The Importance of Management - Coursework Example

0. Introduction: The main purpose of our group was to demonstrate our ability in analyzing and researching on various aspect of management, and the impact it has on group formations. This paper is a reflection on the lessons I learnt during this process. This paper is divided into six important sessions. These sections are all interrelated, and they identify the concepts and lessons I learnt. Each of these sections are divided into subsections. These subsections manage to highlight and talk in talk on a specific issue that the section identifies. This helps in deeply analyzing the issue, and highlighting the kind of knowledge and skill I have obtained. This is based on the concept identified. 2.0. The Importance of Management. Through this lessons and discussions, I was able to learn that management is one of the factors of production, and other factors include money, material, and machines. It is therefore virtually impossible for an organization to achieve efficiency, without proper and good management procedures or skills (Donaldson, 2002). This is because good and efficient management helps in facilitating two very important roles and processes. 2.0.1. Management and Innovation These roles are innovation and marketing. In the current century, for any business organization to succeed, they must have an efficient marketing strategy, and highly innovative members of staff (Wilson, 2004). This is because competition is stiff, and the business organizations are competing for the same limited customers. From these lessons, I was able to learn that good management helps in promoting and creating the culture of innovation. Successful and respected managers such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were able to inspire the culture of innovation, hence leading their companies to achieve a high sense of growth and profitability (Thompson and McHugh, 2009). In fact, Apples, the company led by Steve Jobs is still regarded as one of the most innovative companies in the world. Marketing on the other hand, plays an important role in ensuring that people are aware of the products of the company. 2.0.2. Promotion of Better Marketing Policies Through these lessons and discussions, I managed to learn that it is virtually impossible to come up with a proper marketing campaign, without an efficient managerial practice. Marketing does not only involve advertising and selling of products. There are many other issues which form part and parcel of the marketing campaign (Mosadeghrad, 2012). These issues involve creation of a positive brand name for the company, engaging in corporate social activities, etc. Without a proper managerial practice, it would be difficult and impossible for an organization to develop good marketing strategies that would make them achieve a competitive advantage over their rivals (Tosi, 2011). 3.0. Organizational Culture and Management Alvesson and Willmott (2003) explains that management plays a role in the development of organizational culture and behavior. Organizational culture refers to the behavior of individuals within an organization. Furthermore, it depicts the meaning that people will attach to these behaviors. Culture of an organization would include the norms, values, symbols, vision, habits, beliefs, assumptions and language that is being spoken by the employees of the organization under consideration. This was a very important lesson that I learnt, during the class session, and the group discussions. Initially, I used to think that organizations do not have a culture. It was within my opinion that only communities and people have cultures. However, this assumption was rectified during this lesson. This is because; I came to learn that it is possible for an organization to create a work culture, whereby its employees will behave as per the provisions of this culture. 3.0.1. Factors Responsible for creating organizational Culture One of the factors responsible for the creation of organizational culture is the type of leadership that an organization implements (Grey and Willmott, 2005). There are three major type of leadership that can be implemented by an organization. These leadership types are, democratic, authoritarian, and laissez faire type of leadership. A company such as Google normally uses a democratic type of leadership, for purposes of managing the activities of the company (Mubarak, 2012). Under this type of leadership, employees of an organization can contribute to its decision making process. The type of organizational culture that this leadership style brings about is cooperation, respect, mutual understanding, etc. This is because people feel that they are part of the organization. On the other hand, authoritarian type of leadership normally instills a culture of fear. Apples, under the leadership of Steve Jobs were responsible for practicing such kind of leadership. Furthermore, it is also possible to teach new employees of an organization, on some aspects of organizational culture. The culture that is taught normally emanates from the vision and mission of the company. For example, a company such as Samsung normally trains new employees and engineers on how to be innovative and creative. This is because one of the cultures of Samsung is to be an innovative and creative company. It is their capability to innovate, that has made Samsung to be one of the leading electronic companies in the world. This was a very important lesson that I learnt during my lessons and group discussions. However, in as much as there are different types of leadership, if they are properly used and utilized, they may lead to the same results (Martin and Fellentz, 2010). This is the case of Apples and Microsoft, whose leaders used authoritarian and democratic leadership styles. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were able to make their employees to be innovative enough, despite their different styles of leadership. There are a number of theoretical frameworks that have been developed for purposes of explaining this concept of organizational culture (Carneiro, 2004). 