Introduction Leadership and management

Introduction Leadership and management are two different subjects but both are essential for an organizations growth. Leadership is “A relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people” (Smith P et al 2012), whilst “Management is more about getting things done on a day-to-day basis and ensuring consistency” (Smith P et al 2012). In simple context Managers helps in doing the right thing where as Leaders do the right things.

Having a strong Leader and Management an organization can reap the benefits of Competitive advantage as it would distinguish them to be an organization with core values, goals and scope which will eventually help them grow. It is understood that successful leaders do not habitually behave in similar ways. They may, in fact, act in a different way even if the situation presented is similar which would arguably come down to their personalities. Furthermore, different leadership traits may be required in different circumstances.

This Case Study is a perfect example of how different Leaders and their Management have direct implications on their organization, even though both the Companies discussed in the case study are in similar industries. The Companies Discussed in the Case Study is Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair, Sir Richard Branson Being the Leader and Founder for Virgin and Michael O’Leary for Ryan Air. This Essay would look at how different Leadership, Management and Motivation style and theories they can adopted for their respected companies.

The second part of this essay covers how these theories have impacted their companies externally and internally. Comparison and Contrasting Elements Leadership Qualities, Management & Motivation. There is no denying that both Sir Richard Branson and Michael O’Leary are leaders and face for their respective Companies. Both of them have Strong Personalities and have a huge appetite for media presence. Sir Richard Branson is a Leader who believes in relationships whether they are employees, friends or business partner.

He is always smiling and is a fun character to be around with. In Contrast Michael O’Leary is known to be a acerbic personality who doesn’t care much of what other people think of him as long as he is delivering them the service in need and is making profit. According to the 7 approaches (Laurie J Mullins 2007) it can be concluded that the leadership styles vary drastically between the two. Sir Richard Branson has more of Democratic Style of Leadership as he delegates to subordinates and is open to the idea that good ideas can come from anywhere and anytime.

He has said before, “Virgin Group is an organization driven on informality and information, one that is bottom heavy rather then strangled by top level management”, (Wikipedia) giving the impression that he listens to his people well below the management level. Whilst O’Leary on the other hand is more of an Autocratic figure as a leader. He believes that as long as there are results portraying the success of the business, it is more than just an employee contribution, it is the decision making ability of him and the higher authorities.

Branson’s way of leadership adopts people traits (Mcgreggor 1960) whereas O’Leary has more of a Quality and acceptance of leader’s decision (Vroom and Yetton). According to Tannenbaum and Schmidt, Branson is more inclined towards the area of non-managers freedom specifically the 3rd arrow from left whereas O’leary is more towards area of freedom for manager specifically 2nd arrow from the right. (Source: Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. H. ‘How to choose a leadership pattern’, Harvard Business Review, May/June 1973, p. 167. ) These Leadership Styles have a direct correlation with how they manage their respective organizations. Since Branson is more of a democratic leader and likes to delegate it can be concluded that Human Relations approach (Management Theories ‘Management Schools) is more his style of Management, he makes sure that his staffs is motivated and willing to keep up the brand name by offering excellent services to their customers.

Since Virgin is in the long-haul market and is operating in different countries the organizational structure is more of a ‘Divisional Structure’, as the company is geographically mapped and is Customer Orientated. Whereas O’Leary’s Ryanair could be classified to be using the Classical Approach of Bureaucracy (Max Weber 1947), Weber states that a bureaucratic organisation is technically the most efficient form of organisation possible…………….. The bureaucratic organisation becomes typical of all the modern societies. Pugh & Hickinson 1996) There is not a single theory or approach to leadership that fails to recognize that a fundamental quality of leaders – irrespective of whether leadership is innate, learned, situational, or whatever – is an ability to inspire and motivate people (Clegg, S. Et al 2006 Managing and Organizations). One of the key elements for a business to prosper is Motivation whether they are financial or Non-financial incentives. Both Branson and O’ Leary have contrasting styles of leadership and management which further leads to different styles of Motivation.

Branson being the fun loving personality he is interacts with his employees. While Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory (1959) Motivators appear to be the case for Branson and his company, O’Leary’s on the other hand with his Low cost Driven and no Frills Strategy fits more with the Process Theory for Motivation Like Equity Theory ( John Stacy Adams 1963) Where he expects his employees to expect outputs according to their inputs as stated in the case that Ryanair’s Cabin Crew is through a third party specifically named Crewlink.

These Motivation theories can further be linked to Blake & McCanse (1991) Leadership model with Virgin being Country Club Management and Ryanair being Authority Obedience Management. Both Companies can also adapt to Theory X and Theory Y Humans relations approach (Douglas McGreggor 1960). Ryanair will adopt Theory X to motivate its employees while Virgin Atlantic Theory Y. Impact on the Companies by Leadership Styles and Behavior.

Both Virgin and Ryanair have had their fair trade of success and complaints. Having different Leadership and Management Styles lead to a difference in their organizational culture, Branson and O’Leary were subjective to many different outcomes which had a significant effect on their businesses. Virgin Being in the longhaul airline business has more competitors as he is the kind of person who thinks big. His competitors consist of International Airlines such as