A New Paradigm for Management - Essay Example

 In the dynamic world of business organizations and competitive marketing strategy, each firm must be adept to the constant changes and the ever growing trend in the industry in order to sustain the weight of the competition and in turn create an edge over its competitors. Robert Litschert states in his book Academy of Management Review (1978), "To survive, organizations must effectively relate to their environments, by fully utilizing system competencies and resources to take advantage of environmental opportunities and reduce the impact of externally imposed threats.

However, it is quite possible to ignore the challenges that the organization is facing due to failure of the firm to utilize a suitable management paradigm and practice the theories that are essential for the survival of the firm. Paradigms are very useful tools to analyze and apply concepts which are beneficial to the entire organization. It sets a standard to follow and like rules, it must be implemented to obtain order and to avoid chaos in the corporate environment. But according to William Carr written in his article "A New Paradigm for Management", he states that there are two characteristics about paradigms which must be understood, 1) they are often invisible to those who live within them, and 2) there is massive resistance to change in or abandonment of the incumbent paradigm.

While it is true that a paradigm is but a mental picture of how the organization behaves, more often than not, the individuals comprising the organization is oblivious to the system of management that had been laid before them. On the other hand, the irony lies in the fact that when a change in the order of system occurs, there is a strong opposition to the new paradigm because it is viewed as a threat of disruption of system in which the organization had established. In the Modern Management Paradigm, employee involvement is a desirable trait of a well functioning organization.

It emphasizes their contribution to the company's growth and success when they put their efforts diligently on constantly improving on their task level. Lawler suggests that organizational effectiveness can be attained only by changing the ways in which organizations are managed and that the high-involvement or employee-centered management model is based on the belief that employees can be trusted to make important decisions about the management of their work. From his perspective, an organization becomes employee centered though focusing on participation that integrates the individual with the organization in order to achieve high productivity, thereby leading to competitive advantage (Lawler, 1992).

On the contrary, being equipped with competent managers and employees does not necessarily mean achievement of the organization's goal. Due to increased competition and changes in the economy, it is important to develop a marketing strategy. Hypercompetition, according to D'Aveni (1994) is a competitive situation where the key competitive success factor is the ability to constantly develop new products, processes or services providing the customer with increased functionality and performance.

In a hypercompetitive environment, firms cannot count on a sustainable competitive advantage, but must continuously develop itself in new directions." As such, it is as important to have managers who are thinking long term goals and does not restricts the possibilities that is in store for them and the entire organization. Resourcefulness and creativity are essential tools to capture the market's interest and enhance profit for the business. Finally, Anders Drejer (2004) affirms it is quite possible to argue that hypercompetitive conditions are not a threat but an opportunity for agile and dynamic organizations.

Therefore, we need to get managers to practice strategic thinking, innovation management and business creation.REFERENCESLitschert, R. J., & Bonham, T.W. (1978). Academy of Management Review.Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.Carr, W.C. (1992). A New Paradigm for Management. Survey of Business. 28, 1; ABI/INFORM Global, pg. 18Drejer, A. Back to basics and beyond: Strategic Management - an area where practice and theory are poorly related. Management Decision (2004). 42, 3/4; ABI/INFORM Global, pg.

508D'Aveni, R.A. (1994). hypercompetition - Managing the Dynamics of Strategic Maneuvering, The Free Press. New York, NY.Lawler, E.E. (1992). The Ultimate Advantage: Creating the High Involvement Organization. Jossey Bass. San Fracisco, CA.