3.0.2: Theoretical Frameworks of Organizational Culture. One important theoretical framework is the Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory. Hofstede was able to demonstrate that there are regional and national cultural groupings that have an impact on the organizational behavior. He further came up with five important dimensions of culture, which are, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, and Long vs. Short term orientation. One of the important observations that Hofstede made, is that all organizations, have an aspect of power-distance relationship. This is because in any organization, there is a manager, and there is a subordinate. Furthermore, this relationship manages to reflect the inequality that normally exists within the society. This relationship plays a great role in influencing the organizational culture. This is because employees of an organization, would try as much as possible, to reduce the power gap, that exists between themselves and their managers. On the other hand, managers, or employers of the organization will try as much as possible to widen the gap that exists between themselves and their employees. This situation would create a conflict between the parties involved, and it would also influence the kind of relations that exists amongst employees (Anderson, 2007). This was a very important lesson that I learnt during my group discussions. Furthermore, I was able to reflect this lesson, on the social relationships that occur on a day to day basis. The system we are living is capitalistic in nature, and because of capitalism, a number of social and economic inequality have arisen. This has contributed in the creation of social classes within a society or community. It is this mentality, that moves on to an organization, creating that distance relationship, between the managers and employees of an organization (Watson, 2003). It is this type of distance that managers such as Bill Gates were trying to reduce, by creating a democratic type of leadership within their organizations. A company such as Singapore Airlines has managed to reduce this type of distance amongst its employees through its democratic leadership style (Kirby, 2009). All employees of the organization are allowed to contribute during their decision making process, making them to feel part and parcel of the company. It is important to understand that this managerial style of Singapore is successful, and this is mainly because Singapore airlines is one of the most successful airline companies in the world (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013). Under this theoretical framework, one of the lessons that caught my eye, was an aspect of femininity and masculinity in influencing the organizational behavior and culture of an institution. This concept reflects whether a society is predominantly male or female. 3.0.3. Gender and Leadership This is in terms of gender roles, cultural values, and power relations. This concept of femininity and masculinity would play a great role in determining the kind of work that both genders should undertake (Knights and Willmott, 2007). For example, in Islamic states, such as Iran, women are not allowed to hold important managerial and leadership positions in government and business organizations. On the other hand, in Western countries, because of their feminine cultures, women and men can hold any leadership position that they aspire (Grey, 2009). For example, some of the cultural traits, that are feminine, include promotion of the quality of lives of people. This means that employees of an organization are well treated, and respected, irrespective of their backgrounds, religion, or gender. Companies that promote a feminine culture, normally engage in corporate social responsibility programs, such as environmental conservation, issuance of scholarships, paying their employees a good and substantial amount of money, etc (Hayashi, 2002). This is because they are concerned about the welfare of their employees, and the society. Furthermore, these companies normally allow women to have leadership positions within them (Hayashi, 2002). In the 21st century, women have begun to take leadership positions, both in companies and the government. This is specifically attributed to the rise of the civil rights movements in the 20th and the 21st century. Furthermore, in the United Kingdom, the human rights act, makes it illegal to discriminate anyone, based on their genders, sexual orientation, religion, etc (Anderson, 2007). Furthermore, because of a universal education system, women are allowed to access any form of education, and they are empowered. This makes it easier for them, to qualify for leadership positions. It is based on these conditions that the world has managed to see a growth of women leaders all over the world. In a highly masculine culture, money and material wealth is preferred against the social well being of an individual. This is characterized by companies that normally exploit their workforce through poor pay. Furthermore, companies that are masculine are normally concerned with increased profitability, and they have very few women in leadership positions. It is possible to consider a company such as Enron as masculine, and this is because, before its collapse, the company was mainly motivated into making profits. This included falsifying its financial statements, for purposes of attracting investors (Donaldson, 2002). Furthermore, this company had very few women, in its leadership position. Based on this fact, it is important to explain that the organization culture of such a company was profit maximization. This was a very useful lesson to me. This is because I was able to view and understand the policies that an organization pursues in terms of masculinity and femininity. Other characteristics of a masculine organizational culture includes, the resolution of a conflict, based on the power an individual has within an organization, management is aggressive and decisive, employees are rewarded based on equity, and their work input, and it normally applies to large business and government organizations (Fineman, Gabriel and Sims, 2010). It is therefore important to understand that a masculine culture is not friendly to female leadership. This is when compared to an organization that ascribes to a feminine culture. In my own opinion, it is far much better for organizations to ascribe to feminine as opposed to masculine cultures. This is because everybody has an equal opportunity for growth; they treat their employees in a humane manner, and money is not the main driving force of the operations of these organizations (Anderson, 2007). This means that, in as much as they seek to make profits, they are more concerned with creating a strong brand name for their organizations. Furthermore, from the discussions, I came to learn that shareholders of an organization are more concerned with a positive brand name for the company, as opposed to a high sense of profitability. 