2. 1 | P a g e
Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to analyze the management approach and leadership
styles of Staples managers to determine how it influences the behaviour of their
employees.
Throughout the course of the summer co-op program in July, certain management
styles and leadership styles of the managers were observed by co-op students. The
Staples managers use an administrative management style to engage and lead their
employees. This style includes factors from a combination of administrative principles;
the Henri Fayol Principles, and the Mary Parker Follett Principles.
The Henri Fayol Principles are focused around the idea of employees knowing their
specific duties, and knowing who holds the authority. Whereas the Mary Parker Follett
Principles focuses around the idea of employees working together. From the Henri
Parker Follett Principles, the Staples managers follow the ideas of creating equity for the
employees and keeping order in the workplace. The other ideas of keeping a unity of
command, following a scalar chain, and dividing work amongst each employee are
also followed in Staples. However, there are slight altered. Staples employees do have
divisions they work in, but their work is not officially divided to certain departments as
they are cross trained to work around the store, yet they mainly focus on just one
department.
The Mary Parker Follett Principle is followed by Staples managers as they are constantly
working to make their employees follow participative leadership by working together
with them for tasks. Including employees in store decisions also lets the managers have
a people oriented management style as they are also getting the input of their workers.
Thus, using a group network approach allows the managers to let employees from all
the different departments come together to accomplish a certain task.
The leadership style used by Staples Managers is mainly democratic, with a mix of
autocratic leadership. The managers mostly allow the employees to make decisions on
their own and take responsibility. They attempt to build a tram which is able to work
together to accomplish their goals and get work done.
It is recommended that the Staples managers continue to follow their administrative
style of management by making a few alterations in order to keep the business
successful. They can change their management style by making sure that each
employee has to only report to one manager, rather than two. This will result in less
confusion for the employees and will boost their performance. The managers should
also continue to provide incentives for their employees through various compensation
methods, such as offering chances to enhance their career by offering more
promotions to exceptional employees, rather than just providing salary based
compensations which don not always motivate the employees. Changing their method
will lead to a boost in productivity as the employees will be motivated to work if they will
be rewarder by things such as promotions. The leadership style of the managers should
also focus more on staying as democratic leaders, as they allow the employees to take
more responsibility and feel that they a part of a team. Therefore, by making some
alterations to their management style, and continuing to be democratic leaders, the
Staples managers will be able to continue making the store be successful.
3. 2 | P a g e
Table of Contents
Purpose................................................................................................................................................................3
Discussion ........................................................................................................................................................3-7
Management Approaches......................................................................................................................3-6
Henri Fayol’s Principles.....................................................................................................................3-5
Mary Parker Follett’s Principles .......................................................................................................5-6
Leadership Styles ........................................................................................................................................6-7
Democratic Leadership Style.........................................................................................................6-7
Laissez-Faire Leadership Style............................................................................................................7
Recommandations ........................................................................................................................................8-9
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................................9
Endnotes............................................................................................................................................................10
Works Cited ......................................................................................................................................................11
4. 3 | P a g e
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to analyze the leadership styles and management
approach of Staples’ managers and determine how it influences the behaviour of their
employees.
Discussion
In order for Staples to succeed as a business and positively direct its workers, the
managers must use a mix of a different management approaches and leadership
styles.
Management Approaches
Administrative principles of management are used by Staples’ managers and
supervisors. This type of management approach creates a formal structure that
describes the roles of each employees and shows the separation of power and
authority over a workforce. Managers in Staples use a combination of the Henri Fayol
Principles and the Mary Parker Follett Principles to manage the store and their
employeesi.
Henri Fayol Principle
This principle focuses on clearly distinguishing tasks for employees and make sure the
line of command is clearly defined. From the 14 principles of Henri Fayol’s Theory,
Staples managers only focus on a fewi.
