BENJAMIN HUGGINS

II MANAGEMENT NOTES 2014 SEMESTER 2

REMEMBERMANAGING COMPETENCES

1. Leadership

2. Oral communication and presentation skills

3. Written communication

4. Planning and organizing

5. Information gathering and problem analysis

6. Decision making

7. Delegation and control

8. Self-objectivity

9. Disposition to a willingness & desire to lead

SCHOOLS OF THE MANAGEMENT THOUGHT

• classical approach

* the scientific approach (Gantt 1908)

* the administrative approach (Fayol 1916)

* bureaucracy (Max Weber)

* control systems (Taylor 1911)

* management functions (Church 1914)

• human resources approach

• quantitative approaches to management

• the systems perspective

• the contingency approach

• the information technology approach

THE CLASSICAL APPROACHSCIENTIFIC

• Focusing on the scientific methods to increase productivity

• Frederick Taylor is considered the father of the scientific management

• He use scientific analysis and experiments to increase worker output

• believed that prosperity of workers comes from increased productivity

• The heart of this approach is the cooperative work between management and the worker.

• Reducing job tasks.

• He was concerned about the input and output relationship

• From this were the principles of management evolved.

SOME CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH

Gilbreths

• Concerned about the motion study and work simplification

• Based on the principle that motion and fatigue are highly related

• Every motion reduced could reduce fatigue

Gantt

• Work scheduling and control, the Gantt Chart

• Relationship between the work planned or completed and the time elapsed on the other axis

• He believed that improved efficiency of an organisation resulted from the work methods of the manager, not sorely the worker

• Gantt set a standard wage but work above the standard was rewarded with a bonus.

H. Emerson

o His twelve principles of efficiency

o His basic principles were:

1. use of clearly defined jobs with use of objective & fact-based analysis.

2. Need for standard operations, conditions of work and schedules

3. The fair use if discipline

4. The need for accurate records and job-related instructions

5. The necessity of integrating all jobs into a whole

6. Rewards for workers to preform in an efficient manner

• The above were the main or basic six principles he came up with.

• He believed in the division of labour

• He advocated the clear use of clear statements of goals & objectives

• MAX WEBER AND BUREAUCRASY

• The term is used for inefficiency, inflexibility and red tape. The bureaucracies are supposedly unresponsive to people’s demands and changing environments.

• They are neither good nor bad but selective in different situations

Features of bureaucracy are:

• Tasks divided into very specialised jobs

• A set of rules is set and must be followed to ensure productivity

• A stable hierarchy of authority ensuring clear responsibility relationships

• Superiors take an impersonal attitude in dealing with subordinates

• Written rules, decisions and keeping of extensive files

• Specified qualifications for individuals holding office

• Employment and promotions based on merit, technical competence

• Lifelong employment and there is adequate protection of individuals

• The features above describe the degree to which an org can be said to be bureaucratic

• Weber designed it to come up with an ideal org providing maximum efficiency of operation over other types of orgs.

• It has these following advantages:

1. Precision 2. speed 3. unambiguity

4. Knowledge of files 5. continuity 6. discretion

7. Unity 8. strict subordination 9. reduction of friction

10. Reduction of material and personnel costs

• Unambiguity

• Discretion

• One important drawback of bureaucracy is that stressing efficiency, thus developing rigidities.

• Warren Bennis catalogued the criticisms of bureaucracy:

1. It does not take into account the informal relationships between individuals working in the org.

2. Its systems of control and authority are hopelessly outdated

3. Doesn't include the adequate means for resolving differences/conflicts

4. Hierarchical authority tends to lower communication process/ distort it

5. Its rules leave nothing for original or innovative behaviour

Fortunately, the managers can improve their bureaucratic mode or modify its assumptions about people and also by developing management styles open to factors in the environment.

THE ADMINISTRATIVE APPROACH

• Concerned with how orgs should be managed and structured

• Basic functions of management were developed here

1. FAYOL’S PRINCIPLES AND FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

a. Planning - forecast on future actions and directions

b. Organising - establish structure, tasks & responsibility

c. Commanding or Leading - directing subordinates

d. Controlling - evaluation of activities towards goals

• We discussed these in volume 1 of my notes.

• Moreover Fayol proposed other 14 principles that should guide and help managers solve problems.

• Some scholars argue that his principles lacked specificity

• He advocated for the managerial training to be introduced in schools

• He established the foundations of the managerial functions

THE HUMAN RESOURCES APPROACH

• Focuses on improving management via psychological makeup of people

• The need to understand people

• Human resources topics include:

1. leadership 2. motivation

3. communication 4. teamwork and

5. conflict

• Follett focused her attention on the importance of groups in managing people

• She argued that for productivity to increase then the managers should put more of their effort on the groups

• The HAWTHORNE STUDIES via experiments which were made brought others lessons, that people respond differently when they are tolerated, they perform better when they are the part of the program.

