Management Theory and Practice Sample Assignment (GC01953)

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction.

2.0 Examine the management style and state the principle and functions of management used by the CEO of British American Tobacco.

3.0 Analyse the steps taken with regard to organizational structure in order to achieve high performance and state the organizational culture at British American Tobacco and its impact on the employees.

4.0 Describe the leadership style of the CEO of British American Tobacco to enhance organizational effectiveness.

5.0 Analyse the effects of power, influence and conflict at the chosen firm.

6.0 Discuss the various types of motivation used at British American Tobacco.

7.0 Use appropriate corporate examples and literature to justify your stand.

8.0 Suggestions / recommendations (strategies) to increase organisational performance.

References.

1.0 Introduction

The motto and intent of every organization in a socio-economic environment are to provide for the demand of people. For these organizations to function in a systematic way, organizational theory and practices are required. These two factors facilitate making a sustainable decision for its employees, employers and users. The Organisational Theory points out a number of concepts that connect with each other and definitions that describe the actions taken by individuals or groups. These individuals or groups usually communicate with one another in order to function in an accurate way to enhance productivity and achieve a common goal. In this case study, the focus is to discuss the organizational theories and practices that British American Tobacco (BAT)’s CEO Jack Bowles follows.

In the global tobacco sector, British American Tobacco is one of the biggest companies, in terms of global market share. The reason behind that would be BAT producing cigarettes that provide one-eighth of the population’s smokers. In addition to that, BAT is offering their product to over 50 countries all across the world. BAT also complements a lot of agendas by the worldwide government as usually, BAT’s subsidiaries earn around £26 billion per year in taxes (British American Tobacco, 2020).

In this case study, the discussion will also include the role of management, their skills and way of functioning in the organization. Besides that, the report will analyze how to ensure high performance regarding organization structure. In addition to that, the organizational culture in British American Tobacco and the way it affects the staff will be stated briefly. This paper will also bring the leadership style of Jack Bowles and his tactics to maximize the organizational performance on the forefront. The outcomes of power, conflict as well as and influence would be analyzed as well as the various types of motivation used at BAT will be discussed thoroughly. To justify these statements and my stance, appropriate corporate examples and literature must be used. Lastly, the report will conclude by recommending strategies to increase organizational performance.

2.0 Examine the management style and state the principle and functions of management used by the CEO of British American Tobacco

Chief Executive Officers generally entail a set of skills related to leadership to constructively manage their respective organizations to reach their organizational goals and quest.  (Understanding CEO Leadership Styles, 2020). For a CEO, management is an ongoing process cumulating of planning, organizing, controlling and directing. CEOs usually operate their respective organizations with these skill set.

Principles of management used by the CEO of BAT: BAT has faced numerous challenges- both in management and leadership arenas. However, BAT introduced a new system to tackle these hindrances. ‘The BAT Way’, launched in 2012, “is designed to promote productivity and organization sustainability, and reinforce the company’s vision of becoming” the world’s best satisfying consumer experience (Fagbemi, 2015)

The former CEOs of BAT had followed Henry Fayol’s principles of management. However, the tradition among the new CEOs has progressed and it is now to divide tasks to achieve work efficiency. (Bright, Cortes and Hartmann, 2019)

Jack Bowles, who has been working at BAT, has taken up the position of CEO at the beginning of 2019. Since this period of two years, Bowles has made organizational management his cornerstone. His focus was on the organizational interest instead of centralization as the organization was operating worldwide. Besides that, Bowles attempts to practice some other principles such as order, equity, scalar chain among others.

Fundamental management roles of BAT:

The previous CEO of BAT, Nicandro Durante, practiced the set of management roles by Mintzberg. Mintzberg has referred to 10 roles and categorized them under three different criteria as depicted in the figure below. Durante managed to do well in following the interpersonal roles along with the informational ones. The share price of the company doubled during his CEO tenure. (British American Tobacco Annual Report, 2015)

Despite his success, the share prices of BAT slumped in 2018. The reason behind that was that Durante’s misjudgment on some crucial decisions and due to that BAT had to pay the prices.  This aspect demonstrates that Durante fell somewhat short in terms of decisional roles.

Jack Bowles, on the other hand, performs ceremonial duties, motivates and encourages staff and reconciles individual needs. He also looks after the networking side and maintains equations with the stakeholders to fulfill the interpersonal roles. To fulfill his informational role, like any other BAT CEO, Bowles has to monitor and report to the outside world and to all of its branches regarding performance, legislative compliance and social responsibilities. He also acts as a conduit, disseminating information to staff. At the end of decisional roles, Bowles designs and initiates change in pursuit of continuous improvement, deals with crises, controls and authorizes the use of organizational resources and negotiates regarding the commitment of organizational resources.

Organizational functions of management: The business of BAT registers four managerial aspects- planning, organizing, leading and controlling. A good chief, like Jack Bowles, must plan for the organizational planning, set up its strategies, goals and objectives, organize networking, lead from the front and control human resources and chain command (Mix, Siczka, Pickard and Gist, 2015)……………………….

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