e study.
Trait Theories: 特质理论：
The given case study explains the leadership style of Julian Richer who is the founder of Richer Sounds. He is a strong believer of investment into the strengths of his employees, and the reason for that is his continuous strove for excellence. Julian Richer, according to the case study was having traits such as being adaptable and flexible to situation, ambitious, tolerant, cooperative and self confidence which are traits of a leader. In addition to these traits, Julian Richer was also having skills such as conceptual skills, intelligence and creativity. A leader is capable of these skills and traits, which differentiates him from non-leaders as discussed by Stogdill (1974). However, this must also be considered that it is not necessary for a person to become a leader after having these traits. In fact importance of any of these traits is always dependant on the situation.
Julian Richer, because of his steps, can be assumed to have strong intelligence, masculinity and dominance which are suggested by Mann (1959) as personality traits of leaders. To sum up all these traits; Julian Richer, as a leader have all those six traits, stated by KirkPatrik & Locke (1991) differentiating him from non-leaders. He is a confident leader and having a drive and desire to lead. Northhouse (1997) also discussed these traits.
Style Approaches:
According to the lecture notes (Green & Young, 2009), Leadership style is the relatively consistent pattern of behaviour that characterizes a leader. It can classify leadership by how much involvement leaders have with people.
The given case study highlights on various occasions when employees were given a chance to provide their suggestions and feedback and to encourage it, they are offered cash awards for each suggestion they make. But the decision making concerning these presented ideas is worked out by a committee known as "Cut- the - crap". This puts the leadership/management style not on both the extremes i.e., autocratic or democratic; but somewhere in between them and more towards democratic style, known as "Consensus" as discussed by Tannebaum & Scmidt (1973). This attitude of management keeps the orientation of the leadership more towards the employees (Stogdill, 1948).
The case study states that employees were offered various incentives on the top of good pay rate including performance bonuses, healthcare plan and personal development plans (monetary gifts for quitting smoking etc). This proves the management/leadership to be "Employee - oriented". However, the management off-course showcased their concern for the production. They invested at events where employees were encouraged to present new ideas for improving the company and its processes, in addition to their concern for their employees as well. And to encourage the employees to come up with new ideas, they were offered cash awards. Because of having consideration for both their production and their employees, the management style at Richer Sounds can be called as "Team Management" on Blake & Mouton's Managerial (Leadership) Grid (Blake, Mouton, 1985).
Likert (1961), discusses "Participative group Management" as an ideal management style where excellent productivity is observed and participation, good communication, growth needs are catered for (Likert, 1961). So it can be interpreted that Richard Sounds was also practicing "Participative group Management" because the company is having excellent productivity, as proved by their achievements i.e., Having a record for highest sales
