Importance of Modern Approach to Management over Traditional Approach - Assignment Example

Running Header: Importance of modern approach to management over traditional approach Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name & Code: Date of Submission: Introduction The recent global competition has resulted to the use of contemporary management of organizations. The modern approaches to management include two approaches which is the systems theory and the contingency theory. Once these two approaches are combined, the outcome is the contemporary management. According to Head (2005) the systems theory was introduced by Churchman West and it is important since it enables managers to look as the organization at a larger view which included analyzing the external environment and the internal environment. This study discusses the importance of using the modern approach of management over the traditional approach which includes the human relations approach and scientific management and how they are applied in the modern world. There are four major components contained in the systems theory. One of these is the inputs that every organization provides for the smooth running of the business. These inputs include the amount of labour for example the number of employees in the organization. The raw materials employed for the smooth running of the business are also included as inputs. Others include the amount of capital, machinery bought or hired and the necessary information collected before starting the business (Braverman 1998). There is also the transformation process which involves the transformation of inputs into useful products that have value attached to them. According to Bloisi et al. (2004) the transformation process involves various aspects which include the planning process, organizing, and proper staffing which makes sure that the employees available are capable of producing the expected outcome. The process also involves proper leadership, control process and ensuring that technology is maintained. The third component involves the total output of the firm after all the processes. Outputs include goods and services produced by the organization. It also includes the profits gained or the losses. Employee satisfaction is also included in the output stage. The final process is the feedback obtained from the consumers of the produced products. A positive feedback is obtained once all the above processes are well managed and when profits are achieved in the output stage. The systems theory In the systems theory of modern management, there are two systems used. One is the open system which shows total interruption between the system and the internal environment of the organization. The other system is the closed system which does not interact with the organizational internal environment. Gershon (2001) has shown that the other theory applied in modern management includes the contingency theory or the situational theory. This theory was introduced by the managers, consultants and various researchers. The theory was then linked its concepts with real life situations. The theory was first introduced by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard who linked the theory to the importance of leadership in management. This theory tends to show management that all management issues can not be managed using one situation therefore showing that many situations should be combined to achieve maximum goals. Management should therefore consider all the situational factors in order to come up with a particular business decision. Head (2005) argues that managers should therefore be very keen in evaluation the right situation that best contributes to achieving all the organizational goals. This will involve analyzing various techniques to several situations and under certain circumstances which involve time limit and level of management. Psychological theories The third theory of management is theory Z which represents two psychological theories of management. Braverman (1998) describes that one of the psychological theories was introduced by Abraham Maslow he also shows that other theory of Japanese management was introduced by Dr. William Ouchi during the economic boom that was experienced in Asia in the 1980s. Apart from theory Z there is also theory X which shows that most organizations fail to achieve their goals because their workers fail to produce their maximum output. To avoid this problem as the theory state, these workers have to be driven to work to their best. There is also theory Y that shows that work brings about satisfaction when placed before other psychological needs. The above theory Z is important as it tends to increase employee loyalty through the provision of a satisfactory job which considers the employee well being though the provision of good working conditions and employees leaves. The theory also a stable employment opportunity, it enables the organization to produce a higher amount of output since employees contribute maximally to better results. The Japanese management theory shows that technology does not always enable management to achieve their goals but it shows that managers should manage their employees in a more special way for these goals to be achieved. This is based on basic use of corporate culture, development of employee skills and involving every individual in decision making process. According to Ouchi, the organization should also have a strong philosophy for the theory to succeed (Hughes 2004). The Japanese management is different from the American management in that the later uses short term orientation in planning process while the Japanese uses the long term orientation. Japanese management also involves collective decision making in that all members are involved in the process while the American management involves only one individual in decision making. The Japanese management therefore has a slow decision making process since decisions flow from bottom management to top management. The implementation is however very fast as it makes it easy to spread information to the bottom level of management. Dawson (2005) describes that in the American management, top management initiates all the decisions of the firm therefore decisions are quickly made but takes long to be implemented since not all members are involved in initiation. In the organization process, Japanese management, all members are involved and should be responsible and are accountable for every activity carried out in the firm. This therefore creates ambiguity when it comes to personal responsibility. The organizational structure is informal in nature and the culture used is well known by all members. In leadership, a leader should act as a member of the group