leadership

On the 1st April 2013 the previous eight individual police forces within Scotland merged to become one organisational force known as “Police Service of Scotland”. This merger was introduced with the main aim of establishing an organisation which was more efficient and effective in reaching its policing and financial commitments.

The Police Service of Scotland is an organisation that is a service provider that operates with the consent of the public and is managed in conjunction with local and central government. As a result, Police Service of Scotland is subject to both internal and external pressures and must accommodate change in order to meet the needs of both the government and the public.

Senior (2002) identifies four main types of change within an organisation:

Fine-tuning — where minor adjustments are made to ongoing processes such as changing job roles or revising existing procedures.

Incremental adjustment — this involves small scale modifications such as introducing new technology or placing increased emphasis and resources on particular products or services.

Modular transformation — a major change centred on one or more departments or divisions in an organisation such as departmental restructuring or introducing significantly new ways of working.

Corporate transformation — change which involves the whole organisation such as cultural change or major re-organisation.

During this radical change to the Police Service of Scotland, a modular transformation occurred whereby a new shift pattern was introduced to the community policing team. This increased resource numbers at times when call volumes were greater allows for the organisation to meet the needs of local government as well as decreasing expenditure s...

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...are expected to inspire, motivate and guide others both below them, and around them, regarding what is required to achieve the organisational goal. In order to meet these expectations, leaders need to posses and utilise a wide range of inter-personal skills such as knowledge, influence and negotiation. A leader must be aware of the inter-personal skills they possess and decide on which to use during a given situation.

Power gained through greater knowledge or expertise can exist without there being any authority. However, the belief that an individual has superior knowledge of a situation can establish a leadership role through perceived authority. Supervisors have greater access to organisational resources and have a closer connection to other supervisors allowing them access to more information and again installing a perception of power over other officers.