HRM Outline Human Resource Management Thesis

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, 2010). The model includes several mediator (e.g., knowledge exchange) and moderator variables (e.g., self-leadership competencies of actors) that explain why and when this approach is effective and looks at leadership in more of a comprehensive way than focusing on one individual. Such perspectives have suggested that when employees become involved in the decision making processes then this can strengthen leadership.

Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership is the leadership model that represents what most people view as the concept of management. Transactional leadership is defined by an exchange relationship between the managers and the employees that are all motivated by their own self-interests and meeting the expectations that are associated with their job description. Transactional leadership consists of monitoring, controlling, and motivating employees through economic incentives and other types of exchange incentives (Bass, 1985). Most of the motivation in this model stems from financial exchanges such as by either salaries, performance bonuses, benefits or other incentives to lead the organization towards is shared goals by more of a contractual arrangement than anything else.

On form of transactional leadership is known as management by exception. This is a form of management that involves monitoring performance at regular intervals and taking corrective action when it is needed. The management by exception model can either be used actively or passively. If the manager is motivated then they may actively seek to find barriers that prevent more efficiency. A passive approach to managing by exception is represented by a manager basically waiting for a problem to come to them in which requires some decision to be made. This approach is actually well-suited to many scenarios including those in which a manager has a large number of employees that they oversee.

An even more hands off approach is represented by the laissez-faire leadership model which is also a form of transactional leadership. A Laissez-Faire leader will actively try to avoid intervening in the organization; they avoid decisions, delay actions, and ignore responsibilities (Bass, 1998). This type of manager will generally not use whatever authority has been granted to them by their position to pursue organizational goals. Rather they purposely distance themselves from the workforce in any way they can. Although this type of manager does not have desire to achieve organizational goals they can be more common than a human resources department would like to believe. In many cases such managers get promoted on the basis of seniority or some other factor that doesn't consider their motivation towards organizational goals.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is one of the most popular leadership models and has been called one of the most effective among the various theories of leadership (Judge & Bono, 2000). Transformational leaders are able to motivate their subordinates to reach their full potential by setting challenging expectations will in many cases leads the employees to achieve higher performances (Bass, 1999). Not only do transformational leaders have high performance marks, they also work well in a dynamic environment. They are able to adapt to change and are also known for their role in organizational change and change management. Transformational leaders can help an organization transition from one stage to the next in times of organizational change.

The transformational leadership model, was first presented by Burns who compared it to the transactional leader or manager role (Judge & Bono, 2000). Judge and Bono (2000) give the definition of transformational leadership as a leader who could appeal to the moral values of the employees. This in turn, motivates them to contribute to the organizational goals established without necessarily having a contractual motivation to do so. Employees who are inspired in an organization for a variety of reasons will perform better and devote more of their attention to what they can offer the organization and their role in the organization's goals.

Other versions of the definition of transformational leadership include that a transformational leader motivates followers to do their best, sets challenging expectations, and thus achieves higher performances. Furthermore, Bass later defined transformational leadership as simply a leader's ability to push followers beyond their immediate self-interests (Bass, 1985). He argued that a transformational leader could help an employee develop a higher level of maturity in their ideals, as well as their concern for the achievement, self-actualization, and well-being of others, of organizations, and of society generally. This type of motivation is not depending on a material rewards system.

Bass (1985) defined transformational leadership by four main components that the leader can exhibit.

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Idealized influence is a component that deals with a leader's ability to fit the image of leader and to maintain this "ideal" image. It is difficult to define what an ideal image would be, but the leader must exhibit a sense of dedication as well as demonstrate purpose and perseverance to the organization and its organizational goals. Another component deals with inspirational motivation which represents a leader's ability to share a vision for the future with enthusiasm, optimism, and commitment to goals. Thirdly, intellectual stimulation deals with the intelligence of the leader and how well they can appeal to an employee's rational. The last component of this definition deals with how much a leader can deal with people individually on a one-on-one basis and give them personal time and individualized attention. Bass (1985) made a major contribution to illustrate some of the character traits and behaviors that a transformational leader might exhibit.

The transformational leadership model is one of the most popular leadership models because it has been shown to correlate strongly with organizational success in a vast number of research experiments. Some researcher has even gone so far as to try to identify a dispositional basis using behavior scales to predict the ability for someone to be exhibit transformational leadership and found that some personality traits are helpful in predicting transformational leadership than others (Ross & Offerman, 1997). Furthermore, transformational leadership can help predict individual and organizational outcomes like leader effectiveness, team performance, subordinate's individual performance, job satisfaction of the subordinates, and organizational commitment (Lim & Ployhart, 2004). The transformational leadership model is one of the most powerful models for leadership in HRM and should be used to drive organizational change that can create a competitive advantage.

Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is a relatively new model in leadership studies but it has gained some traction from some popular sources. There is also some evidence to suggest that this model can provide insights into effective leadership and this model shares some common attributes and overlapping content with many of the other models. However, one of the reasons that this model is interesting because it reverses the focus from the leader to the employee or subordinate and the leader actually plays more of a support role. By definition, the leader is considered a servant in which they "serve" the needs of the employees which then translates in high organizational performances. Through servitude the leader takes a more humble role in the organizational setting. Humility is an important leadership attribute that has also been identified in other models. Although this represents a model that is comparatively new in academic literature, it seems like it will popular because of the need for ethical behavior in organizational settings (Reed, Vidaver-Cohen, & Colwell, 2011). It is also popular as a "faith-based" leadership perspective because it can complement many religious or spiritual views of individuals.

A servant leader will work to constantly scan the organization and the needs of the employees for ways that they can support their employees and to be empowered in their roles and duties within the organization. This perspective is a radical break from many traditional notions of leadership (Vinod & Sudhakar, 2011). This type of leaders will actively try to prevent their ego from letting them use their positional power for anything other than a supportive role. Therefore, this model predicts that the ideal servant leaders will have high self-esteem and not be motivated by achieving power and status alone. Thus this model has become popular quickly because it provides a real alternative to other contemporary models. It is also popular because of the wave of unethical behavior that has occurred within the business world over the last couple of decades and is seen as a possible way to help promote an ethical organization.

Empathy is one of the core characteristics that the servant leader must excel in. A servant leader must be able to put themselves in the shoes of other and be able to perceive the individualistic challenges that their employees are dealing with in order to help them improve their performance. This leadership model is also heavily reliant in the ideals of servitude and stewardship. A servant leader may not even view their self as a leader but feel more of a burden to help others. The servant leader will devote large amounts of their time to individualized attention which was considered one of the.....

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