MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS

MANAGEMENT
INSIGHTS

ASSOC. PROF. DR SITI ROHAIDA,
MOHAMED ZAINAL

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

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MODULE SUMMARY

Management Insights explains about the management concept and theories at the
analytics and insights level. This course revised the traditional concept of
management by mapping the management pillars to the stages of analytics
framework.

It involves developing a precise understanding of management practices in relation to
the process of decisions making, building an effective organizational structure. It also
discusses other important management practices such as leadership, organisational
agile and structure, data driven culture, human resource analytics and organisational
change management.

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AUTHOR TABLE OF CONTENTS

SITI ROHAIDA is an

Associate Professor at INTRODUCTION.................................................................................... 5

School of Management. Management Roles; Management Functions and Management

She is the Chairperson for Skills................................................................................................ 6

Strategy and DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS OF MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS ........ 7

Organisational

Management and MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS – ANALYTICS PERSPECTIVE ................. 7

International Business at Summary....................................................................................... 14
School of Management,
USM. MANAGEMENT PILLAR 1 – PLANNING: STRATEGIC VALUES AND
DECISION MAKING ............................................................................ 16

Research Interest DATA TO DECISION MAKING ............................................................ 18
Summary....................................................................................... 21

Leadership MANAGEMENT PILLAR 2 – ORGANIZING: STRATEGIC AGILITY.. 22
Collaborative Talent
Management KEY ENABLING AGILITY .................................................................... 24
Work Values MANAGEMENT PILLAR 3 – DIRECTING AND LEADING IN DIGITAL
High Performance Work ERA: THE HUMAN DIMENSION AND MOTIVATION......................... 25
System MANAGEMENT PILLAR 4 – CONTROLLING: MANAGING CHANGE
ATWORKPLACE ................................................................................. 33
MANAGEMENT PILLAR 4 – CONTROLLING: MANAGING CHANGE
AT WORKPLACE ................................................................................ 34

CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 36

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INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

Management Insights provides the knowledge on understanding the information derives from

the pillars of management and managing the way in which the information flows through the

organization so that it has a positive effect to all stakeholders. Subsequently, it will improve

the process of decision making as well. To understand the concept of management, there are

three essential concepts which are management functions, management roles and

management skills. Management is referring to the process of managing the work process ,

where as manager is defined someone who coordinates and oversees the work of other

people so that organizational goals can be accomplished. Basically, there are three level of

management which are:

• First-Line Managers:

manage the work of non-

managerial employees

• Middle Managers:

manage the work of first-

line managers

• Top Managers:

responsible for making

organization-wide

decisions and establishing plans and goals that affect the entire organization

In managing an organization, all this level must engage to the three element of management.
There are three main elements are the underpinning element of management which are :
Management Roles, Management Functions and Management Skills.

Figure 1: Summary of Management Essential

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Management Roles; Management Functions and Management
Skills

Management is a discipline of work practices. The four pillars of management – Planning,

Organising, Directing and Controlling build all management practices (Figure 1). These

practices of extensively deals with human behavior, thought and actions which never remains

static and thus are not as rigid as the principles that govern science or other disciplines. These

principles are guidelines that are used when applying the techniques of management.
• Planning: Defining goals,

establishing strategies to achieve

goals, and developing plans to

integrate and coordinate activities
• Organizing: Arranging and

structuring work to accomplish

organizational goals
• Leading: Working with and through

people to accomplish goals

• Controlling: Monitoring,

comparing, and correcting work Figure 2: Management Functions

Figure 3: Management Roles and Skills

Management Roles – indicating the roles as manager and management. Management Skills –
referring to the essential skills that need to be part of the management process.

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DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS OF MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS

Management insights is defined as understanding a company's information needs and
then managing the way in which information flows through the organisation so that it has a positive
effect. It is about getting the right information to the right people, at the right time and in the right format
to drive change. This concept also is defined as combines data and analysis to find meaning in and
increase understanding of a situation, resulting in some competitive advantage as your performance.
Management insights provides more than low-level understanding of a management related issue,
giving you deeper insight into major mechanics related to your particular performance.

MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS – ANALYTICS PERSPECTIVE

Insights is conceptualized as s new way of viewing the world that causes us to reexamine the status

quo. It also covers the concept of

penetrating observation about human

behavior that results in seeing a

phenomenon from a fresh perspective and

a discovery about the underlying

motivations that drive people’s actions. In

order to make effective and efficient

decisions, casual observation and simply

Figure 4: Definition -Efficient and Effective having knowledge are no longer enough

and accurate. To make quality decisions, it requires creativity, persistence, and deep thinking to

craft. This in-depth decision-making process is defined as part of insights. The most powerful

insights come from rigor and serious analysis to translate large amounts of data into concise and

compelling findings.

