Contemporary Management Practice versus Traditional One - Case Study Example

Contemporary management Practice I.Introduction In this fast changing world environment, the term “management” has taken on a new meaning, from the traditional concepts to contemporary management. In this 21st century, new management theories and models have evolved, thus, giving guidance to students for their future careers and insights to professionals in the managerial work as well. Basically, “ Management is all about ‘getting things done’. However, it is in the way and the process of how one achieves ones target or goals and it is in this respect that management is considered an art and a science as well.” (Category editor Sakina Kadiwala. copyright data indianchild.com). And much later, management scholar, Peter Drucker (1993) defined management as “Supplying knowledge to find out how existing knowledge can best be applied to produce results is, in effect, what we mean by management. But knowledge is now also being applied systematically and purposefully to determine what new knowledge is needed, whether it is feasible, and what has to be done to make knowledge effective. It is being applied, in other words, to systematic innovation.” (Drucker, 1993) Contemporary management is a functional approach of planning, organizing, leading and controlling and focuses on the “Manager as a Person” with their own personalities, strength, weaknesses, opportunity and problems. Likewise, work place realities (e.g. diversity, ethics and information technology are considered in contemporary management. ( Jones and George 2006 ). This is supported by Tara Duggan who asserted that “Managers at each level of an organization are responsible for using resources effectively. Building skills in making decisions, monitoring information and supervising personnel are essential to achieving success. Challenges include managing a diverse workplace, maintaining a competitive edge, behaving ethically and using emerging techniques.” It is in this context that the scope of managers functions became diverse. He/she has to demonstrate adequate skills in the following areas as contained in the 10 Lessons from Konosuke Matsushita for Corporate Leaders: Effective Leadership Setting Objectives Institutional Excellence Organizing the Group Motivating and Communicating Measuring Performance Developing People Managing Intellectual Property Contemporary management practice saw the shift of emphasis from the traditional management concepts to new management role which underscores leadership roles of management. “Classic management work includes planning, organizing the hierarchy, manning and controlling. On the other hand, the new leadership task includes the following: creating a vision, aligning the web of relations and inspiring and coaching.” (Effective Manager: Modern Management e- Coach) Further, leadership roles of managers are emphasized in contemporary management which are also discussed in the Lessons for Corporate Leaders. The 12 Effective Leadership Roles are the following: Create an inspiring vision. Lead change. Lead by example. Demonstrate confidence. Inspire and energize people. Empower people. Communicate openly. Listen with understanding, support and help. Involve everyone, use team approach. Facilitate cooperation. Coach, bring the best in your people. Encourage group decision. Monitor progress but don’t micromanage. In addition, Max Landsberg expounded on Coaching as a new managerial task that “Effective Managers need to coach. Coaching aims to enhance the performance and learning ability of your employees. Coaching at work involves providing feedbacks, effective questioning and consciously matching your managerial style to the player’s readiness to undertake a particular task.” In order to have a first-hand knowledge on what is going on in the practice of contemporary management , a case study was used and results of evaluation are discussed in this report. The subject of this report is the Split Operations at Sky and Arrow Airlines by Jeremy Offenstein. Bigger conflicts/problems began when the merger of these two airlines took place which resulted to work failures and eventually the mass lay-off of Sky staff. II. Objectives The objectives set forth are as follows: 1. To evaluate the current organizational performance of Sky and Arrow Airlines in the light of modern management approaches and theories 2.To propose recommendations for change/improvements where necessary III. Methodology The methodology applied in the evaluation includes the following: 1. Review and analysis of procedures and processes of the two subject companies 2. Validation of procedures from other relevant companies 3. Interview with sample supervisors/knowledgeable persons 4. Review of reports/experiences of other companies/organizations IV. Review of Current Organizational Performance of Sky and Arrow Airlines A review of the current organizational performance of Sky and Arrow Airlines revealed the following: 1. Sky Airlines 1.1 Work ethics and safety at work were not observed/emphasized. Fun is injected at work. This will hamper staff’s concentration and shall affect outputs. 1.2 Modern technology in performing a particular task that poses hazards to employees is not adopted/implemented.. Loading and unloading of baggages by rampers are done manually regardless of size. Big/heavy baggages shall pose difficulty to rampers and shall cause delay in the performance of this task 1.3 Staff”s motivation for staying on their jobs is not properly developed by Management. he climate for staff’s motivation is not rightly developed. What is used to catch staff’s interest is material benefits, leisure and flights privileges but not a shared vision to contribute to reach the company’s objectives. 