The contingency approach to management emerged from the real life experience of managers who found that no single approach worked consistently in every situation. The basic idea of this approach is that number management technique or theory is appropriate in all situations. The main determinants of a contingency are related to the external and internal environment of an organisation. The process, quantitative, behavioral, and systems approaches to management did not integrate the environment. The often assumed that their concepts and techniques have universal applicability. For example the process theorists often assumes that strategic planning applies to all situations; the quantitative experts generally feel that linear programming can be used under all conditions; the behavioral theorist usually advocates participative goal setting for all superior-subordinate pairs; and the system advocates tend to emphasize the need for computerized information flows in all situations. On the other hand practicing managers find out that a Continue reading
Principles of Management
Leadership vs. Management: Understanding the Differences
The difference between leader and manager can be summarized this way: “When you are a leader, you work from the heart. As a manager, you work from the head.” Although it is probably more complex than that, the point to remember is the difference between what you do as a leader and what you do as a manager-and the constant need to be able to do both. Furthermore, the head and heart need to be partners, not independent operators. A manager focuses attention on efficiency, effectiveness, and making sure the right things happen at the right time. For instance: You are in a manager role when you set performance objectives with staff, prepare budgets, review cash flow projections, develop action plans, and evaluate programs or fund raising strategies or any other aspect of the company. Managing may also include doing hundreds of other tasks that require focused and logical attention Continue reading
Four Levels of Organization Development Interventions
Organizational development is the direction of organizational consulting, which is a list of methods aimed at changing the existing situation in the field of corporate culture, psychological climate, and other degrees of satisfaction with work. Unlike organizational diagnostics, these events and projects not only assess the current situation in the organization but mainly aim at changing this situation. In addition, the given development interventions are conducted at four levels, such as physical, infrastructural, behavioral, and cultural, and they are assisted by coaching activities. Moreover, organizational development of an enterprise is a systematic, purposeful improvement of its organization by building more rational production and management structures, regulating the functions of individual units or divisions. The given approach also affects workers and their interaction by streamlining labor, managing processes based on the optimal combination of production elements, and creating conditions for their smooth functioning and further development. In other words, the essence of Continue reading
The Operational Approach to Management
Management is referred to as the science of using people and resources to achieve goals. Sometimes managers are involved in supervision and, therefore, management can further be interpreted as making sure people do their duties as assigned to them. This means that managers are mandated to ensure that productivity is realized in an organization. An operational approach is an approach that is borrowed from Bridgman’s work; this approach attempts to bring together the knowledge of management that is related to functions of management. The operational approach brings together management concepts, principles and techniques in the management practice. According to Koontz and Weihrich, management involves designing and maintaining a working environment where individuals or people working in groups achieve their objectives efficiently. This means that management cannot be successful without a strategic plan, proper coordination of activities and direction, as well as a reasonable control of decision-making processes; therefore, managers should be Continue reading
Why Bureaucracy is No Longer Relevant in Today’s Business Environment
In the competitive business environment of the 21st century, managers must concentrate and focus all their efforts on ensuring their organizations retain a competitive advantage in the market. Failure to adhere to this basic principle means failure for the organization. As such, many conscientious and assiduous managers are dumping traditional approaches of running organizations in favor of more conventional approaches that guarantee the concentration of synergies and addition of value in all organizational endeavors. One traditional management approach that is fast fading into oblivion is bureaucracy. A bureaucracy is an organizational structure with inflexible hierarchy of officeholders, regulated by impersonal uniform rules, protocols, and procedures. In most occasions, all the personnel within the organization have well defined positions and titles. he rules and procedures specify the type of duties that each worker must perform, and organizational functions are structured into set offices, which are holistically organized into a vertical hierarchy that Continue reading
Staffing Function of Management
Staffing function of management consists of manpower planning, recruitment, selection, training, compensation, promotion & maintenance of managerial personnel. “The managerial function of staffing involves manning the organizational structure through proper & effective selection, appraisal & development of personnel to fill the roles designed into the structure”: – Koontz and O’Donnell Need and Importance of Staffing How can the enterprise objectives be achieved if competent persons are not appointed in the organisation? What would be the fate of an organisation that is indifferent to the training requirements of its personnel? How will the managers and operators feel if they are not duly compensated for their sacrifices for the organisation? Will the morals of the people not come down, if nobody in the organisation looks after their welfare? The answers to these questions reveal the need and importance of staffing. The need and importance of staffing function of management can be assessed Continue reading