INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

Organizations pervade every aspect of our lives. Organizations seem to be

everywhere.

We are born in organizations, educated by organizations, and most of us

spend much of our lives working for organizations. ... Most of us will die in
an organization, and when the time comes for burial, the largest organization
of all - the state - must grant official permission (Amitai Etzioni).

Organizations come in a variety of sizes and types - corporations, schools,

governments, and so on, - and they serve a wide range functions. Related to this,
all organizations try to reach their common goals. It would be impossible to image
a modern society without organized effort or without people who oversee and
synchronize that effort. The purpose of this thesis is to promote excellence of all
persons in organizations, but especially managers.

This introductory chapter lays put the general dimensions of the manager's job. It
introduces the role and the function of managers in the organization, identifies
requisite management skills, and examines the historical development of
management knowledge.

Defining Management

�The field of management deals with organizations. Our society could not exist or
improve its present status without managers to guide it organizations. Thirty years
ago, Peter Drucker, a noted management authority, proclaimed that effective
management was becoming the main resource of developed nations, and that it
was the most needed resource of developing nations.�Drucker's comments are
still valid and all countries need good managers.

This section offers an explanation of the general terms and principles of

organization and management.
What Are Organizations?

There are many definitions of the term organization. In an early definition Chester
Bernard labeled it "a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more
persons." �Hari Das said, that "an organization is an abstract social entity." Social
entity is "a structured group of two or more people brought together to achieve
certain objectives". According to Howard E. Aldrich,

"An organization can be conceptualized as a collection of individuals deliberately

structured within identifiable boundaries to achieve predetermined goals."

Organizations are social entities

All organizations have a structure
Organizations are designed to achieve specific goals
Organizations have identifiable boundaries
Organizations exist in a relatively permanent basis
All formal organizations use specific knowledge (or technology) to perform work-
related activities.
These features are visible in most organizations. In general, formal organizations
are the means by which we produce and supply a variety of goods and services. In
this text, I also use the terms "enterprise," " corporation," "firm," and "company,"
synonymously, although I recognize that each has a particular legal connotation.

Organizational Goals

Every organization has various types of goals. "Organizational goals are desired
states of affairs or preferred results that organizations attempt to realize and
achieve" (Amitai Etzioni). The idea of organizational goals has a long history in
economics, in which the classic position posits an entrepreneur or ownership group
which in turn establishes the goals of the firm. Alternatively, these goals may
represent a concesus arrived at by all members of the organization.

One useful scheme for describing organizational goals was provided by Charles
Perrow. He has identified the following types of organizational goals:

�* Officials goals. These goals are the formally stated goals of an organization
described in its charter and annual reports and they are emphasized in public
statements by key executives.

�* Operative goals are the outcomes that the� organization actually seeks to
attain through its operating policies and activities.

* Operational goals Organizational goals define the performance objectives and

desired behaviours within an organization.
However, a typical social organization today has multiple stakeholders-groups of
people, and consequently has multiple goals, which, at times, may be mutually
conflicting.

�According to Perrow, multiple organizational goals can be classified into four

major categories: �

�* Output goals. These goals are the "end product," such as consumer products,
services, health care, or education.

�* System goals. System goals relate to the� organization itself, and they
consist of such things as growth, stability, profit, efficiency, market share.

�* Product goals. Product goals consist of the� characteristics of the goods or

services, such as quality, styling, uniqueness, variety, and price.

* Derived goals refer to the way an organization uses its power and influence to
achieve other social or political goals (such as employee welfare, community
services, or political aims).

Henry Minztberg has provided a different classification of goals:

�* System goals. There are four system goals: survival, efficiency, control, and
growth.

�* Formal goals. Formal goals are used by managers to tell everyone what they
are doing.

�* Ideological goals. These goals are what the people within the organization
believe in.

�* Shared personal goals. These goals are what people within the organization
come together to accomplish for their mutual benefit.

For most organizations, goals are constantly changing and members of the
organizations must respond appropriately, by formulating new goals as well as
deciding which goals will be accomplished, and in what order.

Organizational Resources

The organization is where resources come together. Organizations use different

resources to accomplish goals. The major resources used by organizations are
often described as follow: (1) human resources, (2) financial resources, (3)
physical resources, and (4) information resources. �Managers are responsible for
acquiring and managing the resources to accomplish goals.
What Is Management?