and a facilitator as argued by Dawson (2005). This makes it easy for the leader to realize the strengths and weaknesses of the involved group. All the members in the group should have a common goals and values as this facilitates cooperation among the group members. Information should also be equally supplied to establish good relationships among members. Once the theory is well applied in an organization the results include increased job commitment, low employee turn over and relatively higher production. The importance of employing theory Z in any organization is that it provides job security thus ensuring employee loyalty which means that they will be associated with the company for a long time. The theory also involves job rotation which enables the employees to acquire various skills and can therefore work in any field. Traditional theories Apart from the modern theories of management, the traditional theories have been said to be more important in the modern world. This includes the scientific management is also involves the classical approach to management shows the purpose of the business, the formal structure and the hierarchy applied in management. The technical aspects involved in management are also necessary as well as the common principles used to achieve the organizational goals. Drury (1995) shows the human relations concept of scientific management involves the social factors that affect the external and internal environment. These include groups, leadership formation, the informal organization of the business and how the employees behave at work. A combination of the human relations and the classical approach brings about the systems approach. This deals with the social and the technical factors involved in the external environment of the organization. Finally the contingency approach shows that no best design is able to bring the success of a business but the combination of various situations. The classical approach to management assumes that an organization can only succeed by looking on the formal structure and the purpose of the business. The importance of this approach was based on how the organization plans its work, the technology applied in production, the major principles of management and it also assumes rational and logical employee behavior. It is necessary to have a clear understanding of the goals that the business aims at achieving in order to be capable of improving the weaker areas of management. There are various principles applied in the classical method of management. One of these principles includes the principle of coordination. This refers to how members working together relate sharing the same goal, in unity and focusing on their discipline. The other principle used in classical method includes thee scalar principle which shows the hierarchy used while making decisions in an organization. It also includes how the duties are positioned to every individual and how these duties are delegated to different members. The functional principle is also necessary as it specializes duties to various members thus distinguishing the kind of duties available. Fredrick Taylor shows the difference between the management principles and the traditional methods of management. Taylor shows that in the initiative and incentive management success is determined by the level of output the employee employs to that work. In the scientific management, the success of the business depends on the management principles. Taylor also believed in the sense that for every problem there is a best way to solving the problem and therefore the employees should be in a position of realizing this method. Gershon (2001) shows this will be achieved by analyzing all the discrete tasks in order to come up with one best solution to solving each situation. Taylor showed the tools necessary to calculate the amount of work that every individual performed daily. This was through the introduction of job cards, inventory control and control of time taken to finish every task. The scientific management had several principles of management which included developing a system where each person’s work could be measured. The other principle includes development of skills among workers through proper selection skills and training. Managers have to cooperate with every worker to ensure smooth running of the business and to ease the problem solving process. Division of work among workers should be a responsibility of the management. According to Kanigel (1997) the above principles introduced by Taylor are still relevant in the modern management. These include those from the scientific management which involve employees’ rewards, quality work standards and decision making schemes. There are various businesses that apply the scientific method of management in the modern day. These businesses include the systems applied in fast food shops, call centers where the system is able to determine the amount of work performed by every worker. The UK National Health Service also applies the traditional models of management. Using these examples, it shows clearly that the traditional approach of scientific management is necessary in the modern world. The scientific management The scientific management assumes that one of the workplace problems is productivity and that managers should plan well in order to direct workers to their duties. The theory also assumes that people are motivated by their rewards after work. Some of the factors that contribute to the scientific method include setting up work standards. This is where managers set up targets which every employee should work towards achieving the set standard. The other contributor is the use of incentives which motivate employees to producing a higher output. Careful selection and training of employees is also necessary as this develops skills among workers and this enables them to work effectively (Taylor 1911). Managers should be in a position of distributing labour among workers for accountability. If these factors are effectively managed, productivity increases as well as efficiency. There are however some limitations of using the scientific approach of management. One factor is that the method overlooks the social needs of the employees. The studies conducted also are not all scientific in nature and is also alienates workers through specialization. The scientific approach ignores group dynamics and this makes it difficult for members to share their ideas and problems. Human Relations Management The human relations management assumes that social needs are the major motivators to workers and that when these workers are satisfied, they are capable of producing better outcome as compared to those working under poor working conditions. According to Jones