During the 20th century, the first management theory was developed. It was known as the Classical Organization Theory. Since then, there have been different theories that have been developed to aid in management practice. These theories have been continually restructured in order to ensure their suitability with respect to the dynamism of the business environment. There has been a total reinvention of the roles played by managers in recent years and as such, the manager now has become one of the most important figures in the company as he is involved in every financial deal that the company is engaged in.
Background
Since the first concept of management which was the Classical Organizational Theory, there have been various management concepts and theories that have been developed with time to meet the structural and market demands of recent times. This was supported by theorists such as Max Weber, Adam Smith and Henry Fayol. Next, came the Neoclassical Organization Theory in the period after the Second World War. This one was considerably more reactionary and offered a transition from the Classical theory as it challenged it whilst creating theories for future schools of thought. Some notable contribution on this one was done by Chester Bernard, Robert Merton Richard Cyert and James March. Another school of thought that came afterwards was the Human Resource Theory which was majorly centered on ensuring that the workers were well treated and involved in the organizational decision making. This was popularized by the likes of Elton Mayo, Abraham Maslow and Fritz Roethlisberger. The modern Structural Organizational theory, which was popularized in the second half of the 20th Century by Kurt Lewin, Fred Fielder and Elliot Jaques, advocated for organizational efficiency so as to increase productivity of goods and services by companies. The Organizational Economics Theory came up around the same time as the Modern Structural Organizational Theory and it talked about the expansion of organizations through theories such as agency, game, behavioral, teams, and transaction cost economics theory. These were pushed and advocated for by Richard Cyert and James March. The Power and Politics Organizational Theory looked at organizations as alliances and systems of humans that were complex and had beliefs, values and perceptions. This was advocated for by Jeffrey Pfeffer. Later on in the 21st Century, came the Theories of Organizational Culture and Change. This school of thought spread the belief that organizational culture was a social energy that led to decision making. It was pushed by the likes of Edgar Schein, Scott Cook and Dvora Yanow. In the 1980’s, there were Reforms through Changes in Organizational Culture which came to be during a period when the US market was failing and something needed to be done to change the organizations culture for better market results to be experienced. It was popularized by William Ouchi. In the Theories of Organizational and Environments open system theory was compared to the closed system theory and the tools to accommodate systems theory which includes computers was also introduced . Lastly, the Contemporary Schools of Management Thought which had the modern day management approaches ensured the managers to change the way they think of their roles and how workers ought to be treated. This theory was advocated by Peter Drucker, Peter Senge and Chris Argyris.
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Part One
The school of thought that best describes Bart’s style of management when he joined Galaxy Toys Inc., is the neoclassical organizational theory. This is because Bart in his capacity as a manager ensured that he planned his work on a daily basis. He also was in control of what the workers were doing in the company through giving instructions to help in the optimization of the different tasks that were performed in the company. He would lead the company from the front, ensuring that he was in control of everything that the company did. Also, he acted as a role model to the rest of the company workers. This is because Chester Bernard one of the neoclassical theorists points out the importance of authority in management. Herbert Simon on the other hand, in his theory, provides for decision making and information processes which are some of the attributes that Bart subscribes to, together with James March’s organizational slack concept. However, Richard Cyert and James March’s behavioral theory of the firm stands out to provide similarities to the process employed by Bart in Galaxy Toys. This is because there is decision making, organizational slack, and clinical evaluation methods as in Bart’s management method. These processes in the theory coupled with attributes stated helped him in management of Galaxy Toys in his first period there, and this was before there was a shift in the way he managed the company during the transitional management period.
The great changing shift in the management of companies during the 1980’s and 90’s due to increased competition was characterized by technological development and demand for employee management participation which called for the unionization of workers. This thus prompted Bart to change the way he managed the company in order to be able to address the emerging issues that looked set to undermine the previous method of management that he had used. The company then shifted its management style to one that regularly involved and accommodated views from the employees. The company thus adopted the Human Resource Theory, which was majorly centered on the aspect of all company personnel being involved in the company affairs. Through this method, the company is able to be flexible and successful through employee development and growth.