1.4 Procedures and processes in performing a task are not clear. It was not clear to staff procedure and processes relative to their responsibilities in Turning a Flight” especially when there are emergency situations. 1.5 Working as a team was not emphasized. The group of rampers is not a “team” but rather only a group. Only one ramper (Jack) was saddled/burdened with the fulfillment of the responsibility for the loading/unloading of baggages which otherwise shall be participative endeavor of the group as a team. 1.6 Staff functions at different levels are not aligned. When there was a need to load many baggages with one baggage of big size at the time frame called for, other levels of staff like the operations manager, station manager and ticket agent took turns to load the baggages. The roles of these persons should be delineated. 1.7 No leadership skills demonstrated by operation/station manager. As effective managers, they should lead, to move staff to take action and to ensure systems are in place in their work areas. 2. Arrow Airlines 2.1 Procedures are not clear to staff. For example use of the belt loaders was not clear as all baggages regardless of size was loaded through this equipment. 2.2 Staff”s attitude is characterized by antagonism, lack of cooperation with the incoming Sky staff. Staff showed a negative attitude to Sky staff during the merging of the two airlines. This affected the smooth operations of the merger of these two companies. 2.3 No leadership skills demonstrated by Arrow supervisors especially during the merged operations of the two airlines. It is at this time that leadership abilities should have been demonstrated considering that the split operations is a challenge to both airlines. 2.4 Staff’s motivation is one of “professionalism” in performing their functions being connected with a prestigious airline but not necessarily job satisfaction. This is shown by staff seriousness at work, stern face and arrogance as observed by Sky staff. 2.5 .No listening ear by Arrow supervisors for feedbacks regarding a difficult situation shared by a Sky ranper. V. Areas Needing Change/Improvements Based on the above review/assessment of the two airlines, the areas needing change/improvements are the following: 1. Management Style. The style that suits an airline company should be looked into by Management since it performs functions requiring urgency, with a large workforce and other specialized functions, and exposed to the best leadership hazards. Carter Mcnamara asserts that “ when managers make a decision, they must take into account aspects of the current situation and act on those aspects hat are key to the situation at hand. Basically, it’s the approach that “it depends.” For example, the continuing effort to identify the best leadership or management style might now include that the best style depends on the situation…” 2. Management Functions along leadership, organizing, motivating and communicating, developing people. In line with this, the new management role should be given special consideration. This new management model includes leadership and coaching. VI. Conclusions and Recommendations The merged operations of the two airlines (Sky and Arrow Airlines) showed the inadequacy of both companies at varying degrees (although Arrow has a bigger edge with Sky) in terms of Procedures, staff functions and motivation, feedbacking system and Leadership skills of managers. Both companies need change/improvements for smooth merged operations. To achieve the above change/improvements the following specific recommendations are proposed: 1. A special meeting be immediately conducted by senior management staff to assess the current situation in the different units for the merged operations. Further, regular staff meetings be schedules/conducted by the management 2. Review of systems and processes be undertaken by technical staff . Review can be done by sub-system needing immediate improvements. Procedures shall be documented and explained to staff. 3. A new organizational structure for the merged operations is a must. This will also spell out the flow of communication and feedbacking system at different levels of the organization. A tool can be used to gather feedback at different levels/areas by way of a Suggestion Box. 4. Staff motivation in staying on the job should be one of shared vision and goals. Thus, there is a need to conduct a staff development activity for this purpose. Along with this, staff good performance be acknowledged and praised. 5. Team Building workshops be conducted involving different levels of staff for team approach in performing tasks/activities. 6. A program for developing/empowering staff be formulated and implemented 7. Managers/Supervisors be trained along new leadership roles and coaching. Bibliography http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/mgmt_art.html http://www.usq.edu.au/business/research/jmp http://www.ehow.com/about_5646606_contemporary-management-building-management-skills.html http://www.1000advices.com/guru/leader_corporate_10lessons_matsushita.html http://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Management-Gareth-Jones/dp/0073530220 http://www.indianchild.com/management/what-is-management.htm http://managementhelp.org/mgmnt/cntmpory.htm Reflective Journal 1. Research topic is interesting but data gathering requires longer time. 2. Due to limited time, diagrams and illustrations were not adopted. 3. Interviews with supervisors/managers provided additional information. 4. Practical insights from managers contributed in the analysis portion. Read More