Unit 1: Key Principles of Management and Leadership 

Unit code: R/602/0413
QCF level 3: BTEC Professional

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Unit aim
The aim of this unit is to give learners knowledge and understanding of leadership and how it links to the process of management.

Unit introduction
This unit gives learners the knowledge that underpins approaches to leadership and management. Learners will be introduced to the debate about leadership and management and they will learn about the differences and similarities between the two.
Learners will investigate some of the key issues that leaders have to deal with in the workplace. Two of these issues focus on people and learners will gain a valuable insight into ways of managing conflict and the important link between leadership skills and motivation. The other issue they will investigate focuses on ways of allocating work and this links in with the process of delegating work to others. This theme continues when learners look at the value of setting objectives for team members, how to give them support and how to monitor progress towards objectives
Learners are introduced to the concept of quality in the workplace through looking at the different approaches to quality systems. The importance of developing a quality culture will be investigated and learners should be encouraged to bring their own experiences to the discussions. Learners will need to understand that developing quality systems and embedding a quality culture often takes time. When an organisation focuses on quality improvement, barriers such as resistance to change may be present and learners need to understand that strategies have to be devised to overcome these barriers to promoting quality improvements.

Learning outcomes and assessment criteria
In order to pass this unit, the evidence that the learner presents for assessment needs to demonstrate that they can meet all the learning outcomes for the unit. The assessment criteria determine the standard required to achieve the unit.

On completion of this unit a learner should:

Unit content

1. Know differences between leadership and management
Functions of management: theories of management (Henri Fayol’s seven functions – planning, organising, leading, coordinating, controlling, staffing, monitoring); management definitions such as Mary Parker Follett – the art of getting things done through people; management by objectives
Areas of management responsibility: leading, mission statements, tactics; organisational structures, divisions, coordination, information flows, control of tasks, distribution of authority to job holders, staffing, recruitment, training, evaluating; directing, motivating, group dynamics, communications, discipline; control, measuring performance, reporting performance, improving performance
Management skills: technical skills (use of tools, techniques, specialised knowledge); human skills (build positive interpersonal relationships); conceptual skills (problem solving, analytical, creative, intuitive)
Management styles: autocratic, democratic, paternalistic, laissez-faire
Leadership and management differences: theories (great man, trait, contingency, behavioural, participative); situational theories (Adair’s task, team and  individual; Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s tell, sell, consult, share, delegate model; Handy’s best-fit approach); universal theories (Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership; Bennis, Bass; charismatic leadership – Conger and Kanungo, Shamir, House and Arthur 1994); current theories, models and principles of leadership: types of power and authority (coercive, reward, legitimate, referent, expert (French and Raven)); situational theories (levels of leadership, varying importance of factors in sectors, organisations and sub-units
– efficiency, reliability, innovation, adaptation and human resources (Zajac, Kraatz and Bresser); size and stage of development of organisation (business start-up versus established business); difference between direction and vision and controlling and directing
Leadership skills: becoming a leader, leadership qualities, power and authority, types of authority (French and Raven – coercive, reward, legitimate, referent, expert), authority and responsibility, team, task and individual needs (Adair); people skills; models of different leadership styles such as the continuum of leadership behaviour (Tannenbaum and Schmidt); different methods of developing leaders (training courses, coaching, mentoring, organisations’ own universities, action learning, partnerships with key academics)

2. Understand key issues of leadership
Allocation of work: methods (develop plans); the stages of planning to include defining and agreeing objectives; SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-based), specifying the resources required to achieve the objectives, checking availability of resources, agreeing appropriate working methods, scheduling work for individuals and teams, agreeing individual and team responsibilities, keeping relevant people informed, negotiation skills; monitoring progress by listening, observing, asking others, dealing with problems, taking corrective action, reviewing progress on allocated work and adjusting plans, provide learning and development opportunities; provide support; brief team members and teams on the allocation of work (team briefings, team meetings, encourage questions, suggestions and clarification)
Managing conflict: identifying conflict at work, individual conflict (personality clashes, differences of opinion, bullying or harassment); group conflict (rivalry between groups, disagreement over team goals, unfair treatment between groups, unclear job roles); conflict between groups of employees and management (specific issues such as pay or health and safety, general issues such as poor motivation or management styles); signs of conflict, heated exchanges, stand-offs, cutting off from colleagues, motivation drops, behaviour changes, productivity falls, sickness and absences increase
Ways of managing conflict: quiet word approach, communication, education, networking, participation, negotiation, building alliances, creating positive attitudes; fight it, challenge it: flight from it, ignore it; freeze it, indecision, prolonging; face it, problem-solving cycle – identify the problem and set goals, analyse the problem, collect data, analyse data, search for solutions, analyse solutions, create action plan, evaluate the plan, action the plan; formal investigation, use of internal procedures; use of outside agencies
Approaches to motivation: definition and importance of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, needs-based motivational theory such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s two factor theory – motivators and hygiene factors, Alderfer’s (existence, relatedness and growth) ERG theory, Edward Deci and Richard Ryan’s self-determination theory, cognitive theories – Edwin Locke`s
Goal-setting theory; Victor Vroom`s expectancy theory; Douglas McGregor`s Theory X and Theory Y; role of rewards, financial rewards (pay, commission, piece rates, performance-related pay, individual bonuses, team bonuses, salary increases, profit sharing, share ownership); fringe benefits (travel allowances, free meals, company cars, expense accounts, private health insurance); non- financial rewards (job enrichment, job enlargement, teamwork, empowerment); practical measures to motivate staff, recognition, providing effective feedback, mentoring, showing appreciation, respect for others, treating people equally

