Management and leadership have been viewed and applied in different ways by different theorists. Leaders and managers are differentiated by some theorists on the basis of their time orientation and objectives hence the two are not related and require different skills and personalities (Schruijer and Vansina, 1999). In this view, leaders are described as been change oriented and long term effective while on the contrary, managers are mainly concerned about stability and efficiency in the short-term (Schruijer and Vansina, 1999).
In a largely technical organization like the Holographic Technologies International where the executive are charged with the responsibility of leading and inspiring a highly technical team, involving the various experts in decision making and consulting constantly with the various experts in the different research departments has proved to be the ideal model of leadership in the organization (Nicholas and Steyn 2008). In this organization, the executives employ change oriented leadership owing to the turbulent technological environment and hence are forced to make strategic changes in dealing with the major opportunities and threats. Since the best way of adapting to a changing environment is through strategic changes as well as adjustments in the work processes, the executives in HTI have to forfeit the short term efficiency goals popular with management (Schruijer and Vansina, 1999).
Change oriented leadership requires adjustments and relearning which is normally a difficult period for the organization as it requires extra resource allocation which the executives in HTI have to do (Schruijer and Vansina, 1999). Through participatory leadership which involves not only allowing the employees and various heads of departments to participate in decision making but also treating the ideas and the recommendations of the different experts in different technical fields with respect, the executives of HTI are able to inspire the employees towards change ( Nicholas and Steyn 2008). This has been effectively achieved through sharing of information between the executives and employees through briefings, employee training to better their technical skills as well as total involvement of the employees in key decisions including budget allocation processes (Nicholas and Steyn 2008).