• Also that communication between workers is critical to managerial success

• THE HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT

• Grew from the Hawthorne studies proposing that workers respond primarily to the social context of the workplace, including social conditioning, group norms and interpersonal dynamics.

• Douglas McGregor and Abraham Maslow helped in the development of the human relations movement – Manager’s concern for workers.

• McGregor’s theory X and Y are of essence in representing the Human relations movement:

• THEORY X is a relatively negative view of workers and is consistent in the ways of the scientific approach

• THEORY Y is more positive and represents assumptions that human relations advocates make.

• THEORY X

• THEORY Y

1. People do not like work and try to avoid it

2. Because people do not like work, managers have to control, direct, coerce and threaten employees so that they do the work.

3. People prefer to be directed, to avoid responsibility, and to want security, they little ambition.

1. People do not naturally dislike work, it part of life to them

2. People are internally motivated to reach their goals or achievements to which they are committed.

3. People are committed to goals to the degree that they receive personal rewards when they reach their objectives

4. People with both seek and accept responsibility under favourable conditions

5. People have the capacity to be innovative in solving organisational problems.

6. People are bright but under organisational conditions their potentials are under-utilised.

• Maslow’s need Hierarchy developed by the psychologist Abraham Maslow

• This topic is usually discussed under motivation

• He suggested that humans are motivated by efforts to satisfy a hierarchy of needs, ranging from the basic needs to those for self-actualisation

• This helps the manager to keep his workers motivated

QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES

• This is usually referred to as Management science or Operations Research since it is based on the scientific methods

• This uses the scientific approach methods to make decisions e.g. statistics, linear programming, network analysis, decision trees, etc

• Taylor provided the foundations of the quantitative approach

• It helps managers solve complex problems that only common sense can not solve

• computers are used in this approach which can handle complex formulations and designing.

• Because of its proper decision making, this approach can help in the planning process, e.g. cost savings, revenue, return on investiment, and improved scheduling.

• examples of applications are industrial process plants designs

THE SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE

• This is the way of viewing problems more than it is a scientific approach to management

• It takes an org as a system or entity of related parts and in adjusting one part of the system all other entities can be effected.

• Another way of viewing is by taking an org as an open system that can interact with the environment

Systems

Thinking

• Actually there are two types of systems a. Open system is that which interacts with the environment and be influenced by it

b. Closed system is vice versa

The contingency perspective• classical, behavioural and quantitative approaches are said to be

universal perspective, identify one’s best way to manage organisations

• contingency perspective suggests that the universal perspective can not be applied since each organisation is unique.

• The management of an org depends on the current unique elements of the org situation.

• There are three characteristics of the contingency approach

• 1. open-system perspective 2. a practical research orientation

• 3. multivariate approach.

• An open system perspective - is the fundamental to primitive view. Contingency theorists have a need to consider external subsystems that can interact with the internal workings of an org.

• Practical research orientation – leads to more on-the-job management where the theorists attempt to translate their findings into tools and situational refinements for more effective management.

• Multivariate approach – is a research technique used to determine how a combination of variables interacts to cause a particular outcome. The variation variables include; morale as in human relations, employee’s personality, the nature of task, rewards, job and life’s satisfaction, etc. all of them account for the productivity of the org.

ATTRIBUTES OF EXCELLENCE: A Morden Unconventional Approach

• 1982 Thomas J. Peters and Robert H Waterman, In Search Of Excellence.

1. they attacked the conventional management theory and practice for being too conservative, rationalistic, analytical, unemotional, inflexible…

2. they replaced the conventional management terminology with catch phrases gleaned from successful managers.

3. they made their key points with stories and anecdotes.

The following are the 8 attributes of excellence.

i. A bias for action – small scale, easily managed experiments to build knowledge, interest and commitment. Managers stay visible and personally involved in all areas through active and spontaneous MBWA, ‘management by wandering around.’

ii. Close to customer – customer satisfaction is practically an obsession

iii. Autonomy and entrepreneurship – risk taking is encouraged and failure is tolerated.

Innovators are encouraged to ‘champion’ their pet projects to see them through completion. Flexible structure permits the formation of ‘stunk works’ (small teams of zealous innovators working on a special project). Lots of creative ‘swings’ are encouraged to ensure some ‘home runs’(successful products).

iv. Productivity through people – people are treated with respect and dignity. They are encouraged to have fun while getting something meaningful accomplished.

v. Hands-on, value driven – personal values are discussed openly, not buried. A clear company philosophy is disseminated and followed.

vi. Stick to the knitting – management sticks to the business it knows best and much emphasis on internal growth not mergers.

vii. Simple form, lean stuff – authority is decentralised as much as possible. Headquarters stuff are kept small; talent is pushed out into the field.

viii. Simultaneous loose-tight properties – tight overall strategic and financial control is counterbalanced by decentralised authority, autonomy and opportunities for creativity.