Micromanagement and Leadership

Essay Instructions:

Background

George Latour is attempting to lead and coach a new employee, Shelly Stern. The relationship quickly goes downhill as George's leadership style runs afoul of Shelly's sense of professionalism.

Required Reading

Fryer, B., Goodnight, J., Goulston, M., Lawrie, J. M. & Chappelow, C. (2004). The Micromanager. Harvard Business Review, 82(9), 31-39.

Assignment

After reading the case and commentaries, provide your own commentary in a 4- to 5-page paper on George's leadership, drawing on the theories and models presented in this chapter.

In your analysis, consider the following three questions:

How would you characterize George's leadership style?
Is it the appropriate style? Why or why not? (Hint: consider the characteristics of the environment, the employee, the task, leader discretion, etc.)
What strategies can Shelley employ to better manage her boss? (To answer this question, you may want to read this short piece by Harry E. Chambers: (You can find it through the EBSCO database in Business Source Complete).

Chambers, H. (2005, Summer). Surviving the Micromanager. How to succeed with a my way boss. Canadian Manager, 30(2), 24-25. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.

Keys to the Assignment

The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered in your paper include:

Define the problem: Identify George's leadership style according to one or a combination of styles covered in the background readings.
Analyze the cause: Discuss the contextual contingencies and the match (or lack of match) with George's style.
Propose a solution: The more specific you can be with your suggested strategies for Shelly, the better.

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated on the following:

Precision - Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)?
Breadth - Is the full breadth of the subject, i.e., the Keys to the Assignment, addressed?
Depth - Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth and include the background readings and other background resources as references?
Critical thinking - Is the subject thought about critically, i.e., accurately, logically, relevantly, and precisely?
Clarity - Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the questions or are points conveyed through excessive use of quotations?
Organization - Is the paper well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are headings included in all papers longer than two pages?
Referencing (citations and references) - Does the paper include citations and quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the background readings and assignment present and properly cited? Are all the references listed in the bibliography present and referred to via citation?

Tips and Suggestions

Please note the following tips and suggestions:

Include a cover page and reference page in addition to the 4–5 pages of analysis described above.
You are expected to demonstrate that you have read, understood, and can apply the required background readings for this module in your answer to this case. Be sure to read the required readings carefully, and use the theories and arguments you learn from them to support your analysis.
Include headings for all papers longer than two pages (basically all papers).
Cite and reference all sources that you use in your work, including those that you do not quote but paraphrase. This means include citations and quotation marks for direct quotes of more than five words, and include citations for information that you have "borrowed" or paraphrased from other sources.
Follow TUI Guidelines for well-written papers. (If you are unsure of what those guidelines are, see The Elements of a Well Written Paper).

Submit your analysis by the end of this module.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Micromanagement and Leadership
Name
Course
Instructor
Date
Introduction
The case study delves into the leadership principles of George Latour, the CEO of Retronics, a software engineering company, and interaction with Shelley Stern the new marketing manager. The organization had tremendous potential before the dot com bubble, but has been struggling, and the CEO seeks to improve the company’s profile before going public with the marketing department playing a critical role towards the company’s performance. There merges conflict between Latour and Shelley who was recommended for hiring by the chairman. Shelley’s performance has not been as expected given her credentials. Shelley handles the projects well when left to make major decisions, but when in dealing with comprehensive management it becomes a problem. On the other hand, George is a ‘hands on’ micromanager who focuses too much on small details in the organization. This paper focuses on George’s use of micromanagement, how it is inappropriate for the organizations and possible strategies that Shelley can use to manage George.
Leadership style
George is a micromanager who likes to understand all the details and control situations where possible at home and the workplace. Conflict arises because of the leadership style and Shelley’s inability to handle conflicts. George has a background in engineering where attention to detail is necessary and critical to success, but leading a big organization requires application of soft skills which are not utilized. George’s active participation in coaching Shelley and editing documents before press release headlines has negative effects on Shelley who is now less motivated (Fryer et al., 2004). George is under pressure to get better results, but inability to delegate tasks properly results to micromanaging the marketing department.
George is clearly one with experience, having scaled the corporate ladder over time George is detail oriented and prefers doing work or telling employees how to do their jobs. This may have served the CEO well in past job responsibilities where George’s technical expertise proved valuable, but this may not be the case when dealing with the marketing department. To ensure that everything goes on well, the CEO is immersed in too many details and has the tendency to check employee’s work and ensure it is done as instructed. The micromanagement approach is beneficial when training new employees on how to perform jobs, but less effective for experienced workers (Stack, 2012).
Leadership style appropriateness
Micromanagement is not appropriate when managing different departments in Retronics, especially where creativity is needed like in the marketing department. Micromanagement has the potential to interfere with productivity, as workers are unable to adequately perform their duties. In the case study, Shelley is uncomfortable about the George’s desire to counter check every detail of what has already been done. George would have been in a better position offering support and advice by aligning the goals of the marketing department with the organization as a whole. Spending time on every little detail defines the management style employed by George, but the CEO then fails to focus on flow of all tasks at the workplace and giving insightful suggestions.
The style is not well suited for the organization as it has led to increased conflicts and stress between the CEO and the marketing manager. Shelley seeks Laura’s advice, her former boss who said positive things about George. Clearly, from the minute that Shelley hears the Laura’s voice, her mood is b...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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