et al. (2000) the major factors contributing to the success of this theory includes the emphasis that the theory puts towards social needs and motivation of workers. The other factor is the Hawthorne effect which shows that workers behaviors are determined by the amount of attention offered to that particular worker. The next factor that contributes to the success of the human relations management is the influence that the informal group of the organization has towards the workers. The theory is more successful in an organization which is not bureaucratic and where management has strong social skills. The major limitations of the theory are that workers fail to be productive thus the business deteriorates in nature. The other problem is that workers productivity is mostly affected by the economic issues affecting the organization. The workers are less motivated since they only perform one particular task thus becoming boring to them. They also feel manipulated due to poor leadership skills. The McGregor theory of human relation comprises of theory X and theory Y (Gershon 2001). There is also the two factor motivational theory whose factors are divided between hygiene and motivators which work hand in hand to achieve job enrichment. Theory X shows that the average human being in any organisation avoids work and therefore must be coerced in order to achieve set targets. Locke (1992, pp.12-24) shows this human being also always wants to be shown the right direction and avoids responsibilities. Such kinds of people have little ambitions and always want to have security at work. On the other hand theory Y is opposite as an average human being believes that work is as well as play and therefore works without being coerced. These individuals possess self control and can therefore achieve their objectives easily. Individuals accept any given responsibility and are creative in nature. Human resources management as a modern approach assumes that employees are more motivated if the work is interesting. According to Gershon (2001) such workers are also trustworthy and it also assumes that management should develop workers talents to achieve their objectives. The contributors of this approach include theory X and Y. The other factor includes having participative members in decision making process as well as management. Management by objective is also necessary as it facilitates job enrichment and redesigning on responsibilities. The limitations of this approach are that various workers would not prefer a challenging job as the theory shows. The theory may also not be accepted by most managers due to behavioral complex. The quantitative management approach has two components which include the critical path method and the program evolution and review technique. This is based on the quality assurance which employs statistics to help in the decision making process. It also includes the systems views which specialize on the external environment of the organization thus seeing the big picture. The systems theory also links various parts together to produce a harmonious effect through systems integration. Hughes (2004) shows the modern approach of management may also involve the total quality management. This type of management focus on the quality of products delivered to customers. It states that management should concentrate in managing the whole organization to achieve quality goals. Employees should therefore be involved in their responsibilities to ensure that this is attained. To achieve maximum outcome, training of employees and empowering them is important. The management should also focus on producing goods and services according to what the customers want and prefers. Benchmarking is important for the organization to have a competitive advantage in the market. The modern management is affected by several challenges. One is the paradigm shifts which are shown by the various changes in products and technology thus forcing organizations to keep up with the changes to beat their competitors. The other factors are the shift in how people think and manage their business. Modern world has introduced systems that enable managers to work faster and are effective and this change the way they think. The other modern challenge includes the chaos theory which shows the unpredictable environment. The external environment is not so flexible due to factors such as economic and social therefore this poses major challenge to modern management. Hartness (2002) describes that managers therefore have to learn how to be flexible in their duties and ought to adapt to every situation to achieve set goals. Workplace diversity is also said to be a modern management challenge due to changes occurring in labor force. Changes in labour force depend on the different skills that every individual possess. Managers should therefore be careful while choosing employees or while rotating duties. Globalization is the next challenge facing modern management. Morgan (1996) describes that organization that market their products globally are faced which challenges of competition. For a firm to secure a competitive position in the global market it has to be producing high quality goods and services and the prices of these goods have to be relatively cheap. Availability of a learning organization is a major challenge to managers in the modern world. This is because the new environment empowers workers to become better performers. Workers also possess strong cultural values therefore forming new career paths and new structures. Conclusion Though the traditional models of management have more benefits to the organization, it is not ideal to apply them in the modern world due to the various challenges facing modern management style. The systems theory is said to enhance the task of decision making and problem solving situation. Diversity is also embraced as strength in the systems theory as it reduced complexity of ideas. The systems theory also shows the necessity of evaluating our social needs, the working conditions and the external environment in order to achieve organizational goals. Systems theory is preferred in modern management since it focuses on what the customers want making it easy for managers to make right decisions. References Bloisi, W Cook, W & Hunsaker, L 2004, Management and organisational behaviour, McGraw-Hill, New York. Braverman, H 1998, Labor and monopoly capital, The degradation of work in the twentieth century, Monthly Review Press, New York. Dawson, M 2005, The consumer trap, Big business marketing in American life, University of Illinois Press, Illinois. 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Taylor, F 2003, The principles of scientific management, Sage Publications, New York. Read More