Report on Case Study of Tents-R-Us

Introduction

This report is based on the case of tents-r-us which shows some details of the leadership practice of a small enterprise. The main purpose of this report is to discuss the leadership practice in Tents-r-Us demonstrates aspects of early leadership theory/approaches and discuss the advantage and disadvantage of such leadership practice for the enterprise continued development. With those requests, the report will be divided into the following sections: introduction, case background, the application of early theory, the effect for the continued development, conclusion and suggestion.

Case background

Tents-R-Us is a enterprise which focus on the hospitality Reception service specialized in renting the marquees and related services for large corporate and individual event. It was established by entrepreneur Peter Ridge in 1999, and the company has made considerable progress with his hard work. The business has grown from rental service only to the 'total package' service which include such as events planning and management, catering and entertainment. In the coverage area, The Company's business has expanded to the entire Scotland and plan to expand into the north England.

In the Management of the company, Ridge maintains a hands-on presence both the day to day Management and strategic making. He employed several family members in his company. His top command and control style has created several family disputes around respective roles in the company. His management of the enterprise to take authoritarian style of management. He advocated the absolute control of the enterprise and Attaches great importance to his personal status. His leadership style also created conflict between family members.

Because the need for business expansion, he decided to employ 'outsiders' in order to make himself stand back from operational management. There are two shortlisted candidates from the advertisement in public.

Mhairi Kee who is very experienced within the related industry (marketer in hospitality for 15 years) and has a unique perspective on the future development for the business of Tens-r-Us because her current employment is a marketing manager in Big Events (Tens-r-Us's competitor). She is ambitious and developed a specialist in strategy management.

Susi Dome who has 10 years work experience in retail brand management and was well known by her creative skills in establishing several brands within retail niche markets. She also very famous for her consulate management approach liking to take inspiration from all staff and all areas of the organization.

Peter Ridge prefer the Susi who relatively poor ability.

One Outline and discuss the ways in which leadership practice in Tents-r-Us demonstrates aspects of early leadership theory and approaches.

From the perspective of the theory of 'great man' approach:

The 'great man' approach Have the following characteristics:

1. The leaders are born and not made and posses certain traits which were inherited.

2. Great leaders can arise when there is a great need.

3. Have obvious characteristics of male chauvinists

From the leadership style:

According to case -related content, we Summed up several points about Peter Ridge:

He has a certain capacity: his enterprise not only survived but also grows up in the past ten years.

 He has great ambitions: he plans to expand business into north England.

 He has a strong desire to control and power: "is in charge round here, I built the company and I will decide what happens" ; "aims to strengthen his personal position " and prefer Susi who have lower ability but easy to control.

 Autocratic leadership style: He holds both the daily management and providing the strategic vision as the Managing Director. He has top down command and control style.

These characteristics clearly point to the great man theory.

The autocratic leader (Lewin, Lippitt, & White, 1939) is given the power to make decisions alone, having total authority. This leadership style is good for employees that need close supervision to perform certain tasks. Creative employees and team players resent this type of leadership, since they are unable to enhance processes or decision making, resulting in job dissatisfaction.

From the Corporate Structure:

According to information provided by the case.

We have the Organization Chart for Tents-R-Us in the left:

Compare with a Standard corporeity's Organization Chart, we find that the organization chart for Tents-R-Us does not look like a modern one.

If we think about it from another angle, it will be very easy to understand. Imagine a small village in the Primitive society. People need to collect Fruit, hunting and distribute the food. Think about how they organized and how their leader manages their organization. If we drawn their organization chart we maybe find that there are no big differences with the Tents-r-Us's. The leader's command top-down communication and the leader controls everything in that organization. And that age and that leadership style is the source of the 'great man' approach.

From the perspective of the theory of Trait approach:

Trait approach is similar to the 'great man' approach and assumes that individuals are born with some certain traits which make them to be a better leader than most other individuals. Indentify traits from successful leaders then we can identify the traits and identify the leaders.

"Among the core traits identified are:

Achievement drive: High level of effort, high levels of ambition, energy and initiative

Leadership motivation: an intense desire to lead others to reach shared goals

Honesty and integrity: trustworthy, reliable, and open

Self-confidence: Belief in one's self, ideas, and

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