Economics, Strategic and Financial Management Blog

D. Contemporary management approaches : Classical, Behavioral and scientific management approaches tend to focus more on the internal workings of organizations. The contributions of each school's of thought are still being applied today. However both researchers and practitioners are now giving more attention to interaction of the organizations with their external environment. The contemporary approaches to management include: 1.                 The Systems Theory 2.                 The Contingency Theory a. Contingency theory of management Contingency theorists argue that each organizational circumstance is unique and as a result management approaches should be selected and applied based on the specific situation at hand. The contingency theory therefore supports the view that "there is no one best way to manage" and emphasizes the use of any management approach - scientific, behavioral and quantitative - provided it is suited to the organizational sit

C. Behavioral approach of management: As explained earlier the classical management approaches, and in particular scientific management, were criticized for being mechanistic and dehumanizing in nature and none emphasized human behavior in organizations. The behavioral approaches to management demonstrate that job satisfaction through effective leadership and motivation influences organizational performance . Behavioral approaches to management therefore attempted to understand the "human aspects" in organizations and the main contributions to this approach are: 1.       The Hawthorne studies The Hawthorne studies were named so because they were conducted at the Western Electric's Hawthorne plant near Chicago . The management of the company hired a team of Harvard researchers led by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger to find the main physical working conditions (starting with lighting) which might be affecting workers' efficiency and productivity . T

B. Scientific Approach of Management: The scientific approach of management was suggested by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 20 th century. Scientific management implies “application of scientific principles for studying and identifying management problems” . According to Taylor , if work is analyzed scientifically, it is possible to find one best way to do it. Scientific management implies application of scientific principles for studying and identifying management problems. Taylor proposed 4 principle of scientific management which is described as below: 1.       science, not rule of thumb In the earlier days of the industrial revolution, managers used to apply personal judgment to solve the problems they confronted during their work. This is referred to as ‘rule of thumb’ . However, this method was suffered from the limitation of trial and error approach . Hence Taylor suggested the development and use of scientific methods to: ·          Determine time required

Theories of Management A. Early Management Theory/ Administrative Management school of thought: Today's managers have access to an amazing array of resources which they can use to improve their skills. But what about those managers who were leading the way forward 100 years ago? Managers in the early 1900s had very few external resources to draw upon to guide and develop their management practice . But early theorists like Henri Fayol (1841-1925), managers began to get the tools they needed to lead and manage more effectively. Fayol, and others like him, are responsible for building the foundations of modern management theory. Through the years, Fayol began to develop what he considered to be the 14 most important principles of management. Fayol's principles are listed below: ·          Division of Work – When employees are specialized, output can increase because they become increasingly skilled and efficient. ·          Authority – Managers must have the aut

Levels of management What is Management? Management is the process of ensuring that an organization or company is able to operate in both the immediate and near future . Management in business and organizations is the function that coordinates the efforts of people to accomplish goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively . Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization or initiative to accomplish a goal. Managers are charged with making decisions that will impact an organization on every level. Who is Manager? A Manager is the person responsible for planning and directing the work of a group of individuals, monitoring their work, and taking corrective action when necessary . It is more important for the manager to know how to manage the workers than to know how to do their work well. Functions of a manager are as: ·          Sets objectives: The manager sets

Importance / Need / Significance of Organization/Management A sound organization contributes greatly to continuity, growth and development of an enterprise in the following ways: 1. It Facilitated Administration and management:   A properly designed organization facilitates both management and operation of the enterprise by helping in its smooth functioning through various factors, such as well-defined areas of work for employees; effective delegation and decentralization of authority; clear mutual relationships; good communication network; coordination of the activities of individuals, groups and units, adequate and control. 2. It Help in the Growth of Enterprise :  A sound organization structure is flexible enough to accommodate future changes with regard to growth expansion and diversification of enterprise’s activities. Besides, certain organization practices are developed which lead the business enterprise to expand and diversify. 3. It Ensures Optimum Use of Hum

Function and Activity of an Organization Management Management has been described as a process whereby the resources of an organization are used to achieve organizational objectives. The traditional approach, which is used to examine this process, is to condense it down to planning, organizing, leading and controlling activities which is known as POLC approach . These four functions are interrelated and are equally important in achieving the organization’s goals. For instance, a manager cannot just do the planning and ignore the other aspects. I. PLANNING: Planning is usually listed as the first function of management. This is because we must have a plan before we can organize. Planning can be defined as the management function which involves setting the company's goals and then determining the means to achieve these goals. In other words planning is about deciding how best to achieve goals and objectives. In simpler terms, planning is to decide what to do and then find

Characteristics and Features of Organization The main characteristics or Features of organization are as follows:   Organization has its Objectives:  Every Organization has its own objectives depends upon its nature of services and production it provides. Objectives mainly refer to the set goals that an organization wants to achieve. It may be either short term or long term objectives according to their planning and strategy. For e.g. for a garment factory, its objectives may be establishing its brand at the market and sells its product higher than its competitors and earn profit form it. Organization must identify and enumerate the activities:  After the objective is selected, the management has to identify total task involved and break down into closely related component activities that are to be performed by and individual or division or a department. Organization must have chain of command in assigning the Duties : When activities have been grouped according to similar

Meaning of Organization and management  Organization is the foundation upon which the whole structure of management is built. Organization is related with developing a frame work where the total work is divided into manageable components in order to facilitate the achievement of objectives or goals. In a static sense, an organization is a structure or machinery managed by group of individuals who are working together towards a common goal. Different authors have defined organization in different ways. The main definitions of organization are as follows: ·          According to keith Davis , "Organization may be defined as a group of individuals, large or small, that is cooperating under the direction of executive leadership in accomplishment of    certain common object." ·          According to Chester I. Barnard, "Organization is a system of co-operative activities of two or more persons." ·          According to Louis A. Allen, "Organization is