Management and Leadership

What is it?

The traditional definition of management is the planning, organising, staffing, coordinating and controlling of resources to achieve organisational goals. It is role-based and is concerned with actions within an existing system and structure. Leadership, on the other hand, is more about the person rather than the role. It involves setting a direction and inspiring people to work willingly towards it. It often involves making changes to the status quo. Management is about doing things right whereas leadership is about doing the right things.

The procurement manager works within a departmental structure, follows the procurement cycle, ensures compliance to procedures, and works towards procurement objectives. The role, therefore, requires effective management. However, procurement managers are increasingly expected to be proactive, innovative and forward-looking, and they work within cross-functional teams. Therefore, procurement managers also need to integrate certain leadership qualities into their role, such as seeking improvements, setting new directions and inspiring others to make the change.

According to Drucker, the ‘father of management’, the activities of a manager include the following:

• Creating a group of people to carry out the work and selecting the individuals on their skills and abilities, depending on the tasks to be undertaken.
• Dividing the work into activities for the individuals selected.
• Establishing appropriate targets, and monitoring and appraising performance.
• Developing the individual employee and, by doing so, enhancing the organisation as its people are its most important assets.[1]

The question of what makes a good leader is more focused on their personal qualities or characteristics:

The differences between managers and leaders are summarised below:

There are also some common skills that both managers and leaders share, such as effective communication, problem-solving and decision-making. Combining the tasks of managers, the qualities of leaders and the required common skills leads to effective managerial leadership. Not all procurement managers are expected to be leaders, but most are expected to demonstrate managerial leadership.

What does it look like?

How does it work in practice?

The APICS Supply Chain Council (APICS SCC) has identified seven core competencies as essential for leadership success in the supply chain.[2]

It also listed key themes for effective supply chain leadership, including:

• Applying certainty to uncertain situations, such as in forecasting or decision-making
• Balancing risk and reward in careful analysis using hard and soft skills
• Aligning tactics to strategy in planning and harmony with organisational culture
• Maintaining and improving relationships of supply chain partners
• Satisfying competing priorities and stakeholders on an ongoing basis

According to APICS SCC, most respondents to the survey said developing supply chain resources, potential and trust required both effective management and leadership. While a supply chain was a vast network of products, services, information and finance that can be effectively managed in the short term, strong leadership was required for optimal, on-going, long-term performance.

The Burundi-based media platform, regionweek.com, provides ten tips to enable managers to become strong leaders.[3]

Leaders should look ahead and go beyond everyday tasks and responsibilities. The leader should be an example of intelligence, wisdom, honesty, commitment and dedication.

A study of the strengths of African leaders found that there was a great deal of commonality across all ten participating countries in terms of their five highest-scoring competencies. Leaders were seen as highly skilled at putting other people at ease, being fast and agile learners, and leading in diverse environments. They were also seen as resourceful and able to find creative solutions to problems, as well as having a high focus on outcomes and getting things done.[4]

[1] Drucker, Peter; Management: Task, Responsibilities, Practices; Routledge, 1973.

[2] Seven Core Competencies of Successful Supply Chain Leaders, Supply Management, 19 August 2015

[3] https://regionweek.com/discover-top-10-management-skills-to-become-a-strong-leader/

[4] http://cclinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/leadershipdevelopmentafrica/