Question 6 (Leadership Management )

Read the following case studies.

For each case study identify the managers' leadership style and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each leadership style or approach. (15)

Case study 1

Sam, a former soldier, is a supervisor at Engen Garage. All petrol attendants are organised into shifts with their own supervisors. Sam is a supervisor for the day shift. His team regard him as a dictator at work. Sam is too directive and often shouts at his team members in front of customers. Some days ago, Thulani a petrol attendant mistakenly entered the wrong amount on a clients' debit card. After realising this, Thulani called Sam to help him rectify the error. Instead of helping him, he instead suspended Thulani. Sam does not believe in team work because he trusts no one.

Case Study 2

Kelvin is senior manager at Hox Training, a company that provides training courses to companies. Kelvin is the marketing director and he manages a team of 6 account managers. As a manager, he believes that employees have the full potential to perform their responsibilities. As a result, Kelvin involves all account managers when creating the long-term plans of the marketing division. During lunch, Kelvin is normally seen chatting to some of the employees in his division. Everyone loves him because he is a simple boss who respects and engages his team members. Since he joined the company, sales figures have more than doubled.

Case study 3

Ajax is a company that is involved in the consulting business. The company is organised into teams which are controlled by a managing consultant. Cleo is one of the managing consultants and she is in charge of a team of 7 business consultants. She knows that her team is composed of experts who know how to conduct any consulting task; as a result, Cleo leaves the team to set its own plans, solve problems and control their tasks. Cleo as the managing consultant only comes in to check if the team has adequate resources.