There are three key questions that management insights is analysing, which are: 1. So what 2. How
and 3. What’s Next. These three questions help to guide the managers to make a specific decision,
avoid an avoid an unprofitable option, recognise an opportunity, identify measures that indicate
some future event, and measure a KPI. The concept of management insights is often confused with
the other terms related to analytics, therefore, lets understand the concept and differences between
these terms.

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Since management insights provides
more than low-level understanding of a
management related issue, giving you
deeper insight into major mechanics
related to particular performance, it
need to be applied in the right context.
Thus, management must design a new
paradigm of culture which is data
driven culture.

Figure 5: Comparisons of the analytics elements

DATA DRIVEN CULTURE

Data-driven culture embraces the use of data in decision making. It treats data as a strategic asset
of the company by making data widely available and accessible. It focuses on capturing, cleaning, and
curating meaningful data from across the business. It promotes frequent experimentation to learn and
improves. To ensure this culture is well implemented, the data are collected in the right way. This to
make sure the data are free from errors or also known as dirty data. Dirty data refers to inaccurate,
incomplete or inconsistent data. Dirty data lacks credibility, which may lead to the wrong decisions
made. Dirty data can be classified as data which are:

Incomplete Data

Dirty data can lead to many

Noisy Data consequences to management such as
unreliable decisions (or even wrong

Inconsistent Data decisions) and it also comes with a high
cost. Therefore, prior to interpreting the

Duplication data to information, these data need to
be clean accordingly. This process is

Figure 6: Dirty Data very critical because according to the

ring of knowledge, data is the fundamental of decision making as indicated below:

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According to the Ring of Knowledge,
the fundamental is the Data, then after
this data translated, it will turn to be
level 2 which is information.
Management then to be synthesized
this information to level 3 which is
Insights. The final stage is level 4 which
is Knowledge. This is the wisdom that
will be locked as competency within the
employee him or herself.

Figure 7: Ring of Knowledge

BULDING DATA DRIVEN CULTURE

The path to build data driven culture not a common and easy task. This transition requires at least
three basic elements which are: data-driven organization should

DATA ORIENTED ORGANISATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
CULTURE STRUCTURE

Figure 8: Management Functions

eating a Self-Service Culture
Previous section defines the concept of data and data driven culture. Now, this section will elaborate

the conceptualization of data driven culture from the typology and the implementation strategies most
important—and arguably the most difficult—aspect of transitioning to a data-driven organization that

practices Data is the cultural shift required to move to a data mindset. This shift entails identifying and
building a cultural framework that enables all the people involved in a data initiative—from the producers

of the data to the people who build the models, to the people who analyse it, to the employees who use
it in their jobs—to collaborate on making data the heart of organizational decision-making. Though the

technology that makes this collaboration and data access easy is very important, it is just one of the

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considerations. A key focus area in this transition are the employees and the organization. After you
achieve a true self-service, data-driven culture, as discussed before.

Data Strategy – Concept, Elements and Applications

Figure below shows the mapping between level of thinking and ring of knowledge. At data stage, data
are collected and at information stage, these data are now being processed and certain output such
as tabulations, summary report or dashboard are produced. Knowledge stage occurs when certain
conclusions are made and these useful facts, trade secret are now translated to intellectual property.
These three stages are part of Analytical Thinking. Insight Thinking happens when deep
understanding, and decision are made accordingly.

Figure 9: Mapping Levels and Ring of Knowledge

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Figure 10: Transformation Elements

MANAGEMENT IN 3-D

• The Management Process begins with the three basic elements with which a manager deals:

ideas, things, and people.

• Management of these three elements is

directly related to conceptual thinking (of which

planning is an essential part), administration,

and leadership.

1. Management—achieving objectives through

others.

2. Administration—managing the details of the

organization’s affairs—procedures, policies

and operations Figure 11: Management 3D

3. Leadership—influencing and motivating people to accomplish desired objectives.

4. is social process - Since human factor is most important among the other factors, therefore

management is concerned with developing relationship among people. It is the duty of

management to make interaction between people - productive and useful for obtaining

organizational goals.

