Features and traits of successful management: WACE BME Unit 4
“Explain the features and traits of successful management, including management functions, roles, skills, styles and personal traits, and how they apply when managing across countries and cultures”
Successful managers perform the four functions (planning, organising, leading, controlling), use technical, interpersonal and conceptual skills, and adapt their style (autocratic, persuasive, consultative, participative or laissez-faire) to the situation. Key traits are vision, integrity, communication, decisiveness, adaptability, emotional intelligence and, in global business, cultural intelligence.
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What this dot point is asking
Unit 4's People content, as SCSA's unit description puts it, covers "the features and traits of successful management". You need to explain what successful managers do (functions and roles), how they do it (skills and styles), and the personal qualities that help them succeed, especially when managing across countries. The detailed list here comes from study resources built on the syllabus, not the syllabus itself; check your school's course outline for the exact content.
The answer
Functions of management
- Planning: set objectives and choose strategies.
- Organising: allocate people, resources and tasks; design structure.
- Leading: motivate, communicate, guide and resolve conflict.
- Controlling: monitor performance, compare with targets and correct.
Management roles and skills
- Roles (Mintzberg): interpersonal (figurehead, leader, liaison), informational (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson) and decisional (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator).
- Skills: technical (job knowledge), interpersonal or human (working with people), conceptual (seeing the big picture), plus decision-making, time management and communication.
Management styles
| Style | Features | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Autocratic | Manager decides alone; top-down communication | Crises, safety-critical work, inexperienced staff |
| Persuasive | Manager decides, then explains and sells the decision | Decisions that need staff acceptance |
| Consultative | Manager consults staff, then decides | Complex issues where staff input helps |
| Participative (democratic) | Staff share in decisions | Skilled teams, change that needs commitment |
| Laissez-faire (free rein) | Staff make most decisions | Highly skilled, motivated professionals |
A contingency approach says the best style depends on the situation, the staff and the task.
Traits of successful managers
Vision, integrity and ethics, communication, decisiveness, adaptability and resilience, emotional intelligence (self-awareness and empathy), and, in global business, cultural intelligence: understanding different attitudes to hierarchy, communication, time and decision-making, and adapting to them.
A manager at a WA agribusiness takes over a joint venture with a Vietnamese partner.
- Planning: sets shared targets with the partner for crop yields and exports.
- Leading: uses a consultative style, listening to local staff about farming conditions before deciding.
- Traits: shows cultural intelligence by respecting hierarchy in meetings and building relationships before business discussions; shows integrity by paying fair wages and keeping promises.
- Controlling: monthly reports compare yields and costs with targets, and problems are addressed early.
- Confusing styles with traits
- A style is how a manager makes decisions; a trait is a personal quality.
- Saying one style is always best
- Justify the style for the situation.
- Ignoring the global context
- Link traits such as cultural intelligence to managing across countries.
Practice questions
Original practice questions graded from foundation to exam level, each with a full worked solution. Try them before revealing the solution.
foundation4 marksDescribe the four functions of management.Show worked solution →
- Planning: setting objectives and deciding how to achieve them.
- Organising: arranging people, resources and tasks, including structure and responsibilities.
- Leading: motivating, communicating with and guiding staff.
- Controlling: measuring performance against objectives and taking corrective action.
Marking guide: 1 mark per function described.
core5 marksCompare autocratic and participative management styles, and explain when each might be most effective.Show worked solution →
- Autocratic
- decisions are made by the manager alone, with one-way communication. It is fast and gives clear direction but can lower motivation and waste staff ideas. It suits emergencies, safety-critical tasks and inexperienced teams.
- Participative
- staff are consulted and involved in decisions. It builds motivation, commitment and better ideas, but decisions take longer. It suits skilled, experienced teams, complex problems and changes that need staff support.
- Comparison
- the key differences are who makes decisions, how communication flows and the speed of decision-making. Successful managers adapt their style to the situation (a contingency approach).
Marking guide: 2 marks per style explained with a suitable situation, 1 mark for a direct comparison.
exam8 marksAn Australian engineering firm appoints a manager to lead a new project team made up of staff in Perth, Jakarta and Mumbai. Discuss the features and traits this manager needs to be successful.Show worked solution →
A strong response:
- Functions: planning across time zones, organising roles and communication tools, leading a dispersed team, and controlling progress with shared KPIs.
- Skills: interpersonal and communication skills (clear written communication, active listening), conceptual skills to see the whole project, and technical skills to understand the engineering work.
- Style: a flexible, mainly participative style to draw on local expertise and build trust, with more direction when deadlines or safety demand it.
- Traits: cultural intelligence (different attitudes to hierarchy and communication across the three countries), emotional intelligence, integrity (consistent, fair treatment), adaptability and resilience.
- Technology: confident use of collaboration tools to keep everyone connected.
- Judgement: cultural intelligence and communication are likely the most important because misunderstandings are the biggest risk in a global team.
Marking guide: 2 marks for functions, 2 marks for skills and style, 3 marks for traits linked to the global context, 1 mark for a justified judgement.