Monday, October 14, 2019

The book The Evolution of management thought

The book The Evolution of management thought In his comprehensive book The Evolution of Management Thought Daniel A Wren writes: Within the practices of the past there are lessons of history for tomorrow in a continuous stream. We occupy but one point in this stream. The purpose .. is to presentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the past as a prologue to the future. Broadly it has been classified into : 1.Scientific management theory 2.Administrative management theory 3.Behavioral management theory 4.Management science theory 5.Organizational environment theory I. PRE SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT ERA à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢I. Ever Since Down Of civilization. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢-Administration of mohenjodaro harappa Cities Of ancient aryan in 2000 B.C. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢-Buddha order and the sangha à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢-Organizations of public life in ancient greece. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Organisation of roman catholic church. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Organisation of military force à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢SECOND HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Use of management Principles in business. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Robert Owen-1813 :-Development of mgmt Concepts. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Factor which influence the productivity of personnel in plants. Adam Smith (18th century economist) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Observed that firms manufactured pins in one of two different ways: Craft-style-each worker did all steps. Production-each worker specialized in one step. F.W.TAYLOR AND SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT The systematic study of the relationships between people and tasks for the purpose of redesigning the work process for higher efficiency. Defined by Frederick Taylor in the late 1800s Wanted to replace rule of thumb Sought to reduce the time a worker spent on each task by optimizing the way the task was done. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Studied fatigue caused by lighting, heating, and the design of tools and machines. Time and motion studies Breaking up each job action into its components. Finding better ways to perform the action. Reorganizing each job action to be more efficient. ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT THEORY The study of how to create an organizational structure that leads to high efficiency and effectiveness. Rules formal written instructions that specify actions to be taken under different circumstances Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) specific sets of written instructions about how to perform a certain aspect of a task Norms unwritten, informal codes of conduct that prescribe how people should act in particular situations BEHAVIORAL MANAGEMENT THEORY The study of how managers should behave to motivate employees and encourage them to perform at high levels and be committed to the achievement of organizational goals. Focuses on the way a manager should personally manage to motivate employees. Mary Parker Follett   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Concerned that Taylor ignored the human side of the organization Suggested workers help in analyzing their jobs lf workers have relevant knowledge of the task, then they should control the task. MANAGEMENT SCIENCE THEORY An approach to management that uses rigorous quantitative techniques to maximize the use of organizational resources. Quantitative management utilizes linear programming, modeling, simulation systems and chaos theory. Operations management -techniques used to analyze all aspects of the production system Management Information Systems (MIS) provides information vital for effective decision making. Total Quality Management (TQM) -focuses on analyzing input, conversion, and output activities to increase product quality. ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT THEORY The set of forces and conditions that operate beyond an organizations boundaries but affect a managers ability to acquire and utilize resources Open System A system that takes resources for its external environment and converts them into goods and services that are then sent back to that environment for purchase by customers. There is no one best way to organize The idea that the organizational structures and control systems manager choose depend on-are contingent on-characteristics of the external environment in which the organization operates. What is management? The term management encompasses an array of different functions undertaken to accomplish a task successfully. In the simplest of terms, management is all about getting things done. However, it is the way and the process of how one achieves ones target or goals and it is in this respect that management is considered an art and a science as well. The term management may be recently defined, but it existed at a time when men started learning the art of organizing, strategizing (during wars) and/or simply planning. At the core of it, management was quintessentially considered as an art of managing men and hence the term manage-men-T. Management is like investment. Managers have resources to invest their time, talent and, possibly, human resources. The goal (function) of management is to get the best return on such resources by getting things done efficiently. This doesnt imply being mechanical or narrowly controlling as some writers on management suggest. The managers style is a personal or situational matter and it has evolved over time. With highly skilled and self-motivated knowledge workers, the manager must be very empowering. Where the workforce is less skilled or not very motivated, the manager may need to monitor output more closely. Skilled managers know how flex their style, coach and motivate diverse employees. Getting things done through people is what they do. By saying that management is a function, not a type of person or