talent Management at Tesco: A Case Study. Parikalpana: KIIT Journal of Management, 11(2),pp.56-81.

Shamir, B. and Eilam-Shamir, G., 2018. “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development. In Leadership Now: Reflections on the Legacy of Boas Shamir(pp. 51-76). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Shapiro, J.P. and Stefkovich, J.A., 2016. Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Routledge.

Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W.H., 2017. How to choose a leadership pattern. In Leadership Perspectives (pp. 75-84). Routledge.

Tesco, 2018. Motivational theory at practice Tesco. [Online]. Available at: https://is.muni.cz/el/1451/podzim2013/np2330/tesco_15_full.pdf. [Accessed on 24 December, 2018].

Tourish, D., 2014. Leadership, more or less? A processual, communication perspective on the role of agency in leadership theory. Leadership, 10(1), pp.79-98.

Ward, J., 2016. Keeping the family business healthy: How to plan for continuing growth, profitability, and family leadership. Springer.

Wood, S., Wrigley, N. and Coe, N.M., 2016. Capital discipline and financial market relations in retail globalization: insights from the case of Tesco plc. Journal of Economic Geography, 17(1), pp.31-57.