Management Is a Highly Debatable Issue - Essay Example

Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Management is a highly debatable issue especially due to its dynamic nature. The term management is used is used in almost all our day-to-day activities and our lives. It used in a variety of ways depending on the context although some theorists tend to present it a dominating activity. For example, it can be used in organizations to mean planning, organizing and control but it can also be used in social setting such as in situations where people are advised to manage their affairs well or finances or when one says ‘ I can manage’ to mean he/she can put the situation under control. There are also various terms associated with management such as scientific management, human resource management, knowledge management among others. In organisations, it is mostly used to mean the relationship between those in the higher levels of the hierarchy or employer and employees. So why do we need to study management critically? I will argue that there is need to study management critically due the rise in globalisation which is rapidly changing the nature of work and management. Secondly, management and organisation as Minzberg (1971) asserts affects all aspects of our lives thus a need to understand what it entails and how it can be made effective leading to orderly society. Thirdly, the managers need to be self-critical in order to perform their roles successfully and this needs critical analysis of what their roles entail, how they are supposed to behave and relate with their environment. In the first section, I shall outline how the management concept has evolved over time and how it impacts on organizations and workforce. In achieving this, I shall draw on ideas from Bakan (2004); Linstead, Fulop and Liley (2009) and Jackall (1988). In the second section, I shall demonstrate the benefits of management as well as the negative outcomes associated with it to show that one can be critical of management without necessarily being against it as the critical management studies do (Clegg, Kornberger, Carter & Rhodes, 2006; Edwards & Wajcman (2005); Mintzberg, 1971; Parker, 2002). In the third section, I shall demonstrate the role of being critical in own management and what it means to be critical. I shall then conclude with a brief summary. Evolution of Management The Management concept has evolved over a long period of time prompted by changing nature of the economic systems from feudalism to capitalism and recently to a knowledge economy. According to Linstead et al (2009), work in traditional societies or feudal societies was done by hands; for example, farming and the factory system hence the hands on mode of organisation. The feudal lords were the masters of the serfs and showed them what to do. Manual labour was prevalent and provided means of livelihood for the serfs and also the lords. Management of serfs was thus to ensure increased production by workers increasing their efforts. Marx viewed such kind of production creating two social classes; the lords and serfs with lords being the dominant group (Bakan, 2004). The relationship between the serf and lord was a direct one unlike the later societies where bureaucracy was the norm. Industrial revolution brought the destruction of feudalism and brought about the factory system. In this system, workers exchanged their labour for wages by working in factories and no longer owned the means of production neither its products. Relations changed from lords and serfs to capitalist and the worker. There was developed division of labour especially due to introduction of scientific management by Taylor in 1916 (Edwards & Wajcman, 2005: 7). This entailed analysing jobs and time taken to complete a task hence designing job duties to be performed by particular individuals. This was viewed as a means to increase productivity hence returns for the firm. The role of management was to supervise and monitor workers. Increased division of labour creates different professions such as accountants, clerks, teachers thus specialisation. However, it leads to bureaucracy due to increased vertical channels of communication. This is what is criticised by critical management studies as is leads to dominance of the manager or supervisor over the employee (Clegg et al. 2006). This kind of organisation results into a situation where workers lose autonomy and do not contribute much to decision making. Their role is to follow laid down rules and procedures hence standardised routines. This has been criticised for denying workers the ability to improve their skills as well as using their creativity (Bakan, 2009; Linstead et al. 2009; Minzberg, 1971). This is the cause of dissatisfaction and criticism from the human relations movement. The human relations movement is based on the idea that human beings need to be nurtured in order to be productive. Catering for workers needs rather than only concentrating on production could achieve higher results. This led to new roles for managers such as building interpersonal relationships and the role of motivation in the workplace (Linstead et al. 2009). A study carried out by Minzberg (1971: B103) showed that one of the critical roles of managers is interpersonal relationships. This is enhanced by language and communication. Concepts such as empowerment, participation, involvement are common place in capitalist societies as managers try to play this role. The conflict is between controlling employees on one hand and granting them autonomy so as to exercise their creative skills on the other. The corporation is assumed to be driven by the profit motive and thus may jeopardise this goal (Clegg et al. 2006). However, the emergence of knowledge economies is revolutionalising management. Knowledge economy puts knowledge as “the central commodity for exchange” (Linstead et al. 2009: 11). This has created a new mode of organisation and management whose features include flat hierarchies, high level of uncertainty, centrality of knowledge work, client-centred solutions, and asymmetry of power between expert labourers and clients (p. 12). Examples of knowledge areas include advertisement, high-tech and management consultancy. No wonder the managers undergo extensive training but also engage the services of consultants for effectiveness in today’s work context. This section was aimed at outlining the evolution of management from feudalism to capitalism and to the new knowledge economy. Management has evolved from hands on experience to use of knowledge where the expertise is the knowledge holder forcing organisations to devise measures of tapping and retaining this knowledge. In the next section, the benefits as well as risks associated with management at various stages of evolution will be analysed. This is to show that it is not always that management is ‘bad’. Benefits and Risks of Management Why be ‘for’ or ‘against’ management? Critical management studies (CMS) make us to believe that management is not good as it is dominating, that is, it is exploitative to the employee (Clegg et al. 2006: 9). Their assumptions are based on the idea of social justice as opposed to the idea of efficiency. In this case, management is dominated by power struggles between different groups in the organisation thus organisation life is characterised by inequalities, conflict, domination, subordination, domination and manipulation (p. 9). The big question to be answered is why management practices are prevalent despite being oppressive. In other words, why do workers accept to be exploited and is management as bad as CMS would like us to believe? This section will show that management has many benefits as well as risks thus the need to study management critically