�The term management can be and often is used in several different ways. Mary
Parker Follett, described management as "the art of getting things done through
people." �From Peter Drucker's viewpoint, managers give direction to their
organizations, provide leadership, and decide how to use organizational resources
to accomplish goals.�The term management in this thesis refers to the definition
of management described by Richard L. Daft:

�"Management is the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and

efficient manner through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling
organizational resources"

There are two important ideas in this definition: (1) the four functions of planning,
organizing, leading, and controlling and (2) the attainment of organization goals in
an effective and efficient manner.�

The Management Process: Management Functions

The successful manager must actively perform basic managerial functions. One of
the earliest classifications of managerial functions was made by Fayol, who
suggested that planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding, and controlling
were the primary functions. �Some others theorists identify additional
management functions, such as staffing, communicated, or decision making. �But
now generally, there is agreement that the basic managerial functions are:
planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. �The additional functions (e.g.,
communicated, or decision making) will be discussed as subsets of the four
primary functions.

Planning
Planning is considered to be the central function of management because it sets
the pattern for the other activities to follow. "Planning means defining goals for
future organizational performance and deciding on the tasks and use of resources
needed to attain them" (Richard Daft). Planning encompasses four elements:

Evaluating environmental forces and organizational resources

Establishing a set of organizational goals
Developing strategies and plans to achieve the stated goals
Formulating a decision-making process
These elements are concerned with organizational success in the near future as
well as success in the more distant future. Planning to the future, the manager
develops a strategy for getting there. This process is referred to as strategic
planning. Chapters 2 and 3 address the topic of management strategy and
strategic planning.

Organizing

Organizing is the managerial function of making sure there are available the
resources to carry out a plan. "Organizing involves the assignment of tasks, the
grouping of tasks into departments, and the allocation of resources to departments"
(Richard Daft)�Managers must bring together individuals and tasks to make
effective use of people and resources. Three elements are essential to organizing:

Developing the structure of the organization

Acquiring and training human resources
Establishing communication patterns and networks
Determining the method of grouping these activities and resources is the
organizing process.

Leading

Leading is another of the basic function within the management process "Leading
is the use of influence to motivate employees to achieve organizational goals"
(Richard Daft).�Managers must be able to make employees want to participate in
achieving an organization's goals. Three components make up the leading
function:

Motivating employees
Influencing employees
Forming effective groups.
The leading process helps the organization move toward goal attainment.

Controlling

The final phase of the management process is controlling. "Controlling means

monitoring employees' activities, determining whether the organization is on target
toward its goals, and making correction as necessary (Richard Daft ). Controlling
ensures that, through effective leading, what has been planned and organized to
take place has in fact taken place. Three basic components constitute the control
function:

Elements of a control system

Evaluating and rewarding employee performance
Controlling financial, informational, and physical resources.
Controlling is ongoing process. An affective control function determines whether
the organization is on target toward its goals and makes corrections as necessary.
These all managerial functions are necessary and are related and interrelated to
each other.

The Scope Of Management

�Management is needed in all types of organized activities. Moreover,

management principles are applicable to all types of organizations, including profit-
seeking organizations (industrial firms, banks, insurance companies, small
business, etc.) and not-for-profit organizations (governmental organizations, health
care organizations. educations organizations, churches, etc.). Any group of two or
more people working to achieve a goal and having resources at its disposal is
engaged in management. Obviously, a manager's job is somewhat different in
different types of organizations, exists in unique environments, and uses different
technology. However, all organizations need the common basic activities: planning,
organizing, leading, and controlling.

Management is also universal in that it uses a systematic body of knowledge

including economics, sociology, and laws. This knowledge can be applied to all
organizations, whether business, or government, or religious, and it is applicable at
all levels of management in same organizations.

