Practical Applications of Management Theories - Coursework Example

Running Head Practical Applications of Management Theories Practical Applications of Management Theories Introduction Successful performance and profitability of every organization depends upon effective use of resources and management tools which help to increase productivity. Management theory can provide categorizations for the manager to be able to select and adapt from past learning to meet current needs and conditions. Management development is derived from a combination of management theory and practice, and learning theory. There is no standard mix used in design of management development programs. The management theory selected for analysis is Deming's management theory of profound knowledge. This theory views organization as a system of different components which help to accomplish the goals of the system. Application of Deming's Theory In general, a management theory is useful if it helps managers to understand relationships within organization. Furthermore, theory tends to simplify complex relationships by removing from consideration variables thought to be of lesser concern, in order to permit focusing on the variables of greater interest. Following Hoopes (2003): "some corporation prospered more than others, accumulating capital that in onrushing era of heavy industry created a new kind of special privilege, privilege of owing" (1). This statement can make it easier to understand cause/effect and other relationships among variables. It can help managers increase the accuracy and usefulness of predictions with respect to the variables. According to Deming (1986) "Management in any form is prediction" (cited Scherkenbach 1991, p. 7) managers have to act on the best knowledge they have to get anything done. This knowledge enables them to predict with approximate certainty that their efforts will pay off. Therefore managers must assiduously gather that knowledge that best enables organization to predict the outcomes of efforts that ensure success. And managers must do all they can to ensure that everyone in an organization acts in concert on the best knowledge. The organization's management needs are to design, develop and maintain a system through coordinated activities in which individuals and groups of people work cooperatively under leadership towards commonly understood and accepted goals. Building bureaucracy transferred power from subordinates to superiors (Hoopes 2003). Deming's theory allows organization to reach the desired goals and coordinate all activities in the best possible manner. Deming's theory is often connected with quality management and quality control. The Deming's theory is based on 14 principles which help organizations to improve the current and future performance. It is possible to say that this open and dynamic approach avoids the error of the other theorists, who thought of organizations as closed systems and analyzed their problems with reference to their internal structures and processes of interaction, without taking account either of external influences and the changes they impose or of the technology in the organization (Scherkenbach 1991). Deming's theory best meets organization needs because to helps to maximize productivity and reduce operational costs. For instance, "inspection," writes Deming, "does not improve quality and is costly and ineffective" (cited Scherkenbach 1991, p. 45). Quality does not come from inspection by management of everything that workers do (an unrealistic and impossible task anyway). Mass inspection by a principal, for example, is unwieldy and time-consuming. Moreover, it promotes complacency by establishing management-determined standards for employees rather than allowing them to establish and work toward their own standards in areas in which they have expertise. Mass inspection is antithetical to the belief that people will strive to do high-quality work where trust exists. This does not mean that there is no place for quality control, nor does it rule out peer assessment for the purpose of improvement. Deming's theory allows organization to react to changes in internal and external environment and meets its organizational needs. On the other hand, circumstances and conditions are forever changing, which challenge or call into question the knowledge or theory managers currently embrace and act on. Deming points out that "a single unexplained failure of a theory requires modification or even abandonment of the theory" (cited Scherkenbach 1991, p. 47). Managers must accept, even anticipate, new knowledge that requires them to modify management theories if they hope to optimize processes and achieve excellence. Knowledge comes from managing employees in ways that encourage them to monitor and inspect their own work and from teaching them to do better, both as individuals and as teams. These factors allow organizations to improve bottom-line effectiveness and improve service and product quality. By adding participation to the quality control ideas of Deming, the invented the quality control circle, production workers learn statistical techniques recommended by Deming. With managers they formed groups of about ten. Following Hoopes (2003): "client's expressed need-all are one time problem-solving problem solving factories" (p. 13). Applying this statement to Deming's teaching, it is possible to say that quality control becomes the best solution to satisfy a customer and increase productivity. The task of organizations and management is to meet demands and quality expectations of customers, so Deming's theory allows employees to concentrate on quality control, production and design improvement, cost reduction, and sometimes on safety promotion. A Change Management Initiative The main factors which need to be considered in a change management initiative involve new philosophy and control, cooperation and knowledge sharing. Numerous research studies prove that the cost-effectiveness can be achieved in manufacturing and service delivery spheres (Scherkenbach 1991; Schoonover, 1993; Maccoby, 1991; Manuele, 2000). The change stage in management development consists of a planned set of activities designed to define the problem, opportunity, or characteristic to be changed; to explore possibilities and develop a number of possible alternatives; to evaluate these on the basis of more or less agreed upon criteria; and to come to an agreement with both of the other two stages. It is highly desirable to recognize these and to use them appropriately. Following Hoopes (2003): "by teaching managers to share power with subordinates, Deming had supposedly brought sweetness and light to Japanese factories" (224). In practical application of the change process, group programs go beyond these to include feedback seminars, conflict resolution practice, as well as research activities to increase information and problem solving. Some of the activities are designed to develop the desired course of action with respect to the presenting situation (Boardman 1994). Others are focused on intragroup relationships and other group characteristics as part of change. The incorporation of the new change into the stable set of managerial behaviors and organizational characteristics is the objective of the entire process. Special cause variations reflect more profound differences. Rather, in the spirit of recognizing people's basic interest in doing quality work, the special cause simply becomes a subject of study, an opportunity to see