Contemporary Management Practice - Essay Example

?“Contemporary Management Practice” Introduction Various theorists and academic researchers have tried to explain what management is all about, some have argued that it is an art and others have stated that it is a science and in certain cases, it is even considered as both, art and science. Various theories have been created in the past about management and researchers continue to use old theories and come up with new ones. Over this time period, great approaches to management have been identified. This paper will cover various management approaches and how these approaches are used by managers and those who are studying management. Body Empirical or case approach is one of the various management approaches that have been studied and often used in organizations. It is based on the assumption, that current managers can solve their problems through the experience of previous managers and what those managers did to solve issues faced by management (KOONTZ, 2004, p.16). This study states that people new to the management positions in the organizations can learn from the successful and the unsuccessful experiences that other managers have already been through. This approach is used in management educational centres for the help upcoming managers. This kind of management approach does not provide any practical aid until it is applied to practical problems. The downside of this approach is that this approach is based on generalization. This means that managers who follow this approach end up applying same problem solving methods to new scenarios although new scenarios may be different from older ones. Human behaviour approach is yet another approach that scientists came up with to explain what managers have to do to operate an organization successfully. The behavioural approach of management suggests that managers can operate in a better fashion if they learn about individual as well as group behaviour and they can use this knowledge to make people to work for the interest of the organization (DAFT, 2011, p.33). The theorists of this approach suggest that satisfied workers work harder and their levels of productivity are high. Behavioural studies only pay emphasis to the human part of the organization and exclude the remaining parts with which managers have to deal. Vilfred Pareto and Chest Bernard came up with the social systems approach, according to this approach an organization consists of various individual who work together to achieve organization’s aims and objectives (JACKSON, 2000, p.100). This approach states that managers need work in cooperation with workers by understanding the behaviour of individuals working in an organization to achieve organizational goals. Socio technical systems approach is a management approach that suggests that managers should not only pay emphasis to the social system of the organization, they even have to give importance to the technical system (CHASE, 2006, p.195). The approach further suggests that if an organization has to run successfully, then both the technical system and the social system of the organization should work together. This approach of management does not only focus on the human part of the organization, it even pay emphasis to the technological part of the organization that managers have to deal with to bring in change and keep the organization updated. Every manager’s main duty is to make decisions to help solve organization’s problems. One management approach that only pays emphasis to the decision making side of a manager is known as decision theory approach (FLOMBERG, 2008, p.60). The theory suggests that all managers have to make decisions each day and the main task of all managers is to make rational decisions. They have to ensure that the decision they are making is in the best interest of the organization and the people they are representing. The downside of this approach is that this approach ignores other elements of management and only emphasises on the decision making element of a manager. Another school of thought of management is the management science approach; this school of thoughts suggests that management is a process of problem solving with the use of various scientific and mathematical tools (ANDERSON, 2008, p.2). Although these tools are very effective for a manager in making decisions, but these tools ignore the human side of management. Managers not only have to make decisions by using mathematical tools, they even have to make decisions related to human beings and human beings are very irrational and their behaviour cannot be quantified. Thus, this theory does not even cover all the aspects of management. One of the approaches to management that looks are management from all sides is the operational management approach, even known as management process. This approach combines both the management functions of plan, motivate, organize, coordinate, direct and staff with the available knowledge of management (LYNCH, 1985, p.287). The theory even suggests that there is a separate body of knowledge of management and it only relates to management. For example: the techniques managers use to control human behaviour, the process of appraising individuals in an organization, and various other theories related to the field of management can only be applied to scenarios in which managers are involved. This approach is said to have covered almost all the elements of management as this approach takes into consideration various fields related to management including: concept of reengineering and quality, behaviour of individuals working in an organization, concept of decision making, concept of leading and motivating and the scientific side of management. This approach even recognizes management as universalized idea that can be applied to any organization and any level of the hierarchy of organization. This approach is very flexible and has a very practical side but it cannot be universalized as all the functions of management are not accepted throughout the world. According to systems approach of management, an organization does not operate in an empty world; it is surrounded with several external factors that impact the organization in positive and negative ways (KERZNER, 1996, p.10). An organization is connected and impacted by several external forces including the industry it is operating in, the society it is connected to and the economic system it has to deal with. The system approach is based on the theory that an organization obtains productive inputs from its environment, then transforms then into useful output and then transfers the produced output back to the environment. System approach of management emphasises on how managers obtain inputs from the environment such as information and resources (human as well as capital resources), and then uses these resources to produce profitable output and then transfers these outputs to the environment, managers conduct this process by conducting their basic functions including: leading, staffing, motivating, organizing and planning. This approach emphasizes on the fact that managers do not only need to concentrate and manage the internal operations of the organization, they even have to manage external elements that effect the organization. Inputs for a manager include skills for management, technological updates, capital and human resources. People involved in the external and the internal environment have expectations from managers. These expectations include: increased pay, security of job and additional benefits for employees. On the other hand, consumers expect to obtain reliable and risk free goods and services at very economical prices and suppliers expect that the organization will purchase their products. The government expects the organization to pay taxes on time and stockholders/partners expect higher returns and risk free investment. The society expects the organization to operate without causing harm to the environment, and there are other groups that have expectations from an organization. It is the task of a manager to meet all the legal expectations of groups and people, they do so by compromising, trading off and giving precedence to the interest of these people over self interest. Different management theorists see the transformation process involved in management in different ways, some see it as set of interpersonal relationships, and some view it as set of human behaviours and others view it as