INTRODUCTION

Management development is described as the process from which the managers learn and
improve their skills & knowledge not only to benefit themselves but also their employing
organizations. Earlier training programmes in industrial organisations were mostly
concentrated on improved performance in a particular job. They were intended to emphasise
on learning whatever skill and knowledge necessary for the satisfactory performance of the
job. Training were for the most part job holders in rank and file-positions. With the passage
of time organisations are growing and the complexity in the work is also increasing. Now the
role of the mangers is not as easy as it was earlier. The term manager has been used to mean
people at different levels of hierarchy. All those persons who have authority over the others
and are responsible for their activities and for the operation of an enterprise are managers.

They have not only to deal with the staff but also with other outsiders etc. And have a
decided influence on the organisation. Even the corporate chairman, departmental head,
personnel administrator, planner or coordinator is. In fact a manager, although many of them
do not supervise others but are on the board of management. So the title of manager cannot
be standardized. It is their actions which are significant. Even a worker may be considered a
manager, some times. So a manager is the dynamic life-giving element in any concern. His
calibre and performance will largely determine the success of any enterprise. If any concern
wants to expand, it must attempt to improve the quality of managers, it should introduce
imaginative and systematic development schemes for them. So it can be said that due to the
increasing role and its complexities and importance a new word like management
development came into existence. Management Development is a systematic process of
training and growth by which managerial personnel gain and apply skill, knowledge, altitude
and insights to manage the work in their organisation effectively and efficiently. In other
words.

Management Development is an educational process utilizing a systematic and organized

procedure by which managerial personnel learn conceptual and technical knowledge for
general purpose. Management Development has become very important in today’s
competitive environment. According to a survey, those companies that align their
management development with tactical planning are more competitive than the companies
who are not. It has also been indicated that 80% of the companies report MDP, compared
with 90% that provide executive leadership training. For most of the companies 37% of the

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training budgets go to management development and learning programs. Therefore, it is
important to consider management development as an important part of organizational
competitiveness.

Some of the reasons behind the management development programs are:

 It is managements’ responsibility of ensuring the success of the organization.

 It is the management who deal with people of different background, culture, language,
etc.
 Mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, etc. are all under management’s control.
 It is managements’ responsibility to ensure that the employees obtain the required
KSAs to perform the tasks.
 It is managements’ responsibility to ensure that right people is hired for the right job,
at the right time for the right place.
 Manager’s job is complex i.e. for the managers understanding the training need is not
easy because his training need is determined by how well his department is meeting
its objective and goal.
 It is the management who makes decisions on the basis of judgment and intuition.
 It is the management that understand the organization, its vision, mission, ethics,
values, strategies, capabilities, and how his organization fits into the industry, and
how his behaviour will influence people outside the organization

Therefore, managers must be able to get the required knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs)
to meet the challenges as soon as they arise. The more future oriented method and more
concerned with education of the employees. To become a better performer by education
implies that management development activities attempt to instil sound reasoning processes.

BENEFITS OF MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT

The objective of management development is in general, to improve the quality of

managers/executives performance now and in future. Some main objectives of the
management development ore as under:

 To develop managers/executives for better performance on their present job or

assignment

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  To provide a steady source of competent persons at different levels so as to meet the
future requirements of the organisation.
 To enable the managers to understand the problems of the business organisation in so
far as they arise out of its policies and system of control.
 To create conditions and a climate which contribute to the growth process.
 To replace elderly executives, who have risen from low ranks, by highly competent
and academically qualified.
 To increase morale of the managers.
 To acquire knowledge about the problems of human relations.
 To create the second line of defence in the organization so as to meet the emergencies.
 To broaden the outlook of the various levels of management especially top
management regarding their role, position and responsibilities.
 To help the top management to understand the economic, technical and institutional
forces in order to solve business problems.
 To increase the versatility of the managers
 To stimulate creativity in the thoughts of the managers.
 To create a sense of inter-departmental coordination among managers.
 To indicate how to apply to practical problems the knowledge of the physical and
social aspects of business problems and management.

So we can say that management development is an educational process utilizing a systematic

and organized procedure by which management personnel learn conceptual and theoretical
knowledge for general purpose. These purpose are (I) Productivity (II) Quality (III) Human
Resource Planning, (IV) Morale, (V) Obsolescence prevention, and (VI) Personnel growth.

REASONS TO DEVELOP MANAGERS

Having devised a clear and communicated policy for management development, those
responsible for implementing development need to think through and be able to justify why
they are developing an individual manager (or a group of managers). The reasons for
developing managers are varied. For example:

 To introduce new attitudes and behaviours to promote culture change;

 To encourage more empowerment and innovation;
 To develop the knowledge and the skills to seek new market opportunities;

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  To develop the knowledge to maximise the use of new technology;
 To facilitate the introduction of new systems, processes and working practices.

You will have noted that in addition to developing new knowledge and skills, management
development is a way of shaping individual and collective attitudes and behaviours – an
important consideration when implementing organisational change. As well as organisations
ensuring that development is linked to the philosophies and strategic objectives of the
organisation, they must also take account of individual needs, expectations and aspirations.

