Course: Management of Libraries and Information Centre-I (5641)

Level: MLIS                                                                             Semester: Autumn, 2021

ASSIGNMENT No. 2

Q.1 Explain different leadership styles and suggest with justification the leadership style for a college library head having 15 subordinates.

ANSWER:

A leadership style is a leader‘s method of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.^[1] Various authors have proposed identifying many different leadership styles as exhibited by leaders in the political, business or other fields. Studies on leadership style are conducted^[2] in the military field, expressing an approach that stresses a holistic view of leadership, including how a leader’s physical presence determines how others perceive that leader. The factors of physical presence in this context include military bearing, physical fitness, confidence, and resilience. The leader’s intellectual capacity helps to conceptualize solutions and to acquire knowledge to do the job.^{[citation needed]} A leader’s conceptual abilities apply agility, judgment, innovation, interpersonal tact, and domain knowledge. Domain knowledge encompasses tactical and technical knowledge as well as cultural and geopolitical awareness.

One of the key reasons why certain leadership styles are associated with positive outcomes for employees and organizations is the extent to which they build follower trust in leaders.^[4] Trust in the leader has been linked to a range of leadership styles and evidence suggests that when followers trust their leaders they will be more willing and able to go the extra mile to help their colleagues and organization and feel safe to speak up and share their ideas. In contrast, when a leader does not inspire trust, a follower’s performance may suffer as they must spend time and energy watching their backs.

Different Types of Leadership Styles

According to Research by asaecenter, leadership style is the way a person uses power to lead other people. Research has identified a variety of leadership styles based on the number of followers. The most appropriate leadership style depends on the function of the leader, the followers and the situation.

Some leaders cannot work comfortably with a high degree of followers’ participation in decision-making. Some employers lack the ability or the desire to assume responsibility.

Furthermore, the specific situation helps determine the most effective style of interactions. Sometimes leaders must handle problems that require immediate solutions without consulting followers.

What are Different Types of Leadership Styles?

We have covered 12 different types of ways people tend to lead organizations or other people. Not all of these styles would fit every situation, but you can read them through to see which one fits your company.

1. Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership style is centered on the boss. In this leadership the leader holds all authority and responsibility. In this leadership, leaders make decisions on their own without consulting subordinates.

They reach decisions, communicate them to subordinates and expect prompt implementation. An autocratic work environment normally has little or no flexibility.

In this kind of leadership, guidelines, procedures and policies are all natural additions of an autocratic leader. Statistically, there are very few situations that can actually support autocratic leadership.

Some of the leaders that display this kind of leadership include: Albert J. Dunlap (Sunbeam Corporation) and Donald Trump (Trump Organization), among others.

Steve Jobs is another leader who was famous for using fear to inspire people to get their work done. This leadership style can obviously stifle the leader’s subordinates, but can also be useful in a crisis when important decisions need to be made without delay. You can read leadership quotes by Steve Jobs and many other visionary leaders.

2. Democratic Leadership

In this leadership style, subordinates are involved in making decisions. Unlike the autocratic style, this leadership is centered on subordinates’ contributions. The democratic leader holds final responsibility, but he or she is known to delegate authority to other people, who determine work projects.

The most unique feature of this leadership is that communication is active upward and downward. With respect to statistics, democratic leadership is one of the most preferred styles of leadership, and it entails the following: fairness, competence, creativity, courage, intelligence and honesty.

George Washington was a leader who was famous for his democratic focus. Medical and high-tech industries fit well with a democratic leadership style because they require a high amount of collaboration to function.

3. Strategic Leadership Style

Strategic leadership is one that involves a leader who is essentially the head of an organization. The strategic leader is not limited to those at the top of the organization. This style is geared to a wider audience at all levels who want to create a high performance life, team or organization.

The strategic leader fills the gap between the need for new possibility and the need for practicality by providing a prescriptive set of habits. Effective strategic leadership delivers the goods in terms of what an organization naturally expects from its leadership in times of change. 55% of this leadership normally involves strategic thinking.

Sports is clearly an area where we can observe many leadership styles, and one in which strategy is crucial. Hockey player and coach Wayne Gretzky is well-known for his skill in strategizing.

Strategic leaders anticipate future needs and make decisions in the present to meet those needs. Gretzky famously said, “‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

4. Transformational Leadership

Unlike other leadership styles, transformational leadership is all about initiating change in organizations, groups, oneself and others.

Transformational leaders motivate others to do more than they originally intended and often even more than they thought possible. They set more challenging expectations and typically achieve a higher performance.