set of judgement. The systems theory believes that transformation is the process of the functions that managers have to perform. Communication is a very important part of the entire management process as it connects all the functions. For example: the objectives created in the planning function of management are transferred in correct form so organization can take place as desired. Management is an activity through which one can get work done through others and to make others work, one has to motivate them and communication is the most essential part of the process of motivation. The second most important aspect of communication is that it helps managers link with the external environment of the organization. Managers use communication to obtain information about what technological advancements are taking place outside the organization. Managers are in constant connection with the external factors that affect the environment, but they cannot change these factors, although they can positively respond to these factors for the betterment of the organization. Managers are even responsible to produce output to ensure that the entire process of management is completed successfully. Outputs that managers are liable to produce includes: satisfaction, profitability and diversity. Managers are responsible for providing satisfaction to ensure that the contributors to the profitability of the organization keep repeating their behaviour. For example: managers are responsible to keep the employees satisfied by not only providing them monetary benefits, also fulfilling their need of belongingness and self actualization, to ensure that they stay with the organization and keep performing at their best level. Everyday managers learn new things, face new problems due to continuous changes in environment. Managers have to cope with frequent changes in technology as well as rules and regulations of the environment they are working in. In such situations, managers can not follow one line of action; they have to change their stance and strategy with the way things are changing to cope up with the challenges of operating a business under such uncertain conditions (VAN DER WALDT, 1997, p.59)s. One approach that deals with the continuous change that managers have to experience is recognized as the contingency approach. This approach suggests that the tasks that manager performs is dependent on the scenario or situation he/she is facing. This means that instead of planning ahead and budgeting future, managers take actions according to the current situation they are facing. This means that managers have a way of dealing with different scenarios and when they face any of these scenarios, they apply a pre-set way of dealing with the scenario. For example: A manger will deal in a different manner with those workers who are inexperienced and have just joined the work force and their line of action will be different when dealing with experienced individuals, who have already been working in organizations. This approach suggests that although there might not be one particular way of dealing with same problem in different organizations, but there is one efficient and successful way of dealing with one problem in one particular organization. This kind of management approach experiences various issues such as: think of issues as if they were currently taking place, selecting one best way of solving the issue, and adopting a solution for a particular problem. Conclusion The most sensible approach to management seems to be system theory approach. It seems to be more logical as systems theory looks at an organization as a whole and gives great importance to the organization’s external environment. According to the systems view, managers understand each and every part and department of the organization, and then they combine all this information to understand the entire organization as one body. Systems approach believes that all the departments in an organization as they are connected to each other and dependant on each other. This means that managers have to make decisions while keeping the entire organization in mind, they cannot make one particular decision for one particular department as decision for one department can affect all the departments. For example: the sales manager of an organization sets a particular target for the sales department. This target will not only effect the sales department, this target will even affect the marketing, finance, production and human resource department. This is because the production department will have to produce goods equal to the sales target so the sales target can meet their goal. The marketing department will have to change their marketing strategy to support the sales department in selling the targeted amount of goods and services. The human resource department will have to motivate the sales team and provide support in terms of personnel to support the sales team in achieving their targets. This is why; managers should make decisions and solve problems while keeping the entire organization in mind and not just one single department. If a manager follows the systems view, they can perform a better job because managers following system view have to remain updated about the external environment. Those organizations who do not care about the external factors fail to survive as at the end of the day, organizations obtain their inputs from the external environment and it’s the external environment that purchases firms outputs and helps the firm in continuing their operations. For example: managers obtain information about the demands of the consumers from the environment, they supply this information to all their departments, the departments produce goods and services according to consumer demand, then these goods and services are sold to the consumers and in exchange the company obtains revenue and profits which is distributed among shareholders and other stake holders of the organization and helps the company in operating efficiently. Reflective Journal Change refers to organization’s activities done differently; change has to be one way through which organizations can survive the current competitive environment. Change is not an easy process; it results in stress as well as discomfort for those who are already working in the organization. It is the manager’s responsibility to ensure that the entire process of change takes place smoothly in an organization. Theorists of change believe that change should not be implementing in one move, it should be done in different phases so people working in the organization can easily adopt the change (MCSHANE, 2010, p. 526). In the initial phase, it is the manager’s duty to announce and inform their subordinates about the changes that organization needs to go through in order to operate successfully. Once the subordinates are aware of the change that needs to take place, the managers have to implement the change. In the implementation phase, the managers have to motivate the subordinates and have to communicate with them and provide training. The managers have to locate the problems that subordinates are facing and he should try to solve these problems by providing adequate resources to the subordinates and should provide feedback and reward for attainment of minor goals to the subordinates. In the last stage, the change process is completed and successfully implemented. In this phase managers have to keep monitoring the results of bringing in the change. If managers want to ensure that change takes place successfully, then they have to ensure that each stage of the process is completed in an efficient and effective manner. List of References ANDERSON, D. R. (2008). An introduction to management science: quantitative approaches to decision making. Mason, OH, Thomson/South-Western. CHASE, R. B. (2006). Operations management for competitive advantage. New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill. DAFT, R. L. (2011). Understanding management. Mason, OH, South-Western Cengage Learning. FLOMBERG, H. (2008). Management decision theory: managing pragmatically. [San Diego, CA], University Readers. JACKSON, M. C. (2000). Systems approaches to management. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum KOONTZ, H., & WEIHRICH, H. (2004). Essentials of management: an international perspective. New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill. KERZNER, H. (1996). 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