Planning, Leading, Organizing and Controlling, Research Paper Example

Research was conducted on the planning, leadership, organizing and controlling qualities of three companies. The PLOC functions are components of the management style of the administrators of an organization. It is the method and perspective of directing future objectives, providing direction, implementing plans and controlling the resources of an organization. The organizations that were explored are Amazon, Google and Zappos. The perspectives of Bulygo (2013), Kaplan (2012), Northouse (2015), Pearlstein (2011), Ross Reck and Associates (2015) were accessed.

Management

The style of management is an important determinant with regards to the effectiveness of an organization. There are important components of management which include planning leading, organizing and controlling. Leadership is a component of management which provides influence toward a group with regards to attaining a mutual goal. The performance and the success of the organization is reliant on the style of management and leadership that is applied by the administrators. Studies have demonstrated that there is a direct relationship between the management style of an organisation and the production of the organization. In the event that the leader applies the most effective management style, the organization will have the likelihood of documenting elevated levels of production from its resources (Northouse, 2015).

Amazon

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s Chief Executive Officer stated the challenge of management is “Anytime you do something big, that’s disruptive, there will be critics  …we are willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time” (as cited in Kaplan, 2012). Bezos stated that he has produced five tactics in order to detail the natural uncertainty that is developed by change and innovation. This approach is detailed as LEAPS which is an acronym. The LEAPS acronym consist of the steps demonstrated in the following table:

 Table 1: Management Approaches (LEAPS)

In order to successfully innovate, the most basic perceptions which have caused the current success must be reviewed and restructured (Kaplan, 2012).

Google

The Executive Chairman at Google, Eric Schmidt stated during an interview with the Washington Post that at Google “No particular person has a strong say…at Google, everyone is the same“(Pearlstein, 2011). The statement made by Schmidt infers that at Google, all voices are equal. This is a style of democratic management. The organizational culture at Google is founded on the strength behind the ideas of the members of the organization. The ideas are heard without respect to tenure or position (Ross Reck and Associates, 2015).

At Google all organizational members have the same status. Google takes pride in its consensus culture. The culture of the organization at Google perceives that the optimal idea can be encountered when the members of the organization have the willingness to share the opinions and ideas which may be conflicting.  The organizational members are encouraged to question Larry Page or Sergey Brim during the Friday meetings. Although Google has grown into a large organization, the founders make every attempt to maintain the feel of a small organization. The management staff at Google are perceived as administrators whose function is to provide support and encouragement for the members of the organization (Ross Reck and Associates, 2015).

 Zappos

The CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh believes that it is important to personally interview each of the applicants for employment positions. In this manner, Hsieh and Fred Mossler can ensure that the right person gets chosen for the position. Hsieh believes that in hiring someone, it is important to ask the question:  if the person were not his employee, would he want to spend leisure time with them? If the employee did not fulfill the social requisites, they would not be contracted. Hsieh state din his in speech at Stanford University: “We want the person to be the same person at home or the office….when their creativity shines and that’s when true friendships are formed- not just co-worker relationships” (as cited in Bulygo, 2013).

Hsieh perceives that the organizational culture of an organization is what distinguishes the good companies from the mediocre or poor companies. Hsieh believes that the organizational members who do not conform to the standards of the organizational culture should be dismissed.  This is irrespective of the extent of the individual’s talent. The customer service segment is emphasized at Zappos. Over three quarters of their sales volume is generated from returning customers (Bulygo, 2013).

Hsieh applies laissez- faire leadership with the customer service staff. This implies that there are no established policies, he enables each of the customer service representatives to respond as they perceive is appropriate during the encounter with the customer.  Hsieh organizational policy includes paying new employees to leave the organization. Hsieh wants passionate employees, not simply employees who are looking for a salary. Hsieh believes that the employees don’t leave the organization, they leave the management (Bulygo, 2013).

Conclusion

Management has the ability of motivating organizational production. Effective leadership is one of the PLOC components. It is important to exercise the correct leadership strategy for the appropriate situation. There is no right form of leadership, it is reliant on the person and context.

References

Bulygo, Z. (2013). Tony Hsieh, Zappos and the art of the great company culture. Kissmetrics.

Kaplan, S. (2012). Leading disruptive innovation. Ivey Business Journal.

Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice, (Seventh edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Pearlstein, S. (11 July 2011). On leadership: Google CEO Eric Schmidt on workplace culture. Washington Post.

Ross Reck and Associates (2015). Case study: Google. Ross Reck and Associates.