Mare Parker Follett - Research Paper Example

Mary Parker Follett Number and of the MARY PARKER FOLLETT Mary Parker Follett remains widely remembered for her various contributions in the field of industrial management, leadership and labor relations. She dedicated her life to a number of scholarly works in management and leadership. Despite having died almost a century ago, her contributions have remained inspirational for the modern theorists and to a large extent still relevant in to the modern management and labor relation. Biographical Information Mary Parker Follett was born on September 3, 1868 in the small town of Quincy, Massachusetts.

She attended Braintree’s Thayer Academy in Massachusetts. It is in this academy that her later ideas were inspired by one of her teachers. In 1885, September, Follett enrolled for studies at Society to Encourage Studies at Home in Anna Ticknor (Soylent Communications Para 1). She also studied at Radcliffe College, although she was on and off the college and graduated later in 1898. She sought to pursue her doctorate degree in Harvard, but was denied on grounds that she was a woman. Follett began her work in Roxbury in 1900 as a volunteer social worker.

She was later to hold a number of prestigious and highly coveted leadership positions, including: being the chair person of the Women's Municipal League Committee on Extended Use of School Buildings (1908), being the vice president of the National Community Center Association (1917). She also founded or contributed in opening a number of social and educational institutions , including the East Boston High School Social Center and many other Boston social centers . Contribution to the Field of Management Mary Parker Follett pioneered a number of theories relating to organizational behavior, industrial management, organizational theory and conflict management which she communicated through her books, articles, speeches and essays.

She criticized the idea of over managing the employees in an organization (bossism), a process currently called micromanaging. Follett emphasized that managing an organization was like a mechanical system that would only be successful if there is an effective relationship between the management and the workers (Graham, 1995). She also offered a holistic approach to leadership and management, defining a leader as one who sees the whole, rather than one who sees just a particular aspect of an organization.

She was also the pioneer theorist to integrate conflict resolution into the management theory, which is currently considered a vital component of organizational theory. With regards to power relations, Follett advocated for participative decision making and admonished coercive power relations. She coined the terms "power-with" and "power-over" , in order to distinguish between participative decision making (power-with ) and coercive power ( power –over), , indicating how the former can be greater and more effective than the latter.

In her view, genuine power always appeals to the rules, not through coercion, but through manipulation by diplomacy (Parker, 1984). Conclusion Mary Parker Follett died in 1933. A number of her theories remain very relevant to organizational theory, organization behavior, theory and management. The currently popular concept of delegation is a reflection of her power-with concept (Parker, 1984). Similarly, a number of corporate systems are now resorting to a more participatory decision making, with even the diction making organs having representative from various stakeholders, including workers.

This is an effort to reduce bossism and to arrive at participative decision making. References Graham, P. (Ed). (1995).Mary Parker Follett: Prophet of Management . Boston: Haravad Business School Press, Parker, D.L. (1984). Control in Organization Life: The Contibutions of Mary Parker Follet. Academy of Management Review, (9), 736-745. Soylent Communications . (2011). Mary Parker Follett: Profile. Retrieved from http://www.nndb.com/people/773/000196185/