4.0. Managing relationships within a group. This means that shareholders of a company will try to resist any measures or activities of the company that are illegal. Initially, it was my perception that shareholders are only concerned with how much profit they will make, in a business organization (Donaldson, 2002). However, during this discussion, this perception of mine was corrected. Furthermore, I came to learn that an investor will not invest in a company that has a bad reputation. Doing so, would mean, that the investor would lose his or her money. This is mainly because it would take a considerable time, for them to get value, for their shares (Cunliffe, 2009). It is therefore safer and good for these investors to invest in a company that has a good reputation. An organization that has a good reputation, or strong brand name, knows how to manage the various relationships, it has with all its stakeholders (Watson, 2002). These stakeholders include, the government, employees of the organization, customers, and the surrounding community. Effective communication is one of the major factors responsible for promoting good relationship between an organization and its stakeholders (Watson, 2001). The mode of communication channel normally depends with the type of relationship that a company has with its stakeholders. For example, when the company wishes to communicate with its customers, then it can either use the social media, television or newspapers to pass out the message under consideration (Grey, 2009). This is because; these are channels that can be used to send information to a large group of people. On the other hand, when an organization seeks to communicate with its employees, it may use telephone conversations, memos, emails, etc. However, the channel of communication depends with the type of information that an organization seeks to pass out to its employees. Efficiency in communication does not only apply to the organization, employees must also have sufficient communication skills that can play a role in achieving efficiency in the manner which they communicate with their employers and fellow employees (Jackson and Parry, 2011). Furthermore, it is the employees of the organization who will be interacting with its customers. It is therefore of great importance for these employees to have sufficient communication skills, that would proof to be essential during this communication process (Robbins, 2005). The manner, in which decisions are made, also plays a significant role in the management of relationships, within an organization. This means that an organization has to develop conflict resolution technique that will play a great role in helping the organization resolve its conflicts, without compromising its values, aims, and objectives (Alvesson and Willmott, 2003). Furthermore, to avoid conflicts, an organization has to observe and promote ethical behavior. 5.0. Ethics and Management This was a very important lesson that I learnt. Furthermore, I was able to learn what ethics means. Ethics refers to following a set of behaviors, that are acceptable by the company, and they are within the law. This means that any criminal activity that employees of an organization might perform, is unethical, and may result to the emanation of conflict (Cole, 2004). Despite the existence of ethical behavior and requirements, employees of an organization may be faced with ethical dilemmas. 5.0.1. Ethical Dilemmas and Theoretical Frameworks Ethical dilemma refers to a complex situation, which normally involves a mental conflict, between various moral imperatives, whereby, whereby obeying one ethical dimension would mean that an individual is transgressing another ethical dilemma (Daft, 2003). There are variety of theoretical frameworks that can be used to solve any ethical dilemma that an individual or employee of an organization would face. These theoretical frameworks include, virtue ethics, egoism, deontology, utilitarianism, and care ethics (Mullins, 2013). According to egoism, an individual is supposed to choose an action that satisfies his or her own self interest. This means that when faced with an ethical dilemma, the action that an individual chooses should be the one which gives him satisfaction, as opposed to an action that satisfies the needs of the organization or community (Champoux, 2010). Through the group discussions, I learnt that using this theoretical framework may result to the development of hostilities between an individual and the organization that he or she works in. This is because the personal interest of an individual may conflict with the interests of the organization or company that they work in. Therefore, the best theoretical framework, that may conform to the interests of an organization is thee deontology theory (Gapper, 2005). According to this theoretical framework, an action is acceptable when it conforms to the rational duty of an individual. This means that the person, who is faced with an ethical dilemma, must choose an action that carter for the needs of the organization (Gapper, 2005). However, in my opinion, the best theoretical framework that can be used for purposes of solving an ethical dilemma, and improving the image of a company, or business organization, is the utilitarianism theory. This is because utilitarian theory helps an individual to make choices that best benefits the community (Donaldson, 