Modern Approaches to Management - Assignment Example

Running Head: CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT Contemporary Management Assessment Client Inserts His/her Name Client Inserts Name of Institution INTRODUCTION Management, according to the business dictionary is the organization and co-ordination of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives. There is no generally accepted definition of management as an activity, although the classic definition is still held to be that of Henri Fayol. As described by Fayol, managing involves forecasting and planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling (Cole, 2004). Management is tasked with coordinating and overseeing other people’s work activities so that efficiency and effectiveness is achieved in the course of activity completion. In this case, organizational effectiveness refers to the degree to which the projected goals of the organisation are achieved. It also refers to the degree to which an organisations succeeds in what it does. As such, it entails provision of products and services that are valued by customers. On the other hand, organisational efficiency refers to the amount of resources uused by the organisation to achieve its goal. It entails use of minimal resources, i.e. people’s work force, raw materials; money e.t.c. to produce a projected amount of output of a given quality (Daft & Marcic, 2008). The basic task of management involves both marketing and innovation. According to management guru, Peter Drucker, management involves various interlocking functions. This include but not limited to, planning, organising, creating corporate policy, directing and controlling of organisation’s resources so as the effectively achieve the projected organisation’s policy objectives. This paper will attempt to trace back management practice from its historical foundations, mapping it through the course of time to what it is in the 21st Century. The dynamism in management practice, the concepts that define it today will be illustrated using the Coles Supermarket as a case study. Historical Foundations of Management An organisation can be defines as a simple or sometimes complex system of two or more people engaged in actions that suggest cooperation in order to achieve a common goal. Usually, organisations are made up of systems that are bounded with social interactions that are structured featuring authority relations, use of incentives, and communication systems. They also have a hierarchical system whether steep or shallow. (Champoux, 2011). While organisational behaviour focuses on the attitudes, behaviour and performance of people in an organization, organisational theory focuses on the design and structure of organisations. The discipline of organisational theory strives to understand the existing design of an organisation, ways to decides redesign, and alternate forms of organisational design (Champoux, 2011). Modern organisational behaviour has a rich intellectual history, which the basis of the practice of management as we know it today. One of these foundations is Division of labour as outlined by Adam Smith, in his classical book, The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Division of labour is the way an organisation divides its tasks, duties and responsibilities amongst its members. Smith reasoned that division of labour would lead to more productivity as workers would be more dexterous and skilful in carrying out their work due to the enhancement of task specialization Frederick W. Taylor came up with Scientific Management approach, and wrote tha management should be aimed at securing maximum success for the employer as well as achieving maximum prosperity for each employee. The scientific management approach was based on four main principles: 1. Developing standard work practice by studying jobs carefully 2. Scientifically selecting each worker 3. Ensure that work is done as per the required standard procedure through management and workers. 4. Workers effectively carry out assigned tasks achieved through proper management plans and making of task assignments. These four principles describe division of work between management and workers. Increased individual productivity was rewarded with economic incentives. (Champoux, 2011). Henri Fayol (1919) took a broad view of administration, coming up with five management functions: planning, coordinating, controlling, commanding, organising. Fayol’s other management principles include: Sub-division of labour, governance and tasks, centralisation, issuing of tasks, the oneness of command and direction. Bureaucracy is an administrative with well outlined offices and relationships and the purpose. Max Weber (1922) made a survey of bureaucracy as a form management and organisation. Weber understood bureaucracy was important, efficient and successful form of authority. Relationships within a bureaucracy are impersonal and goals are reached with precision, reliability and efficiency. This is made possible due to the features of bureaucracy such as: a. Well-defined and outlined functions. b. Legal institutes are used. c. Structure layout. d. Outlined rules and regulations. e. Well trained personnel(bureaucrats) f. Issuing of tasks based on technical capabilities. g. Promotion be based on technical capabilities. h. Well-defined career path. Fixed formal relationships within a bureaucracy among clearly defined hierarchical organized functions lead to predictability of the system, according to Weber. (Champoux, 2011). The Hawthorne Studies (1939) through the illumination experiments concluded that people-oriented and a more empathic form of management leads to many