Organizational Performance

The performance is a global concept the represents the results of human activities.
Organizational performance is "the way in which an organization tries to be
effective" (Ricky W. Griffin). An organizations's performance can be measured in
many different ways. The most common ways are in terms of efficiency or
effectiveness. "Performance, ... is the attainment of organizational goals by using
resources in an efficient and effective manner" (Richard Daft). Effectiveness and
efficiency is viewed as subcomponets of performance. �As Peter Drucker has
stated, efficiency means "doing things right," and effectiveness means "doing the
right things."�The more complete definitions are that: "organizational efficiency
refers to the amount of resources used to achieve an organizational goal", and
"organizational effectiveness is the degree to which organization achieves a stated
objective"(Richard Daft). The more resources wasted during the production
process, the more inefficient the manager. If organizations are using their
resources to attain their goals, the managers are effective. Finally, "productivity is
the level of output of goods and services achieved by the resources of an
organization" (Ricky W. Griffin) Effectiveness, efficiency, performance, and
productivity are all important concepts for managers and organizations.

Managers must be both effective and efficient. Particularly, effectiveness is the

secret of success for any organization. For managers "The pertinent questions is
not how to do things right, but how to find the right things to do and, to concentrate
resources and efforts on them" (Ricky W. Griffin).
A Framework for Performance. Andrew D. Szilagyi developed a framework for
performance for managers to carefully consider it attempting to achieve
organizational goals:

Performance is not single standard, but consists of multiple criteria. The level of
analysis of performance ranges from the individual employee to the user of the�
organization's products and services, and on to society in general. The focus of
performance can concern maintenance, improvement, and developmental goals.
The time frame for performance, from short term to long term, must be established.
How performance will be measured, ranging from� quantitative/objective to
qualitative/subjective measures, should be considered.
Ricky W. Griffin proposed a more detailed model that related performance,
effectiveness and productivity. This framework can help managers monitor all of
their activities and successfully carry out the control function at the organizational
level.

Types Of Managers

�The managerial functions must be performed by anyone who manages any type
of organized activity. With the basic understanding of management, defining the
term manager becomes relative simple. According to Ricky W. Griffin definition of
manager is as follows:

" A manager is someone whose primary activities are a part of the management
process. In particular, a� manager is someone who plans, organizes, leads, and
controls human, financial, physical, and information resources."

�The success or failure of an organization depends heavily on the ability of its

managers to perform these tasks effectively. Managers can be classified in two
ways: by their level within the organization and by the scope of their
responsibilities.

Levels Of Management

Most people think of three basic levels of management: top, middle, and first-line
managers.

Top managers are responsible for the overall direction and operations of an
organization. Particularly, they are responsible for setting organizational goals,
defining strategies for achieving them, monitoring and implementing the external
environment, decisions that affect entire organization. They have such titles as
chief executive officer (CEO), president, chairman, division president, and
executive vice-president. Managers in these positions are responsible for
interacting with representatives of the external environment (e.g., important
customers, financial institutions, and governmental figures) and establishing
objectives, policies, and strategies.

Middle managers are responsible for business units and major departments.
Examples of middle managers are department head, division head, and director of
the research lab. The responsibilities of middle managers include translating
executive orders into operation, implementing plans, and directly supervising
lower-level managers. Middle managers typically have two or more management
levels beneath them. They receive overall strategies and policies from top
managers and the translate them into specific objective and programs for first-line
managers.

First-line managers are directly responsible for the production of goods and
services. Particularly, they are responsible for directing nonsupervisory employees.
First-line managers are variously called office manager, section chief, line
manager, supervisor.

Responsibilities

�In large organizations, managers are also distinguished by the scope of activities
the manage. Functional managers are responsible for departments that perform a
single functional tasks. They supervise employees with specialized skills in a single
area of operation, such as accounting, personnel, payroll, finance, marketing,
advertising, and manufacturing. General managers are responsible for the overall
operation of a more complex unit, such as a company or a division. Project
managers also have general management responsibility, because they coordinate
employees across several departments to accomplish a specific project.

Managerial Roles

Mintzberg's observations and research indicate that diverse manager activities can
be organized into ten roles.�For an important starting point, all ten rules are
vested with formal authority over an organizational unit. From formal authority
comes status, which leads to various interpersonal relations, and from these
comes access to information, which, in turn, enables the manager to make
decisions and strategies.

The ten roles are divided into three categories: interpersonal, informational, and
decisional.

Interpersonal Roles

�Three of the managers's roles involve basic interpersonal relationships: �

�* The figurehead role. Every manager must perform some duties of a ceremonial
nature (e.g., the president greets the touring dignitaries, the sales manager� takes
an important customer to lunch). These� activities are important to the smooth
functioning of an organization.

�* The leader role. This role involves leadership� directly (e.g., the manager is
responsible for� hiring an training his own staff). The leader role encompasses
relationships with subordinates,� including motivation, communication, and
influence.

�* The liaison role, in which the manager makes� contacts inside and outside the
organization with a wide range of people: subordinates, clients,� business
associates, government, trade� organization officials, and so on.

Informational Roles

�The processing of information is a key part of the manager's job. Three roles
describe the informational aspects of managerial work:

�* The monitor role. This role involves seeking� current information from many
sources. For example, the manager perpetually scans his environment for
information, interrogates liaison contacts and subordinates and receives unsolicited
information.

�* The disseminator role In their disseminator role, managers pass information to

other, both inside and outside the organization.

�* The spokesperson role. In their spokesman role, managers send some of their
information to people outside the organization about company policies, needs,
actions, or plans.

Decisional Roles

�The manager plays the major role in his unit's decision-making system. Four
roles describe the decisional aspects of managerial work:

�* The entrepreneur role. In his entrepreneur role,� managers search for

improvement his unit to adopt it to changing conditions in the environment.

�* The disturbance handler role. This role involves responding to high-pressure

disturbances. For example, manager must resolve conflicts among subordinates or
between manager's department and other departments.
�* The resource allocator role. In their resource� allocator role, managers make
decisions about how to allocate people, budget, equipment, time and other
resources to attain desired outcomes.

�* The negotiator role. The negotiations are duties of the manager's job. These
activities involve formal negotiations and bargaining to attain outcomes for the
manager's unit responsibility.

These ten roles are not easily separate: "No role can be pulled out of the
framework and the job be left intact". However, this description of managerial work
should be important to managers: "...the managers' effectiveness is significantly
influenced by their insight into their own work" (L. Gulick).

Management Skills

Regardless of the sort of goals they must meet or their level of authority, managers
need to possess conceptual, human, technical, diagnostic, and political skills. The
first three skills have long been accepted as important for management, the last
two have received more recent attention.

According to a classic article by Robert L. Katz, managerial success depends

primarily on performance rather than personality traits. He indicates that three
types of skills are important for successful management performance:

�* Conceptual skills. Conceptual skill is the cognitive ability to see the organization
as a whole and the relationship among its parts. Managers need the� mental
capacity to understand how various functions of the organization complement one
another, how the organization relates to its environment, and how changes in one
part of the organization affect the rest of the organization.

�* Human skills. The manager needs human skills: the ability to communicate
with, understand, and motivate both individuals and groups.

�* Technical skills. Technical skills are skills necessary to accomplish specialized

activities (e.g., engineering, computer programming, and accounting).

The diagnostic skill is from Ricky Griffin, and the political skill is from Pavett and
Lau :

�* Diagnostic skills. Diagnostic skills include the ability to determine, by analysis

and examination, the nature of a particular condition. A manager can diagnose a
problem in the organization by studying its symptoms. These skills are also useful
in favourable situations.
�* Political skills. Political skill is the ability to acquire the power necessary to
reach objectives and to prevent others from taking power. Political skill can be
used for the good of the organization and for self-interest.

The extent to which managers need different kinds of skills moves from lower
management to upper management. Most low-level managers use technical skills
extensively. At higher levels technical skills become less important while the need
for conceptual skills grows. However, human skills are very important to all
managers. �

Managing: Science Or Art?

The best response to the question of whether management is an art or a science is

that it is both. �Managing, like all other practices (e.g., music composition,
medicine, or even tennis) is an art. To manage effectively, peoples must have not
only the necessary abilities to lead but also a set of critical skills acquired through
time, experience, and practice. If we define art as a personal aptitude or skill, then
management has certain artistic components.

On the other hand, the organized knowledge underlying the practice may be
referred to as a science.�To perform at high levels in a variety of situations,
managers must be able to draw on the sciences - particularly economics,
sociology, mathematics, political science, psychology, and political science - for
assistance and guidance.

The tasks of modern managers require the use of techniques, practices, and skills.
In this context science and art not mutually exclusive but complementary.

School Of Management Thought

Awareness and understanding of important historical developments are also

important to contemporary managers. The history of management theories, helps
managers by organizing information and providing a systematic framework for
action.

