Business

Flexible work team  mass production setting

Introduction
Flexible work team is a program where employees are given the freedom on how to perform their duties (Fink, Knight,  Michaelsen, 2002). The employee determines when to start or end his duties. The conditions put in place offer flexibility in the job place. In some cases, the employer requires the workers to put a certain number of hours in the job. Other examples include freedom in communication within the workplace, sharing of jobs, compressed work weeks, partial retirement and many more. The employees can balance between job, family life and their social life. Organizations with few responsibilities can use this system of operation. Large organizations require a more strategically organized team to perform duties according to the pre-defined rules and regulations (Tayeb, 2005).

Difference between flexible work teams and mass production setting
A mass production setting requires more commitments to the job than in a flexible work team. In a mass production setting, employees specialize in their skills and no work can be shared (Harris, Brewster,  Sparrow, 2004). All employees have specific responsibilities which cannot be shared with others in the team. Time schedules are placed to ensure the deadlines are achieved and no employee should have the freedom to work or leave when heshe wants. Regulations are put in place to avoid uncontrolled performance of duties. Flexible work teams allow the employees to decide on when to start or end job assignments. The basic requirement is working for a given number of hours per day (Fink, Knight,  Michaelsen, 2002). On the other hand, mass production setting gives a scheduled program to be followed. The employees should follow the timetable so as to perform the assigned duties within a specific duration. Employees should be at the job place whether there is work or not (Tayeb, 2005).

Contingency theory of leadership and its application in the two setting
Contingency theory of leadership defines a leader as a person who influences others to contribute to the goals of an organization willingly (Chemers, 1997). The leader uses several strategies to achieve the goals of the organization. In a flexible work team, the leader strives to achieve the goals by giving the freedom to perform their duties. The leader allows the followers to be leaders of themselves. This approach allows invention and innovation and prevents overdependence on the decisions of one person. In the mass production setting, the manager controls everything and the subjects follow the guidelines provided by their leader. This leadership style does not allow employees to make decisions on their own. This system is important in that in large organizations, the employees should be given direction to avoid haphazard activities. The leader aims at giving the best decisions possible to enable proper performance of duties. Decision making is strategically planned to ensure that the interest of all employees is represented (Kramer  Messick, 2005).

Conclusion
Managers should be leaders and should act wisely to ensure the organization achieves its goals. The size of the organization will determine the type of management style to use so as to effectively achieve the pre-defined goals of an organization. Managers should be leaders and should work to ensure that the interests their followers are well attained while maintaining the statutes of the organization. All elements in the internal and external environments should be well coordinated to avoid conflicts.