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5. is an integrating process - Management undertakes the job of bringing together human
physical and financial resources so as to achieve organizational purpose. Therefore, is an
important function to bring harmony between various factors.

6. is a continuous process - It is a never-ending process. It is concerned with constantly
identifying the problem and solving them by taking adequate steps. It is an on-going process.

Fostering a Culture of Data-Driven Decision-Making

The question of - What drives companies to have a successful data-driven culture? It’s important to
understand that it’s not necessarily about the data itself. That’s secondary. The technology itself comes
in third. Data-driven decision-making is first and foremost about the organization.

Regardless of whether you have acknowledged it, your business already has a culture of decision-
making. That culture might not be geared toward a data-driven approach. But unless you have the data
as well as the permission coming from the very top of the organization to argue back, that decision
stands. And herein lies the key: to succeed at becoming a data-driven organization, your employees
should always use data to start, continue, or conclude every single business decision, no matter how
major or minor. This kind of inquisitive culture should drive everyone on the data team—including IT,
data engineers, data scientists, and data analysts—to continually enhance and refine the tools that
business users need to inform their decisions. Because data is accessed and used a lot in this type of
environment, the organization should encourage and deploy people, processes, and technologies that
minimize barriers to this access.

A key driver to enable a data culture is to make it easy for the data team to capture all of the data in
the organization. An enterprise has a plethora of data sources, both internal and external. These can
range from different business applications, product applications, public and private customer interaction
points, monitoring systems, third-party data providers, and many others. These systems are set up for
operational reasons, with collecting data for analytics being an afterthought. As a result, the natural
tendency is to not capture any of this data, far less consolidating it in one place. The valuable data from
all of these sources, therefore, continues to remain in its silo. In the process, the organization loses
many opportunities of deriving insights or optimizations by putting data from different sources together.

The first step toward overcoming this challenge is to take an inventory of all your data sources and
create a common data-capture infrastructure that is standard across the company and that lays out the

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correct way to capture and log the data. Everyone should use those standards. The next step is to
consolidate all of the data so that all consumers of data in the organization know where to go to find it.
Creating a consolidated data repository helps everyone to collaborate around data. With
standardization of capture and consolidation of data, it becomes very easy for data engineers to write
self-service applications that support that feedback loop. The business users then use those analyses
to make strategic decisions.

It’s important to understand that different stakeholders will buy into using data for different reasons.
You must first identify who all the stakeholders are. Then, you must understand what will motivate
them to begin using data to make decisions.

Following are five tips on how to build a data-driven culture.

1. Hire data visionaries
2. Organize your data into a single data store accessible to everyone
3. Empower all employees
4. Invest in the right self-service data tools
5. Hold employees accountable

Potential Roadblocks to Becoming a Self-Service Data Culture

The most common roadblock to becoming a self-service data culture is that the resistance from the
team of people who have traditionally been the conduit between the data and the users. Although these
are valid issues to raise, you can solve them by means of technology. Today, technologies that tie user
identity to access control policies as well as technologies that capture audit logs can easily address
such objections. Don’t let these issues become crutches that prevent you from transforming into a true
self-service culture. Another challenge is that as you open up your data stores to everyone, you might
find that you don’t have the infrastructure to support such broad-based access. There are either limits
of scale or it becomes extremely expensive to process all the queries coming in. You need to address
this issue by using infrastructure that can scale in a cost-effective manner.

But, keep in mind that most of the roadblocks will be put up by the traditional centralized data team
being hesitant to give up control over other users. Because this is the most problematic challenge,
companies need to focus on this team, perhaps reorganizing or retooling it. Remove any bottlenecks

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and make it possible for this centralized team to become the heroes in the self-service culture as
opposed to the obstructionists. So, it’s really a psychological as well as an organizational challenge.
Creating a data-driven culture is not always easy, but the benefits it provides are real and significant.
Big data is transforming the ways that organizations conduct business, so it should come as little
surprise that it has a role to play in changing your culture, as well.

These challenges are depicted in figure below:

Figure 12: Challenges of Data-Driven Culture

Summary

This section describes about essential elements of management. The discussion on the roles of data
driven culture and its importance are also discussed in this section.

EXERCISE 1:
1. Discuss what are types of changes which occurs at your department.
2. In your opinion, how do your management team manage the change process?
3. What is the biggest challenge that your face in implementing change?