Below is a description of how some of Henri Fayol’s Principles are used by Staples
managers:
5. 4 | P a g e
Division of Work – Staples managers believes in cross training its employees so
they can work in any department in the store, such as working in Tech, Copy
Center, the aisles, and in Receiving. However, from daily observation, it was
concluded that the majority of Staples employees have a set work responsibility
and mostly stick to doing work in their department. For example, the employees
are assigned different departments, and usually only switch between one or two
department, rather than doing every single in the store. Therefore, this principle is
not fully followed by Staples’s managers.ii
Unity of Command – Following this principle is not frequent by Staples managers
due to the presence of different shifts. For the course of one day, there are
usually two managers present in the building; one during the morning/afternoon
shift, and one during the afternoon/evening shift. Therefore, employees working
in the building may be reporting to two managers and may also have to take
instructions from two different managers. This may cause complications for
employees as they may get two sets of instructions. For example, one manager
may give an order to be completed within three hours, but another manager
may come up and also ask the same requestii.
Scalar Chain – The presence of a scalar chain is not seen in the management
styles of Staple’s managers. This is due to the fact that the managers do not act
as if they are in a hierarchy and hold power over their employees, thus creating
a line of authority that is unclear. For example, the managers do not show power
over supervisors. In fact, they both have very similar work duties, such as opening
and closing the store, and being in charge of processing daily/weekly reports.
6. 5 | P a g e
Therefore, employees are able to report to the supervisors or the managers of
their work as they both hold similar authorityii.
Equity – This is a principle that is strictly followed by Staples managers. It is
focused on the basis of treating every employee, supervisor, manager, and co-
op student fairly and equally. Managers do not give preferences to certain
employees and departments, and they also make sure that no other employee
is treating anyone unfairlyii.
Initiative – Staples employees are always being encouraged by the managers to
show initiative in their work and take on new responsibilities. The managers
motivate the employees to take initiative by providing them with incentives, such
as bonuses, or employee of the month awards. Weekly sales are also tracked,
which encourages the employees to work harder and make more sales, which
they are then gifted for with verbal encouragementii.
Order – Staples managers ensure that all the employees from each department
are being treated fairly and equally. They believe that no job or role in the store is
considered superior to another. For example, the managers make sure that the
Tech Center, Receiving department, the Aisles, and Copy Center workers are all
treated equally and no special attention is given to just one department or
workerii.
Mary Parker Follett Principle
This principle is based around the idea of all the employees working together to get
work done. Staples managers follow all three of these principles to help their store
succeedi.
7. 6 | P a g e
Below are descriptions of how managers use the principles to their advantage:
People Oriented Management – The Staples managers attempt to be people
oriented by giving their employees a change give their input in store decisions.
This makes the employees feel as if they also have a responsibility in the actions
of the storeiii. Coactive power is used by managers in order to give power to the
employees, rather than force power upon them with their authorityi.
Participative Leadership – Along with employees, co-op students are also
encouraged to work together with the managers and supervisors to accomplish
tasks in the storeiii. By enforcing group power rather than personal power, the
managers are able to create high performance levels and high productivity as
the work is being done in a team, rather than just one individuali.
Group Network – By allowing employees to contribute their ideas for a decisioni,
the managers are able to use integration to their advantage by getting input
from employees in every department, thus providing a variety of opinions rather
than one opinioniii.
Leadership Style
The democratic leadership style is mainly followed by the Staples mangers, along with a
mix of a laissez-faire leadership style.
Democratic Leadership
The leadership style used by Staples managers is a democratic leadership style. The
managers use a hands off approach when handling their employees. They allow the
employees to take responsibility upon themselvesi. This type of style encourages
8. 7 | P a g e
discussion amongst the employees and urges them to share their ideas and opinions
with others in the workplace, thus attempting to build a team that can work together to
finish projectsiv. Staples managers also follow the leadership style of a democratic
manager by providing feedback to the employees on the work they have done.
