Gem Bank Case Study

Management and Operations

Assignment 1

Aysha Mahmood Albalushi

SN: ST08037

1. Overview of GEM Bank

        GEM Bank is already going in right direction as the employees are given the opportunities to showcase their skills and share their ideas. There is a culture of communication and taking initiatives which encourages accountability and best performances. There are certain characteristics which are possessed by all successful organizations; successful organizations create leaders at all levels of the organization, leadership is a term normally associated with executives but executive may or may not have leadership qualities, successful organizations create a system of information sharing and there is open communication which boosts information gathering through feedbacks, ideas, past experiences, future expectations and brainstorming sessions, the communication between departments encourages decision making and performance as the information regarding sales, purchase, customer behavior and trends is shared among departments which maximizes performance and decision making. Moreover, successful organizations keep a keen eye on the changes in economic indicators; they know when to expand and when to stop looking at the trends in the economy of the country and global economy. There is always a system of open communication and leadership in the GEM Bank which is a great start and on the bright side employees are given all the necessary training as well. This is a great start, organization now need to improve on information sharing and need to create an information base which collects useful information and turns it into useful reports. [Miller, A. (2014)]

        Moreover, looking at modern world requirements the organizational structure should be flatter with smaller line of hierarchy as that will make communication easier, information will be conveyed quickly and decisions will be made quickly. Moreover, there should be participative style of decision making in the organization as it makes employees feel more related and motivated to get their jobs done. Moreover, this style will suit the organization whenever a change is required.

1. Comparison between Leaders and Managers

Leadership is normally associated with a title or seniority; leadership qualities are inherited, learned through life experiences and adapted by managing people. “Leader is someone who influences individuals socially, inspires them, creates teams, and motivates people to maximize their performance towards a vision and established goals.” [Kruse, K. (2013)]

 “Manager on the other hand is someone who translates organizational goals into departmental goals, hires people, trains people, assigns them individual goals and controls the results.” [Cliffnotes, (2016)]

A leader thinks long-term and guides the organization towards a vision. The first role of a leader is to be a good communicator and socializer; leader must have the ability to open all channels of communications and must be able to connect with the others by interacting with them in all possible ways, this creates an environment of sharing ideas and problems. Secondly, leader need to be a strong analyzer and thinker, leader must have complete understanding of the organization and its processes; must know about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the organization. Thirdly, leader must be a strong conceptualizer and I think it is the most important role of a leader; leader must be able to make all the employees understand that how important their individuals tasks are to overall success of the organization, leader must have the ability to take employees out of their day to day work make them realize of the bigger picture and how organizational success will lead to their personal success. Moreover, a leader must be a strong team builder, leader must have quality to make a strong team and get best possible performance from that team. Another important role of the leader is that of a decision maker; leader must have the ability to make long-term decisions, leader must take necessary risk to make decisions which are bright for the mission and vision of the organization, leader must evaluate all possible alternatives and make best possible decisions. Last but not the least, leader must create the strong image of the organization, leader creates a culture and ethical environment which not only helps in making profit but also creates an image of the organization in view of employees and in view of the society. [Greaves, E.B. (2012)]

In order to understand the functions of a manager and differentiate them from the role of a manager we can take the example of GEM Bank. Manager is someone who controls a department; let’s talk about sales manager of GEM Bank. A manager of sales of GEM bank would set the sales targets on mortgages and all other types of loans as well as other services offered by the banks, manager will established goals and hire staff required to achieve those, then those goals will be assigned to individuals employees and performance will be monitored by the manager and necessary training will be provided to the employees. [Cliffnotes, (2016)]

Manager is someone who gives order, avoids risk and avoids responsibility. A leader on the other hand is someone who has fans and has followers which turn into leaders, as they take initiatives and take it as their personal goal to achieve the organizational goals.

1. Role of a Leader and the Functions of a Manager

It is critical for a manager to be a good leader while a manager organizes and he must motivate his employees by his vision for the organization. To be an effective negotiator is critical for the manager. Whenever a team is running through the difficulties and problems, the manager should have to negotiate with the competitors, suppliers, employees and the contractors. It is critical for the manager to be a good figurehead who reinforces the employees, customers, and stakeholders with the vision and the aim of the organization. A manager needs to be the liaison between the customers, employees and the other managers of the organization and he should also be an effective communicator.

The leader is different from the manager because the primary purpose of the leader is to motivate and inspire the people and while the role of the manager is to be more focused on the planning and the development of the organization. The manager plays an important part in the evolution and the growth of the organization. Compilation of the each part is the critical component of the organization. (Johnston & Marshall, 2016)

In this challenging situation if the organization the manager must do more than challenge accepts. The evolutionary process must be facilitated by them; in these stressful situations, the manager should perform the different roles such as the leader, negotiator, figurehead and the communicator.