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MANAGEMENT PILLAR 1 – PLANNING:

STRATEGIC VALUES AND DECISION

MAKING

ND DECISION MAKING

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Understand the concept, definition, and application of strategic values.
2. Understand the process of decision making and the roles of data.

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MANAGEMENT PILLAR 1 – PLANNING: STRATEGIC VALUES AND DECISION MAKING

MANAGEMENT PILLAR 1 – PLANNING: STRATEGIC VALUES AND DECISION
MAKING

Creating value is what truly puts an organization above others and ensures competitiveness and
survival. Value is the ultimate benefit that your organization provides and is the reason why people
choose.

Ways to deliver strategic value:
1. Create new value - most difficult approach, involves doing something entirely new i.e.,
developing a new product or entering into a different market sector.
2. Create more value - an easier approach because you are working with something you already
have. i.e., making processes more efficient so that you can deliver more.
3. Create better value – also an easy strategy because it's focused on improving something that
already exists, i.e., focusing on quality over quantity or delivering more power behind
something that you already have.

Figure 13: Mapping Strategic Values

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The researchers identified nine levers that help organizations create value from data. These nine levers
are:

1. Source of value: Actions and decisions that generate results. Leaders tend to focus primarily on
their ability to increase revenue and less so on cost reduction.

2. Measurement: Evaluating the impact on business outcomes. Leaders ensure they know how
their analytics impact business outcomes.

3. Platform: Integrated capabilities delivered by hardware and software.
4. Culture: Availability and use of data and analytics within an organization. Leaders make more

than half of their decisions based on data and analytics.
5. Data: Structure and formality of the organization’s data governance process and the security of

its data.
6. Trust: Organizational confidence. Leaders demonstrate a high degree of trust between individual

employees.
7. Sponsorship: Executive support and involvement.
8. Funding: Financial rigor in the analytics funding process. Nearly two-thirds of Leaders pool

resources to fund analytic investments. They evaluate these investments through pilot testing,
cost/benefit analysis and forecasting KPIs.
9. Expertise: Development of and access to data management and analytic skills and
capabilities. Leaders share advanced analytics subject matter experts across projects, where
analytics employees have formalized roles, clearly defined career paths and experience
investments to develop their skills.

The researchers state that each of the nine levers have a different impact on the organization’s ability
to deliver value from the data and analytics; that is, all nine levers distinguish leaders from the rest but
each. Lever impacts value creation in different ways. Enable levers need to be in place before value
can be seen through the Drive and Amplify levers. The nine levers are organized into three levels:

1. Enable: These levers form the basis for big data and analytics.
2. Drive: These levers are needed to realize value from data and analytics; lack of sophistication

within these levers will impede value creation.
3. Amplify: These levers boost value creations

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in order to facilitate the process of planning, the process of
planning must be clearly implemented. There are six steps in
formal planning. Each of this step need to be well monitored and
execute to ensure an effective decision making.

DATA TO DECISION MAKING

Decision making is the process of making choices by identifying

a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative

resolutions.

Using a step-

by-step

decision-

making

process can

help you

make more

deliberate, Figure 15: Effective Step in Decision Making

Figure 14: Formal Planning Process thoughtful decisions by organizing relevant information and

designing alternatives. This approach increases the chances that to choose the most satisfying

alternative possible.

Types of Decision-Making Styles

Each decision-making style is characterized by either a task or social focus and a high or low tolerance

for ambiguity. Styles with a high tolerance for ambiguity can work with unknown variables as they come

to a conclusion. Those with a low tolerance for ambiguity want as much clarity as possible in all the

circumstances and information that lead to their decisions. Decision-making styles also vary in a social

or task-driven focus. Social-driven decisions consider the behavior of others involved in the outcome.

Those who are task-driven make decisions based on how to best achieve a goal. Here are the four

decision-making styles with examples of how they might be used in the workplace:

1. Directive
The directive decision-making style uses quick, decisive thinking to come to a solution. A directive
decision-maker has a low tolerance for unclear or ambiguous ideas. They are focused on the task and

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will use their own knowledge and judgment to come to a conclusion with selective input from other
individuals. Directive decision-makers excel at verbal communication. They are rational and logical in
their decision making. When the team or organization needs a fast decision, a directive-style decision-
maker can effectively make a choice. Their style is valuable for making short-term decisions.

2. Analytical
Analytical decision-makers carefully analyze data to come up with a solution. They are careful and
adaptable thinkers. They will invest time to glean information to form a conclusion. These decision-
makers are task-oriented, but have a high tolerance for ambiguity. Analytical decision-makers take time
to compile data and evidence before they come to a conclusion. When they do make a decision, they
have looked at all the details and formed what they believe is the best possible solution.