This can often be a difficult balance to achieve, and frequently becomes a source of tension,
For instance, senior managers who are seeking a quick-fix solution to a deep-rooted
managerial or organisational problem will often consult with development ‘experts’, who are
only too pleased to solve the problem by introducing them to the latest development fad.
When the ‘quick-fix’ solution fails to produce the anticipated results or worse exacerbates an
existing problem, management development is at risk of being undermined and discredited. It
is therefore vital that organisations view management development as a long-term investment
and select an approach that is suited to their specific needs and requirements.

APPROACHES TO MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT

Management development can be approached in a number of different ways thus described in

three different types of approach that are broadly representative of current UK management
development which argues that management development may be considered as progressing
through different levels of maturity. At Level 1 there is no systematic approach to
management development, and at Level 6 management development not only shapes and
informs corporate strategy, it actually enhances the process of strategy formation. In practice,
management development approaches for most organizations rarely extend beyond Levels 1
and 2.

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Those who reach Levels 5 and 6 find it is ‘often precariously achieved and lost’. Though it is
argued that to progress through the levels of maturity to the point where management
development is making the fullest contribution to organisation development demands a much
more holistic approach to development. In this approach, both ‘hard’ (roles, duties, technical
competence, etc.) and ‘soft’ (career, quality of life, ethos, values, etc.) managerial issues are
considered when framing approaches to development.

A PIECEMEAL APPROACH

Various Approaches to Management Development

Many approaches to development have characteristics similar to Type 1 and Type 3

development, Levels 1 and 2 and accordingly may be labelled as piecemeal. Implementing
piecemeal approaches will almost certainly lead to inefficient and ineffective development.
Piecemeal approaches to development are characterised by the following:

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  There is no management development infrastructure. Development is not linked to
business strategy. Activities are unrelated, and lack overall direction or philosophy.
They fail to reinforce each other, and reduce the potential for organisational
effectiveness.
 Development often focuses on the needs of the organisation, and fails to meet the
learning needs and aspirations of individuals and groups.
 Development is largely defined in terms of a range of universal, off-the-shelf internal
or external courses.
 There is tacit support for management education and training because it is seen as a
‘good thing to be doing’ irrespective of organisational needs.
 There is a lack of common vision among those responsible for management
development.

For instance, some managers see development as a central part of their job, others see it as
peripheral and a nuisance.

 Management development effort can be wasted because it is used as a solution to the

wrong problem. Rather than developing managers, the correct solution may be to
change aspects of organisation structure or systems.
 It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of a piecemeal approach that lacks clear
direction and established objectives.

Sadly, piecemeal and fragmented approaches to management development are all too
commonplace. Such approaches are a significant contributor to the failure of management
development to fulfil personal and organisational expectations. Not only do they waste
investment, time and effort, there is also a risk of damage to existing levels of morale and
commitment among managers as efforts to develop them founder on organisational barriers to
change.

AN OPEN SYSTEM APPROACH

The open systems model was introduced as a way of conceptualising and making sense of
the complexity of organisational life. In this section, it will be argued that if organisations can
be persuaded to adopt an open systems perspective in relation to management development,
then they are likely to overcome many of the problems created by a piecemeal approach to
development.

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Instead of looking at management development in isolation (as a closed system) it is now
being considered as an integral part of a wider organisational system, and, more importantly,
is linked to the context and ‘reality’ of managerial work. Viewing management development
from an open systems perspective recognises and focuses attention on the following factors:

 Management development is viewed as both a system and a process. It is

composed of identifiable parts or components that act together in an organized
way. Inputs to the process of development are transformed into a range of outputs
that affect both the individual and the organisation in some way.
 Figure also demonstrates that in an open system the management development
process interacts with and is influenced by variables from other environmental and
organisational subsystems (structural, social, technological and cultural). For
example, prevailing ideologies, values and beliefs within the organisation
represent a cultural subsystem. Management development can be used as a way of
reinforcing this cultural subsystem by shaping and moulding managers’ attitudes
and values and exerting pressure upon them to conform and display ‘acceptable’
behaviour patterns – an important consideration during times of radical change.
 Management development becomes integrated with, and mutually dependent upon
other organisational subsystems, activities and processes. For example, as we saw
earlier in this chapter, the system for strategic planning and the setting of
organizational goals must interact with a management development system that
seeks to develop the managerial skills and knowledge to organise and implement
the business strategy.
 Such an interaction means that if you develop the manager, you develop the
organisation, and vice versa. As the organisation changes and develops, so
positive influencing ‘loops’ are created that lead to the further development of
managers. Similarly, as managers are developed, positive influencing ‘loops’ lead
to changes in the organisation which produce greater effectiveness. It can, of
course, work the other way. Poor or ineffective development can create negative
influencing ‘loops’ that undermine organisational or managerial effectiveness.
The need therefore is to focus on managing management development as well as
doing management development.
 Viewing management development in open systems terms reveals the full extent
of its influence on the organisation, and is likely to lead to more detailed and

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 objective assessment of the performance and overall effectiveness of managers
who are developed.

In the subsequent sections of this chapter, an open systems perspective of management

development will become the basis for both theoretical and practical analysis and discussion
as seen below in the diagram: