Managing Service Delivery Essay Research Paper VISIONIn

Managing Service Delivery Essay, Research Paper

VISION

In the literature concerning leadership, vision has a variety of definitions,

all of which include a mental image or picture, a future orientation, and

aspects of direction or goal.

Vision provides guidance to an organisation by articulating what it wishes to attain. It serves as “a signpost pointing the way for all who need to understand what the organisation is and where it intends to go” (Nanus, 1992). By providing a picture, vision not only describes an organisation s direction or goal, but also the means of accomplishing it. It guides the work of the organisation. Seeley (1992) describes vision as a “goal-oriented mental construct that guides people’s behaviour.” Vision is a picture of the future for which people are willing to work.

However, vision is more than an image of the future. It has a compelling aspect that serves to inspire, motivate, and engage people. Vision has been described by Manasse (1986) as “the force which moulds meaning for the people of an organisation.” It is a force that provides meaning and purpose to the work of an organisation. Vision is a compelling picture of the future that inspires commitment. It answers the questions: Who is involved. What do they plan to accomplish. Why are they doing this. Vision therefore does more than provide a picture of a desired future; it encourages people to work, to strive for its attainment. For public sector leaders who implement change in the product or service they deliver, vision is “a hunger to see improvement” (Pejza, 1985).

As important as it is to know what vision is, it is also important to know what vision is not. Nanus (1992) states that vision is not “a prophecy, a mission, factual, true or false, static, or a constraint on actions.” Fullan (1992) warns against visions that blind and states that there is a tendency for “overattachment to particular philosophies or innovations.”

To assist leaders in developing an appropriate vision, Nanus (1992) maintains

that the “right vision” has five characteristics:

. attracts commitment and energises people,

. creates meaning in workers’ lives,

. establishes a standard of excellence,

. bridges the present to the future, and

. transcends the status quo.

Other descriptions of vision provide more explicit information especially pertinent to public sector leaders. Seeley (1992) defines two types of vision, both related to Cuban’s (1988) concepts of first and second order changes. Using the construct of first order changes, those that deal with improvements, Seeley asserts that these changes are connected to first order vision or program vision. An example of a change requiring program vision is an agency’s adoption of a new program.

Second order changes are those that require restructuring or a reconceptualisation of an organisation s roles, rules, relationships, and responsibilities. Seeley (1992) asserts that such second order changes require system vision. “The leader has to visualise not just how a new program or practice would work, but how whole new sets of expectations, relationships, accountability structures, etc., would fit together into a coherent whole” (Seeley, 1992).

An example of a change requiring system vision is the restructuring of three depots into two. Some of the major changes related to this vision are rethinking the types and number of vehicles to be housed, staff needs, accommodating extra staff activities. The distinction between program and system vision provided by Seeley extends our understanding of vision and its role in changing programs because the vision reflects the type of program that is being implemented.

SHARED VISION

In addition to providing a picture of the future, a vision inspires people to work to make it come true. It motivates people to join the campaign to realise the desired vision. A leader’s efforts to develop a shared vision have been described as “bonding” by Sergiovanni (1990): leader and followers with a shared set of values and commitment “that bond them together in a common cause” in order to meet a common goal. “A vision is little more than an empty dream until it is widely shared and accepted” (Nanus, 1992).

Many leaders begin with a personal vision realising that it ultimately will be implemented by others in the organisation. Whether the vision begins with a leader’s personal concept or a group’s consensual image of a programs picture of the future, it is important that there be a sense of ownership of the vision. “Studies indicate that it is the presence of this personal vision on the part of a leader, shared with members of the organisation, that may differentiate true leaders from mere managers” (Manasse, 1986,).

A leader’s vision needs to be shared by those who will be involved in its realisation. The shared vision becomes a “shared covenant that bonds together leader and follower in a moral commitment” (Sergiovanni, 1990). ” The vision of a program, developed collaboratively or initiated by the leader and agreed to by the followers, becomes the common ground, the shared vision that compels all involved to realise the vision. “Vision comes alive only when it is shared” (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).

ADMINISTRATORS AND VISION

“All leaders h

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