3. Conceptual
Those who make decisions with a conceptual style are big picture thinkers who are willing to take risks.
They evaluate different options and possibilities with a high tolerance to ambiguity. They are social-
oriented and take time to consider big ideas and creative solutions. Conceptual decision-makers look
forward to what could happen if the decision is made. Their conclusions come from visualizing different
opportunities and outcomes for the future. They are strong in making long-term decisions.

4. Behavioural
A behavioural style of decision-making focuses on relationships more than the task. It evaluates the
feelings of others as part of their decision-making process. Behavior decision-makers have a low
tolerance for ambiguity and a social focus as they evaluate solutions. These decision-makers rely on
information from others to guide what they choose. They are persuasive communicators who value
decisions based on a team consensus. Their decisions are often based on how the choice will impact
relationships.

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ALIGNING ANALYTICS WITH STRATEGY

Data-driven decision making (or DDDM) is the process of making organizational decisions based on
actual data rather than intuition or observation alone. In the concept of management insights, decision
will be based on data and information. Before analysis of a dashboard is conducted, management need
to set a plan of action that details on how the data need and, more importantly, interpret the data to
make the right business decisions. These are the five-step process you can use to get started with
data-driven decisions.
1. Look at your objectives and prioritize
2. Find and present relevant data
3. Draw conclusions from that data
4. Plan your strategy
5. Measure success and repeat

Maximizing is achieving the best possible outcome, the one that realizes the greatest positive
consequences and the fewest negative consequences. In other words, maximizing results in the
greatest benefit at the lowest cost, with the largest expected total return. Maximizing requires searching
thoroughly for a complete range of alternatives, carefully assessing each alternative, comparing one to
another, and then choosing or creating the very best. As a manager, many decisions require quick
responses, not exhaustive analysis. The necessary analysis requires money as well as time. But for
decisions with large consequences, such as determining the company’s strategy, maximizing is
worthwhile—even essential. Satisficing is choosing the first option that is minimally acceptable or
adequate; the choice appears to meet a targeted goal or criterion. Optimizing means achieving the best
possible balance among several goals. While the management is balancing both satisficing and
optimizing, they also bound to commit to certain errors in making decision.

ERRORS IN DECISION MAKING

There are two greatest errors in making decisions which are:
1. Psychological Biases
2. Group related effects

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Figure 16: Errors_1 This error is subjected to
one’s feeling and judgement.
Unlike the personal- related Errors such as illusion of
characteristics, group related control, framing effects and
factors are more concerning the discounting the future are
quality of relationship between the often associated to the
employees. These negative work characteristics of human at
related behavior often occurs work place.
when the cohesiveness between
the members it too high.

Figure 17: Errors at the Level of Group

Summary

This unit discussed the importance of planning. The process of decision making is also being
elaborated in detail. At the end of the unit, two types of errors in decision making are also discussed.

EXERCISE 2
1. How do your rate your planning competency? Why?
2. Have you encountered any error in decision making? How do you solve
that errors?
3. What are the roles of management in reducing errors in decision
making?

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MANAGEMENT PILLAR 2 –
ORGANIZING: STRATEGIC AGILITY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Understand the concept, definition, and application of strategic agility.
2. Understand the key enabling agility.

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MANAGEMENT PILLAR 2 – ORGANIZING: STRATEGIC AGILITY

The definition of strategic agility is the ability for organizations to see shifts inside the business as well
as externally in the business environment in which they operate. Strategic agility is about staying
competitive by recognizing and capitalizing on opportunities as well as identifying potential threats and
mitigating or preventing them from materializing in the first place. The development of strategic agility
will give leaders the competency to recognize market changes that could be good or bad for business
and quickly implement or act on new ideas. Being strategically agile means being the first mover or fast
follower when it comes to creating new services, products, and offerings to external or internal
customers and clients. Leaders with strategic agility can see and respond to changes faster than rivals
or new players. This enables them to sustain growth and profitability performance for the business.
Agile leaders anticipate and deal with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Likewise, they
are courageous and willing to take calculated risks, make big bets procuring opportunities, and actively
shaping the future. It is important for agile leaders to watch for and identify emerging opportunities as
well as proactively develop and create opportunities.