3. Understand the implications of delegating work to others
Purpose of delegation: definition of delegation, benefits of delegation to manager, organisation and staff, delegation and motivation, responsibility and authority, levels of decision making (Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s tell, sell, consult, share, delegate model), identification of work to delegate, identification of potential delegates, matching of work to delegates, gradual delegation models such as recommend/act/delegate, principles of learning such as learning curve, learning styles, conscious/unconscious competence (Johari Window)
Psychological barriers: manager’s psychological barriers to delegation (loss of control, lack of trust, reluctance to take risks, loss of stature, fear of loss of position, lack of confidence in others, lack of skills needed to delegate effectively, resistance to change); staff member’s psychological barriers to delegation (fear of criticism, lack of skills, being ‘dumped on’, lack of rewards, dislike of responsibilities, increased workload, fear of failure, resistance to change)
Coordinating delegated work: one-to-one meetings, processes for briefing staff, model/checklist such as TRUST ME, importance of defining desired outcomes, resources, benefits, responsibilities, timescales, SMART objectives, determination of critical review points; coordination tools such as simple project management methodology – activity lists, to-do lists, Gantt charts, milestones, work schedules, regular reporting systems, exception reporting, one-to-one progress review meetings, budgetary control

4. Understand the purpose of setting work objectives with team members
Value of setting objectives: importance of setting objectives for individuals and teams, the link between individual, team and organisational objectives; agreeing objectives; SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time- based); improves motivation; increases empowerment; provides clarity; provides focus; improves decision making; encourages prioritisation of activities; provides direction; encourages responsibility; allows personal growth; encourages an achievement culture, encourages trust
Support: coaching models (GROW model – Goal, (current) Reality, Obstacles/Options, Will/Way Forward; Pinnacle Performance Model for Effective Leadership – Humphrey and Stokes), conduct of one-to-one review meetings, skills in providing feedback, review of learning, dealing with critical incidents; providing group support, group meetings, resources support, mentoring support, support through giving guidance and advice, sourcing external support if appropriate, support from colleagues, support through motivation, support through providing manuals and job-related documents, training support, educational support, support through flexible working arrangements
Monitoring progress: establish clear performance expectations; standardise performance processes and practices; use monitoring tools such as simple project management methodology – activity lists, to-do lists, Gantt charts, milestones; work schedules (monitoring quality, monitoring production volumes, checking customer orders, monitoring delivery schedules, monitoring sales figures, monitoring customer satisfaction surveys, monitoring progress on health and safety issues, monitoring progress relating to externally set targets, monitoring organisational employment statistics); regular reporting systems, exception reporting, one-to-one progress review meetings, team and group progress meetings, written progress reports, analysis of statistical information, budgetary control; importance of planning for things that could go wrong, importance of reviewing work and plans on a regular basis, importance of providing regular feedback, contingency planning

5. Know the importance of promoting quality in the workplace
Approaches to quality: customer based, manufacturing based, product based, value based, user based, transcendent: excellence, lack of defects, fitness for purpose, value for money, conforming to customer expectations, performance, features, reliability, conforming, durability, serviceability, consistency, courtesy, responsiveness, reliability, efficiency, safety; service versus product quality, Kaizen and continuous development, zero defects; workplace context: links to business plans, objectives and markets; quality as everyone’s responsibility, quality chain; internal customer concept; measuring quality: financial or cost of conformance measures – operational costs of non-conformance measures – costs of exceeding requirements; customer-based measures – customer satisfaction, customer surveys, handling complaints; benchmarking, e.g. informal benchmarking, formal benchmarking, performance benchmarking, best practice benchmarking
Theoretical approaches: advantages and disadvantages of approaches – benchmarking, continuous improvement, quality inspection and control, quality assurance; Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, quality management systems, ISO 9000, European Foundation for Quality Management’s Business Excellence Model, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, Peters and Waterman’s Eight Attributes of Excellence, Investors in People (IiP)
Promoting a quality culture: quality assurance team, self-managed teams and quality circles; focus groups (process improvement group, process review group, technology improvement group, knowledge transfer group); ‘interlocking teams’, need for senior management commitment, need for workforce commitment, need to set quality standards, no successes or failures – just learning experiences, focus on processes, importance of open and honest communication, open access to information, workforce empowerment, partnerships with suppliers, external auditing, customer service policies, internal customers, external customers, feedback from customer surveys, feedback from audits
Barriers to quality: inflexible policies, procedures and processes; organisational culture and structure, limited management perspectives, lack of commitment from senior management, changing customer expectations, lack of organisational vision and objectives, closed communication systems, closed knowledge channels, limited staff development, inadequate support mechanisms, poor supplier support