role, we can better account for self-managed work teams where no one is in charge In a self-managed team, management is a group effort with no one being the designated managerAnd much later, management scholar, Peter Drucker (1993) defined management as Supplying knowledge to find out how existing knowledge can best be applied to produce results is, in effect, what we mean by management. But knowledge is now also being applied systematically and purposefully to determine what new knowledge is needed, whether it is feasible, and what has to be done to make knowledge effective. It is being applied, in other words, to systematic innovation. (Drucker, 1993) Today the importance of management from an organizations point of view has increased multi-fold. It is only through effective management that companies are developing and executing their businesss policies and strategies to maximize their profits and provide with the best of products and services. Management today combines creative, business, organizational, analytical and other skills to produce effective goal-oriented results! Some of the key functions in management includes learning to delegate, planning and organizing, communicating clearly, controlling situations, motivating employees, adapting to change, constantly innovating and thinking of new ideas, building a good team and delivering results which are not just figure -bound but results that also focus on overall growth and development. Management focuses on the entire organization from both a short and a long-term perspective. Management is the managerial process of forming a strategic vision, setting objectives, crafting a strategy and then implementing and executing the strategy. A good management style is a blend of both efficiency and effectiveness. There is no point in acting efficiently if what you are doing will not have the desired effect. Management techniques can be viewed as either bottom-up, top-down, or collaborative processes. Management is an organizational function, like sales, marketing or finance. It doesnt necessarily mean managing people. We can manage ourselves or the material assigned to us at work. If you managed a project very well on your own, it would mean that you did the job in a well-organized, efficient manner, making good use of all resources at your disposal. In India, largely the top down approach is popular. In the top-down approach, the management makes the decisions, which the employees have no choice but to accept. On the other hand, in the bottom-up approach, employees submit proposals to their managers who, in turn, funnel the best ideas further up the organization. However the bottom up approach is not a very popular approach in India as most of the Indian businesses are family run businesses. Management as art scientific principles and theories will be able to implemented in actual managerial situations. Instead, these managers are likely to rely on the social and political environment surrounding the managerial issue, using their own knowledge of a situation, rather than generic rules, to determine a course of action. For example, as a contrast to the example given previously, a manager who has a problem with an employees poor work performance is likely to rely on his or her own experiences and judgment when addressing this issue. Rather than having a standard response to such a problem, this manager is likely to consider a broad range of social and political factors, and is likely to take different actions depending on the context of the problem. Henry Mintzberg is probably the most well-known and prominent advocate of the school of thought that management is an art. Mintzberg is an academic researcher whose work capturing the actual daily tasks of real managers was ground breaking research for its time. Mintzberg, through his observation of actual managers in their daily work, determined that managers did not sit at their desks, thinking, evaluating, and deciding all day long, working for long, uninterrupted time periods. Rather, Mintzberg determined that mangers engaged in very fragmented work, with constant interruptions and rare opportunities to quietly consider managerial issues. Thus, Mintzberg revolutionized thinking about managers at the time that his work was published, challenging the prior notion that managers behaved rationally and methodically. This was in line with the perspective of management as an art, because it indicated that managers did not necessarily have routine behaviors throughout their days, but ins tead used their own social and political skills to solve problems that arose throughout the course of work. Another scholar that promoted the notion of management as an art was David E. Lilienthal, who in 1967 had his series of lectures titled Management: A Humanist Art published. In this set of published lectures, Lilienthal argues that management requires more than a mastery of techniques and skills; instead, it also requires that managers understand individuals and their motivations and help them achieve their goals. Lilienthal believed that combining management and leadership into practice, by not only getting work done but understanding the meaning behind the work, as effective managerial behavior. Thus, he promoted the idea of the manager as a motivator and facilitator of others. This manager as an artist was likely to respond differently to each employee and situation, rather than use a prescribed set of responses dictated by set of known guidelines. Another proponent of the management as art school of thought is Peter Drucker, famed management scholar who is best known for developing ideas related to total quality management. Drucker terms management a liberal art, claiming that it is such because it deals with the fundamentals of knowledge, wisdom, and leadership, but because it is also concerned with practice and application. Drucker argues that the discipline (i.e., the science) of management attempts to create a paradigm for managers, in which facts are established, and exceptions to these facts are ignored as anomalies. He is critical of the assumptions that make up the management paradigm, because these assumptions change over time as society and the business environment change. Thus, management