Implementation of Appropriate Management Methods in Managing Workforce - Literature review Example

Implementation of appropriate management methods, organisational structures and organisational cultures in managing workforce Introduction In today’s dynamic and intensely competitive business environment, the challenge of creating and sustaining a competitive advantage lies in deploying appropriate management structures, and developing an organisational culture with management practices that can stimulate and incite behaviors and attitudes among the work force that can benefit the organisational performance. Furthermore, proper fit between the business environment and the organization’s internal structure, culture, and management practices is an essential aspect of business success. This is why organisations cannot apply same principles of management and same organisational structures constantly over the years. As the demands of internal and external environments change, so should the management thinking, the organisational structures and the organisational cultures, adapting to the changing environment. Evolution of Management Perspectives While the world experienced eras of agrarian age, industrial age, post industrial age and currently the information age, organisational management adjusted and adopted new concepts and practices of management. Starting with classical management theories in the 1910s to the global management theories of the 21st century, these changes took place in response to the type of skills needed and demanded by the markets; the technological changes taking place; the political and legislative developments, and the cultural convergence taking place across the world. There are however, those organisations that still remain static and less responsive to the environment may rely on classical management practices, and mechanistic organisational structures. Classical Management Theories and their Applicability Fredrick W Taylor’s “The Principles of scientific management” and Henry Feyol’s “Principles of Management” are the two seminal works that founded the classical management school during the 1911 period (Weisse, 2000). Within the Classical management framework, “the employees are viewed as a function of the physical workplace and were studied in a systematic way” (Weisse 2000, 8). The Classical management theory focused on dividion of work and specialization as well as the authority and subordination where discipline was exercise through unity of command reflected by hierarchical structures. Management was best deemed to be centralized and the top down instruction flow was advocated by classical school. Such management thinking was a turning point at an era where mechanization of production and large scale manufacturing had just been introduced to the business world. It is quite probable that the concepts of Classical management views were practical with a workforce that had average formal education levels of just 8 years. Need for Change in Management and Structure However, with the changes in market place and globalization sweeping across the entire world, the modern organisations face different sets of demands. The knowledge era has far different concepts of employment than the industrial era in which the Classical management theories were espoused. Today, knowledge and innovation are considered the most important of organisational currency and these reside within the workforce. To tap such knowledge and innovation, the management methods, organisational structures and the organisational cultures should adjust considerably from static, mechanistic structures of classical era to organic and dynamic structures. Effective Managerial Practices, Organisational Structures Scholars readily agree that employee commitment is the most potent competitive driver an organisation can develop for pursuing its objectives. Harnessing employee commitment involves creating an environment, which allows for autonomy and achievement. Flexibility among the workforce is critical for developing lean and effective organisational structures which is critical for organisational excellence (Peters & Waterman 1990). Today’s organisations need to alter their organisational structures to be High performance work teams and matrix structures that allow for cross functional multi tasking. Managers today are no longer to be dictators and supervisors as advocated by the Classical theorists. They are to be mentors and guides who develop and nurture employee creativity and innovation. This is recognized as one of the key management strategies for achieving breakthrough innovation and sustaining the learning potential. Need for New Approaches to Organisational Culture Creating an organisational culture that promotes and sustains the desired managerial outlook is also a prerequisite for success in business. Such a culture promotes values that uphold employee autonomy, creativity and valuing employees as assets. According to Peter Senge (1990), the new age management strategies should provide the work force with lots of learning opportunities, if flexibility, multi tasking, agile responses and ground breaking creative solutions are expected from employees. This is where training programs, HR development, mentoring and learning facilitation should be rewarded and encouraged, along with job expansion, delegation, autonomy and accountability should gear up to the changing demands from management function. Case Study Examples of Private and Public Sector In his book, In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters speaks how successful companies optimize their human capital’s autonomy & entrepreneurship through fostering innovation and nurturing champions and secondly productivity through people (Peters & Waterman 1990). For example, companies as 3M which is placed at the forefront of innovation, capitalizes on its employee creativity and promotes it through policies as the “15% rule” allowing time for pursuing personal projects of innovation. Another case study example for private sector success in managing cultural, managerial and structural practices is the Google Inc. Google culture and managerial practices give the employees great autonomy, flexibility and caring. The unique culture of this company is well known and considered “crazy” yet, the flat structures and promotion of innovation has helped Google to become the number one in search engine and web application industry . If we consider the public sector, most of these organisations remain highly mechanistic, less responsive and saddled with layers and layers of hierarchical authority. The red tape procedures and slow decision making results as there is little delegation and encouragement of innovation and creativity among employees. Public firms as Dixon Ticonderoga, the largest pencil manufacturer in US is an example of firms that lost its market shares dramatically for failing to adopt responsive structures and managerial outlooks in the 1990s but succeeded to alter its downward trends with new approaches to management. Another public sector example is the case study of The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) that realized the need for creating proper managerial and organisational structure to be better responsive to the changing market demands and business environment. Public and Private Sector Approach towards corporate social responsibility and business ethics Today, the corporate social responsibility and social performance of companies are in the forefront of corporate concerns. Given the interlinked and interdependent nature of the relationship which corporate entities have with the society in which it exists, there is a need for businesses to contribute towards social prosperity. Social responsibility is related to the “the social performance of an organization which comprise of the relations of the organization with its clients and with other stakeholder (Hockerts & Morsing, 2008). The Corporate Social Responsibility of organisations involves self regulation and voluntary undertakings of social contributions towards various stakeholders. If we were to compare the approach towards corporate social responsibility and business ethics of public sector with private sector, there is interesting observations that can be made. The businesses should be driven by a morals code of business ethics and make it a part of organisational creed and culture. It has to be integrated into the overall organisational existence. Pressure for CSR Performance Reviewing literature, not much reference was identified in the expectations of corporate social responsibility in Public sector organisations. Since the public sector organisations are owned and operated by the state, there is a probably an unwritten halo of proper and ethical conduct surrounding public sector firms. The explanation is that since State is mostly responsible for the legislature and overseeing of regulatory role of the corporate sector, public sector organisations owned and operated by the State is seen as likely to perform with the public’s best interest and unlikely to commit unethical acts. Therefore, the pressure of corporate social performance and ethical behavior mainly falls on the private sector which has driven many of the private corporate to undertake CSR as one of the core issues within their corporate priorities. Private Sector Case Studies of CSR and Ethical Behavior One case study of private sector excellence in upholding and practicing CSR and business ethics is Hewlett-Packard Company which is recognized for its social responsibility through many awards and accolades over the year. The social performance of HP is driven by a well strategized Global Citizenship program which engages the HP supply chain, drives how the company develops new products, runs its operations and engages with stakeholders. From environmental concerns to educational grants to developing country students, and help in social infrastructure development projects, HP’s CSR activities are wide spread. Dupont, a world leader in chemicals and related products, is surprisingly one of the most acclaimed corporate entities today for its CSR efforts. IN a time where there is a heightened concerns of impact of chemicals on environment, Dupont has set its own standards for environmental and emission reductions, which far exceeds compliance levels. From being branded as “America’s biggest polluter” by Greenpeace org. in 1988, the company has come a long way today to achieve recognition for its extensive CSR performance in global health, safety and the environment. Public Sector Examples of CSR Initiatives Despite not being pressurized as much as the private sector entities, public sector too is now moving forward to promote their CSR performance. Few examples are the National Health Services (NHS) of UK’s Primary Care Trust Project aiming to increase access and the quality of health care being made available to ‘minority’ groups such as the Asians and Africans. Another example can be cited in the case study of Learning & Skills Council (LSC) in UK, which initiated a training program that aims to inculcate and embed sustainability in to everyday behavior and attitudes of employees in the public sector (In-Organisation Social Marketing For Sustainability, 2010). These examples indicate that public sector too is opening up to the needs for aggressive promotion and adaptation of CSR practices and ethical business behaviors. References: Csr Case Study – September 2010 In-Organisation Social Marketing For Sustainability. Retrieved from http://www.article13.com/CBI/CSR%20case%20study_LSC_Sept2010.pdf Hockerts, K and M. Morsing. 2008. Literature Review on Corporate Social Responsibility in the Innovation Process. Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Center for Corporate Social responsibility. Peters, T. J. & Waterman, R.H. Jr. 1982, In Search of Excellence, Harper & Row Publishers Inc., New York. Weiss, J.W. (2001) Organisational Behavior & Change, 2nd ed. Ohio: South-Western Collage Publishing. Read More