2003). This means that when an employee is faced with an ethical dilemma, the action or activity that he or she will choose, will be the one which creates satisfaction to the wider society. This ethical theory best applies for organizations that are involved in an aggressive marketing campaign, and they seek to create a positive brand name. 6.0. Conclusion In conclusion, it is virtually impossible for any groups or organizations to succeed without proper management strategies. To effectively apply and use good management skills, there is a need of understanding the various theories of management. One of the classical theories of management is the scientific management theory. According to this theoretical framework, management is systematic, and it is made up of different processes, for purposes of achieving a common goal. This means that an organization is divided into various departments, and these departments are headed by managers who report to an overall head. The objectives and intentions of these departments is to meet the overall objective and aim of the organization. This theoretical framework supports the formation of groups, or working as a group, within an organization. This is because it is difficult to achieve the aims and objectives of an organization, without working as a group. The bureaucratic management theory is another classical theory that explains the relationships within a working place. This theoretical framework divides an organization to a series of hierarchies, and departmental heads. It is this theoretical framework that plays a role in the development of autocratic style of leadership. The modern theories of management, that helps in understanding the relationship of an organization with its stakeholders include, contingency theory, systems theory, and chaos theory. The chaos theory denotes that an organization is chaotic, and there is a need of controlling it. This is by developing strategies aimed at promoting cohesion and accountability within an organization. The development of ethical theories, to solve the ethical dilemmas is an example of how an organization can solve the various chaos depicted in it. The contingency theory on the other hand, is a rational theoretical approach, whereby managers must make a rational decision, factoring on every area that affects an organization, to make these decisions. Bibliography: Alvesson M & Willmott H (2003) Studying management critically, London: Sage Publications Anderson, M. (2007). "Why Are There So Many Theories?" a Classroom Exercise To Help Students Appreciate the Need for Multiple Theories of a Management Domain. Journal of Management Education, 757-776. Carneiro, A. (2004). Teaching management and management educators: Some considerations. Management Decision, 430-438. Daft, R. L. (2003) Management, (6th edition), Thomson South-Western Donaldson, L. (2002). Damned by Our Own Theories: Contradictions Between Theories and Management Education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 96-106. Donaldson, L. (2003). Neither Limitations Nor Process Theories Refute the Contradictions Between Theories and Management Education: Reply to Watson and Chiles. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 292-295. Champoux JE (2010) Organizational Behavior: Integrating Individuals, Groups, and Organizations, (4th ed) Hoboken : Taylor & Francis, (e-book) Cole, G. A. (2004) Management: Theory and Practice, (sixth edition), London: Thomson. Cunliffe A C (2009) A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about management, London: Sage Publications Fineman S, Gabriel Y & Sims D (2010) Organizing and Organizations (4th ed) London: Sage Gapper, J. (2005). Comment on Sumantra Ghoshals "Bad Management Theories Are Destroying Good Management Practices". Academy of Management Learning & Education, 101- 103. Grey C (2009) A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about studying organisations, (2nd ed) London: Sage Publications Grey C & Willmott (2005) (Eds) Critical management studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press Hayashi, M. (2002). A Historical Review of Japanese Management Theories: The Search for a General Theory of Japanese Management. Asian Business & Management, 189-207. Huczynski, A., and Buchanan, D. (2013) Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text (8th ed), Harlow: FT Prentice Hall Jackson B & Parry K (2011) A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about studying leadership, (2nd ed) London: Sage Publications Kirby, A. (2009). Management styles. BMJ, A2528-A2528. Knights D & Willmott H (2007) Introducing organisational behaviour and management, London: Thomson Martin J & Fellentz M (2010) Organizational Behaviour and Management, (4th ed) Cengage Learning EMEA Mosadeghrad, A. (2012). Towards a theory of quality management: An integration of strategic management, quality management and project management. International Journal of Modelling in Operations Management, 89-89. Mubarak, A. (2012). Knowledge Management and Management Accounting Decisions- Experimental Study. The Journal of Organizational Management Studies, 1-14. Mullins, L. J. (2013) Management and Organisational Behaviour (10th ed), Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Robbins SP (2005) Essentials of Organizational Behaviour, (8th ed) NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall Thompson P & McHugh D (2009) Work organisations: a critical introduction (4th ed), Basingstoke, Macmillan Press Tosi HJ (2011) Managing Organizational Behavior: Individuals, Teams, Organization and Management, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing (e-book) Watson TJ (2001) In Search of Management: Culture, Chaos and Control in Managerial Work (2nd ed) Harlow: Prentice Hall Watson TJ (2002) Organising and managing work: organisational, managerial, and strategic behaviour in theory and practice, Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall Watson TJ (2003) Sociology, work and industry, (4th ed), London: Routledge Wilson, F. M. (2004) Organizational Behaviour and Work: A Critical Introduction, Second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press Read More