Effects Of Leadership Styles On Organisational Productivity

Background of the Issue and Justification

Discuss about the Effects of Leadership Styles on Organisational Productivity.

Leadership plays the most significant role in achieving the fruitful productivity of an organisation. The efficient leadership style establishes the transparent communication process, which is an essential part of the organisational functionalities (Clarke, 2013). An efficient leader visualises the potentiality within the individuals and brings the best performance outcomes. This study determines the establishment of the future profession in engineering field. I have set my ambition of being a manager in the engineering field. After pursuing my career as a mechanical engineer for several years, I have gathered enough experiences for becoming a manager in this specific domain. This study would present the ideas of the suitable leadership style that will guide a mechanical engineer to be an efficient manager in the engineering domain. As opined by Davenport (2013), engineering is one of the most effective work domains that help in generating more revenues for the organisations. Moreover, the critical activities associated with the engineering management are required to be performed in an effective way. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the concentration on the management functionalities and the effective leadership styles to determine the expected outcomes. Therefore, the study will shed lights in the proper methodology and the literature based information to understand the underlying concept. The findings derived from such secondary data collection process will be analysed to conclude with proper recommendation. The aim and objectives of the study will be focused to make the critical analysis of the documented information.

People need to derive the clear and conscience idea while selecting the future professions. The ambitious minds always tends to identify the most innovative and efficient way of achieving the goals. Therefore, it is necessary to select the future profession wisely. I have selected my future profession as the manager in the engineering organisation. I believe that I need to gather more information and guidance to become an efficient leader on this domain. It is noticed that the current volatile market has been transforming the demands of the stakeholders. In the engineering management procedure, the associated engineers face the diversified challenges much frequently (Lopp, 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the proper guidance and leading capabilities that will help them to move ahead with justified skills and efficiency. Moreover, it will be helpful enough for the organisations that are looking forward to expand the business globally.

Research Objectives

The individuals need to be highly skilled and ethically competent to take u the engineering management as the future profession. Anitha (2014) opined that the individuals need to be much responsible towards the organisational functionalities and managing other associates. It is essential for the individual to derive the sufficient knowledge about the practical application and experiences during the crucial scenario. The manager in an organisation plays the integral role in managing the functionalities. An efficient manager concentrates on the employee development process by providing proper guidance. Neubert et al. (2015) implied that the mechanical engineers have to perform more complex activities in their regular professional lives. The supportive attitude towards the employees can bring the most efficient performance outcomes that are beneficial for achieving organisational aspects. Hence, the major concern is to identify the most fruitful leadership style adopted by the managers that will be beneficial for each of the employees associated with the organisational functionalities.

Leadership is the integral part of the organisational functionalities that develop the organisational culture and ensure high productivity. The application of the justified leadership styles is necessary for undertaking an operational process in an effective way. An efficient manager requires maintaining the necessary responsibilities for achieving success in a complex business scenario (Strom, Sears & Kelly, 2014). Therefore, the study will help in recognising the justified leadership style that will be beneficial in achieving high productivity parameter. Employee welfare and supports are necessary for achieving the determined organisational goals.

The major aim of the study is to identify how the efficient leadership styles can ensure organisational productivity in the field of mechanical engineering.   

• To describe the types of the leadership styles in the organisations
• To recognise the suitable leadership style for the mechanical engineering department
• To determine the impact of efficient leadership style on organisational productivity

Leadership management is an influential process in an organisation that guides the individuals towards achieving the personal and professional goals. According to Lo et al. (2015), leadership is an organisational process, which influence other associates to perform much efficiently and accomplish the determined objectives. It is to be indicated that the most effective leadership style helps in organising the business functionalities in a cohesive and coherent manner. The well formed and skilled leader has the capability of inspiring other individuals in the organisation and providing enormous support for developing the organisational culture in a significant way. The business complexities are increasing much significantly in current times. Therefore, the innovations and unique strategy implementation have become necessary. Organisations need to keep the focus on recruiting the skilled people who have the superior knowledge about the business activities in the respective domains (Laschinger and Fida 2014). The leaders have to take the responsibility of guiding these people with proper efficiency and motivate them to bring the most effective performance outcomes.  

