Management is the process or sequence of acts that relate to the control of people, things or a situation. It is a crucial element of any project in that even with the right resources, how they are used, coordinated, and superintended is important for the project’s success. Traditionally, projects were small, based on a singular idea, mainly that of the proprietor, and involved very few variables (Certo, 2015). This created a management philosophy where the manager had all the ideas and plans then sought a team to accomplish them strictly as instructed. This created a form of a pyramid with the manager on top and the majority of workers at the bottom. This has continually changed, starting in the late 21st century as manifested from the 1980s (Certo, 2015). The change was premised on the exponential growth in the size of businesses, many of them outgrowing the entrepreneurial capacities of their proprietors. This was coupled with a better understanding of efficiency in the utilization of human resources. Currently, focus on the workers as the most important resource for the company is greatly enhanced with most companies seeking to have a happy, motivated, and innovative human resource corps.
Background of the Galaxy Inc. scenario
Galaxy Inc. was founded by a couple; George Jepson and his wife (Jepsons), premised on a family idea in the mid of the 21st century. The initial years of the company therefore saw the focus of management and the creation of all ideas being focused on the founders who were also the top managers. At the time, the Jepsons must have genuinely felt that they were personally responsible for ‘their’ company and therefore best suited to make all the ideas pertaining to the company. Bart Aldrin was a sectional manager within a branch of Galaxy Inc. and therefore way down from the Jepsons on the chain of command.
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It would be hard to consider him as a manager in the contemporary use of the word as his job description was that of an enforcer. Bart’s immediate superiors told him what needed to be done and gave him a bunch of workers to do it. His only obligation as a manager was to ensure that he got the workers accomplishing the obligations passed on to him as accurately and efficiently as possible. This could only be achieved by transforming the workers into some form of robots who receive instructions and accurately adhere to them without questioning them or getting creative about them. This was how Galaxy operated before its transition in 1980s which transition has continued to the even date.
School of Thought That Best Describes Bart’s Initial Management Style
Bart’s understanding of management and its implementation in his initial years at Galaxy reflect a textbook example of Classical and Scientific Management Theory (Certo, 2015). Under this school of thought, there is a strict chain of command in a pyramid system with all creativity and innovation coming from the top tip of the pyramid. Middle and lower level leadership create ways and means of ensuring that the instructions coming from the top are effected efficiently. It is at this level that creativity ends with the lower echelon workers expected to work exactly as instructed without raising any question or adjusting the instructions in any way. Lower level managers such as Bart would have the function of picking the right people for the exact right jobs then making them work in the exact right way. Once these settings were put in place, the workers had to adhere to them and only the manager would change them.
One Classical and Scientific Management Theorist
Frederick Winslow Taylor, an American engineer and author is one of the major contributors to the scientific management theory (Hill et al., 2014). His main contribution to this theory was authoring the book The Principles of Scientific management in 1911, just 4 years before his demise in 1915. Taylor was an engineer and among the basic foundations of engineering is efficiency; getting the highest possible output from the least possible input. He, therefore, believed in a company getting the best possible return for wages through making the workforce operate in the most efficient manner just as cogs in a mechanical system. This became the basic foundation for the scientific management school of thought and a manner for improving workforce efficiency in the larger part of the 21st century (Hill et al, 2014).
Bart’s Latter Management School of Thought
The transition in Bart’s understanding of management brought to the fore the behavioral management theory. This management school of thought entails two major changes as compared to the scientific theory. The first is an understanding that the workforce is comprised of human beings and not tools. These human beings had lives even outside the company, personalities and needs over and above their remuneration. The system, therefore, believes in trying to understand the behavior of the workers with a view to treating them better. The second change was an understanding that workers have good ideas that can be helpful to the company. Further, a worker was an expert at what they do because they have firsthand information about it. Allowing for innovation and creativity rather than focusing on rigidity in following instructions will enhance efficiency.
One behavioral management theorist
Goerge Elton Mayo is one of the leading contributors of the behavioral management theory and was at one time the industrial research professor at the prestigious the Harvard Business School (HBS). Mayo was a psychologist who got concerned by the high turnover of employee and took a behavioral approach in researching it at a Philadelphia textile plant (Hill et al, 2014). His major contribution was creating a correlation between employee efficiency and turnover to the behavioral attributes of the employees. It is on this premise that Bart and his colleagues sought to understand the employees themselves instead of only focusing on the employees’ work. They understood the employees need to be heard, the employees need the employer to understand and consider their life outside employment. This was the main basis for the suggestions made by Bart and his colleagues to the Jepsons.
Comparing and Contrasting the Two Schools of Thought
The scientific theory of management is simple and easy to accomplish. The scope of the work of the manager is exponentially lessened thus a singular manager can superintend over a large number of employees. However, the rigidity creates disenfranchisement among the employees leading to a high employee turnover. Further, the employee work hard, not smart thus reducing efficiency while enhancing the propensity for a high employee turnover. The behavioral method is hard, requires a lot of management skill as well as presenting more work for the manager. It will need more managers per unit number of employees and also a higher level of management expertise. It however, also makes for a more motivated and creative workforce who can work better even when unsupervised. It also reduces the propensity for employee turnover and makes available to the employer the creative ideas that the employees develop in the course of their work.
The 21st Century Manager
The operational environment that Joyce Barnhart finds herself in is exponentially different from the traditional form of management and several new concepts will be crucial. The first concept is an understanding of the cultural derivative of her members of staff and their implications. Individual cultural derivatives such as gender, religion and background are important aspects of understanding employee behavior. It may also help avoid discrimination lawsuits for Galaxy. The second important concept relates to technology in general and particularly information Technology (IT). IT has become a foundation of contemporary management. Most workers also employ some types of technology and an elementary understanding of the same is crucial to a manager.
Sustainability and corporate social responsibility is another important component that entails acting over and above the basic requirements in order to benefit the earth and the community. This includes energy conservation, recycling, and community service. Joyce also needs to learn to encourage, acknowledge, and appreciate the creative and innovative input of all members of her team. Finally, Joyce needs to have an understanding of psychology to enable her learn how to best treat her members of staff. This includes an understanding of issues such as cognition, motivational methods, comprehending employee behavior and enhancing performance.
Effects of the 21st century management Approach to Joyce’s Department
Upon adhering to the aforesaid contemporary management approach, Joyce will have a highly motivated workforce ready, willing, and capable of working hard and smart for Galaxy’s production and shipping departments. This will result in more work done per unit employee and also a higher quality of work. The employees will also be motivated to be creative and innovative with the department benefiting immensely from these innovations (Al Ariss, Cascio, & Paauwe, 2014). Further, a cultural and psychological understanding will exponentially reduce the propensity for protracted disputes that may derail work or even result in adverse legal consequences. Understanding technology will also make Joyce an efficient superintendent (Al Ariss, Cascio & Paauwe, 2014).
Management theories keep advancing thus evolving the activities entailed in the process of management. Each theoretical development is important and relevant to the period within which it is developed and also makes a contribution to the next theoretical era. It is, therefore, important for every entrepreneur to understand the management theory relevant to the times and business environment being operated under. The right management theory results in an efficient workforce and therefore higher productivity.
References
Al Ariss, A., Cascio, W. F., & Paauwe, J. (2014). Talent management: Current theories and future research directions. Journal of World Business , 49 (2), 173-179.
Certo, S. (2015). Supervision: Concepts and skill-building . New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., & Schilling, M. A. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach . Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