The concept of management is not new; its has been practiced for thousands of
years, although terms such as management principles or management theory may
not have been used. �The Sumerians, the Babylonians, or the Romans have
provided numerous illustrations of effective management. �In terms of longevity,
"the most effective formal organization in the history of Western civilization has
been the Roman Catholic Church" (Harold Koontz and Cyril O'Donnell). However,
management gained in importance, as mankind progressed and moved into the
Industrial Revolution era.
Today's concept of management is the product of a long and complicated
evolutionary process. Essentially, four major forces affect management are
economic, social, political-legal, and technological.

Over the years, disagreement on exactly how many different approaches to

management exist and what each approach entails has been common. Some
count as few as three approaches, others as many as seven.�In order to present
the essence of the management movements, I have chosen to discuss three
schools; based on the approach of Donnelly, Gibson, and Ivancevich. �They
offered these three well-established approaches to management the thought: the
classical approach, the behavioral approach, and the management approach. Each
complements and supports the others.

Although not recognized as a separate school, the contingency and the systems
approach are also discussed in this section, which attempt to integrate the three
schools.

The Classical School

�The classical approach on management emerged during the nineteenth and

early twentieth centuries and to some extent is accepted and practiced by many
managers even today. The classical school actually includes two different areas:
lower-level management analysis (scientific management); and comprehensive
analysis of management (administrative theory).

Scientific Management

�The management science school provides managers with a scientific basis for
solving problems and making decisions. This approach arose out of a need to
improve manufacturing productivity through more efficient use of physical and
human resources. It grew from the pioneering work of five people: Frederick W.
Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, Henry Gantt, and Harrington Emerson.

Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915)

�Frederick Winslow Taylor, become known as "the father of scientific

management." He insisted that management itself would have to change and,
further, Taylor suggested that decisions based on rules of thumb be replaced with
precise procedures developed after careful study of individual situations.�The
essence of Taylor's scientific management can be summarized in the following
principles:

Develop a science for each element of a worker's job to replace rules of thumb.
Job specialization should be a part of each job.
Ensure the proper selection, training, and development of workers.
Planning and scheduling of the work are essential.
Standards with respect to methods and time for each task should be established.
Wage incentives should be an integral part of each job.
�These four principles became the basic guidelines for managing the work of
individuals. Taylor's approach had a significant impact on American society; it led
to increases in productivity. His ideas also stimulated others to continue the
formulation of management thought.

Frank Gilbreth (1868- 1924), Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972)

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were a husband-wife team if industrial engineers. They
produced significant contributions in motion study and work simplification. �With
the use of motion picture cameras, the Gilbreth's found the most efficient and
economical motions for each task, thus reducing and upgrading production.
Working individually and together, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth developed numerous
techniques and strategies for eliminating inefficiency.

Henry L. Gantt (1861-1919)

Contributions toward work scheduling and control were made by Harry L. Gannt.
�He tried to improve systems or organizations through task scheduling and
reward innovation. Essentially, Gantt's most famous contribution was the Gannt
chart, a system of control and scheduling we still use today.

Harrington Emerson (1853-1931)

The principles of efficiency were further developed by Harrington Emerson. �He

was also a strong advocate of making a strict distinction between line and staff
roles in organizations. Moreover, Emerson urged on the use of statements of goals
and objectives for the total organization.

Administrative Theory

Whereas scientific management focused on the productivity of the individual

worker, the administrative theory focused on the total organization. Among the
well-know contributors to this theory were Lyndall Urwick, Chester Barnard, Alvin
Brown, Henry Dennison, Oliver Sheldon and Max Weber. However, the most
notable of all contributors was Henry Fayol. His book, General and Industrial
Management, had a major impact on the emerging field of management.�

He discussed 14 general principles of management. These principles follow in the

order developed by Fayol:

�1. Division of labor. Specialization of labour results in increased productivity.

Both managerial and technical work are amenable to specialization.
�2. Authority. Authority was defined by Fayol as the "right to give orders and the
power to exact� obedience". It is needed to carry out managerial responsibilities.

3. Discipline. Employees must respect the rules that govern the organization.

4. Unity of command. Employees should receive orders from only one superior.

5. Unity of direction. Each group of activities in an organization should be

grouped together under one head and one plan.

