Summary/Management - Article Example

Although it may be impossible to determine the optimum marketing mix, it is usually within the realm of reason to develop logical, adequate, coordinated programs. Thus, management theory is not a perfect one hiding many weaknesses and musings for a modern organization. The author singles out ten of them. The first musing is that "organizations don't have tops and bottoms" (p. 61). In real life, they have outer people connected with the world and inner managers whose duty is to connected inner and outer employees with each other.

Every organization is limited by its organizational structure: the bottom management, the central management and top management. The second musing is that: "It is time to delayer the delayeters" (p. 62). In reality, organizations just remove some layers from one level to another but unable to change every aspect of work. The change mix pivots on planned, focused, and controlled activity dedicated to the satisfaction of customer wants and needs at a profit. The third problem is: "Lean is mean and doesn't even improve long-term profits" many organizations fail to meet objectives and effective firing practices relying on old fashioned systems of employment and career development.

The forth problem is a belief in top management and its unique strategic vision. "The trouble with most strategies ate chief executives who believe themselves to be strategists" (p. 63). It was found that many modern top executive do not have knowledge and skills to create strategies and identify growth opportunities for the company. Many middle managers are better strategists but they have no chance to prove their skills and management expertise. the fifth problem deals with organizational structure: "Decentralization centralizes, empowerment disempowers, and measurement doesn't measure up" ().

modern managers trying to improve strategic position of the company, are obsessed with ideas of TQM and innovativeness. In many cases, they try to change and redesign organizations applying popular concepts and ideas without preliminarynary analysis or evolution. "As a consequence of all this (dc)ccntralizing and |de)layering, measurement has emerged as the religion of management" (p. 64). The sixth musing is that many organizations are created by great leaders but fail to keep these great leaders.

Organizational development depends upon a leader and his strategic vision. Where the elements of the system are independent businesses, a company's management often cannot directly influence the behavior of organizational units. Indirect influences must be used, and these make control less sure, leadership less autocratic, and frustration more certain. The next musing is that: "Great organizations have souls; any word with a de or a re in front of it is likely to destroy those souls. educated" (p. 65). In means that many companies fail to adopt new techniques and methods of management because of inadequate strategies and goals.

What is best for the total system, or even one part of it, need not be best for another segment. A major problem in the organizing activities is getting independent agents to coordinate their efforts to develop a more effective system. The eighth problem is conventional M.B.A. programs. Lack of practical knowledge and skills limit organizational potential and growth opportunities of a company. Universities give only theoretical knowledge but deprive managers a chance to study real life problems.

The next musing