Concept of Leadership

The leadership styles are classified into different divisions based on the characteristics and attribute of the leaders. These diverse leadership styles have both the advantages and disadvantages in many ways. The determined goals and organisational culture determine the preferable leadership styles that are needed to be undertaken (Hogg, Van Knippenberg & Rast, 2012). There are five types of the leadership styles that are followed by the managers to manage the organisational activities. These different types of leadership styles are described further:

A laissez Faire leader usually does not take the regular feedback from the employees’ performance and lacks the direct supervision. The highly experienced employees are directed under the supervision of the laissez faire leaders (Furtner, Baldegger, & Rauthmann, 2013). The leaders are completely reliable and depended on the employees’ performance skills. However, it is to be noted that not every employee possess such high skilled characteristics and professionalisms. Hence, the leadership style hinders the employees’ production more significantly. It may even affect the organisational productivity. The leadership style lacks the control over the employees. Moreover, the leadership style requires more investments on training sessions for making the employees more efficient. 

The participative leadership style often interpreted as the democratic leadership that values the input of the associated employees. Assembling the responses of the associated personnel and the staffs together, the leaders make the decision for organisational welfare. Skogstad et al. (2014) implied that the democratic leadership style boosts up the employees spirit and make them feel more reliable towards the performance. The contribution of the employees to make the organisational decision is highly appreciated by the democratic leader. Especially, the participative leadership style is much effective during the change management procedure. The employees accept the change easily since they contribute much effectively to facilitate the changing management scenario. In fact, this leadership style is much helpful for the organisation whenever any quick decisions are needed to be undertaken within a short time span.

The autocratic leadership style signifies the participation of the manager in making the organisational decision. The managers take the full authority to organise the functionalities and lead the associated members. There is no scope of challenging the decisions of the leaders in this leadership style (De Hoogh, Greer & Den Hartog, 2015). For example, the organisations in the countries like North Korea, China, and Cuba follow such leadership style (Boykins et al., 2013). The leaders determine that the autocratic style helps in retaining control over the employees and establishing the closer supervision. In some of the cases, this leadership style demoralises the employees’ contribution towards organisational productivity.

Typologies of Leadership Styles

The transformation leadership style signifies the establishment of the effective communication from the management level to accomplish the determined goals. The transformational leaders encourage the associated members to enhance the productivity parameter and maintain the efficiency level through high visibility and proper communication. The involvement of the high management is also an essential part in order to accomplish the personal and professional goals (Dumdum, Lowe, & Avolio, 2013). In this leadership style, the leaders usually concentrate on the bigger picture within an organisation. Moreover, the leaders identify the fruitful strategies of delegating the smaller tasks that will be beneficial for meeting the organisational objectives.

The transactional leaders pay attention towards several specific tasks and accordingly provide rewards and punishments based on the performance parameter. The managers have to take the responsibility to make the associated members aware of the organisational goals. The members need motivations for achieving the pre-determined goals. The positive performance outcomes will be appreciated with rewards (Choudhary, Akhtar, & Zaheer, 2013). On the other hand, if any employee fails to meet the goals, the leader has the authority to put a penalty. The managers review the results and determine whether the employees need to be more trained or monitored. The employees receive the rewards that motivate them towards accomplishing the organisational objectives.

Application of the effective leadership styles is necessary for each of the organisation. Pierro, Raven, Amato & Bélanger (2013)  explained that the leaders need to acquire the most effective communication skills that are necessary for making the employees aware of the organisational goals.  On the other hand, (Furtner, Baldegger, and Rauthmann (2013) argued that the besides the effective communication skills, the efficient leaders need to be a motivational factor that will lead the employees towards the success. However, it is still argued that establishing the communication transparency is much beneficial in making the clear approaches regarding the organisational functionalities. When the employees are motivated towards the work, it will generate high organisational productivity.  Therefore, it can be inferred that application of the suitable leadership style can enhance organisational productivity.

The extracted ideas from the journal articles provide the insightful knowledge about the efficient leadership styles that have the significant impact on organisational productivity. However, the literature study is still limited since it does not provide the information about the maintenance of the organisational productivity at the optimum level. The study is somewhat presenting the impacts of the different leadership styles on enhancing productivity.

Research methodology is the structured and sequential process of assembling the relevant information for the study. The methodology provides the contextual ideas about the proper method that is applicable for gathering and analysing the necessary information (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The methodology also suggests the scheduled time frame, which will be followed to complete the entire study. The research philosophy is classified into three different typologies, such as realism, positivism, and interpretivism. This research is conducted by applying the positivism philosophy, which reveals the hidden truth (Edson, Henning & Sankaran, 2016). On the other hand, research approach is divided into two forms, such as deductive and inductive approach. The study is based on the secondary research process and it is necessary to concentrate on the theoretical perspectives. Deductive Approach provides the information based on the theoretical concepts. The study is associated with the various types of the theory based analysis. Hence, application of the deductive approach for this study will be much relevant and appropriate.  

The next segment of research methodology is the research design, which is classified into three divisions, such as exploratory, explanatory, and descriptive (Creswell, 2013). The major focus of the research techniques is to fulfil the research objectives and determine the conclusion. The study is based on the in-depth analysis of the leadership styles that have the significant impacts on the organisational productivity. The use of the descriptive design focuses on the underlying concept and the hypothetical value of understanding the subject matter. Therefore, the application of the descriptive design will be justified for completing this study.

The study explores the effectiveness of the leadership styles that have the significant impacts on the organisational productivity. In order to conduct this research study, it is necessary to collect the secondary data and understand the underlying concepts.  The study is thus based on the secondary research method. The research study will be conducted by gathering the relevant information from journal articles, books, newspaper articles, and website sources (Creswell, 2013). The online and offline sources contain the leadership case scenario of different organisations. Moreover, the secondary research study represents the thematic analysis, which points out the underlying issues faced by the skilled managers in the organisations. It depicts whether the leadership attribute can bring more efficiency in an organisational context. The use of the secondary analysis is thus appropriate for this research study. The further section of the study will present the findings derived from the thematic analysis.

Activities	Week 1-2	Week 3-5	Week 6	Week 7-9	Week 10	Week 11-12	Week 13-14
Selecting the Topic
Layout Development
Review of Literature
Research Plan Development
Research Process Selection
Data Collection Technique Selection
Data Analysis Technique Selection
Data Findings
Conclusion
Final Submission

Table 1: Time Frame

(Source: Created by Author)

The study is mainly focusing on the effectiveness of the leadership styles on the organisational productivity. The research study discusses about the significant attribute of the manager from mechanical engineering domain. The engineering domain includes more complex working scenario and needs more innovations in the business process. Therefore, it is essential to identify the most suitable leadership style that can enhance the organisational productivity. Accordingly, the study recognises two specific themes that can justify the business procedure in a mechanical engineering domain.

It is already mentioned that the mechanical engineering business deals with many of the innovations and complexities. Therefore, it is essential to recognise the most preferable leadership style that is needed to be undertaken by the manager. According to Hoch and Kozlowski (2014), in the engineering domain, the leaders need to be high skilled, innovators, and efficient enough to handle the complex business functions. Herrmann and Felfe (2014) believe that the engineers can be the most suitable people for being managers in future. The capability of handling the business complexities, frequent innovations, and a detailed attention shapes up a leader for accomplishing the organisational goals. However, the major discussion in this theme is to identify the most suitable leadership style in mechanical engineering process.

Reid (2016) described that the mechanical engineering process is much complex and the managers require bringing frequent innovations to survive in current business scenario. It is necessary for the business companies to identify the suitable leadership style. Concentrating on the different leadership styles along with the business needs of the mechanical engineering domain, the transformational leadership style can be used in a justified manner. De Poel, Stoker and Van der Zee (2014) argued that the transformational leadership style provides the significant opportunity to the individuals and encourage them to bring more business innovations. It is even helpful for developing the professional and personal attributes of the employees that will pay off in future. The article also highlights that the transformational leaders are involved with frequent and closer supervision process. Therefore, the employees receive the proper guidance for evaluating the innovative business ideas. The transformational leaders maintain the high level of communicational transparency that encourages the employees to preset their concerns (Simonet & Tett, 2013). The major limitation in this article is it does not include the method of maintaining the feedback process for the performed activities. It is necessary to understand the basic method of keeping the information of the employees that are needed to be addressed. The leaders need to find out the most efficient way of communicating with the employees and make them updated with the business innovation procedure.