to understand the underlying benefits and also the enormous tasks that managers perform that warrant praise rather than condemnation. In the first instance, the dominant mode of production determines the work relations or work life. For example, in the capitalist system of production there exist two key institutions: the market and the firm. The market is controlled by supply and demand ad the firm aims at making profits (Edwards & Wajcman, 2005). This has a way of affecting the stakeholders within and outside the organisation. The managers are faced with the dilemma of ensuring the shareholders get good returns on their investment while at the same time ensuring that workers needs are catered for. If this function of management is not present or well executed, then production would be chaotic since human beings aim at satisfying their interests. As such, control is needed to ensure the organisation runs smoothly and that the goal is achieved. Some present the corporation as pathological since it has rights and protections just like individuals in the US constitution (Bakan, 2004; Edward & Wajcman, 2005) hence unconcerned about workers. However, as Mintzberg (1971) found out in his study, one of the roles of management is being a leader. This means being concerned about the employees so as to motivate them and direct their behaviour to desired goals. As such, profitability cannot be achieved without proper management of human resources. Management even go to an extent of arranging social events so as to build relationships with workers as good working environment can improve performance. This was supported by Rosen (1988) who studied the use of rites and ceremonies in organisations such as the charismas parties. Study by Minzberg (1971) also found that management does most of the decision making in organisations. They thus collect information from within and without the company that help in making sound decisions for the benefit of shareholders and other stakeholders such as employees. Their decision making role involves initiating and managing changes, disturbance handling, and resource allocation (Linstead et al. 2009: 22). This helps to sustain the organisation which is the source of livelihood of workers. On the other hand, scientific management cannot be achieved since today professional managers are involved in short-term decision making (Jackall, 1988; Linstead et al 2009; Minzberg, 1971; Parker, 2002). Jackall (1988) argues against routinised decision making as it is used to rationalise irrational decisions. He also asserts that the present economy requires managers to perform thus forcing them to make ad hoc decisions or fail to make decisions for fear of failure. In his words, mangers “look up and look around’ (p. 79) before making decisions. The worse situation is when decision makers blame other individuals for their wrong decisions or use them as scapegoats. The huge burden on managers does not allow them to make long-term decisions and besides, they want to show that they are performing hence make irrational decisions and leave their predecessors to face the consequences (Minzberg, 1971, Jackall, 1988). Information processing is also another crucial management role. However, lack of record keeping and reliance on verbal information makes the system unreliable. In this section we have discussed the benefits and risks of management but critical management is required to understand management. This is the subject of the next section. Critical Management What does it mean to study management critically? Does it mean being against management? Definitely not. One cab be ‘for; or ‘against’ management and still be on the right track. According to Cleggs et al. (2006: 10) studying management critically is “a politically and ethically responsible way of being critical without being opposed to management). CMS assumes domination of workers and believes it is the only force that can emancipate them. However, as we shall see in this section, change needs to emanate from the all the stakeholders in the organisation who practice management in reality, rather than those outsiders who do not understand the workings of the organisation (Cleggs et al. 2006; Edward & Wajcman, 2005; Parker, 2002). Parker (2002) acknowledges the fact that management is a fact of life which we cannot do away with but we can find ways of making it better. This can be done by critically studying management and understanding how it is practiced hence remedy any shortcomings. This cannot be achieved by always criticising management and not looking at it in a different way like the CMS. CMS makes assumptions before conducting research hence their views are biased. According to Clegg et al (2006), management practice involves discourses between different groups in the organisation using different languages whereby no language is dominant. This enables understanding the organisation in reality rather than forming perceptions about it. Organisations are faced with challenges in the internal and external environment (regulatory, cultural, physical, ideational) which shape and structure organisation and management (Linstead et al. 2009: 28). These need to be understood so as to help improve management practice. Though sometimes the dominant language (organisation culture) impedes any changes, it is not right to assume such dominance exists; besides even culture can be changed. Parker (2002) argues that many non-managerial ways of organising exist and that management is just one alternative. It is the CMS which prompts and spreads this idea of management as the dominant form. Management is everywhere and workers have learnt to accept it since it is legitimated by ideology (Edwards & Wajcman, 2005). However, according to Minzberg (1971:B109) understanding real work of managing is the only way to improve management. Conclusion This essay argued that one can be critical of management while at the same time be ‘for’ management. Management is everywhere and impacts on all of our lives thus there is no need to be ‘against’ it. Rather we should strive to understand management practice in order to improve it. To achieve this, the essay was divided into three sections: the first section outlined the evolution of management, the second part outlined and discussed the benefits of management as well the risks associated with it and finally, the essay demonstrated what it means to study management critically. The CMS make us to believe that management is dominating but the essay showed that there are various factors that impact and shape management practice and these are the ones that managers and others need to understand in order to improve it. Managers need to be self-critical so as to be able to practice well by changing undesirable elements. As Linstead et al (2009: 14) puts it “history created managers in a number of guises and individuals have the opportunity to develop management as a practice and field of study in different ways.” References Bakan, J. (2004) The Corporation. London: Constable. Clegg, S.; Kornberger, M., Carter, C. and Rhodes, C. (2006) For Management Management Learning 37(1): 7-27. Edwards, P. and Wajcman, J. (2005) The Politics of Working Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jackall, R. (1988) Moral mazes: the world of corporate managers Oxford: Oxford University Press. Linstead, S., Fulop, L., and Lilley, S. (Eds.) (2009) Management: A Critical Text. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Macmillan Introduction Mintzberg, H. (1971) ‘Managerial Work: Analysis from Observation’ Management Science 18(2): B97-B110. Parker, M. (2002) Against Management . Oxford: Polity Rosen, M (1988). You asked for it: Christmas at the boss’s expense. Journal of Management Studies, 25 (5). Read More