Can the Social Sciences Help Managers - Essay Example

Organizational politics: Can Social Social science help managers? Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Management is an important aspect in the success of any organization. It enables an organization to plan for its operations and allocate resources effectively towards achieving its goals and objectives. Management in the organizations today is seen as a social science. This implies that an organization encompasses a group of people who work together with the aim of achieving a common goal. Social science is the study of the social relationship between the employees and with the management (Thomas 1993). Social science is the behavior in which the people in an organization behave. Managers in today’s business have put more emphasis on the social science which enables the employees to socialize and network while performing their duties. There have been debates that social sciences can help to improve the performance of the managers while other scholars argue that social science does not have any impact on the performance of the managers. This essay will therefore discuss how social science helps managers and discuss the arguments against the social science. How social science help managers Like said above, social science plays a great role to managers. It is seen as the framework for controlling the human behavior. When people interact and socialize in groups and teams, they will be able to learn the behavior changes from the other group members. This makes it easy for the managers to influence the behavior of the employees by encouraging teamwork in accomplishing various tasks in the organization. In this effect, it will be easy for the managers to shape up the behavior of the employees by encouraging the promotion of organizational culture in terms of behavior. The social science helps to understand the society and how it is. This is because the managers will learn the different behaviors and cultures of the society. This helps the managers to develop strategies which will help to meet the values of the employees who come from a certain society. This is helpful especially when controlling the employees since the manager understands the dynamics in the society and this could improve the management skills and better management of the organization (Crane & Matten 2007). Without understanding the behavior of the employees, the manager could not address any issues affecting the employee. This will lead to rising conflicts among the employees and the management due different cultural backgrounds. Social science therefore helps the managers to improve the ways they handle issues in their respective organizations. In addition, the social science helps the managers to develop policies and regulations which help to meet the external environment conditions. If the manager cannot develop policies which can help the organization to develop policies which adapt the external environment, it will not be competitive in the business environment (Forster & Browne 1996). This is because the manager has to develop policies which adapt the interests of the society and its people. This helps to create a good relationship between the organization and the society, hence the organization will improve its competitiveness in the global society. Moreover, social science helps the managers to find solutions to affairs which affect the society. The approach of social science is concerned with the ways it can solve the issues affecting the society. The society can be the organization which comprises of employees and the management. Since the approach to social science is problem centered, it will help the manager to identify problems which affect the organization and try to find better solutions to solve the problems (Griseri & Seppala 2010). In this regard, the manager can be able to manage the organizations effectively after identifying and eliminating the issues affecting the society. Therefore, the social science helps the managers in performing their duties and responsibilities. Social science also helps the managers to improve their knowledge and skills by having the skills to perceive things differently from different societies. It helps the managers to understand the societal dynamics and how situations are perceived differently. This is helpful when handling situations in the organization. The organization comprises employees from different societal backgrounds and the manager has to understand the behaviors of each society so that he or she can handle the issues affecting the organization effectively (Arnold et al 2013). Therefore, social science helps the managers a great deal. Since social science deals with the study of human relations, the same problems which were encountered by scientists are the same problems the managers face while executing their tasks. In this regard, from the study of the social science, the managers will be able to understand the human psychology and how best to address the issues (Griseri & Seppala 2010). After understanding the human behavior, the manager will be able to improve the management skills and how to address the behavior of certain employees to be desirable. It is therefore important for the managers to learn social science. There are various ways in which to deal with human issues. Understanding the human psychology therefore helps the manager to develop an effective way to address any issue in the organization without affecting the psychology of the individual. Moreover, social science helps the managers to understand the ways in which the employees can be motivated. This is because the social science enables the managers to understand how different societies are motivated (Griseri & Seppala 2010). This is helpful because it helps the manager of the organization to develop an organizational culture which will accommodate the diversity culture in the organization. By developing an organizational culture which takes into account all other cultures, the manager will be able to motivate the employees hence improve the productivity of the organization. Managers are sometimes faced with complex situations which need difficulty solutions. In order for the manager to make concrete decisions, he should understand the whole situation. Failing to understand the situation which is complex, the manager might not be able to make the decision to save the situation. In this regard, the manager should understand the behavior of each employee who might help to make decisions to save the situation (Singer 1993). Social science therefore helps the managers to make decisions which can provide the solution to the complex situation. Moreover, social science offers the manager the ability to understand the problems which face the social scientists. These problems are the same problems the managers of organizations face. The skills of the social scientists and the managers of the organization can help to solve problems which managers face like understanding the communication strategy to use in the organization (Avery 2005). A manager who understands the social problems of its employees will be able to develop effective communication strategy to improve communication which in turn helps to lower the risks associated with poor communication. Social science further helps the managers improve the corporate social responsibility for the organization. This is because the manager will be able to understand the needs of the society and in order to improve the relationship with them; the manager should take into account their needs. Corporate social responsibility is an important aspect in the management of an