George,
I understand what you're trying to get to here, but I still think it's an
artificial distinction. If what G&S say is true, then the entire body of
knowledge we call strategic management has no validity. Pick up any
strategy or business policy text book, and most of what is in there has to
do with forecasting, formulating and implementing strategy, so as to make
changes to the organization to better fit with the external environment.
If management is equated with maintaining the status quo, nearly every
firm I can think of is in big trouble, because (if you followed some
previous discussion on MBAs) there just ain't enough leaders to go around!
Regards,
Dave
On Thu, 6 Mar 1997, George E. Dodge wrote:
> On 5 March, Dutch Driver wrote:
> " . . . I have generally held that leadership is a higher skill than
> management
> because the demands and the accountablity are greater for a leader. It is
> this belief that provides the basis for putting leadership training in the
> liberal arts (speech communication would be a great choice) instead of the
> B-schools . . . "
>
> After following the thread pertaining to leadership and management I offer
> the following Gardner and Schermerhorn cite as the clearest discussion of
> the difference between the two I have run across. The essence of the
> difference according to Gardner and Schermerhorn is that leadership has to
> do with change and creation while management has to do with stability and
> maintenance. Gordon Sullivan, the former Chief of Staff of the Army (CEO
> and Chairman of the Board) says the difference between leadership and
> management is that "management has to do with an organization's
> processes-performing them correctly and efficiently; leadership has to do
> with an organization's purposes." (p. 45, Sullivan & Harper, 96).
>
> Gardner, W. L., & Schermerhorn, J. R. (1992). Strategic operational
> leadership and the management of supportive work environments. In R. L.
> Phillips & J. G. Hunt (Eds.), Strategic leadership: A
> multiorganizational-level perspective. Westport, CT: Quorum.
>
> George Dodge
> Texas Tech University
>