Management Theory and Practice - Assignment Example

Customer name Grade course Professor’s name Date: Management Theory and Practice Introduction The Principles of Scientific Management refers to specialist work which was developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor was a manufacturing manager, a mechanical engineer before venturing into management consultancy. The Principles of scientific management have influenced both administrators and students of management. In the principles of scientific management, Taylor described what in his opinion was the best system of management that was in use at the time he developed his work which was the system of 'initiative and incentive'. According to Taylor, in the system of initiative and incentive, the management recognized better work with incentives and these results in workers putting in their best effort. Discussion 1. Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management The scientific management developed by Taylor had four principles. The First principles is that the management develops a science for every element found in a person's work and this in effect replaces the rule of the thumb method. The rule of the thumb principle is one where there is no intention of having it being reliable in all situations. According to the second principle the management should, using scientific methods, select, teach, train and develop a workman unlike previously where the workman would choose the work he did and went ahead to train himself or herself to the best of such employee's ability (Taylor 54). According to the third principle, the management should wholeheartedly cooperate with the employees so that there is an assurance that the work in an organization gets carried out following the scientific principles the management has developed. The fourth principle provides that responsibilities and work ought to be shared on an almost equal basis (Taylor 55). Therefore, the management should carry out all the responsibilities where it is in a better position than the workers. This is a departure from the past where ordinary men were expected to shoulder the greater part of responsibility and almost all the work. The work place can use Taylor's principles to improve student registration. The first step would be to come up with the processes that are required for the registration process to be successful. The second principle would be applied by selecting candidates who have the requisite interpersonal as well as technical skills relevant to the registration process. Where need be, the employees should upgrade their skills. The organization should offer all the necessary support to the members of staff who are involved in the registration process and finally ensure that the members of support involved in the registration are not unfairly overburdened. 2. Contingency Management Theory Contingency theory states that there can never be what would be referred to as a best way through which a corporation can be organized, decisions made or even in leading a company. According to contingency theory, the best course of action is arrived at based on both an internal and an external situation. A number of contingency approaches exist and they were developed in the 1960s. In these approaches, it was suggested that some theories that had been proposed before such as Taylor's scientific management and Weber's bureaucracy did not succeed since they disregarded the fact that various environmental aspects, contingency factors, do affect organizational structure and the management style that should be adopted. A manager would employ the contingency theory in a case where an employee constantly gets late to work. Protocol in such circumstances would dictate that the employee ought to be dismissed. Applying the contingency theory the manager could talk to the employee so as to get to better understand why such an employee is constantly late for work (Taylor 76). Based on the information obtained upon talking to the employee the manager would then take the necessary course of action. Taking this step would enable the manager to realize that there are probably factors beyond the control of the employee and therefore what would be required is an adjustment of the employee's schedule. This would save the managers the trouble of having to fire such an employee and probably benefit the organization since the employee would be very experienced and productive. Contingency helps a manager to achieve a proper balance between employees and the prevailing circumstances (Taylor 64). This results from the fact that the contingency models are based on the fact that no two situations are the same and hence the need to take action based on the unique circumstances. 3. The locus of control trait Locus of control is the extent to which a individual people believe that they are able to control events that affect them. External and internal locus of control refers to the way that an individual sees as contributing to the successes and failures that they experience. An individual who exhibits an internal locus of control is one who attributes his success on intrinsic motivation and their own hard work. On the other hand, a person exhibits an external locus of control if such a person attributes his success or failure on forces that are outside. There are advantages as well as disadvantages to managers for both internal locus of control and external locus of control (Taylor 69). A manager who can be said to have an internal locus of control is more likely to take responsibilities for the actions that they carry out be they good or bad. An example would be where the manager takes responsibility for getting late to work rather than heaping the blame on weather or traffic. A manager with internal locus of control is likely to be time conscious and have internal drive to accomplish tasks to standard which are higher than those who have an external locus of control. External locus of control does also have some advantages. Managers who have an external locus of control are viewed as being humble and are more agreeable. Such a manager does often share praise with people who are around and who may have made very little contribution in a certain project (Taylor 57). Such a manager is likely to be laid back and have a life that is happy and relaxed. The ambition is a major disadvantage for those managers having internal locus of control. The managers could be perceived as being arrogant and unreasonable. Such managers demand that other people do put in levels of effort similar to their own that they themselves do. A manager who has internal locus of control is likely to push him or herself too hard and result in poor health as well as becoming psychologically unstable. There are also drawbacks attributable to manager who exhibit external locus of control. Such managers complain a lot and when they find outside influences as excuses for their bad behavior. Managers who exhibit external locus of control tend to be low in terms of self motivation and they are not likely to attain levels of success that those with internal locus of control attain. 