Management Theory Issues - Essay Example

Name: Tutor: Title: Essay on Management Theory Course Date: Essay on Management Theory Introduction The management philosophy applied in this scenario allows leaders to make important decisions without allowing the workers to take part. The autocratic or authoritarian style of management is the one that portrays the scenery which has been discussed in the statement. The workers want to be pushed before they do something constructive to the organization. This statement indicates that the subjects under management are used to being supervised before they do the right thing. In the absence of the authority, students drag their feet and feign stupidity, workers start rumors and engage in vandalism, and slaves ridicule and grumble. There are various management philosophies and management approaches that are used in organization in running their affairs (Tittemore, 2003). Delegative approach to management can be applied where the employees possess the desired skills that require little or no supervision during their work duty. The statement which is the subject of this essay indicates classes of subjects who need supervision most of the time since on their own, things can go in the wrong direction. This portrays a situation where individuals possess less skills and hence they need supervision throughout their life in the organization because when they are left on their own they engage in unproductive activities such as ridiculing, vandalism, engaging in rumors, students feign stupidity and drag their feet. If such crop of workers is not supervised, their work can be subversive to the organization. Such an environment that requires constant supervision needs autocratic kind of leadership. In participative or democratic management approach, the leaders make the last decisions, but they incorporate team members in the process of decision making. They motivate members to be creative and members get involved in decisions and projects. The members become highly satisfied since they take part in the decision making process. The process of making decision is slow since the members are involved in the process (Frey et al, 2009). Contingency approach in management is founded on the basis that there is no a particular way of planning and managing organizations. Managers have to look for ways of directing and leading people in the organization. The best structure for an organization is not obvious and takes a lot of experimentation to settle on the best structure that is functional for the organization (Zaccaro, 2007). The environment within which the organization operates determines the particular management approach that will be applied. In autocratic management style managers are the ones that make vital decisions and closely control and supervise workers. The workers can hardly do the right thing without the supervision of their managers. The managers cannot trust workers and have to give orders which have to be obeyed by the workers. This kind of approach comes from the view portrayed by Taylor in the motivation of workers and is connected to McGregor theory x concerning of workers. This approach has its own setbacks as shown other theorists like Herzberg and Mayo but is very effective in certain settings. The style is important when decisions have to be made quickly without involving everybody in the organization. The management approach is very important where a large number of workers who are low skilled are being controlled. The workers are given very little chance to make their own decisions that will affect the company. It is believed that the subject do not possess the necessary foresight and insight to discern the best path to be followed. When workers are left behind they will tend to engage in activities that are not constructive to the organization (Foti & Hauenstein, 2007). Here is the situation where workers engage in ridicule and vandalism when the senior managers are not around. This means that instruction have to be given out throughout to avoid cases of this workers making a stupid mistake that affect the organization in the organization. Close supervision and firm decision making can be achieved through autocracy leadership style. Autocratic style of management is a combination of erroneous mindset and actions that normal reinforce the internal belief or philosophy. Participatory style can be used where everyone is aware of what is expected of him. Students can only work when there is supervision and they tend to engage in mischief when the supervision is removed. In autocratic management style the manager is in charge of making decisions and without consulting subordinates. Consequently, decisions which are made will revolve around the personality and opinions of the manager. Some of the subordinates who feel that they are mature enough to make decisions may feel suffocated with autocratic leadership style (Spence-Laschinger et al, 2004). Competent subordinates see autocratic approach to management as infringing to their basic right of expressing themselves and making sound decisions. The autocratic leaders always fear that the subordinates will make a wrong decision and hence they give orders of what should be done and what should be avoided. Since the subjects are viewed as being less skilled, they are told what is expected of them and how they have to accomplish their duties. The leader does not have to seek the advice of their followers when it comes to making important decisions (Judge et al, 2002). This kind of management style or approach is good where leaders possess the necessary information of doing a particular job and they do not have to consult their subject. Most of the time autocratic management approach is applied in situations where the subjects lack the needed skills to make their own decisions that will improve the welfare of the organization. When the workers acquire enough skills to handle work presented to them they can be managed using a different style of management. An autocratic leader wants to maintain control on major decisions of the organization and requires very little or no input from the subject being led by him. The autocratic or authoritarian leader wants to control the flow of information within the organization. The authoritarian leader has to be good at making decisions. When the subjects are left alone they may engage in subversive and unconstructive activities that do not add value to the organization. The students drag their feet because they are not happy with what they are doing and are not passionate concerning their duties and assignment (Sternberg, 2002). McGregor theory X has a negative view of workers. In this perspective subjects are seek as disliking work and looking for any slight opportunity to avoid work. In this respect people have to controlled, coerced, directed, or threatened using punishment in order to make them attain the objectives of the organization. In this perspective, the people have to be directed and they hardly want to take responsibility, and they possess very low degree for ambition. In the context of McGregor theory X, people would want to get security above any other person (Montana, Patrick & Bruce, 2008). The autocratic management style seems to view workers in the respect of McGregor’s theory X. Subjects in authoritarian style of management provides an opportunity for the leaders to offer the best leadership without being questioned. The leader tolerates very