Week 2 Flashcards
Classical approach to management
There are three major branches within the classical approach to management: scientific management, administrative management and bureaucratic management. The figure shows that the branches all share a common assumption: people at work act in a rational manner that is driven mainly by economic concerns. Workers are expected to rationally consider opportunities made available to them and do whatever is necessary to achieve the greatest personal and monetary gain.
Scientific management
Scientific management emphasises careful selection and training of workers and supervisory support. The four guiding action principles are develop, select, train, support
Develop
Develop for every job a ‘science’ that includes standardised work processes and proper working conditions
Select
Carefully select workers with the right abilities for the job
Train
Carefully train and incentivise workers
Support
Support workers with carefully planned work
Behavioural approaches to management
The behavioural approaches maintain that people are social and self-actualising. People at work are assumed to seek satisfying social relationships, respond to group pressures and search for personal fulfilment.
The Hawthorne studies
In 1924, the ‘Hawthorne Studies’ had a scientific management perspective and sought to determine how economic incentives and the physical conditions of the workplace affected the output of workers. It seemed reasonable to expect that better lighting would improve performance. After failing to find this relationship, however, the researchers concluded that unforeseen ‘psychological factors’ somehow interfered with their illumination experiments.
Elton Mayo
In 1927, Harvard’s Elton Mayo (an Australian psychologist) began more research to examine the effect of worker fatigue on output. Researchers failed to find any direct relationship between changes in physical working conditions and output. Productivity increased regardless of the changes made which is now known to be due to the strengthening of social support networks.
The Hawthorne studies and human relations
The Hawthorne studies showed that people’s feelings, attitudes and relationships with co-workers should be important to management, and they recognised the importance of the work group. They also identified the Hawthorne effect
The Hawthorne effect
the tendency of people who are singled out for special attention to perform as anticipated merely because of expectations created by the situation.
What did the Hawthorne studies contribute to
The Hawthorne Studies contributed to the emergence of the human relations movement. This movement was largely based on the viewpoint that managers who used good human relations in the workplace would achieve productivity. Furthermore, the insights of the human relations movement set the stage for what has now evolved as the field of organisational behaviour, the study of individuals and groups in organisations
The quantitative approach to management
The foundation of the quantitative approach to management is the assumption that mathematical techniques can be used to improve managerial decision-making and problem-solving. Today these applications are increasingly driven by computer technology and software programs
3 aspects of the quantitative approach
Management science
Mathematical forecasting
Inventory modelling
Management science
Describes the application of mathematical techniques to analyse and solve management problems.
Mathematical forecasting
Makes future projections that are useful in the planning process.
Inventory modelling
Helps control inventories by mathematically establishing how much to order and
when.
Systems thinking 4 parts
System
Cooperative system
Subsystem
Open system
System
A system is a collection of interrelated parts working together for a purpose.
Cooperative system
Chester Barnard defined organisations as cooperative systems in which
individual contributions are integrated for a common purpose.
Subsystem
A subsystem is a smaller component of a larger system.
Open system
Open systems transform resource inputs from the environment into product
outputs.
Continuing management themes
Quality and performance excellence (TQM)
Global awareness
Learning organisations
Quality excellence
Managers and workers in truly progressive organisations are quality conscious. They understand the basic link between competitive advantage and the ability to always deliver quality goods and services to their customers. The best organisational cultures include quality as a core value and reinforce the quality commitment in all aspects of the work environment.
TQM
Every effort is made in total quality management (TQM) to build quality into all aspects of operations from initial acquisition of resources, through the transformation processes and work systems, all the way to ultimate product delivery to customers or clients.
8 attributes of performance excellence
Bias Closeness Autonomy Productivity Hands on Knitting Simple Loose-tight
Bias
Bias towards action — making decisions and making sure that things get done.
Closeness
Closeness to the customers — knowing their needs and valuing customer satisfaction.
Autonomy
Autonomy and entrepreneurship — supporting innovation, change and risk-taking.
Productivity
Productivity through people — valuing human resources as keys to quality and performance.
Hands on
Hands-on and value-driven — having a clear sense of organisational purpose.
Knitting
Sticking to the knitting — focusing resources and attention on what the organisation does best.
Simple
Simple form and lean staff — minimising management levels and staff personnel.
Loose-tight
Simultaneous loose–tight properties — allowing flexibility while staying in control.
Global awareness
While the best formulas for success continue to be tested and debated, an important fact remains — much of the pressure for quality and performance excellence is created by a highly competitive global economy. Includes theory Z
Theory Z
The term ‘Theory Z’ describes a management framework that incorporates into Australasian and North American practices a variety of insights found in the Japanese models. Prominent in the Theory Z management approach are things such as long-term employment, slower promotions and more lateral job movements, attention to career planning and development, use of consensus decision-making, and emphasis on use of teamwork and employee involvement.
Learning organisations
This remains the age of the learning organisation, an organisation that operates with values and systems that result in ‘continuous change and improvement based on the lessons of experience’.
Learning organisations require for their success a value-driven organisational culture that emphasises information, teamwork, empowerment, participation and leadership.
We must all recognise that new managerial outlooks and new managerial competencies appropriate to the new workplace are requirements for future leadership success.
Learning organisations - 21st century manager must be:
A global strategist
A master of technology
An effective politician
An inspiring leader
A global strategist
understands interconnections among nations, cultures and economies; plans and acts with due consideration of them
A master of technology
comfortable with information technology; understands technological trends and their implications; able to use technology to best advantage
An effective politician
understands growing complexity of government regulations and the legal environment; able to relate them with the interests of the organisation
An inspring leader
attracts highly motivated workers and inspires them with a high performance culture where individuals and teams can do their best work.
Do managers lead (4 critical skills of an effective manager)/leader
Listen to people
Play the politics
Know the organisation
Have the ability to persevere
What can be learned from classical management thinking
Frederick Taylor’s four principles of scientific management focused on the need to carefully select, train and support workers for individual task performance. Henri Fayol suggested that managers should learn what are now known as the management functions of planning, organising, leading and controlling. Max Weber described bureaucracy with its clear hierarchy, formal rules and well-defined jobs as an ideal form of organisation.
What ideas were introduced by the human resource approaches?
The human resource approaches shifted attention towards the human factor as a key element in organisational performance. The historic Hawthorne Studies suggested that work behaviour is influenced by social and psychological forces and that work performance may be improved by better ‘human relations’. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs introduced the concept of self-actualisation and the potential for people to experience self-fulfilment in their work. Douglas McGregor urged managers to shift away from Theory X and towards Theory Y thinking, which views people as independent, responsible and capable of self-direction in their work.
What is the role of quantitative analysis in management?
The availability of high-powered desktop computing provides new opportunities for mathematical methods to be used for problem-solving.Many organisations employ staff specialists in quantitative management science and operations research to solve problems. Quantitative techniques in common use include various approaches to forecasting, linear programming and simulation, among others.
What is unique about the systems view and contingency thinking?
Organisations are composed of many internal subsystems that must work together in a coordinated way to support the organisation’s overall success. Contingency thinking avoids ‘one best way’ arguments, and recognises the need to understand situational differences and respond appropriately to them.
