Answer the quastions - Assignment Example

Contingency View of Organization and Management Idea underlying the contingency view The contingency view of management is entirely based on the idea that there is no particular way of managing an organization in the best way. For effective management, organizing, planning, controlling, and leading have to be tailored towards particular circumstances the organization is facing. Managers have always had questions concerning what they should do right, to have mechanistic or an organic structure, tall or flat organizational structure, among other questions that have complex answers.

The contingency approach to management assumes that no one can find a universal answer to the aforementioned questions. The reason for the lack of this universal answer is because situations, organizations, and people vary and change with time. In this view, everything in management is unique in its own way. Principles are not universal and one learns about management by experiencing challenges in the process. Therefore, the right thing to do entirely depends on the complex varieties of critical internal and environmental contingencies.

Environmental uncertainty and change, size of the company, and work technology are identified as the environmental factors that impact on the effectiveness of various forms of organizations. According to the contingency perspective, all stable environments will suggest mechanistic structures that tend to emphasize on formalization, centralization, specialization, and standardization to achieve efficiency and consistency. Predictability and certainty allow for the use of rules, policies, and procedures to offer guidance while making decisions for routine duties and problems.

For unstable environments, they use organic structures that emphasize on decentralization for them to achieve adaptability and flexibility. Unpredictability and uncertainty need general methods of solving non-routine tasks and problems.Identifying the key contingencies facing an organization Management practices and perspectives change in response to social, political, end economic forces in the larger society. During such difficult times, managers look for ideas that can help them cope with environmental turbulence and keep their organizations vital.

Management tool surveys have revealed an increase in the variety of management ideas and techniques used by managers. Challenges facing organizations such as the rocky stock market and a tough economy , environmental and organizational crises, lingering anxieties over terrorism and war, and the public suspicion resulting from corporate scandals, have left the executives looking for new management tools. They are looking for tools that can help them effectively utilize the limited resources at their disposal.

By using the contingency perspective, it can be revealed that financially successful organizations that have different work technologies tend to differ in their number of management levels. They also differ in their degree of employee specialization and the span of management. When differences in firm and organization performance are linked, certain organizational forms tend to be appropriate for some types of work technologies. The size of the organization is another contingency variable that highly impacts on the effectiveness of forms of different organizations.

Large organizations are more formalized compared to smaller ones that behave informally. Owners of smaller organizations can easily and directly control the activities of these organizations. However, large organizations need indirect and complex control mechanisms. In addition, large organizations tend to have specialized units, staff, and jobs. Therefore, a divisional organizational structure is not the best for small organizations but it is more appropriate for large organizations.Work citedDaft, Richard.

Management. Stamford : Cengage Learning, 2007. Print