little opposition from the people being led. The workers have to be enticed before they engage in some constructive work. The leader expects the subject to follow his instructions without raising objection. When the leader or the supervisor is not around, the subject or the people being led feel that they are time to breathe and engage in some mischief to break away from the normal monotony. Work is not embraced or cherished, when the workers have sometime of freedom they engage in activities that are not adding value to the organization (Grandy, 2004). The perspective of an autocratic leader is that workers have to be controlled and pushed around before thy do the right thing. From the statement, workers start a rumor and engage vandalism of the organization property. This shows that workers or the subject being led cannot hesitate to use any slight chance of freedom to engage in their own pleasure. Responsible students cannot engage in feigning stupidity or dragging their fit just to get on the nerves of their leader or their supervisor. Competent and passionate workers cannot start rumors and vandalize property when they are left on their own. The class or workers who have low skills need constant supervision to direct them in the right thing they should engage in. the situation portrayed by the statement means that the leader has to be autocratic in order to achieve his objectives. The organizational goals cannot be achieved where workers are not passionate and motivated. The authoritarian leaders desire to see that the workers do what is useful to the company or the organization. As the workers acquire more skills through future training and interaction they are legible to be given some space of decision making according to the discretion of the leader in charge (Tagger, Hackett & Saha, 1999). Autocratic management style in important since it allows for decisions to be made faster. Participative management style is time consuming since all the subjects have to be consulted in case of major decisions being made. Some circumstances may not allow for those consultations to be done due to lack of enough time. Some investment decisions have to be made swiftly in order to cash on the window period before the business becomes unprofitable (Antonakis, Cianciolo & Sternberg, 2004). In authoritarian management, the leaders have to be very keen when delegating chores to the subjects. The organization cannot trust less skilled workers to take part in making of major decisions. In the long run, the less skilled workers gain confidence and learn how to handle chores or duties on their own (Hersey et al, 2008). Individuals being managed using authoritarian or autocratic style of management crave for security. Motivation and ambition are of low level in such a case. There are needs which have to be met before the subjects feel confident to tackle a piece of work without direction from the leader. Training and empowerment can be used to enhance confidence among the workers. Autocratic management approach has both advantages and disadvantages Advantages of autocratic/authoritarian management style There are situations where authoritarian leadership has been used to give the best results. During stressful and emergency situations authoritarian leaders are more effective as compared to any other form of leadership. Such environment creates confusion and many people do not know what to do and hence an authoritarian leader provides the needed direction. Group projects also have shown the possibility of being accomplished faster when authoritarian management style is applied (Miner, 2005). In authoritarian leaders the decision making process is fast and the organization can take advantage of any opportunity that arise before other competitors come in. consultation is time consuming and members can debate one issue over a long time. An authoritarian leader provides the much needed direction to the rest of the team members. The leadership style is effective where low skilled workers are involved. Effective supervision is also attained through authoritarian kind of leadership (Spillane, 2004). High volume of production can be achieved through this form of leadership or style of management. Workers are obedient and willing to follow instructions given. When an area was initially poorly management, authoritarian management can easily revise the chances of high input of growth. Disadvantages authoritarian/autocratic management Most of the time despite its benefits, autocratic leadership is seen as something or management style that is undesirable. The management style enhances one sided conversation and hence the skills and creativity of the employees are underdeveloped. This leads to low cases of innovation within the organization. The leader has the high possibility of exploiting his subjects. Autocratic style of management has led to development of tyrannical regimes in the world which saw people brutalized. In some cases employees are fired unnecessarily due to them having divergent decisions. The restrictions on the employees hinder their growth and therefore retard the growth of the organization. Socializing and workplace communication can be negatively be affected by authoritarian form of management. The workers are not free to communicate with the management and the management is not willing to listen to the workers save for giving instructions (Drach-Zahavy, 2004). Workers are not allowed to question any move and those who try are seen as being disrespectful. Conflicts and disagreement easily come up in this form of leadership. Many dictators used this form of leadership to suppressing dissenting voices within their regimes. The leadership or management style cannot be used where employees have grown to be tense and resentful. This can easily culminate into a revolution. Conclusion In conclusion, it is worth noting that most theories perceive management as grounded in a one or more of the leadership perspectives: It is a process or a relationship, it is an amalgamation of various traits and personalities and lastly, it has certain behaviors commonly known as skills. In almost all the leading theories there exists perceptions that to some extent, leadership and management entails influence with the people towards the actualization of the set objectives. Each leader has to find his/her own approach based on personality and the type and needs of the company. This is the reason why it is not easy to judge one theory of management as the best and the most ultimate. Nevertheless, each company needs to get the most suitable leadership or management style. It is also recommended to that the company adapts to the changing situations. Bibliography Drach-Zahavy, A., 2004, The Proficiency Trap: How to Balance Enriched Job Designs and the Team's Need for Support. Journal of Organizational Behavior 25 (8): 97997. Grandy, A., 2004, Emotions at Work: Theory, Research and Applications for Management. Human Relations, 57(10): 1351356. Spence-Laschinger, H.K., J.E. Finegan, J. Shamian, & P. Wilk, M., 2004, A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Workplace Empowerment on Work Satisfaction. Journal of Organizational Behavior 25 (4): 52744. Judge, T.A., Bono, J.E., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M.W., 2002, Personality and leadership: A qualitative and quantitative review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87: 765-780. 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