1 With the help of examples explain what you understand by t

1. With the help of examples, explain what you understand by task complementarity and expertise complementarity.

1. With the help of examples, explain what you understand by cognitive complementarity and role complementarity.

Solution

Answer: (1) Task complementarity refers to the case in which the leadership divides the responsibilities into coherent blocks of tasks. Now these tasks are assigned to different managers. For example CEO of the company looks after the external environment while his counterpart COO is assigned to look after the internal environment.

In expertise complementarity responsibilities are distributed as per the area of expertise of the manager.   For example in a company before a manager reaches the level of a general manager he gets training in one or more business functions like Finance and marketing and so on. But every manager has his own area of expertise so in expertise complementarity a manager is assigned a responsibility as per his area of expertise like in consumer brand organizations people with marketing and sales expertise are made CEO.

(2) In cognitive complementarity, the responsibilities are distributed as per the differences in how the individuals process the information. In this the people with an ability to view the larger picture of the situation are assigned the posts. For example in technology firms, the people with a technical understanding are made CEO’s.

In the role complementarity the people are assigned responsibility as per the social role which they play inside the organization. It is very rare that an individual is able to play more than one role in an organization. For example one can be a good strategist but may not be a good motivator. Therefore based on the role which an individual can best play he is assigned a post. For example a diplomat is assigned the role of CEO.