Laissez-Faire Leadership
This type of leadership style is also used by some managers in Staples. It focuses on
allowing delegationi. The employees get a chance to handle responsibilities and
problems that managers may face. However, this type of style is only done in certain
departments, such as the Tech department in Staplesv. The employees in the Tech
department have a high level of knowledge of what they are doing, thus it is useful to
use this leadership style because by attempting to face problems, the employees are
able to develop their skills.
9. 8 | P a g e
Recommendations
It is recommended that the Staples managers continue their basic approach to
management by following the administrative management style. However, it is also
recommended that they alter some of the principles being followed. The unity of
command principles should be put into effect because each employee should have
only one manager to report to, rather than two managers. This will make situations
easier for the employees as they will only have one set of instructions for tasks, which will
lead to an increase in productivity. The Staples managers should continue to follow
Henri Fayol’s principles of equity and order in the workplace. This will ensure that every
employee is being treated fairly and no role seems superior to anotherii. The Mary Parker
Follett principles should also be followed as it was proven that they motivated
employees to work harder, which lead to high productivity within the storeiii. Therefore,
the managers should continue to put efforts into training the employees to work in a
team to accomplish tasks as they will be more successful.
The leadership style this is recommended to be followed for the managers is the
democratic leadership style, rather than the laissez-faire style. By giving the employees
a chance to give their input into decisions and training them to develop their skills will
be more effective as it will allow for a motivated and responsible workforceiv. It is
recommended that the laissez-fare leadership style no longer be used in the Tech
department because even if the employees get a chance to take upon many
problems, it may lead to lower productivity levels if some employees are not as
experienced to deal with issues or if they do not have sufficient knowledge of all of the
servicesv. Therefore, it is recommended that the Staples managers focus on using some
10. 9 | P a g e
of the Henry Fayol principles, putting more effort into enhancing the methods of the
Mary Parker Follett principles, and by following a democratic leadership style by
encoring group work in order to make their Staples store successful.
Conclusion
In order for the Staples managers to make their store successful, they should continue to
take an administrative approach on management and follow a democratic leadership
style by focusing their efforts on making their employees to work together in a team.
11. 10 | P a g e
i Schermerhorm, John R., and Barry Wright. "Human Resource Management." In Management
Fundamentals, 37-40. Canadian Edition ed. Mississauaga: John Wiley and Sons Canada, 2007.
ii "HENRI FAYOL'S 14 Principles of Management." MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS.
<https://managementinnovations.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/henri-fayols-14-principles-of-
management/>.
iii "Mary Parker Follett: People-Oriented, Group-Network Management." Study.com.
<http://study.com/academy/lesson/mary-parker-follett-people-oriented-group-network-
management.html>.
iv "The Democratic Leadership Style." Leadership Toolbox. <http://www.leadership-
toolbox.com/democratic-leadership-style.html>.
v Cherry, Kendra. "What Is Laissez-Faire Leadership? The Pros and Cons."
<http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/f/laissez-faire-leadership.htm>.
12. 11 | P a g e
Works Cited
Cherry, Kendra. "What Is Laissez-Faire Leadership? The Pros and Cons." Web. 20 July
2015. <http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/f/laissez-faire-leadership.htm>.
"The Democratic Leadership Style." Leadership Toolbox. Web. 20 July 2015.
<http://www.leadership-toolbox.com/democratic-leadership-style.html>.
"HENRI FAYOL'S 14 Principles of Management." MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS. 4 Dec.
2008. Web. 22 July 2015.
<https://managementinnovations.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/henri-fayols-14-
principles-of-management/>.
"Mary Parker Follett: People-Oriented, Group-Network Management." Study.com. Web.
22 July 2015. <http://study.com/academy/lesson/mary-parker-follett-people-
oriented-group-network-management.html>.
Schermerhorm, John R., and Barry Wright. "Human Resource Management." In
Management Fundamentals, 37-40. Canadian Edition ed. Mississauaga: John
Wiley and Sons Canada, 2007.
