Managers Learn Better through Experience - Essay Example

? Managers Learn Better Through Experience. Theory Has Nothing to Offer In management, there has been increased interest on a learning process in a context that is not set for learning, especially the workplace. The emphasis on work place as a suitable place for managers to learn is because of the practical lessons that experience offers. However, this interest on managers learning from past experiences has not reached all managers with some organizations making the same mistakes repeatedly despite other efforts to increase efficiency and productivity in the workplace. This paper will explain why theory is not the best way for managers to learn and in addition explore the different perspectives of managers learning through experience. Since management as a separate discipline was established, managers have been taught in a classroom setting where most of their learning has been theoretical. Theoretical learning for managers has been ineffective due to several reasons. One of the reasons is that theoretical learning does not take into account the diversity the types of organizations that managers are required to manage (Papamarcos, 2005, p327). In the field of management, there is a wide range of organizations with different needs in terms of management styles. This perspective is not captured in theoretical management training, which has the effect of making managers apply the same techniques in management therefore leading to failure of the organizations to meet their objectives. For instance, the expertise that is required from a manager that manages technology professionals will be different from the expertise that is needed by a manager in a political organization. This is because a manager in a political organization will be required to have conflict handling techniques, which may not be, require of his counterpart in a technology firm since there are minimal conflicts. Leaning through theories involves using the thoughts of other people to run organizations (Mazutis & Slawinski, 2008, p444). This weakness of using theory in managers’ training is the therefore in the pattern of the managers thinking or his way of doing things which may antagonise the theory that he is supposed to use. In turn, this will mean that the manager will not give the optimal productivity that he is capable of since he has been limited by the theory. In addition, using theory limits the managers to be innovative in new and more effective ways of managing the organization that will improve its performance; this is as a result of the manager being required to follow what the theory says. For instance, a manager may have been taught that the best way to manage the employees in an organization is by being ensuring his or her commands are followed, however, the employees may perform better if they are given a democratic space to air their views on ways which they think would help to increase the productivity of the organization. Training managers theoretically may entail using theories that were applicable in the past but which may not be effective currently (Vince, 2011, p340). The global organizational environment has been changing everyday due to advances in technology and changes in global business patterns such as globalization. Due to these dynamics in the organizational environment, the processes of running the organizations have been changing making it hard to use previous techniques to run organizations in the current environment. For instance, previously any meetings that the manager had with his or her juniors involved physical presence, which meant managers, had to travel a lot especially in the organizations that had several branches. However, with the coming of teleconferencing, the manager is able to attend meetings with other employees in different locations without being physically present. Due to the challenges that leaning through theory presents to the managers, it has been widely acknowledged that leaning through experience would work best to ensure the knowledge that the managers acquire would be practical in running organizations. Various scholars and groups have advanced the following perspectives on why learning through experience for managers is the best alternative to theory learning. When a manager learns through experience, he is able to apply his competencies on the job, which makes him or her effective in his responsibilities. Learning through experience for managers entails understanding the organization and the employees under him; therefore, he is able to merge his competencies with the requirements of the organization to increase its productivity. For instance, a manager in an organization who is learning through experience is able to understand the organization’s culture and what the various stakeholders in the organization expect from him. This makes him or her able to use his competencies to develop the necessary skills required to meet the expectations of the stakeholders. Experience, in contrast to theory is not a onetime activity since it is continuous throughout the tenure of the manager, this means that the manager has the chance to see the effectiveness of his or her learning process and therefore he is able to adjust appropriately, where he may have erred in the process of learning. In addition, since experience is a continuous learning process, the manger is able to learn new techniques continuously, which are more effective than the previous ones therefore keeping the organization ahead of the others. A manager who learns the art of management through experimental learning usually has the chance to discover himself or herself in terms of what works best for him. This experience is crucial for managers since the more aware a manager is about his personal strengths and weaknesses the more likely that he will be able to use that information in a way that is in line with the goals and objectives of the organization. For instance, a manager may become aware that he is impatient with people during the course of performing his duties therefore, he is able to avoid situations that may bring out that weakness in him by either delegating responsibilities or avoiding it altogether. The formal training that managers receive in schools mainly entails the basic training in management. Although this training is important in running organizations, it is not adequate to ensure the organizations run successfully, therefore learning through experience supplements this knowledge by helping the managers to put into practise the theoretical knowledge that they have learnt. Learning through experience for managers does not come without its demerits; these are mainly the negative results that accrue to the organization that a manager who is learning through experience runs. One of the cons of managers learning through experience is the time lag between when a manager performs an action and the time when the results of the action are expected in order for him or her to learn (Kolb & Kolb, 2005, p201). Some of the actions that managers undertake take a significant amount of time for their effects to be seen, for instance some may take up to several months or years before their effects are seen (Chiva & Alegre, 2005, p60). This means that in case a manager made a wrong decision, it will take time before he realizes it and by that time it may have had significant damaging effects on the performance of the organization. For instance, a manager may decide to hire employees with a specific skill for one of the departments but which is not suitable for the responsibilities in the department; after hiring them, he or she will be able to access them again during evaluation, which may be after a several months or a year depending on the organization. By this time when he learns he made a wrong choice of skills, the department may have performed dismally causing losses to the organization. Allowing managers to learn through experience in organizations increases the exposure of these organizations to biases. Since the manager is allowed to experiment in the organization, he is likely to introduce his or her personal biases in the organization, which may not be in line with the goals and objectives of the organization. This may lead to poor performance of the organization especially where the decisions made by the manager are not favourable to the organization. For instance, a manager may make a decision based on a biased opinion on the market, which may work against the organization The process of learning for effective managers should involve theory and learning through experience. These two processes of learning should complement each other instead of being used separately since they tackle different aspects of management learning (Ford & Harding, 2007, p481). Leaning through theory for managers is important since they learn different perspectives of management, in addition, they also understand how past management experts understood the discipline and their experiences, this helps them tackle problems that they may face which are similar to those that others before them experienced (Cortese, 2005, p99). In addition, theory prepares managers for the practical phase when they put the theory in to practise. The experience learning for managers is the most crucial phase of learning since their actions will have real life impact on the organizations that they run; therefore, it is necessary that managers should have background knowledge on management in order to make informed decisions, which will not put their organizations at a disadvantage. References Chiva, R., & Alegre, J. (2005). Organizational Learning and Organizational Knowledge Towards the Integration of Two Approaches. Management learning, 36(1), 49-68. Cortese, C. G. (2005). Learning through teaching. Management Learning, 36(1), 87-115. Ford, J., & Harding, N. (2007). Move Over Management We Are All Leaders Now. Management Learning, 38(5), 475-493. Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing experiential learning in higher education. Academy of management learning & education, 4(2), 193-212. Mazutis, D., & Slawinski, N. (2008). Leading organizational learning through authentic dialogue. Management Learning, 39(4), 437-456. Papamarcos, S. D. (2005). Giving traction to management theory: today's service-learning. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(3), 325-335. Vince, R. (2011). The spatial psychodynamics of management learning. Management Learning, 42(3), 333-347. Read More