6. Subordination of individual interests to the general interest The interests of

one person should not be placed before the interests of the organization as a
whole.

7. Remuneration. Compensation should be based on� systematic attempt to

reward good performance.

8. Centralization. The degree to which centralization or decentralization should be

adopted depends on the specific organization, but managers should retain final
responsibility to do the tasks successfully.

9. Scalar chain. A chain of authority should extend from the top to the bottom of
the organization. This chain implements the unity-of-command principle and allows
the orderly flow of information.

10. Order. Human and material resources must be in the right place at the right
time.

11. Equity. Employees should be treated as equally as� possible.

�12. Stability of personnel. Successful firms usually had a stable group of

employees.

�13. Initiative. Employees should have the freedom to take initiative.

14. Esprit de corps. Managers should encourage a sense of unity of effort through
harmony of interests.

Chester I. Barnard (1886-1961)

�Chester Barnard made significant contributions to management in his book, The

Functions of the Executive.�One of his contributions was the concept of the
informal organization. Another significant contribution was the acceptance theory of
authority, which states that people have free will and can choose whether to follow
management orders. An order is accepted if the subordinate understands it, is able
to comply with it, and views it as appropriate given the goals of the organization.
Max Weber (1864-1920)

�Max Weber, a German theorist, believed that an organization based on rational

authority would be more efficient and adaptable to change because continuity is
related to formal structure. He envisioned organizations that would be managed on
an impersonal, rational basis. This form of organization was called a bureaucracy.
�Some of elements of bureaucracy are: �

Labor is divided with clear definitions of authority and responsibility.

Positions are organized in a hierarchy of authority.
All employees are selected and promoted based on technical qualifications.
Administrative acts and decisions are recorded in writing.
Management is separate from the ownership of the organization.
Managers are subject to rules and procedures that� will insure reliable,
predictable behavior.
Weber's work on bureaucracy laid the foundation for contemporary organization
theory.

Behavioral School

�The behavioral school has had a profound influence on management. Typical

behavioral school topics include motivation, communication, leadership,
organizational politics, and employee behavior. This approach was stimulated by a
number of writers and theoretical movements. Particularly, two branches
contributed to the behavioral school: the human relation movement and the
behavioral science approach.

The Human Relations Movement

The human relations movement grew from the Hawthorne studies. A group of
Harvard researchers, headed by Elton Mayo, conducted a series of experiments on
worker productivity in 1924 at the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company in
Illinois. �These experiments have come to be know as the Hawthorne studies.

The Harvard researches suggested that the way people were treated had an
important impact on performance; individual and social processes played a major
role in shaping worker attitudes and behavior. Therefore, management must
recognize the importance worker's needs for recognition and social satisfaction.
Mayo termed this concept of the social man: individuals are motivated by social
needs and good on-the-job relationships and respond better to work-group
pressure that to management control activities.

Two of the best-known contributors who helped advance the human relations
movement were Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor.
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) , a practicing psychologist, observed that his
patients are motivated by a sequence of needs, including monetary incentives,
social acceptance, and others. He generalized his work and suggested a hierarchy
of needs. �Maslow's theory of "hierarchical needs" was a primary factor in the
increased attention that managers began to give to the work of academic theorists.

Douglas McGregor (1906-1970) advanced two beliefs for managers about human
behavior- Theory X and Theory Y.�Theory X takes a relative pessimistic and
negative view of workers. Theory Y represents the assumptions that human
relations advocates make. The point of Theory Y is that organizations can take
advantage of the imagination and intellect of all its employees.

Behavioral Sciences Approach

Organizational behavior acknowledges that behavior is much more complex than

human relations realized. Systematic research is the basis for this approach.
�This research draws from psychology, sociology, anthropology, economies, and
medicine. All of the remaining chapters of this thesis contain research findings and
applications that can be attributed to the behavioral sciences approach to the study
of management.

The Management Science School

The management science school provides managers with a scientific basis for
solving problems and making decisions. This school grew directly out of the World
War II groups (called operational research teams in Great Britain and operations
research teams in the United States).�Churchman, Ackoff, and Arnoff define the
management science approach as an application of the scientific method to
problems arising in the operation of a system, and the solving of these problems by
solving mathematical equations representing the system.