importance than specified, authoritarian, money minded form of leadership. Theory X and Theory Y represent two sets of assumptions about human motivation that a manger can hold as proposed by an MIT psychologist, Douglas McGregor. Theory X assumes that: - The poor people dislike working and will avoid if it sh ows up. - Since many people hate working they must be supervised tightly and pushed to work hard to achieve the stated goals. - The middle class people wants security, avoids tasks and has minimal ambitions. - Theory Y suggest that: The middle class people likes work - A person is obligated to a set of goals will do everything to see the succession of it. - Goal commitment of a person suggest the desire to achieve. - The middle class people can understand what is required of him/her. - Human features that are fully depicted from a population are ingenuity, creativity, and imagination. - Modern institutes only when necessary uses the employee potentialities. Depending on the theory/assumption that a practising manager believes in regarding human motivation, this will strongly affect an organisation’s management behaviour and consequently organisational behaviour and performance. A manager who subscribes to Theory X will use coercion and punish poor performance amongst workers, while a manger who subscribes to Theory Y will believe in the self-motivation of workers and give them positive feedback on their output. This has a direct effect on the workers’ morale and output in the organisation. (Champoux, 2011) It’s my opinion that working in a situation where the manager is a Theory X subscriber kills creativity, demotivates workers and eventually leads to a dysfunctional organisation as workers will tend to keep vital information from the manager for fear of being reprimanded. It’s my experience that a lot of managers while claiming to believe in workers and encouraging creativity and independence are inclined to controlling and micro-managing operations in organisations, probably due to the fear of failing, as they shoulder the greater burden of running the organisation. Modern Approaches to Management The practice of management has continued to evolve over the years and the debate is still lively as better ways of utilising people’s knowledge and skills in providing goods and services continues to be sought after. The appreciation of the human skills, ingenuity and motivation has grown, not diminished, with the arrival of new technologies. (Cole, Management:Theory and Practice, 2004) Organisations can today gain access to low-cost production facilities due to huge advances in technology. In addition to this, advances in communication have opened up boundaries making the world a global village; hence organisations can recruit highly skilled labour within and without their boundaries. Organisations, big or small have to contend with international and multi-cultural dimension in their operations, which expands the horizons of companies beyond geographical boundaries of their own countries. For instance, following the dipping profits at the Australian Supermarket Chain Coles, Westfarmers sought after Ian McLeod who had been proven capable after playing a key role in the renaissance of the British Supermarket chain Asda. Through his previous experience, with the help of his hand-picked team of former British-based marketing and retail specialists, Coles has made an impressive come-back. The functions of Management today have evolved to include among others: Planning-This management function charts out the future course of action and decides in advance the most appropriate course of action for the achievement of predetermined goals. (Steiner, 1969) This process in decision making determines course of action to achieve the desired goals of the organisation. It is an important management function that provides systematic thinking on ways and means of achieving organisational goals. For instance, on taking charge of Cole’s management, the new team developed a plan, “Circle of Success” which covered six goals, better value, better service, quality fresh food, smarter stores, excellent on-shelf availability and the best of customer experience. Organising as management function is subjected to bringing together financial, physical and human power and resource and creating productive relationship between them for achievement of organisation objectives. This function involves determining and providing human and non-human resources to the organisational structure. In the Coles case study, the management, after planning, embarked on getting the internal system of the organisation right. This involved introducing an automated ordering system, better procurement systems, media presence, air travel and international freight. Another vital management function is staffing. This is one of the functions that has greatly been affected by changes in technology in recent times. Staffing suggest any act or movement that constitute bringing people into around and/or out of an organisation in an organised manner including retention. (Bechet, 2008) Westfarmers sourced for top-notch managers in readiness for Coles’ turn-around, who in turn embarked on acquiring more staff on permanent basis rather than casuals who accounted for 70% of the workforce earlier. It was important to get the right people for the job, for the giant chain to perform optimally. Directing is another management function that is vital for achievement of organisational goals. It includes influencing, guiding, motivating and supervising. This function is evident in the Coles case study where by the management embarked on ensuring job security to employees as well as implementing