organization. It helps to improve the reputation of an organization in the society (Sucher 2007). The social science, therefore helps the manager to understand the different needs of different societies and design programmes which will help to improve the welfare of the society. This is helpful to the manager as he will be able to improve the performance of the organization by engaging in corporate social responsibility. Finally, the social science helps the manager of an organization to improve the morale of the employees. This is in the context that when the issues affecting the employees are identified and addressed, they will be able to improve their morale. This implies that the production of the organization will increase since each employee will improve his or her productivity. For instance, if the grievance of the employees is low morale, which can be depicted by their go slow or poor communication the manager can identify this behavior and compensate them effectively (Benn & Dunphy 2007). This will therefore help to improve the morale of the employees. However, on the other hand, there are those scholars who argue that social science does not help the managers and does not have any big impact on their performance. In the first place, they argue that the managers can be able to identify the problem or an issue which affect the employees without being a social scientist. In this regard, they argue that the managers can learn management and leadership skills by attending formal learning or reading the textbooks and through experience. This implies that the managers do not have to be social scientists to be able to identify the problem affecting the employees hence social science does not help the managers. They also argue that problem solving techniques cannot be rigid according to the social science. This implies that social science does not provide adequate information for problem solving. Instead, problem solving techniques and experience can be achieved by practicing management aspects. The manager can be able to solve problems through experience and not the social science techniques. Different situations need different problem solving techniques. In this regard, there is no standard way of solving a problem and thus the manager can solve a problem through the experience of handling similar problems in the past. The rationality for solving problems is based on the professional practice (Jennings 2009). As a manager engages in new different tasks, he will improve his professional expertise in handling problems and will apply the problem solving technique in recurrent problems. This implies that the manager can be able to solve problems affecting the organization without being a social scientist. The manager can also observe the ways in which the skillful practitioners behave when solving problems. This will help to improve the management skills of the manager. In this situation, it is not mandatory that the manager should be a social scientist to be able to improve his or her problem solving techniques. Competent managers can nurture the problem solving skills of the junior managers (Jennings 2009). This can be done through mentorship or being assigned to an experienced manager. All this is aimed at improving the skills of the manager and not through social science. In this regard, social science has little contribution to the managers when performing their tasks especially solving the problems. Technical rationality is another way the manager can solve issues in their organizations. When a task which requires solutions is presented, the manager is expected to be rational enough and apply his technical skills to find a solution to the problem (Jennings 2009). This is one way in which the managers improve their problem solving techniques and not through social science. Special situations require different approaches to finding solutions therefore depending on the situation presented which require solution the manager is expected to apply his rational and technical skills to provide the solution. In addition, personal reflection also helps the managers to find solutions to problems. This is the context that the manager must have handled similar situations previously (Ciulla 2003). From the previous assignments, the manager will be able to apply the skills to find a solution to the problem. In this regard, personal reflection will enable the manager to solve issues affecting the employees without being a social scientist. Personal reflection can improve the skills of the manager better by understanding the behavior and relationships of the employees despite the diversity in the workplace. In case of complex and new situations which require solutions, the managers can experiment and provide a solution to the issue and see what happens. If the solution becomes viable, the manager can apply the same skills in solving recurrent problems due to the experience he or she has from the previous assignment. Conclusion There are those who argue that social science helps the managers in solving issues affecting their organizations. They argue that social science helps the manager to understand the society hence can be able to understand the human behavior better. It also helps the manager to understand the human relations as well as improving the skills of the manager to handle complex and improve the corporate social responsibility of the organization. In this regard therefore, social science helps the managing in providing leadership and management skills. Personal reflection can also help the manager to solve issues and not necessarily being a social scientist. In this effect, it can be concluded social science helps the managers to improve their leadership and management skills. Considering the above discussions, there are situations where social science can be applied to solve problems in the society or in an organization. However, in most situations, social science helps the managers to solve issues affecting the organization (Maak & Pless 2006). From this research and my own view, it can be concluded that social science helps the managers to perform their functions especially solving problems. This is because it helps them to understand the human behavior in the society and therefore apply the skills in managing the employees. References Arnold, D., Beauchamp, T. L & Bowie, N. E 2013, Ethical Theory and Business (9th Edn). USA,  Pearson Education. Avery, G.C 2005, Leadership for Sustainable Futures: Achieving Success in a Competitive   World, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar. Benn, S & Dunphy, D 2007, Corporate Governance and Sustainability:   Challenges for Theory and Practice, London, Routledge. Ciulla, J. B 2003, The Ethics of Leadership, London, Praeger. Crane, A & Matten, D 2007, Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citzenship and  sustainability in the Age of Globalisation. 2dn Edn. London: OUP. Forster, J & Browne, M 1996, Principles of Strategic Management, Macmillan, South Yarra. pp. 158-161 and 169-184. Griseri, P & Seppala, N 2010, Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility. UK: South-Western Cengage Learning.  Jennings, M. M 2009, Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings, (7th Edn), UK:  South-Western Cengage Learning. Maak, T & Pless, N 2006, Responsible Leadership, London, Routledge.  Singer, P 1993, Practical Ethics (2nd Edn), USA: Cambridge University Press. Sucher, S.J 2007, The Moral Leader: Challenges, Tools and Insights, London: Routledge. Thomas, A 1993, “The social sciences: can they help managers?” from Controversies in Management: Issues, Debates, Answers, Routledge, London. Read More