The term management science sounds very much like scientific management (the
approach developed by Taylor), but the two not be confused. The distinguishing
characteristics include:

* Managerial decisions making Scientific management is concerned with

production tasks and the� efficiency of workers and machines. Management
science stresses that efficiency comes from proper planning and making the right
decisions.

* Mathematical models In management science, a� mathematical model attempts

to reduce a managerial decision to a mathematical form so that the decision-
making process can be simulated and� evaluated before the actual decision is
made.
* Computer applications The use of the computer has been the driving force behind
the emergence of the management science approach.

* Evaluation criteria In management science, model have been evaluated against a

set of effectiveness criteria (e.g., revenue, return on investment, and cost savings).

Operations management refers to the various models and techniques in use. Some
of the commonly used methods are forecasting, inventory modeling, linear and
nonlinear programming, scheduling, simulation, networks models, probability
analysis, and break-even analysis. Operations management specialists use these
techniques to solve manufacturing problems.

Management information system (MIS) is the most recent subfield of the

management science perspective. MIS is a system designed to provide information
to managers in a timely and cost-efficient manner. It entails and integrated data
base (usually in a computer), a hierarchical information structure, and an
orientation toward decision support.

Because management science thought is still evolving, more specific technic can
be expected.

Attempts To Integrate The Three Approaches

During the lats 30 years, there have been attempts to achieve integration of the
three approaches to management. On of these attempts, the systems approach,
stresses that the organizations must be viewed as total systems. Another, the
contingency approach, stresses that the correctness of a managerial practice is
contingent upon how it fits the practical situation in which it is applied.

The Contingency Approach

One pioneer who was instrumental in moving organization theory to the
contingency approach was Joan Woodward, who studies the effect of technology
on the organization. Woodward found that many variations in organization structure
were associated with differences in manufacturing techniques. As Woodward
pointed out:

"Different technologies imposed different kinds of demands, and these demands

had to met through an appropriate structure. Commercially successful firms
seemed to be those in which function and form were complementary.

Several authors have further developed some ides of contingency thinking. One of
these important contributors is James D. Thompson, whose work in the area of
technology's effect on organization is already a classic.
Thompson argued that organizations that experience similar technological
problems will engage in similar behavior.

The contingency view approaches management from a totally different perspective

than do the formal schools of management. The classical, behavioral, and
management science schools assumed a universal approach. They proposed the
discovery of "one-best-way" management principles that applied the same
techniques to every organization. However, experienced managers know that not
all people and situations should be handled identically. Therefore, the contingency
approach holds that universal solutions and principles cannot be applied to
organizations. In simple terms, the contingency theory suggests that what
managers do in practice depends on, or is contingent upon, a given set of
circumstances - a situation.

The contingency perspective tells us that the effectiveness of various managerial

practices, styles, techniques, and functions will vary according to the particular
circumstances of the situation.�Management's task is to search for important
contingencies. The main determinants of the contingency view relate to the
external and internal environments of the organization. However, the contingency
approach is not without its critics. Its major problem is that it often is used as an
excuse for not acquiring formal knowledge about management. This formal study
of management helps managers decide which factors are relevant in what
situations and its certain elements should serve as a foundation for continued
growth and developments.

The Systems Approach

The systems approach to management is more a perspective for viewing problems

than a school of management thought.

Ludwig von Bertalanffy is recognized as the founder of general system theory. The
system approach is based on the concept that an organization is a system. A
system is defined as a number of interdependent parts functioning as a whole for
some purpose. Here there are five components: inputs, a transformation process,
outputs, feedback, and the environment.

The systems approach is very important in general management analysis. Four

especially ideas that have had substantial impact on management thinking are the
concepts of open versus closed systems, subsystems, subsystems and
interdependencies, synergy and entropy.

Open versus closed systems. According to Ludwig von Bertlanffy, there are two
basic types of systems: closed systems and open systems. Closed system are not
influenced by and do not interact with their environments. Open systems interact
with their environment. All organizations are open systems, although the degree of
interaction may vary.
Entropy. Entropy is a universal property of systems and refers to their tendency to
run down and die. A primary objective of management, form systems perspective,
is to avoid entropy.