is more of an art, because scientific facts do not remain stable over time. Managing is one of the most important human activities. From the time human beings began forming social organizations to accomplish aims and objectives they could not accomplish as individuals, managing has been   essential to ensure the coordination of individual efforts. As society continuously relied on group effort, and as many organized groups have become large, the task of managers has been increasing in importance and complexity. Definition: Management is the art, or science, of achieving goals through people. Since managers also supervise, management can be interpreted to mean literally looking over i.e., making sure people do what they are supposed to do. Managers are, therefore, expected to ensure greater productivity or, using the current jargon, continuous improvement. Management is not easy. It is not an exact science. In fact, it is seen as an art that people master with experience. Managing your businesss most vital assets is too important to leave to chance.People who believe management is an art are likely to believe that there is no specific way to teach or understand management, and that it is a skill borne of personality and ability. Those who believe in management as an art are likely to believe that certain people are more predisposed to be effective managers than are others, and that some people cannot be taught to be effective managers. That is, even with an understanding of management research and an education in management, some people will not be capable of being effective practicing managers. Practicing managers who believe in management as an art are unlikely to believe that scientific principles and theories will be able to implemented in actual managerial situations. Instead, these managers are likely to rely on the social and political environment surrounding the managerial issue, using their own knowledge of a situation, rather than generic rules, to determine a course of action. For example, a manager who has a problem with an employees poor work performance is likely to rely on his or her own experiences and judgment when addressing this issue. Rather than having a standard response to such a problem, this manager is likely to consider a broad range of social and political factors, and is likely to take different actions depending on the context of the problem. The perspective of management as an art assumes to some extent that a manager has a disposition or experiences that guide him or her in managerial decisions and activities. Thus, with this perspective, many managers may be successful without any formal education or training in management. While formal management education may promote management as a science,many development efforts support the notion of management as an art. To cultivate management talent, organizations offer mentoring, overseas experiences, and job rotation. These activities allow managers to gain greater social and political insight and thus rely on their own judgment and abilities to improve their management style. Much of mentoring involves behavior modeling, in which a protà ©gà © may learn nuances of managerial behavior rather than a set of specific guidelines for managing. Overseas experiences are likely to involve a great deal of manager adaptation, and the general rules by which a manager might operate in one culture are likely to change when managing workers in other countries. Finally, job rotation is a technique that requires a manager to work in a variety of settings. Again, this encourages a manager to be flexible and adaptive, and likely rely more on his or her personal skill in manag ing. Management actually more of art than science. A huge part of Management is leadership, and no matter how many books and courses you take on the subject, if you dont have it in you, then the best you can be is a poor manager. On the flip side, a manager, even with the right innate skills, can make a lot of obvious mistakes if he didnt study well.   Management as science Science can be defined as any skill or technique that reflects a precise application of facts or a principle.. In practice, management as a science would indicate that managers use a specific body of information and facts to guide their behaviors, and that management as an art requires only skill and no specific body of knowledge,. Management Science deals with development and application of the concepts and models in case of any issues and solves managerial problems. The models are usually represented mathematically, but sometimes a few other methods such as computer-based, visual or verbal representations are also used. Believers of management being a discipline of science believe that there are ideal managerial practices available for certain situations. A manager who believes in the scientific principles, when encounters a managerial dilemma has got the view that there must be a rational and objective way to determine the correct course of action. It is possible that the manager will adopt the general principles and theories and also by creating and testing hypotheses. For example, when the employees performance is poor then the manager assumes that certain principles will work in most situations and reacts accordingly to the issue. The concept may be something learnt from a business school or through any f ormal means of training that the person might not consider other factors such as the political and social factors involved in the situation. Many early management researchers opined that managers are like scientists. The first theory that served subscribed to the vision of managers as scientists. The scientific management movement was the primary driver of this perspective. Scientific management, by Frederick W. Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and others tried to discover the one best way to perform jobs. The theory was published in Taylors monographs, Shop Management (1905)] and The Principles of Scientific Management (1911).The main aim was to bring in a theory to evaluate and organize work in order to get the optimum efficiency and effectiveness. The pig iron is the best illustrative of the scientific management theory. The load was split into lots weighing 92 pounds each, known as the pig. On an average 12.5 tons were loaded onto the rail cars by the workers but Taylor believed that it could be increased to 47 or 48 tons per day and as he had believed it completely worked. The following result was achieved by Matching the skill sets of the workers with that of the task that is required to do. Clear instructions are being provided for the workers on how to perform each of the tasks and it was ensured that the the instructions were being followed. Equal division of labour between the workers and the management. The employees were then motivated by providing them with a significantly higher daily wage. It was believed that the shop floor by 200% through the following principle. The theory of scientific management was adopted throughout the world including France, Russia and Japan. McDonalds has been successfully adopt the principles of Scientific Management into its system in the areas of bonus systems, the mutual understandings with the workers and systematic training provided The theory completely created a paradigm shift in the understanding the psychology of workers thus reducing the efficiencies to a very large level. Management, like other sciences has its own principles, laws, generalization which is universal in nature and can be applied to various situations. But management could not be treated in the same way as the other sciences are being treated, the sole reason being that management deals with people and it is very difficult to predict human behaviour accurately. Therefore, it can be said that management falls under the category of Social Sciences. Management has taken a giant leap in this century. Many are of the misconception that the scientific method will provide solutions to all problems but managers must understand that they must contend with the uncertainties that cannot be removed by the scientific endeavour. With the era being an era of science and technology, it is quintessential that we understand their importance. It is inevitable that every business involves some amount of scientific and technological systems. Management is a science as the scientific principles and rules (such as Taylors theory of scientific management and Webers conception of social and economic organization) that have been devised can be applied for improving productivity. Management as technology What is managementWhat is technologyAre these two related somewayIs technology good or bad These are some basic questions that we shall try to answer to understand this concept of management as technology Technology is the scientific methodology and the materials used to achieve certain goal or solve a particular problem. Management is the process of getting activities completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people. In laymans words, Management is to manage the man, money machine and technology helps in better management In todays world everybody is using technology in some way or the other whether knowingly or inadvertently. Technology is everywhere around us; in our homes, in our offices etc. The role of technology becomes even more important when it comes to the application of various functions of management. Todays business scenario is extremely fast, dynamic and full of uncertainties. Todays managers cannot afford to waste time on getting information ,then analysing it, then concluding results out of that raw information and then executing plans .Thus .here comes technology to his rescue. Technology makes it faster, far more efficient and easy for the managers to get results out of pieces of information and then formulate and execute plans and in turn generate profits for the business. But the question is How does technology do it and what technologies are available? A lot of technologies are available today to help out managers to take fast and effective decisions as well as expand their businesses. With the help of technology various software tools have been designed to manage all types of help desk customer service related tasks. It allows you to centrally record, track, update proactively manage customer service CRM related tasks, issues projects by allowing you to create, customize and automate workflows processes. Technology is designed to create, optimize automate business process based upon the customers requirement. It delivers complete transparency control to manage different workflows approvals for all types business enterprises. Technology allows organizations to proactively manage issues. Technology provides simple, easy to use, customizable web-based business management tools.   Technology management can also be defined as the integrated planning, design, optimization, operation and control of technological products processes and services, a better definition would be the management of the use of technology for human advantage. Today technology is used in every section of management whether it is marketing management, production operation management, human resource management, finance management or systems management. Project management is also the important part of technology management. Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.   The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived project constraints. Typical constraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet the pre-defined objectives. Some tools that are used in the Organizations are :- Online business networking Networking is a marketing method by which business opportunities are created through networks of like-minded business people. Businesses are increasingly using business social networks as a means of growing their circle of business contacts and promoting themselves online. In general these networking tools allow professionals to build up their circle of business partners they trust. By connecting these business partners the networking tools allow individuals to search for certain people within their network. Since businesses are expanding globally, social networks make it easier to keep in touch with other contacts around the world. Specific cross-border e-commerce platforms and business partnering networks now make globalization accessible also for small and medium sized companies. Social networking