4. Major needs of managers according to McClelland David McClelland built on the theory of needs developed by Abraham Maslow. McClelland came up with three motivators that all managers would be said to have. McClelland states that there are three motivating drivers regardless on one's culture, gender or age. The dominant motivator depends largely on a person's culture as well as one's life experiences. McClelland identified achievement, affiliation, and power as the three motivators. Manager whose dominant motivator is achievement strive to set and accomplish goals which are challenging. Such a manager would take calculated risks to achieve the set goals, likes to work individually and also looks forward to receiving feedback on a regular basis on the progress they are making as well as the achievements they have attained. The other dominant motivator for managers is affiliation (Taylor 77). Managers motivated by this tend to want to belong to a group, be liked and takes the position that the groups favors while avoiding uncertainty or high risks. The final dominant motivator is power. A manager who is motivated by power likes to influence and control others and does not like losing arguments. Such a manager enjoys competing and emerging victorious as well as recognition and status. 5. Organizational Commitment Organizational commitment refers to the psychological attachment that and individual has to an organization. A manager would act differently depending on their level of commitment. John Meyer and Natalie Allen came up with a model of commitment which has three components which are affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. A manager who has affection to his or her job feels an emotional attachment to his or her organization and the work that they do. Such a manager is likely to enjoy their work and feel good as well as gain satisfaction and this results in higher productivity while a manager who has little commitment cannot be satisfied with his job and this would result in poor performance (Cole 101). Managers who exhibit continuance commitment are likely to be those who are established and successful and fear lose of certain benefits. However, managers who do not have continuance commitment are likely to look for an opportunity to leave an organization and they are not likely to be very effective in their duties. The third kind of commitment is normative commitment. In this case, a manager feels that they have a sense of obligation to the organization. Such a manager would feel that staying with an organization is what right to do and this would be informed by certain benefits that one has received from the organization. A manager who is committed to his organization also impacts positively the members of his or her team and this enables the organization to attain its goals. 6. Role of management in organizing resources and importance of management as a resource. For an organization to achieve its goals, it needs to utilize its different resources in an effective manner. Resource management entails effective and efficient use of resources present to an organization when and where such resources are needed. The resources that managers deploy include human skills, finances, inventory, and information technology or production resources. Human resource management is vital as it entails ensuring that human resources are placed in various projects and also make sure that the personnel who are available achieve maximum productivity (Taylor 88). All the functions set out above are carried out by the management. Management could therefore be classified as an important resource close to entrepreneurship as it is management that directs all the other factors of production to ensure that an organization attains its objectives. 7. Management and organization The terms management refers to directing that is carried out by senior personnel in an organization. Management is meant to ensure that all activities run smoothly resulting to all activities running smoothly. An organization is any entity which people set up with the aim of achieving a certain objective. 8. How the use of groups and teams can help an organization to gain a competitive advantage An organization contains groups and teams. Teams have ways through which they do things as well as a hierarchy. The structure in a team allows it to work in an efficient manner. The structure makes it possible for each and every team member to understand what their role in the team is. Since team members have different strengths, they make different contributions towards achieving a common goal and motivate each other to work harder and smarter. A company that has made effective use of teams is Microsoft Corporation. The corporation is an employer of more than 100,000 people and produces diverse products (Taylor 78). Microsoft depends on its employees to develop new products as well as improving the existing ones. Working as teams has benefited the corporation in the sense that different people involved in the various aspects of the corporation make their individual contributions to the team and this has made the pace of its product develop to be faster and more effective. 9. Management skills Management determines whether an organization attains great success or whether such an organization ends up collapsing. A good manager should learn to have their priorities right. Therefore, the manager should ensure that things that should be done immediately do not get delayed. Team managers should learn to delegate as much as possible. One person is limited as to what they can do on their own and they should incorporate other team members in leadership roles (Cole 94). A manager can only be effective if the team members are motivated. There are different approaches that a manager can choose in deciding which form of motivation to adopt. The manager should endeavor to develop their teams. The individuals who make up the team usually have different levels of skills and the manager should ensure that each and every person get the necessary support as well as upgrading their skills. This results in a team that is more productive and motivated (Taylor 43). The manager should communicate effectively and in a timely fashion not only to members of his team but also the outside world. Effective communications prevents a number of unwanted happenings. Discipline is very critical for the survival of a team. A manager should devise ways that are effective in disciplining members of his team and to have them appreciate the fact that they are being corrected. 10. Power in leadership theory Power is important as a tool for control. Power takes different forms. There are two broad groups being personal and formal. Formal power can have three categories. Coercive power entails an employee doing something out of fear of losing a job or receiving a demotion. A manager gets this power by threatening other people. Legitimate power comes to a manager as a result of their position in the organization and the employees in the organization recognize the power and authority that a manager wields (Taylor 81). Another form that power takes is reward. This is attained by rewarding people who comply with the wishes of a manager. In personal power, there are two categories being expert and referent power. Referent power results from respect and trust to a person. Expert power emanates from the experience, knowledge and skills that a person has (Cole 93). Conclusion Effective managers are indispensable for organization to attain and surpass their targets. The managers require to have certain academic as well as personal characteristics which ensure that the organization ends up successful. Organizations also need to meet the requirements of the managers and improve their skills which improve their effectiveness. Management therefore determines the direction that an organization takes and no effort should be spared in ensuring that the right managers are put in the right positions in different organizations. Works Cited Cole Gerald. Management Theory and Practice. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2004. Print. Cole Kris. Management: Theory and Practice. Sydney: Pearson Education Australia, 2009. Print. Taylor, Frederick. The Principles of Scientific Management. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1911. Print. Read More