Statistically, transformational leadership tends to have more committed and satisfied followers. This is mainly so because transformational leaders empower followers.

William Edwards Deming, a statistician and engineer, is a leader who saw the best way certain systems could operate and taught those under him how to accomplish these goals.

5. Team Leadership

Team leadership involves the creation of a vivid picture of a team’s future, where it is heading and what it will stand for. The vision inspires and provides a strong sense of purpose and direction.

Team leadership is about working with the hearts and minds of all those involved. It also recognizes that teamwork may not always involve trusting cooperative relationships.

The most challenging aspect of this leadership is whether or not it will succeed. According to Harvard Business Review, team leadership may fail because of poor leadership qualities, as well as other challenges. For example, an airline flight crew would be much more efficient if the team remained consistent.

Studies have shown that teams that have worked together for a long period of time are more effective than those that have not. But because keeping a flight crew together would be expensive, crews change their members all the time. Situations such as this are just one example of the challenges teams face.

6. Cross-Cultural Leadership

This form of leadership normally exists where there are various cultures in the society. This leadership has also industrialized as a way to recognize front-runners who work in the contemporary globalized market.

Organizations, particularly international ones, require leaders who can effectively adjust their leadership to work in different environs. Most of the leadership environments in the United States are cross-cultural because of the different cultures that live and work there.

One example of a cross-cultural leader in sports is quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Mariota Marcus. His Hawaiian background caused him to be an unpretentious player, in contrast to being a more aggressive one, yet he was still successful.

7. Facilitative Leadership

Facilitative leadership is dependent on measurements and outcomes – not a skill, although it takes much skill to master. The effectiveness of a group is directly related to the efficacy of its process. If the group is high functioning, the facilitative leader uses a light hand on the process.

On the other hand, if the group is low functioning, the facilitative leader will be more directive in helping the group run its process. An effective facilitative leadership involves monitoring group dynamics, as well as offering process suggestions and interventions to help the group stay on track.

8. Laissez-faire Leadership

Laissez-faire leadership gives authority to employees. According to azcentral, departments or subordinates are allowed to work as they choose with minimal or no interference. According to research, this kind of leadership has been consistently found to be the least satisfying and least effective management style.

But to a certain extent, delegating is necessary. Famous historical projects led by laissez-faire leaders include the building of the Panama Canal and the Hoover Dam. With both projects, the presidents involved had to delegate many responsibilities in order to succeed.

Completion of Panama Canal in 1904 was a complicated feat. This was only made possible when American President of that time Theodore Roosevelt decided to lead this project. The successful completion of Panama Canal is an engineering marvel, because of its geographical location it came across several road blocks and incidents, but all hurdles were overcome as authority was correctly delegated to professionals.

9. Transactional Leadership

This is a leadership style that maintains or continues the status quo. It is also the leadership that involves an exchange process, whereby followers get immediate, tangible rewards for carrying out the leader’s orders. Transactional leadership can sound rather basic, with its focus on exchange.

Being clear, focusing on expectations, giving feedback are all important leadership skills. Transactional leadership behaviors can include: clarifying what is expected of followers’ performance, explaining how to meet such expectations, and allocating rewards that are contingent on meeting objectives.

10. Coaching Leadership

Coaching leadership involves teaching and supervising followers. A coaching leader is highly operational in settings where results/performance require improvement.

Basically, in this kind of leadership, followers are helped to improve their skills. Coaching leadership does the following: motivates followers, inspires followers and encourages followers.

Some examples of people who have led through coaching are tennis coach Nick Bollettieri and dog behaviorist Cesar Milan.

11. Charismatic Leadership

In this type of leadership, the charismatic leader manifests his or her revolutionary power. Charisma does not mean sheer behavioral change. It actually involves a transformation of followers’ values and beliefs.

Therefore, charismatic leaders are not merely a simply populist leaders who affect attitudes towards specific objects. Rather, these leaders transform the underlying normative orientation that structures specific attitudes.

Charismatic leaders tend to have powerful personalities and attract huge followings. Examples of such leaders are Barak Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

12. Visionary Leadership

This form of leadership involves leaders who recognize that the methods, steps and processes of leadership are all obtained with and through people.

Most great and successful leaders have some sort of vision for where they are going. However, there are those who are highly visionary in their leadership.

Examples of leaders who had powerful and inspirational visions include Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Outstanding leaders will always transform their visions into realities.

 

Q.2 Write notes on the following:

1. a) Describe rationale decision making process?
2. b) Describe communication process along with the barriers of communication.

ANS

1. a) Describe rationale decision making process?