Figure 18: Strategic Agility Elements

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KEY ENABLING AGILITY

Operational agility is a company's ability or capacity to find and seize opportunities to
improve operations and processes, within a focused business model. Therefore, there are four main
keys enabling agility which are:

1. Organisational Structure
An organizational structure is a system that outlines how certain activities are directed in order
to achieve the goals of an organization. These activities can include rules, roles, and
responsibilities. The organizational structure also determines how information flows between
levels within the company.

2. Environmental Factors
External factors are those influences, circumstances or situations that a business cannot control
that affect the business decisions that the business owner and stakeholders make. The are a
large number of external factors can have a direct impact on the ability of your business to
achieve its strategic objectives.

3. Competencies Strategic Agility
Strategic agility is a core competency that helps professionals creatively adapt strategic
approaches as conditions change while embracing the opportunities within innovation. ...
Behavior Indicators provide examples of how the competencies will manifest in each stage of
your career.

4. Risk Control Process
Risk control is the set of methods by which firms evaluate potential losses and take action to
reduce or eliminate such threats. Risk control thus helps companies limit lost assets and
income. Risk control is a key component of a company's enterprise risk management (ERM)
protocol.

EXERCISE 3
1. Do you think your department is an agile department? Why?
2. What are your roles in designing an agile department?

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MANAGEMENT PILLAR 3 –
DIRECTING AND LEADING IN
DIGITAL ERA: THE HUMAN
DIMENSION AND MOTIVATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Understand the concept, definition, and application of directing and leading.
2. Understand the concept of Digital Quotient.
3. Understand different types of leadership styles.

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MANAGEMENT PILLAR 3 – DIRECTING AND LEADING IN DIGITAL ERA: THE
HUMAN DIMENSION AND MOTIVATION

Directing is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the performance
of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of management
process. Planning, organizing, staffing have got no importance if direction function does not take place.
Leading is another of the basic function within the management process "Leading is the use of
influence to motivate employees to achieve organizational goals". Managers must be able to make
employees want to participate in achieving an organization's goals. Directing can be defined as that
function of management, which helps in guiding and leading people to work in such a manner so as to
perform efficiently and effectively for the attainment of organizational objectives. Directing is the
managerial function, which initiates organized action.

DIGITAL QUOTIENT
The digital transformation refers to the way an enterprise responds to the new opportunities arising
from digital technologies to provide appropriate and innovative services to its customers and staff. This
digital transformation is no longer optional: it is a transition that all businesses must make. They must
identify the changes necessary to their own business model in order to achieve these objectives.
Organisations respond in different ways; some are making rapid progress, while others are still reluctant
to tackle the challenge of digital transformation. For a successful digital transformation, the senior
management priority is to establish a transformation plan setting the targets of the project and
identifying the measurement indicators to be introduced. These targets must be adapted to the
corporate culture; they must be in its DNA. That calls for a rapid analysis of the teams’ maturity in terms
of what is at stake in the change, taking account of the level
of users, their digital skills and the existing technologies.
The task is to support collective debate in order to arrive at
an action plan. The plan should also take account of the
corporate culture and the environment in which the project
will take shape.

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LEADERSHIP IN DIGITAL ERA
Leaders in the digital era can create a learning culture and breath daily improvements. They are flexible
enough to manage teams that increasingly include contract and part-time workers. Two of the most
important characteristics of digital leaders are that they have innovation in their DNA and are risk takers.
Digital leadership is about empowering others to lead and creating self-organized teams that optimise
their day-to-day operations. Leadership is no longer hierarchical – it needs participation, involvement
and contribution from everyone. In short, the outcome of the study is the conclusion
that leadership does matter in digital transformation process. Successful organizational leaders are
able to create a strong vision, align and mobilize employees for change to embrace the new ways of
doing business.

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Situational leadership is a way of
adjusting one's management style to
adapt to each situation or task, and the
needs of the team or team member.
The Situational Leadership Theory was
developed by Ken Blanchard and Paul
Hersey in 1969, under the notion that
there is no “one size fits all” leadership
style. Situational Leadership is flexible.
It adapts to the existing work
environment and the needs of the
organization. Situational Leadership is
not based on a specific skill of the
leader; instead, he or she modifies the
style of management to suit the
requirements of the organization. One
of the keys to Situational Leadership is
adaptability. Leaders must be able to
move from one leadership style to
another to meet the changing needs of
an organization and its employees.