training and development program for them reviewed twice a year. Store scorecard initiative is another strategy that has worked to improve healthy internal competition among employees. This function also entails communication, which is demonstrated in the improved communication between management and employees, suppliers as well as customers through the ‘Tell Coles’ online platform. Management is also charged with the function of controlling. This constitute measurement of accomplishment against correction and quality of deviation if any to ensure satisfying of organisation objectives. For instance, when the new management took over Coles, standards were laid down as a ‘signpost’ guiding the organisation in the next five years. One of these is the store’s footprint, which has not been achieved yet, thus necessitating the establishment of 20-30 stores a year to rectify the situation. Another function of management is coordination, which is the identifying noting the efforts of group members so as to offer the oneness of action to achieve common goals. Coordination in an organisation is achieved through the other the accomplishment of the other management functions including planning, staffing, organising, directing and controlling. Owing to social, economic and technological changes in the world today, business organisations have had adapt to rapid change in the business environment. For this reason, the systems approach was developed which is a holistic approach that studies an organisation by analysing its structure, individuals, and technology within its surrounding environment. It considers such features of an organisation as the environment, boundary, processes, inputs and outputs. The open systems approach to management considers all organisations as open systems, which interact with the surrounding environment. Organisations must cope and adapt to changing surrounding environment or be forced out of business by competitors. They can no longer ignore external environment such as other organisations, government regulations, suppliers, markets etc. (Nelson & Salmon, 2002) In a changing highly dynamic business environment, organisations have to adapt to the changes as dictated by the dynamism of the external environment. In the case study, the changes that have been effected in Coles are a reflection of the Open System theory. It’s evident that the organisation cannot effect changes or even introduce services devoid of the customer’s voice consideration. For instance, the supermarket chain sought customer approval before rolling out the Australia Day Milk cuts. Also, the chain employs the 1/5/20 approach before rolling out a new product/service as a piloting scheme. Due to advances in technology and massive geographical scopes that organisations today have to deal with, virtual designs have risen up to enhance communication between organisations and their publics efficiently and effectively. An example of good utilization of virtual design is Coles online platform, “Tell Coles”. Through this online platform, the Chain store is able to track customer engagement by their thousands irrespective of their location. Weekly focus groups are also utilised to achieve this purpose with little physical infrastructure. Conclusion The values and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and physiological environment of an organisation define an organisation’s culture. (Sedgwick, 2007). Corporate culture has influenced organisation life, and has led to organisation success or its down fall. Companies can master aspects of corporate culture management and create competitive advantage as well as enhance their bottom line. Highly successful companies can attribute their success to effective culture management. (Flamholtz & Randle, 2011) Organisation style includes an organisation’s objectives, tasks, philosophy and values that bring it together and its shown in its self-image, inner working and how it interacts with the outside world. For instance, in the Coles case study, ineffective management of organisational culture regarding employee-management relations can be seen to have been one of the factors contributing to its decline. Employees did not get any form of development in any way, shape or form. Following the introduction of a training and development culture under the new management as well as good remuneration, the organisation has seen phenomenal growth in all its spheres. Ultimately, the company has demonstrated attempts at cultivation of a strong organisational culture, which is reflected in the company’s good performance and growth over the years. References Bechet, T. (2008). Strategic Staffing: A Comprehensive System for Effective Workforce Planning. New York: AMACOM. Champoux, J. E. (2011). Organizational Behaviour:Integrating Individuals, Groups and Organizations (4 ed.). New York: Routledge. Cole, G. A. (2004). Management:Theory and Practice (6 ed.). London: South-Western Cengage Learning. Cole, G. A. (2004). Mnagement:Theory and Practice (6 ed.). London: Cengage Learning EMEA. Daft, R. L., & Marcic, D. (2008). Understanding Mnagement. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. Flamholtz, E. G., & Randle, Y. (2011). Corporate Culture:The Ultimate Strategic Asset. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Nelson, G. M., & Salmon, M. A. (2002). Open Systems Management:Assessing the Human Services Culture. Indiana: Trafford Publishing. Sedgwick, M. W. (2007). Globalisation and Japanese Organisational Culture: An ethnography of a Japanese corporation in France. New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. Steiner, G. A. (1969). Top Mnagement Planning. London: Macmillan. Read More