Rational decision making is a multi-step and linear process, designed for problem-solving start from problem identification through solution, for making logically sound decisions. The rational decision making model is a good model to make good decisions because it depends on rational way used for problems solving.

All managers face issues every day that need decisions; decisions about managing employees, resources and setting plans and strategies. And to do that, there are two ways to make a decision, Intuitive way and rational decision making way.

In last article (Effective decision making) we’ve discussed how to make Effective decisions, and in this article, we’ll discuss how to make rational decisions.

Rational decision making model definition:

Rational decision making is a multi-step and linear process, designed for problem-solving start from problem identification through solution, for making logically sound decisions.

The rational decision making model is a good model to make good decisions because it depends on rational way used for problems solving.

Rational decision making model steps:

If you want to make a good decision which helps you to achieve your goals; you should depend on the available facts to make a careful analysis to make a decision as we’ll explain in the following steps:

Step 1: Identify and define the problem:

The first step to make a rational decision is to identify and describe the problem by defining the current and desired states and defining the alternatives:

• Keep in mind during identifying the problem to identify the cause of the problem, not the symptoms.
• Define the gap between the current state and the desired state. And the gap must be enough to motivate the involved people to implement the decision.
• Define all available options and don’t think about quick solutions.

Example: if your family is growing and you have a small house which doesn’t meet your needs. Let’s assume that your decision is buying a bigger house to overcome that issue.

Describe communication process along with the barriers of communication.

Barriers to Communication Communication is a process that covers six different steps involving among others, encoding, decoding and transmission. For ensuring effective communication, all the parties and instruments will have to play their part as envisaged.

Barriers to Communication

Communication is a process that covers six different steps involving among others, encoding, decoding and transmission. For ensuring effective communication, all the parties and instruments will have to play their part as envisaged. At every stage of the communication process, however, there are barriers, which hinder or dilute the flow of communication.

The barriers to communication in an organizational context may arise out of authority structure, status difference, reporting relationships, culture and background of individuals. The barriers to communication may arise out of behavioral differences, differences in skills and understanding as well as physical factors. While some kind of barriers like behavioral differences and differences in skills may be commonly applicable to all methods of communication, barriers arising out of physical factors may be specific to the method of communication adopted.

Q.3 Write notes on the following:

1. a) Measuring the performance
2. b) Centralization and decentralization

ANS

Measuring the performance

To measure performance, compare quantitative data, like production rate, cycle time, or customer wait time, to target measurements in those areas. Alternatively, gauge performance by assessing more qualitative information, like customer feedback.

Performance measurement is the process of collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group, organization, system or component.^[1]

Definitions of performance measurement tend to be predicated upon an assumption about why the performance is being measured.^[2]

• Moullin defines the term with a forward looking organisational focus—”the process of evaluating how well organisations are managed and the value they deliver for customers and other stakeholders”.^[3]
• Neely et al. use a more operational retrospective focus—”the process of quantifying the efficiency and effectiveness of past actions”.^[4]
• In 2007 the Office of the Chief Information Officer in the USA defined it using a more evaluative focus—”Performance measurement estimates the parameters under which programs, investments, and acquisitions are reaching the targeted results”.^[5]

Performance Reference Model of the Federal Enterprise Architecture, 2005.^[6]

Beyond a simple agreement about it being linked to some kind of measurement of performance there is little consensus about how to define or use performance measures. In the light of this what has happened is the emergence of organising frameworks that incorporate performance measures and often also proscribe methods for choosing and using the appropriate measures for that application. The most common such frameworks include:

• Balanced scorecard—used by organisations to manage the implementation of corporate strategies^[7]
• Key performance indicator—a method for choosing important/critical performance measures, usually in an organisational context

Operational standards often include pre-defined lists of standard performance measures. For example EN 15341^[8] identifies 71 performance indicators, whereof 21 are technical indicators, or those in a US Federal Government directive from 1999—National Partnership for Reinventing Government, USA; Balancing Measures: Best Practices in Performance Management, August 1999.

Defining performance measures or methods by which they can be chosen is also a popular activity for academics—for example a list of railway infrastructure indicators is offered by Stenström et al.,^[9] a novel method for measure selection is proposed by Mendibil et al.^[10]

Academic articles that provide critical reviews of performance measurement in specific domains are also common—e.g. Ittner’s observations on non-financial reporting by commercial organisations,^[11]; Boris et al.’s observations about use of performance measurement in non-profit organisations,^[12] or Bühler et al.’s (2016) analysis of how external turbulence could be reflected in performance measurement systems.