websites like LinkedIn.com, Facebook.com are some technologies that help businessmen meet each other online and remain in contact from any part of the world. Sharing of ideas and thoughts Blogs and certain websites like Twitter.com etc are some technologies which provide a platform where people can share their thoughts and present their opinions. Database management and data mining Today no longer we need any books etc to maintain data and records because today we have online database management systems which not only record our data but we can also query out information very fast and effectively. Data mining is the process of retrieving useful patterns out of data stored in the data warehouses which helps managers to analyze data and take quick decisions from the patterns. ERP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is an integrated computer-based system used to manage internal and external resources, including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. It is a software architecture whose purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Built on a centralized database and normally utilizing a common computing platform, ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform and enterprise-wide system environment. In the absence of an ERP system, a large manufacturer may find itself with many software applications that cannot communicate or interface effectively with one another. ERP systems connect the necessary software in order for accurate forecasting to be done. This allows inventory levels to be kept at maximum efficiency and the company to be more profitable. Integration among different functional areas to ensure proper communication, productivity and efficiency Design engineering (how to best make the product) Order tracking, from acceptance through fulfillment etc. Thus, we just now learnt about some technologies that the managers have at their disposal to help them out perform critical managerial functions. So, now we can certainly say that yes management and technology go hand in hand and without technology, management would become too difficult. Modern Management Theories and Practices Management thought has been evolving and redefining itself . There have been three phases of development during the process The Classical Approach, The Human Relations Approach and the contemporary approaches. The classical approach just emphasized the importance of production and administration process within the organization. The Human Relations Approach elucidated the importance of maintain human relations and thus adhering to sound practices in order to achieve the harmony. The contempropry approaches laid importance on the social systems, the decision making process and the application of quantitative methods. These are often grouped together as modern approaches. The classical management approach, developed during the Industrial Revolution, suggested the development of standard methods for doing jobs and the people were trained and they worked like machines. Every person had his own specialized work and he had to do it. This approach accentuated the work element and did not see the workers as human beings but machines. As management became more sophisticated, there was a shift from the era of production or the stress on production to punctuation on human relations. The Hawthrone experiments clearly indicated that apart from the working conditions and the physiological state of the workers, there were other factors influencing the productivity. George L. Mayo postulated these factors as social and psychological in nature. Recent Developments in Management Theory The recent developments in the management theory have been the Systems Approach, Situational or Contingency theory, Chaos theory, and Team Building theory. The Systems Theory: A system is looked at as having inputs (e.g., raw materials, funds, and human resource), processes (e.g., planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling), outputs (products or services) and outcomes (e.g., enhanced quality of life or productivity for customers/clients, productivity). According to this approach, the four aspects of the system is inter connected and this can be used to determine patterns and events. The Situational or Contingency Theory: This theory postulates that all aspects of the situations must be taken into account when managers make a decision. For e.g. if one is leading a military troop, then an autocratic style or a bureaucratic style must probably be adopted, whereas in the case of a medical facility, a more participative and facilitative leadership style will be more suitable. The Chaos Theory: This theory suggests that systems naturally tend to go complex and hence will lead to more volatility and instability. Thus inorder to maintain a balance, it is important to exert more energy. This trend continues until the system splits and falls apart entirely. Manager must be able to effectively scrutinize and take care so that mishaps dont happen. The Team Building approach: This theory postulates that team building is the essence of providing quality circles, best practices, and continuous improvement within the organization. This theory also elucidates that the reduction of levels of hierarchy or flattening of the system will bring in more effectiveness. Consensus management is the essence of the theory that is involving more people at all levels in the process of decision-making. MODERN MANAGEMENT PRACTICES The basis of Modern Management Practices are based on Leadership and Commitment, Business Planning and Risk Management, Control Systems, Performance Management, Accountability Management Leadership and Commitment: Open-door management style, strong management board, good relationship with staff, importance in the area of values and ethics are all the prerequisites of Modern management. The Senior Financial Officer and the staff play a strong leadership role in the organization and participate in all major business decisions. Business Planning and Risk Management Strong linkage exists between business planning and management accountability agreements. This is achieved by setting well defined the corporate strategies and priorities.

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