how performance can be improved (Handy, 1996). Change can sometimes be accomplished from a sequence of successive knowledge sharing. knowledge sharing, however, calls for more than trial and error. It requires structured analysis of cause and effect and the identification of common elements in the successive experiences (Mintzberg et al 2003). Each of the stages must be designed and conducted to contain a psychological safety net to allow managers to deal with the anxieties which stem from re-examining and changing their behavior and from the risk of adverse feedback from their role sets. The most important of these are: managers should have input into the program design; education and training alone cannot motivate managers to change their behavior significantly (Hoopes, 2003). There must be positive external supports and incentives for the change. These may be structural, reward system, or group change processes. Management development objectives, content, processes, and learning are most effective when they are individualized and aligned with individual learning styles. Learning is more effective and useful when management development focuses on concrete competencies (Schoonover, 1993). Mechanizing and specializing jobs restrict the discretion of those on the bottom of the organization and expand the power of those on top. Deming's theory could help to reduce the costs of wages and training, since using semiskilled workers minimize the costs of turnover even without lowering its rate. In addition, lowering and homogenizing skill levels improve the bargaining power of management. It engenders a labor surplus that makes workers dependent on employers and imposes the discipline of the reserve army of the unemployed. Homogenization in skill is accompanied by stratification in status and income, a system that rewards workers for their seniority and subservience, not to mention their sex, race, and ethnicity (Scherkenbach 1991). Specializing tasks, moreover, make it easier to measure individual performance against organizational standards and to motivate workers through productivity-based wages. And finally, homogenized and standardized jobs help to simplify the functions of management to the point that some managers come to believe they are scientists applying general principles to specific cases. Recommendations for Adopting the Theory Deming's theory can be successfully applied to modern organizations helping managers to increase productivity and improve performance through new philosophy and quality control. The main factors which need to be considered are: (1) A democratic, collegial atmosphere should prevail in organization. Ideas should be shared in a setting that recognizes and supports ongoing data collection and assessment. All decisions and practices should be information-driven; facts, reasoning, and evidence, not power or authority or personality, should determine practice and govern decision making. (2) Management should eliminate threat, encourage continuous improvement, and recognize and use the expertise that employees have acquired in their jobs. This expertise, combined with the best research, should be the basis for practice. To encourage this, management must allow time for study, reading, and discussion about best practices in order to compare them against what is currently being done. (3) Improvement must become an obsession that employees thrive on. This can occur only when management makes every effort to enhance employees' capabilities as well as the quality of their lives through training, trust, and professional respect. (4) Leadership is not supervision but rather finding ways to help workers to improve. Management must employ objective methods to find out who needs what kind of help. Leadership, for Deming, consists of enabling employees to find joy in doing quality work. (5) Trust and communication between management and employees ensures efficiency and constancy of purpose. And the elimination of fear is essential to the trust that must obtain for such communication to occur (Scherkenbach 1991). In spite of the fact that Deming's theory is criticized for the lack of realism, practical applications of his theory proved its vitality and effectives for the organizations (Schoonover, 1993; Maccoby, 1991; Manuele, 2000). In organizations, management must systematically remove anything that interferes with the pride people take in their work - the most vital but intangible element of quality and improvement. Deming's philosophy is based on his conviction that people's desire to do good work and improve is largely intrinsic. Poor performance is not a result of laziness or irresponsibility but rather of management's inadequacy at dispelling fear and at finding ways to ensure that employees are allowed to and equipped to do their best work. Management must be sensitive and responsive in this regard (Hoopes, 2003). While all of researchers stress the importance of making major changes, there is relatively little pressure to do so at the low organizational level. All this must be conducted in an atmosphere where trust prevails and fear is dispelled, where employees are encouraged to take risks and ask tough questions, where the best knowledge and research guides teaching and learning. Even as managers confront problems and deficiencies, management's role is be helpful, to serve, and to ensure that all employees take pride and joy in their efforts. Every employee must be considered a resource, a source of knowledge and an agent of improvement (Maccoby, 1991). These elements, in combination, will create the vital sense of purpose that is essential to quality and improvement. There has to be a management conversion, a deliberate departure from conventional management). The new management must empower employees by cultivating and respecting their individual and collective expertise. Everyone in the organization must adopt the new philosophy, basing decisions on facts and data rather than on opinions. Adopting the new philosophy calls for a new relationship between management and employees, one in which all decisions and improvement efforts are based on expertise, rather than on authority. Everyone in the organization must constantly be looking for ways to reduce waste and improve quality, to save time, and to promote achievement. Management must relentlessly eliminate anything that inhibits risk taking, collaboration, and improvement. References 1. Boardman, Th. J. The Statistician Who Changed the World: W. Edwards Deming, 1900-1993. The American Statistician, 48 (6), 1994 2. Handy, C. (1996). Gods of management: The changing work of organizations. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 3. Hoopes, J. (2003). False prophets: The gurus who created modern management and why their ideas are bad for business. Cambridge, MA: Perseus. 4. Maccoby, M. (March 1991). Productivity with a Human Face. Long Practiced in Japan, the Management Ideas of Edward Deming Are Finally Starting to Catch on Here Too. Washington Monthly, 23 (3), 55-60. 5. Manuele, F.A. (October 2000). Behavioral Safety: Looking beyond the Worker. Occupational Hazards 62 (10), 86. 6. Mintzberg, H., Lampel, J., Quinn, J. B., & Ghoshal, S. (2003). The strategy process - concepts, contexts, cases. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. 7. Scherkenbach, William W. Deming's Road to Continual Improvement. Knoxville, Tenn.: SPC Press, 1991. 8. Schoonover, J. (October 1993). What's the Key to Quality Control Security Management, 37 (5), 112. Read More