Jeffrey Alexander Martin

Management and leadership are often seen as different skills. Mintzberg (1979), who writes on effective management styles, did not differentiate between the two. You are required to discuss Mintzberg’s effective management roles and conclude on whether there is a difference between leadership and management. Leadership and management are difficult terms to delineate in that they are often used with slight variations in similar fashions. In this paper we will look at some definitions of the two terms, specifically use Henry Mintzberg's framework of management roles as seen in application with the small municipality of Dalton Township in Michigan, USA, and offer a view on the demarcation between leadership and management. Manage can be defined as "to be responsible for controlling or organizing someone or something, especially a business or employees," while lead can be defined as "to control a group of people, a country, or a situation." (Cambridge Dictionary, 20...

Organisational politics can influence others. Discuss Morgan’s modes of political rule in organisations concluding whether politics is a good or a bad thing. Gareth Morgan's work in organizational theory has been noteworthy in the last few decades and heavily influenced the field in both theory and practice. This paper will examine his views on political rule in organizations, using his framework of metaphorical perspective, and the local Michigan, USA municipality of Dalton Township as a practical and applied example. And, we will answer whether politics is good or bad. Politics can be defined as "the relationships within a group or organization that allow particular people to have power over others." Therefore, the focal concept is power in relationships. Power can be defined as the "ability to control people and events." (Cambridge Dictionary, 2022) This is similar to Morgan in that "Power is the medium through which conflicts of interest are ultimately ...

Incremental, strategic and transformational change are all typologies of change in the public sector. Critically compare and contrast these typologies of change supporting your work with suitable illustrations. Types of organizational change can be classified in different ways. In this article we will look at seven different classification types. In support of these theoretical classifications practical and demonstrative examples will be given with reference to Dalton Township, a local municipality located in Michigan, USA. Each of these seven typologies are more similar than different in that each deals with the same subject matter, change. "Organizational change is the adoption of new behavior by people in organizations, where behavior means the new learning required to perform differently and adjust to a change in the environment." (Pullen, 1993) The seven types of change we are looking at are: smooth incremental change, bumpy incremental change, strategic change, transfor...

Power and authority are related and interactive concepts, but they can also be differentiated.The best way to explore this topic is to first go through definitions and historical examples from politics and business. Then to dive more extensively into how these concepts apply to the role of a change agent in a local municipality. The complex interrelationship of power and authority is demonstrated well by the life and career of Eleanor Roosevelt. Becoming prominent as the wife of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, she had no official authority. Yet, she wielded a great deal of power both during and after her husband's life. Power is a person's ability to influence another's behavior because of dependency. Dependency is the need to rely on another for something. (Judge, et al, 2016, pg. 368) While Eleanor wielded no formal power within an organizational structure with the ability to reward or punish others, she developed personal power through public speaking and popular writ...

Introduction When people run for an elected position they have certain motivations for doing so. They have expectations about what they can achieve and what they will experience. I believe that people run for office because they see a possibility for achieving something meaningful. Once in office, however, the experience can be different than expected, especially in their encounter with deception. This changes their motivation and meaning. Understanding these experiences is important for the phenomenological impact on the individuals who pursue and attain elected office, as well as those considering doing so, and such research could have a noticeable impact in understanding changes in policy agendas of politicians, as well as reasons behind their self-selection bias in pursuit and maintenance of their roles. General and Specific Research Questions The general question to answer is, "What changes are there in the factors of motivation, the feeling of meaning, and the perception of ...

Over the last twelve months I have initiated changes to the formal structure of Dalton Township through which zoning enforcement actions are taken. The formal structural changes in the organization have caused informal changes. Both of these processes must adjust for and inform each other. Organization is a large term. Let's first look at what one is. "Richard Daft, a leading thinker on organizations, defines an organization as a social entity that has goals and purpose, that has deliberately designed structures to control and monitor the activities of members, and that operates within and is linked to an external environment (Daft, 2013)." (Senior, Barbara, et al., 2020, pp. 4). In a slightly more general sense, "So, organizations can be seen as people interacting in some kind of structured or organized way to achieve some defined purpose or goal." (Senior, Barbara, et al., 2020, pp. 4). In my view organizations are systems that use roles to guide activities an...

A functioning society requires decision making structures and feedback mechanisms allowing for corrections. Local autonomy allows for the application of local knowledge (Hayek, 1945), and accountability supports corrections in structure and process. This paper will look at these terms and concepts, the hierarchical structure of government in the United States using a specific municipality as an example, mechanisms of accountability, issues confronting local governance, and how participatory democracy might be enhanced by decentralization with increased local autonomy and accountability. Decision making authority is of vital importance for all organizations, especially governments. A basic division can be made between two competing philosophical approaches to the problem. “Centralists generally believe that national political leaders and administrators know best how to provide security, promote economic growth, and maintain political stability. Those who argue for decentralization gener...