leardership

    leardership

    Chapter 5 I Situational Approach 111
    Steve Lynch is the manager of production and has been with the com-
    pany since its inception. Steve started out with the company just out of
    high school,working on the line. and moved up in the company as a result
    of his hard work. His goal is to streamline production and decrease costs
    by lo%. He knows production backward and forward but is a bit appre-
    hensive about his new role as production manager. In fact, Steve is afraid
    he might fail as manager. He does not know whether he is ready to have
    others depend on him when he has always been the one depending on
    others. The owner. Bruce, has great faith in Steve and has had several
    meetings with him to clarify his role and reassure him that he can do the
    work. He is certain that Steve will be an outstanding production manager.
    Bruce meets weekly with each of his managers to talk about how their
    groups are fitting in with the overall company goals. In his upcoming
    weekly conference, he wants to discuss with them what new procedures
    they could implement within their departments to improve their long-
    term performance. Bruce is wondering how he should approach each of
    his managers.

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    Questions
    I. According to the basic assumptions of situational leadership, where
    would you place the three managers in regard to levels of develop-
    ment in the SLll model (see Figure SJ)?
    2. If you were Bruce, would you act the same toward each of the three
    managers?
    3. Which conference would be the hardest for you, and which would be
    the easiest? Why?
    C A S E 5 . 2
    Why Aren’t They Listening?
    jim Anderson is a training specialist in the human resource department of
    a large pharmaceutical company. In response to a recent companywide
    survey,jim specifically designed a 6-week training program on listening and
    communication skills to encourage effective management in the company.
    (Continued)

    112 LEADERSHIP J THEORY AND PRACTICE

    (Continued)

    Jim’s goals for the seminar are twofold: for participants to learn new com-

    munication behaviors and for participants to enjoy the seminar so they will

    want to attend future seminars.
    The first group to be offered the program was middle-level managers in
    research and developmentThis group consisted of about 25 people, nearly
    all of whom had advanced degrees. Most of this group had attended several
    in-house training programs in the past, so they had a sense of how the
    seminar would be designed and run. Because the previous seminars had not
    always been very productive, many of the managers felt a little disillusioned
    about coming to the seminar.As one of the managers said, “Here we go
    again: a fancy in-house training program from which we will gain nothing.”
    Because Jim recognized that the managers were very experienced, he
    did not put many restrictions on attendance and participation. He used a
    variety of presentation methods and actively solicited involvement from
    the managers in the seminar. Throughout the first two sessions, he went
    out of his way to be friendly with the group. He gave them frequent cof-
    fee breaks during the sessions; during these breaks, he promoted social-
    izing and networking.
    During the third session, Jim became aware of some difficulties with
    the seminar. Rather than the full complement of 25 managers, attendance
    had dropped to about only I5 managers. Although the starting time was
    established at 8:30, attendees had been arriving as late as lO:00. During
    the afternoon sessions, some of the managers were leaving the sessions
    to return to their offices at the company.

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    As he approached the fourth session, Jim was apprehensive about
    why things had been going poorly. He had become quite uncertain about
    how he should approach the group. Many questions were running
    through his mind: Had he treated the managers in the wrong way? Had
    he been too easy regarding attendance at the sessions? Should he have
    said something about the managers skipping out in the afternoon? Were
    the participants taking the seminar seriously? Jim was certain that the
    content of the seminars was innovative and substantive, but he could not
    figure out what he could change to make the program more successful.
    He sensed that his style was not working for this group, but he didn’t
    have a clue as to how he should change what he was doing to make the

    sessions better.
    Chapter 5 l Situational Approach 1
    Questions
    I. According to the SLll model (see Figure 5. I). what style of leadership
    is Jim using to run the seminars?
    2. At what level are the managers?
    3. From a leadership perspective, what is Jim doing wrong?
    l 4. What specific changes could Jim implement to improve the seminars?
    (15 E 5 . 3
    Getting the Message Across
    Am Caldera is the program director of a college campus radio station
    (WCBA) that is supported by the university. WCBA has a long history
    ad is viewed favorably by students, faculty, the board of trustees, and the
    pople in the community.
    Ann does not have a problem getting students to work at WCBA. In
    it is one of the most sought-after university-related activities.The few
    fidents who are accepted to work atWCBA are always highly motivated
    se they value the opportunity to get hands-on media experience. In
    n, those who are accepted tend to be highly confident (sometimes
    so) of their own radio ability. Despite their eagerness, most of them
    a full understanding of the legal responsibilities of being on the air.
    One of the biggest problems that confronts Ann every semester is how
    train new students to follow the rules and procedures of WCBA when
    are doing on-air announcing for news. sports, music, and other radio
    s. It seems as if every semester numerous incidents arise in which
    znouncer violates in no small way the FCC rules for appropriate airtime
    nication. For example, rumor has it that one year a first-year student
    jockey on the evening shift announced that a new band was playing in
    7 the cover was $l 0, and everyone should go to hear the group. Making
    anouncement such as this is a clear violation of FCC rules: It is illegal.
    Am is frustrated with her predicament but cannot seem to figure out
    i keeps occurring. She puts a lot of time and effort into helping new Djs,

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