Figure 19: Quadrant of Situational Leadership

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These leaders must have the insight to understand when to change their management style and what
leadership strategy fits each new paradigm. There are two mainstream models of Situational
Leadership, one described by Daniel Goleman and another by Ken Blanchard and Paul Hershey.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve. This is different

from traditional leadership where the leader's main focus is the thriving of their company or
organizations. While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase “servant leadership” was

coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In
that essay, Greenleaf said: “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that

one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is

sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual

power drive or to acquire material possessions. The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme

types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.
“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s

highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served

grow as persons? Do they, while

being served, become healthier,

wiser, freer, more autonomous, more

likely themselves to become

servants? And, what is the effect on

the least privileged in society? Will

they benefit or at least not be further
deprived?“ A servant-leader focuses

primarily on the growth and well-being

of people and the communities to

which they belong. While traditional

leadership generally involves the

Figure 20: Quadrant of Servant Leadership accumulation and exercise of power
by one at the “top of the pyramid,”

servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and

helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.

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STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
Strategic leadership refers to a manager's potential to express a strategic vision for the organization,
or a part of the organization, and to motivate and persuade others to acquire that vision. Strategic
leadership can also be defined as utilizing strategy in the management of employees.

Figure 21: Characteristics of Strategic Leadership

LEADING IN THE VUCA WORLD
VUCA is an acronym that emerged from the military in the 1990s. It describes the “fog of war” — the
chaotic conditions that are encountered on a modern battlefield. Its relevance to leaders in business
is clear, as these conditions are highly descriptive of the environment in which business is conducted
every day. Leadership as usual, including creating a vision, is not enough in a VUCA world. The
acronym ‘VUCA’ stands for volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

• Volatile: Things change unpredictably, suddenly, extremely, especially for the worse.
• Uncertain: Important information is not known or definite, doubtful, unclear about the present

situation and future outcomes, not able to be relied upon.
• Complex: Many different and connected parts: multiple key decision factors, interaction

between diverse agents, emergence, adaptation, co-evolution, weak signals.

MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS PAGE 30

• Ambiguous: Open to more than one interpretation; the meaning of an event can be understood
in different ways.

Leading in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous not only presents a challenging
environment in which leaders must operate and for executive development programs to have an impact,
but also open the door to a range of new competencies that are required in order to succeed. Cognitive
Readiness, the preparedness and agility to handle the situation at hand and still prevail, is a valued
skillset in the VUCA world. Today’s leaders must be equipped with the mental, emotional, and
interpersonal preparedness for uncertainty and risk.

Figure 22: Mapping of VICA

MOTIVATION IN DIGITAL ERA

The term ‘motivation’ has been derived from the word ‘motive’. Motive may be defined as an inner state
of our mind that activates and directs our behaviour. It makes us move to act. It is always internal to us
and is externalized via our behaviour. Motivation is one’s willingness to exert efforts towards the
accomplishment of his/her goal. Let us consider a few important definitions on motivation that will help
us understand the meaning of motivation more clearly. Motivated employees become the crucial key
to success in this digital age. These disruptions also present opportunity, since the digital economy
significantly influences global gross domestic product (GDP). The digital age presents opportunities for
change and growth, but human beings remain the critical factor in staying interconnected and on the
rise.

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In motivating the employees, employers need to focus on these five tips;
1. Building participation and accountability
2. Empower people to experiments, innovate and execute.
3. Provide direction, clarity and purpose
4. Constant evolution and reskilling
5. Agile team and quick decision-making
6. Building bridges and finding solutions

Motivation also actual begins from early stage of designing the job, according to Job Characteristics
Model (JCM), there are five core job dimensions which are Skill Variety, Task Identity, Task
Significance, Autonomy and Feedback. This is aligned to another motivation theory which is
Expectancy Theory. this theory basically states that individual effort is correlated to individual goals.
Figure below summarizes the integration between motivation theories and motivations.

Figure 23: Integration of Theories

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Since our work-place is vulnerable towards many internal and external factors, both employees and
employers are subjected to many changes. In fact, to design an agile organisations, it also demands
many changes. Therefore, it is very crucial to learn how to energise our people to transform. Figure
below suggests some tips in facilitating the change process at work place.

Figure 24: Change Management Facilitation

Summary
This unit explain the basic concept of directing and leading. This unit also elaborates different styles
of leadership that are relevance in the context of digital era.

EXERCISE 4
1. Which leadership style would you in? Why?
2. How do you motivate yourself and your subordinates at workplace?

MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS PAGE 33

MANAGEMENT PILLAR 4 –
CONTROLLING: MANAGING
CHANGE AT WORKPLACE

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Understand the concept, definition, and application of controlling and leading change.
2. Understand the concept and strategies for change management.

MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS PAGE 34

MANAGEMENT PILLAR 4 – CONTROLLING: MANAGING CHANGE AT
WORKPLACE

MANAGING CHANGE – CONCEPTS AND APPLICATION

Change management has become one of the most critical success factors for any business in today's

ever-changing world. Companies that can't adapt and grab growth opportunities are most likely to be

outcompeted by agile competitors and even disappear. Change management is a systematic approach

that includes dealing with the transition or transformation of organizational goals, core values,

processes or technologies. The purpose of every organizational change management initiative is to

successfully implement strategies and methods for effecting change and helping people to accept and

adapt to change. As organizational changes in the agile workplaces happen daily, change management

and change communication

teams have become crucial

performance drivers for many

companies. A research shows

that only 38% of people like to

leave their comfort zone. Basically Figure 25: Characteristics of Managing Change
there are three essential elements in change process which are: 1. Ready, 2. Willing and 3. Able.

KEY ENABLING CHANGE PROCESS
1. Change Culture – Process Matters
There are few principles shared by the
researchers on how to implement the
change itself. These principles begin with
lead with the culture which means it is the
responsibilities of the leader to actually
implement and govern the control process
from the beginning. Then it needs to be able
to involve every layers. This includes both

Figure 26: Principles of Managing Change

managerial and non-managerial. Justification and rationalization need to be prepared and more
persuasive skills are required at this point. The rest of the steps are involving the implementation
strategies such as engaging the employees and the control process itself.

MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS PAGE 35

2. Human Factors – Change Agent
Change Agent is defined as a person from inside or outside an organization who helps an
organization, or part of an organization, to transform how it operates. They can be thought of as a
catalyst for change, a person who can make changes happen by inspiring and influencing others.
A change agent will promote, champion, enable, and support changes to be made in an
organization. They focus on people and the interactions between them. A change agent inspires
and influences key individuals to make the changes necessary for the transformation, including
changes to their desires, attitudes and behaviors. Change agents fulfil one of the critical roles in the
discipline of organizational change management (OCM), which is important to ensure the success
of any business change. The terms ‘agent of change’ and ‘change advocate’ are synonymous with
the term ‘change agent’. A ‘change champion’ has a similar role to a change agent. However, a
change champion can be just a figurehead whereas a change agent often works ‘behind the scenes’
to achieve success.
Often in many organisations, change agent carries these responsibilities:
1. Visibly and actively communicating why the transformation is a good idea for both the

organization and individuals
2. Actively engaging with individuals
3. Listening to others, gaining and acting on feedback
4. Understanding how different people may react and developing appropriate approaches
5. Dealing with specific individuals who don’t seem supportive
6. Encouraging and supporting others
7. Identifying and leading other change agents
8. Providing feedback and reporting issues
Thus, these Change Agents often posses these characteristics.
• Enthusiastic and passionate
• Leads by example
• Easy to get on with
• Patient but persistent
• Pragmatic
• Good at getting ideas over
• Well respected by those who know them

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However, management must understand that people that identify with these are likely to make good
change agents but may require training on influencing, persuading, and negotiating skills.

CONCLUSION

Management Insights is about understanding a company's information needs and then managing the
way in which information flows through the organisation so that it has a positive effect. It's about getting
the right information to the right people, at the right time and in the right format to drive change. The
integration of data and information are crucial to ensure the process of insights is successfully achieved.

EXERCISE 4
1. Name and Discuss any ONE change that you introduced at your
workplace.
2. How do you motivate yourself and your subordinates to accept and
implement the change?

MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS PAGE 37

REFERENCES

Insights by Stanford. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/management. Accessed 18 May 2021.

Strategic Management Insight. https://strategicmanagementinsight.com/. Accessed 18 May 2021.

Understanding Decision Making.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/principlesmanagement/chapter/11-2-understanding-decision-
making/. Accessed 18 May 2021.

Leading at Digital Era. https://www.harvardbusiness.org/insight/leading-in-the-digital-age/. Accessed
18 May 2021.

Controlling in Data Driven Culture. https://hbr.org/2017/10/change-management-is-becoming-
increasingly-data-driven-companies-arent-ready. Accessed 18 May 2021.