Personnel Management and Leadership Styles. A Look at the Leadership Styles Found in Practice and Their Effects on Employees

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Leadership and Human Resource Management - Leadership, grade: 1,7, Helmut Schmidt University - University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, language: English, abstract: The primary goal of every company is and remains profit maximization. In times of advancing globalization and the newly emerged international financial markets, companies are forced, in the context of the current financial crisis, to rationalize, to engage in detailed financial planning, to cut costs and to think through each of their steps carefully. It is not uncommon for companies' tight cost-cutting programs to have a direct impact on their employees, who are often forced to make concessions and accept restrictions. You don't have to look far for current examples of this in recent days and months. Temporary and short-time work characterize everyday life in many companies. This is, of course, bad for the motivation and the general willingness to perform of the staff, without whose manpower, economic success cannot be achieved. However, if one assumes that long-term profit maximization of an organization also presupposes the unrestricted willingness of the employees to perform, this is obviously in contrast to the respective cost-cutting measures with regard to personnel. It is therefore very important, even in difficult times, to encourage and motivate staff in such a way that they are prepared to back the company in the market, despite the restrictions outlined.