The company through Bart used the theory by social psychologist Douglas McGregor. That is the theory y concept. In this theory, he attempts to show that employees enjoy working and don’t need to be pushed to produce excellent results as they are already self-motivated. He also states that under this concept, the workers are work hungry and consider working as a natural part of their life. In this, just as Bart does in his management of the company, there is participation among the employees; this ensures their involvement in decision making processes though the management still retains the power to implement decisions (Mind Tools, 2016).
The two theories though effective in their own way, having been used during different periods, have differences and similarities. The similarities between both theories are that both systems ensure that implementation of decisions is the reserve of the management and that each has been found to register success in their own way. The differences are that in the behavioral theory the workers are assumed to dislike work while in theory Y, they are assumed to thrive on responsibility as they like work thus are self-motivated. According to the behavioral theory, the management is centrally done and is authoritarian in nature whilst according to theory Y, the workers are involved heavily through participatory management. Behavioral theory can be easily implemented in companies that have unskilled labor while theory Y is highly successful with professionals (Mind Tools, 2016).
Part Two
Upon retirement, Bart is to be replaced Joyce Bamhari, who as a 21st century manager, believes she can be successful in her new position. With the advent of technology, the 21st Century managers ought to be prepared of the myriad of challenges they will have to face due to globalization of businesses and ease of communication from around the world through advancement in technology. However, the major challenges she might experience include the market forces, leadership incompetency or workforce issues. As a 21st Century manager, Joyce ought to understand that market forces shape the company in so many ways so she should be vigilant to ensure that she monitors the market day in and day out. She also has to ensure that the company’s management and leadership mechanism works in liaison to avert any leadership incompetency. She will also have to deal with work force issues as the 21st Century workers are more enlightened of their rights and therefore, not involving them in the day to day running of the company through decision making may be catastrophic for the company. If the company’s fortunes are low, then she might ensure reforms through changes in organizational culture to ensure the fortunes of the company keep running as a 21st Century manager. This should be achieved through offering a quality working life and a balanced scorecard for the company (McCrimmon, 2010).
As a 21st century manager, she ought to embrace technology. With technology, it would be easier to apply tools to accommodate the Systems theory so as to help the company in adapting to the environment in order to maximize its profit margin (Stumpf, 1999).
The new approach reached by the company to bring in a 21st Century manager is a positive sign. This is because the company had for a few years relied on management skills of Bart who used the old school management methods to administer the company. In Joyce Bamhart, the company’s fortunes will increase tremendously because the 21st century theories are meant to maximize the profits of the company while ensuring the utilization and good treatment of the workforce. The production of the company will thus be improved in the long run as it is the manager’s prerogative to deal with the workers and if it is in a positive way, then the shipping and production department will be enhanced. The use of technology will also enhance production in the company while the use of technology in communication and globalization may in the long run increase the market of the company’s goods through its shipping department (Molinsky, 2012).
As noted throughout the research management, roles have evolved over the last Century to what now is regarded as modern management. Management in the past was more of trying to ensure everything was going on though that has changed and modern managers more so play the supervisory role with the employees having more insight on what is expected of them. The manager therefore has to ensure that they allocate the best resources for investments so as to get the best returns and get into business deals on behalf of the company. This re invention of the role of managers has completely changed the fortunes of companies in recent years and their scope on the improvement of their profit margins through investment deal placement and economies of scale.
References
Mind Tools (2016). Theory X and Theory Y . Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_74.htm
McCrimmon, M. (2010 August). A New Role for Management in Today’s Post-Industrial Organization. Retrieved from http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/a-new-role-for-management-in-todays-post-industrial-organization/
Nevins, M. and Stumpf, S. (1999). 21st Century Leadership: Redefining Management Education: Educating Managers in the Modern Era . Retrieved from http://www.strategy-business.com/article/19405?gko=3b347
Molinsky, A., Davenport, P., Iyer, B., Davidson, C. (2012). Three Skills Every 21st Century Manager Needs . Retrieved from https://hbr.org2012/01/three-skills-every-21st-century-manager-needs