Synergy. Synergy means that the whole is greater the sum of its parts. Synergy is
an important concept for managers in that it reinforces the need to work together in
a cooperative fashion.

Subsystems. A subsystem is a system within a system. From another perspective,

subsystems are parts of a system that depend on one another.

The concept �wholeness� is very important in general system analysis. L.

Thomas Hopkins suggested the following six guidelines regarding system
�wholeness� that should be remembered during systems analysis:

The whole should be the main focus of analysis, with the parts receiving secondary
attention.
Integration is the key variable in wholeness analysis.
Possible modifications in each part should be weighted in relation to possible
effects on every other part.
Each part has some role to perform so that the whole can accomplish its purpose.
The nature of the parts and its function is determined by its position in the whole.
All analysis starts with the existence of the whole.
Systems theory offers the manager a useful perspective. For example, the
management system is based upon general system theory.

Recent Trends

In recent years, two management trends that seem significant in response to

international competition are the adoption of Japanese management practice and
the renewed efforts to achieve excellence in product and service quality.

Theory Z management. Given the recent success of Japanese companies,

management writers have been carefully analyzing Japanese organizations. The
most notable publication in this area is Ouchi�s Theory Z. Ouchi showed that
American and Japanese firms are essentially different along seven important
dimensions:

length of employment
mode of decision making,
locations of responsibility,
speed of evaluation and promotion,
mechanism of control,
specialization of career path
and nature of concern of the employee.
Ouchi�s theory Z proposes a hybrid form of management that incorporates
techniques from both Japanese and North American management practices. In a
very short time, his ideas have been well received by practicing managers.

Achieving excellence. In their best seller on America�s best-run companies, In

Search of Excellence, Peter and Waterman found eight basic principles that
reflected these companies, management value and corporate culture. The eight
principles of excellent companies are:

Bias toward action. Successful companies value action, doing, and

implementation.
Closeness to the customer. Successful companies are customer driven; a
dominant value is customer need satisfaction.
Autonomy and entrepreneurship. Organization structure in excellent corporations is
designed to encourage innovation and change.
Productivity through people. People are encouraged to participate in production,
marketing, and new-product decisions.
Hands on, value driven. Excellent companies are clear about their value system.
Sticking to the knitting. Successful firms are highly focused. They do what they
know best.
Simple form, lean staff. The structural form and systems of excellent companies
are elegantly simple, and few personnel are employed in staff positions.
Simultaneous loose-tight properties. Excellent companies use tight controls in
some areas and loose controls in others. A tight, centralized control is used for the
firm�s core values. In other areas employees are free to experiment, to innovate,
and to take risk in ways they will help the organization achieve its goals.
Application of these �principles� in the best-managed companies tends to
produce an environment that fosters entrepreneurial pursuit of new opportunities
and adaptation to change.

Summary

In This chapter I have presented an overall view of management.

First, I introduced a number of important concepts about management.

Organizations, and therefore management and managers, are essential to society.
Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling an
organization�s resources to achieve organizational goals in an efficient and
effective manner. All managers, systematic, interrelated ser of activities designed
to achieve these goals. Effective management is essential to the health of an
organization. Constant change gives management a dynamic dimension. Most
managers have ten basic roles to play, including three interpersonal roles
(figurehead, leader, and liaison), three informational roles (monitor, disseminator,
and spokesperson), and four decisional roles (entrepreneur, disturbance handler,
resources allocator, and negotiator). I identified a set of skills that managers need
to perform their roles.

Those skills include conceptual, human, technical, diagnostic, and political skills.
Managers in the future will need greater human skill as well as conceptual skills.
Management skills may be acquired through education (formal course-word and
continuing education) and experience. Management principles are universal to all
types of organizations (e.g., business organizations, governmental organizations,
health care organizations, and churches).

Second, I have attempted to provide an overview of approaches to management

thought. Four major forces that affect management are social, political, economic,
and technological. Three primary schools of management the classical approach,
the behavioral approach, and the management approach. The other two
approaches of thought are referred to as the contingency and the systems
approach. Each of these viewpoints of management has its proponents and can be
very useful in the appropriate situation. The most recent trend in management has
been to adopt Japanese management practices and the renewed efforts to achieve
excellence in North American organizations.

Understanding the evolution of management can managers avoid repeating the

mistakes of others and continue to progress toward better management.