BS4S16: Leadership and Management Theories

Title for the Report:
Critical Evaluation of the application of Leadership & Management Theories
within the Department of Public Service and Administration


Student number:
74109716
Name:
Ndwakhulu Gilbert Chauke


Module Name:
Leadership and Management Theories
Code:
BS4S16



Course Title:
Master of Business Administration




Course Leader:
Bernardo Batiz


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, Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Baground about the DPSA ................................................................................................................................... 3
2. CRITICAL EVALUATION OF LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................. 5
2.1 The classical management approaches ............................................................................................................... 5
2.1.1 Scientific Management ................................................................................................................................. 6
2.1.2 Administrative Management ....................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.3 Bureaucratic Management ........................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 The contingency approach................................................................................................................................... 8
2.2.1 Fiedler’s Contingency Model ........................................................................................................................ 9
2.3 Situational approach .......................................................................................................................................... 10
3. CRITICAL DISCUSSION OF PRACTICE IN THE ORGANISATION ......................................................................... 13
3.1 The practice of classical management approaches: ......................................................................................... 13
3.1.1 Scientific Management ............................................................................................................................... 13
3.1.2 Administrative Management ..................................................................................................................... 14
3.1.3 Bureaucratic Management ......................................................................................................................... 15
3.2 The practice of contingency approach .............................................................................................................. 16
3.3 The practice of situational approach................................................................................................................. 17
4. CRITICAL EVALUATION ON THE FIT BETWEEN THEORY & PRACTICE ............................................................. 18
4.1 Scientific management approach ....................................................................................................................... 18
4.2 The Administrative management approach ..................................................................................................... 18
4.3. The Bureaucratic approach............................................................................................................................... 19
4.4 The Contingency approach ................................................................................................................................ 19
5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................................... 20
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................... 22




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, 1. INTRODUCTION


For many decades, the subject of leadership and management theories has been of great interest
to proletariats and scholars. Sharma and Jain (2013) defines leadership as “a process by which a
person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that
makes it more cohesive and coherent”. The concept of management on the other hand is defined
by Thenmozhi (n.d.) as “the art of getting things done through and with people”. Both leadership
and management involve influencing, working with people and effective goal accomplishment.
Management is task-oriented and leadership is people-oriented (Sydänmaanlakka, 2003).
According to the Chattered Management Institute (CMI) (2015), in the twentieth century,
management was percieved as a processes of how managers implemented their power to
successfully advance their organisational objectives. During this era, people believed that only one
managerial style could enbale managers to realize their desired outcomes. Today however, a
managerial style is percived as the manner in which leaders relate to people. Moreover, there is
also a increasing conviction that leaders need to find their authentic managemerial style. A style,
which they must constantly change to adapt to changes in their business environment (CMI, 2015).


The current volatile global economy has made the importance of leadership in organizations
indisputable. Van Wart (2003) indicates that effective leadership in organizations provides
efficiency, a sense of cohesiveness and higher levels of satisfaction among employees. Effective
leadership also provides organizations with a sense of direction, vision and an alignment to
organizational culture (Van Wart, 2003). Organisations that are run by leaders who lack this basic
knowledge are doomed for failure. Thus a study on the critical evaluation of the application of
leadership & management Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is therefore
required. Moreover, the lack of literature regarding the practice of leadership and management
theories in contemporary organisation also necessitated a need for a study in this area. The primary
aim of the study is to provide more general knowledge and understanding about the practice of
leadership and management theories in the DPSA.


1.1 Baground about the DPSA


The DPSA is a department of the South African government that is responsible for the organisation
and administration of the civil service (National Government of South Africa, 2020). Its core
mandate is to establish norms and standards towards ensuring that the state machinery functions

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