Centralization and decentralization

Decentralization means dispersal of powers and authorities by the top level to the functional level management. Centralization is the systematic and consistent concentration of authority at central points. Unlike, decentralization is the systematic delegation of authority in an organization.

Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particular geographical location group. This moves the important decision-making and planning powers within the center of the organisation.

The term has a variety of meanings in several fields. In political science, centralisation refers to the concentration of a government’s power—both geographically and politically—into a centralised government.

Centralisation of authority is defined as the systematic and consistent concentration of authority at a central point or in a person within the organization. This idea was first introduced in the Qin Dynasty of China. The Qin government was highly bureaucratic and was administered by a hierarchy of officials, all serving the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang. The Qin Dynasty practised all the things that Han Feizi taught, allowing Qin Shi Huang to own and control all his territories, including those conquered from other countries. Zheng and his advisers ended feudalism in China by setting up new laws and regulations under a centralized and bureaucratic government with a rigid centralization of authority.

Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.^[1]

Concepts of decentralization has been applied to group dynamics and management science in private businesses and organizations, political science, law and public administration, economics, money and technology.

The word “centralisation” came into use in France in 1794 as the post-Revolution French Directory leadership created a new government structure. The word “décentralisation” came into usage in the 1820s.^[2] “Centralization” entered written English in the first third of the 1800s;^[3] mentions of decentralization also first appear during those years. In the mid-1800s Tocqueville would write that the French Revolution began with “a push towards decentralization…[but became,] in the end, an extension of centralization.”^[4] In 1863, retired French bureaucrat Maurice Block wrote an article called “Decentralization” for a French journal that reviewed the dynamics of government and bureaucratic centralization and recent French efforts at decentralization of government functions.^[5]

Ideas of liberty and decentralization were carried to their logical conclusions during the 19th and 20th centuries by anti-state political activists calling themselves “anarchists“, “libertarians“, and even decentralists. Tocqueville was an advocate, writing: “Decentralization has, not only an administrative value but also a civic dimension since it increases the opportunities for citizens to take interest in public affairs; it makes them get accustomed to using freedom. And from the accumulation of these local, active, persnickety freedoms, is born the most efficient counterweight against the claims of the central government, even if it were supported by an impersonal, collective will.”^[6] Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), influential anarchist theorist^[7][8] wrote: “All my economic ideas as developed over twenty-five years can be summed up in the words: agricultural-industrial federation. All my political ideas boil down to a similar formula: political federation or decentralization.”^[9]

In the early 20th century, America’s response to the centralization of economic wealth and political power was a decentralist movement. It blamed large-scale industrial production for destroying middle-class shop keepers and small manufacturers and promoted increased property ownership and a return to small scale living. The decentralist movement attracted Southern Agrarians like Robert Penn Warren, as well as journalist Herbert Agar.^[10] New Left and libertarian individuals who identified with social, economic, and often political decentralism through the ensuing years included Ralph Borsodi, Wendell Berry, Paul Goodman, Carl Oglesby, Karl Hess, Donald Livingston, Kirkpatrick Sale (author of Human Scale),^[11] Murray Bookchin,^[12] Dorothy Day,^[13] Senator Mark O. Hatfield,^[14] Mildred J. Loomis^[15] and Bill Kauffman

Leopold Kohr, author of the 1957 book The Breakdown of Nations – known for its statement “Whenever something is wrong, something is too big” – was a major influence on E. F. Schumacher, author of the 1973 bestseller Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered.^[17][18] In the next few years a number of best-selling books promoted decentralization.

 

Q.4 Discuss controlling the management process by providing examples from a large library.

ANS

The control process of management ensures that every activity of a business is furthering its goals. This process basically helps managers in evaluating their organization’s performance. By using it effectively, they can decide whether to change their plans or continue with them as they are.

Controlling is one of the most important functions of management. Its main objective is to ensure that an organization’s activities are advancing as planned. The control process that all managers have to implement consists of several steps. Each one of these is equally important and plays a big role in effective management.

Control Process

The control process of management ensures that every activity of a business is furthering its goals. This process basically helps managers in evaluating their organization’s performance. By using it effectively, they can decide whether to change their plans or continue with them as they are.

The control process consists of the following basic elements and steps:

1. Establishing goals and standards

The task of fixing goals and standards takes place while planning but it plays a big role in controlling also. This is because the main aim of controlling is to direct a business’s actions towards its goals. If the members of an organization know their goals clearly, they will invest their entire focus in achieving them.

It is very important for managers to communicate their organization’s goals, standards and objectives as clearly as possible. There must never be ambiguities amongst employees in this regard. If everybody works towards common goals, it becomes easier for an organization to flourish.

