Power and politics are inextricably interwoven with the fabric of an organization’s life. In any organization, at any given moment, a number of people are seeking to gain and use power to achieve their own ends. This pursuit of power is political behavior. Organizational politics refers to the activities carried out by people to acquire, enhance and use power and other resources to obtain their preferred outcomes in a situation where there is uncertainly or disagreement. One great organizational scholar, Tushman defined politics, ‘as the structure and process of the use of authority and power to affect definition of goals, directions and the other major parameters of the organization. Decisions are not made in rational or formal way but rather through compromise accommodation and bargaining.’ Techniques of Organizational Politics The most commonly used techniques of political behavior in organizations are: One technique of political behavior is to control the dissemination Continue reading
Management Basics
Most Important Functions of Management
Some would define management as an art, while others would define it as a science. Whether management is an art or a science isn’t what is most important. Management is a process that is used to accomplish organizational goals; that is, a process that is used to achieve what an organization wants to achieve. An organization could be a business, a school, a city, a group of volunteers, or any governmental entity. Managers are the people to whom this management task is assigned, and it is generally thought that they achieve the desired goals through the key functions of management. Some would include leading as a managing function, but for the purposes of this discussion, leading is included as a part of directing. The elements of management process are known as functions of management. However various authors have classified these differently. Henry Fayol classified the major functions of management into Continue reading
Importance of leadership
The importance of leadership in the field of management is given below: Helps in guiding and inspiring the employees: leader guides and inspires his subordinates towards higher performance and so helps in achieving the business goals. Creates confidence: leader creates confidence among the employees by understanding and handling the situations as per proper requirement. Sometimes individuals fail to recognize their qualities and capabilities than he provides psychological support to the followers by his conduct and expression. Improves productivity: the main purpose is to use the available human and non-human resources of the organisation efficiently and efficiency of performance = the product of capability and willingness. By raising willingness leader helps in improving the productivity. Improves job satisfaction: effort from monitory incentives and better physical working conditions, the job satisfaction of employees also depends on the behaviour of their managers. Leaders ensure that managers in organisation should adopt behaviour, which is Continue reading
Is Management is an Art or a Science?
Is management characterized as an art, as a science or both? In order to investigate the nature of Management, it would be useful firstly to define it. According to Drucker “Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant. This is what organization is all about, and this is the reason why management is the critical, determining factor”. Nowadays, practically everyone works for a managed institution, large or not, business or not. Our living actually depends on management. The ability we have to contribute to society, depends firstly on the way, the institute we work for, is managed and furthermore on our own abilities, devotion and effort. For years now, there has been a great debate on whether management can be characterized as a science or as an art. Management as an Art Art is Continue reading
Scientific Management Theory – Directions and Characteristics
Scientific management is a process of improving the labor organization based on scientific achievements and excellence. It is important to mention that an American engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor was the first scientific engineer, who used and formalized scientific management and highlighted its four principles. Scientific management is the labor organization based on modern scientific achievements and best practices, which were systematically introduced into the workplace. Scientific management allows combining technology and people in the labor process. In addition to the above-mentioned information, scientific management can be characterized as an approach within classical management theory that emphasizes the scientific study of work methods in order to improve worker efficiency. Scientific management’s implementation saves time and is an important growth factor productivity of living labor. The importance and value of scientific management is that it allows you to save hard work as a result of better use of the production’s material Continue reading
Matrix Organizational Structure – Definition, Types, Advantages, and Disadvantages
Organizational structure refers to a way in which an organization or a company arranges its employees and duties. It establishes hierarchy and line of authority. An organization should adopt a structure that is in agreement with its objectives and goals. Matrix organizational structure employs a multi-dimensional approach. It combines one or two of the other organizational structures. For example, it may combine bureaucratic organizational structure with functional organizational structure. This creates a dual reporting system in which people work together as a team while retaining a recognizable reporting system. Matrix structure creates teams of workers in an organization based on both the product and department or function. This enables the organization to maximize on the strengths of each employee while making up for their weaknesses. The teams work independently towards achieving a common goal. If a company produces two products for example, the practice is to departmentalize the production process of Continue reading