CONTINGENCY APPROACH

 Also known as situational approach

 Paradigam of modern management theory
& approach
 The basic idea of Contingency approach is
that there cannot be a particular
management action which will not be
sutable for all situation
 Suggests an active interrelationship
between the variables in a situation & the
manageral actions devised.
Tosi & Hammer quots
“ When a subsystem in an organisation behaves in
response to another system or a subsystem, we
say that response is contingent on environment.
Hence , a contingency approach is an approach
where the behaviour of one subunit is dependent
on its environmental relationship to other units or
subunits that have control over the
consequences desired by the subunit”
Features of contingency approach
 Management action is contingency on
certain action outside the system or
subsystem.
 Organisational action should be based on
the behaviour of the action outside the
system.
 No action can be universal.it varies from
situationa to situation.
Relationship b/w system and
Contingency approaches

Based on:
1. model of human being
2.Organisational variables
3.Evolution
IMPLICATIONS OF CONTINGENCY
APPROACH

1. Management is entirely situationl and

there is nothing like universal principles
of management or one best way to doing
a particular thing
2. The approach suggests sutable
alternatives for those managerial actions
which are generaly contingent upown
external and internal environment.
Cont..
3.Contingency approach suggests that since
organisation interact with its environment,
neither the organisation nor any of its
subsystems is free to take absolute action.
Limitations of contingency
approach
 Inadequate literature
 Complex
 Difficult empirical testing
 Reactive not proactive
conclusion
No doubt ,these limitations are
valid, but the situation remains
micro level, manager have to
manage according to
contingency approach.
CONTINGENCY APPROACH

contingency approach

THANK YOU 
FOR YOUR ATTENTION

SARATH.G