The goals that managers have to set and work towards may be either tangible/specific or intangible/abstract. Tangible goals are those which are easy to quantify in numerical terms. For example, achievement of sales worth Rs. 100 crores within one year is a tangible goal.

On the other hand, intangible goals are those which are not quantifiable numerically. For example, a company may aim to win some prestigious award for its corporate social responsibility activities.

2. Measuring actual performance against goals and standards

Once managers know what their goals are, they should next measure their actual performance and compare. This step basically helps them in knowing whether their plans are working as intended.

After implementing a plan, managers have to constantly monitor and evaluate them. They must always be ready to take corrective measures if things are not working properly. In order to do this, they should keep comparing their actual performance with their ultimate goals.

Apart from taking corrective action, this step of process control also helps managers in predicting future problems. This way they can take measures immediately and save their business from losses.

In order to compare their actual performance, managers first have to measure it. They can do so by measuring results in monetary terms, seeking customer feedback, appointing financial experts, etc. This can often become difficult if managers want to measure intangible standards like industrial relations, market reputation, etc.

3. Taking corrective action

In case there are discrepancies between actual performances and goals, managers need to take corrective actions immediately. Timely corrective actions can reduce losses as well as prevent them from arising in the future again.

Sometimes, business organizations formulate default corrective actions in the form of policies. This, however, can be difficult to do when it comes to complicated problems.

In such cases, managers need to first quantify the defect and prepare a course of action to remedy it. Sometimes, they may have to take extraordinary measures for unpredictable problems.

4. Following up on corrective action

Just taking corrective measures is not enough; managers must also take them to their logical conclusion. Even this step requires thorough evaluations and comparisons.

Managers should stick to the problem until they solve it. If they refer it to a subordinate, they must stay around and see to it that he completes the task. They may even mentor him personally so that he may be able to solve such problems by himself later.

 

Q.5 Why job description is important? Write job description of Chief Librarian, Deputy Librarian, Assistant Librarian and Library Assistant.

ANS

A job description or JD is a written narrative that describes the general tasks, or other related duties, and responsibilities of a position. It may specify the functionary to whom the position reports, specifications such as the qualifications or skills needed by the person in the job, information about the equipment, tools and work aids used, working conditions, physical demands, and a salary range. Job descriptions are usually narrative,^[1] but some may comprise a simple list of competencies; for instance, strategic human resource planning methodologies may be used to develop a competency architecture for an organization, from which job descriptions are built as a shortlist of competencies.^{[2][not specific enough to verify]}

According to Torrington, a job description is usually developed by conducting a job analysis, which includes examining the tasks and sequences of tasks necessary to perform the job. The analysis considers the areas of knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform the job. Job analysis generally involves the following steps: collecting and recording job information; checking the job information for accuracy; writing job descriptions based on the information; using the information to determine what skills, abilities, and knowledge are required to perform the job; updating the information from time to time. ^[3] A job usually includes several roles. According to Hall, the job description might be broadened to form a person specification or may be known as “terms of reference“. The person/job specification can be presented as a stand-alone document, but in practice it is usually included within the job description. A job description is often used by employers in the recruitment process.^[

A job description is a document intended to provide job applicants with an outline of the main duties and responsibilities of the role for which they are applying.

The description is usually drawn up by the individual in the organisation responsible for overseeing the selection process for the role, often with the help of the company’s HR department and/or an external recruiter.

A job description is an essential part of the job application process as, with the right information, it should help applicants to determine whether the role is in line with their skill set and whether it is a job they actually want to do.

From the organisation’s perspective, the job description is vital in ensuring that the applications received for the position closely match the needs of the role itself.

It helps HR departments and external recruiters to streamline the selection process and attract a higher number of suitable candidates for interview or further selection.

A job description helps to streamline the selection process.

• To provide the employee with the expectations that are required of them in the role
• To provide enough detail to help the candidate assess if they are suitable for the position
• To support the recruitment team during the selection process
• To help formulate questions for the interview process
• To allow the prospective employee to determine their role or standing within the structure of the organisation
• To assist in forming a legally binding contract of employment
• To help set goals and target for the employee upon joining
• To aid in the evaluation of the employee’s job performance
• To help formulate training and development plans

• The document will also usually also include a brief background and overview of the organisation, as well as the name or position of the employee the successful candidate will be reporting to.
• In addition, you can also expect to find an explanation of the kind of candidate the organisation is looking for. This might include their professional experience and achievements, skill set, educational background and qualifications, as well as any desired personality traits.