Leaders play the most significant role in shaping the organisational functionalities. The efficient contribution of the leaders can bring changes in the organisational scenario (Tung, 2014). While discussing the effectiveness of leadership styles in the organisational context, it si necessary to shed lights on the organisational functionalities. The engineers need to analyse each of the business activities with detailed information. The complexities in the business procedures are sometimes affect the business environment. The repeated changing demands of the business world become much hectic. Reid (2016) opined that the efficient leader can manage such challenging scenario by engaging the information and ideas of the associated employees. However, in order to achieve such purposes, it is necessary to provide the employees proper encouragement that will reflect in their performance outcomes (MacIntyre, 2016). When the employees receive the proper guidance and the motivations from the upper management level or the leaders, they tend to focus on their performance parameter.

Moreover, an efficient leader provides the significant opportunity to the employees to prove the potentiality and develop the career with proper appreciation. The journal, the effects of leadership styles and budget participation on job satisfaction and job performance, indicates that this procedure is much beneficial in improving the organisational culture and ensuring more profitability (Reid, 2016). The argument present in this article signifies that the employees can bring the innovations in the business procedure if they receive the proper training and closer supervision of the leaders. Maintaining such consequences will be effective enough in motivating the employees and encouraging them to fulfil their personal and professional goals. Simultaneously, it will create impacts on the overall productivity of the organisation.

The above theme analysis specifies the impacts of the leadership styles on organisational productivity with the special reference of mechanical engineering domain. The information and the limitation associated in the secondary sources are pointed out in this section of the study. Concentrating on the findings derived from the secondary analysis, the study will discuss the findings derived from the literature based information. The collaboration of these findings will ensure the fruitful recommendation for being a capable and efficient leader.

The literature review mainly concentrates in the theoretical background of the subject matter. The study focuses on the impacts of leadership styles on organisational productivity. The discussion determines that the leaders adopt the different types of leadership attributes that have the significant impacts on the employees and the organisational activities. However, the leaders share the similar vision of accomplishing the business objectives. Employees are the major resources of an organisation. The leaders need to maintain the responsibility of managing these employees and motivate them enough to enhance the organisational productive. The autocratic leadership style ensures the full authority of the leaders and no one can challenge the decision (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014). The employees are sometimes unable to cope with such decisions sometimes. It discourages the presence and participation of the employees. On the other hand, the transformational leadership style is much preferable for the employees since it is associated with the personal and professional development of the workforce in an organisation (Vermeeren, Kuipers & Steijn, 2014). It is noted that the transformational leaders lead the employees towards achieving the business goals which automatically serves as the significant method of developing the personal attributes. Therefore, it is essential for the managers to select the leadership style wisely. The leaders need to keep the focus on the detailed information that will help in enhancing the organisational productivity. The application of the findings from the literature study with the thematic analysis specifies that the leaders need to bring more innovations in the business process to enhance the productivity parameter. More specifically, in case of engineering domain, the skilled performance outcomes of the employees are necessary for handling the complex business environment. The efficient leaders have the capability of encouraging the workforce to manage such complexities and enhance the organisational productivity (Nanjundeswaraswamy, & Swamy 2014). The concentration on the proper leadership attribute is necessary to lead or guide the workforce.

Conclusion

The contribution of the leaders in an organisational context is much important for each of the organisations. The efficient leadership style can enhance the organisational productivity much significantly. Mechanical engineering domain often deals with the complex business procedures. It is necessary to bring more innovations in business functionalities to ensure the organisational productivity. Accordingly, the selected leader needs to be capable of bringing more innovations in the business and guide the workforce to cooperate with such scenario. The information received from secondary analysis and literature based study, it is noted that the transformational leaders are bringing the workforce together to gather more innovative business ideas.

The assimilations of these unique business ideas are much helpful for dealing with a complex business scenario. Moreover, the transformational leadership style helps in developing the personal and professional attributes of the employees by undertaking the closer supervision of their activities. Consequently, the organisation ensures more productivity, which leads towards achieving the pre-determined objectives. The major focus of a transformational leader is to motivate the employees and bring the best performance outcome. Simultaneously, the transformational leaders concentrate on the innovative procedures and change management scenario, which are essential for sustaining the competitive position of an organisation. The mechanical engineering is a different domain, which deals with the repeatedly changing business functionalities and high skilled technicalities. Hence, as a manager, it is important to focus on such demands to fulfil the goals and enhance the organisational productivity.

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