The Changes in Todays Management Practice - Essay Example

Management Theory Name Institution Tutor Date Introduction A Chief Executive Officer managing an organization in 1960 will certainly be amazed at some of the current changes in today’s management practice. This is due to the evolution in contemporary organizations such as the 24/7 customer service and real- time supply chains. A big question that would arise in the mind of the manager is whether little or much has changed in the management practices used today and those employed in the past. An assumption can therefore be made that little has changed in the management practice used today and those used in the previous one to two generations ago. This paper agrees with the analogy that slight changes have emerged. The paper supports the idea that not much has changed. A reference to both classical and contemporary management theory will also be used. When making a comparison of management in the current society and a generation or two ago, it can be stated that variations exist in the approach to management. Nevertheless, the differences are not too many. Two generations ago leads to the year 1960-1970. Foremost, one of the most dominant theories that were developed during the 1960s is the open systems appraoch. The theory postulates that an organization is like a system. The system derives its capital from the external environment and translates them into goods and services which are then transferred to the surroundings where they are used purchased by consumers. The application of the open –system emanates from the fact that organizations openly interrelate with the external surrounding in order to existence (Cole, 2004). Classical management theories did not put emphasis on the application of the open –systems approach. Attention was not directed to the input of the environment to the organizations. For instance, the scientific management theory by Frederick Taylor (1856–1915) put emphasis on the organizations internal environment by emphasizing the need for application of scientific principles in the production process and the division of labour and specialization (Grabot, Vallespir, Gomes, Bouras, & Kiritsis, 2014). Management in the contemporary business environment however still applies the open system approach. Many businesses today still depend on the external environment as a source of capital for the production of goods and services. A case in point is manufacturing companies that constantly use resources from their surrounding such as raw materials and labour in order to come up with products which are later sold to the consumers. It can therefore be stated that the open- system theory still exists in modern organizations. The management approach used today has not changed when compared to approaches used in the past two generations due to the focus on understanding and responding to the external environment. The contingency theory was devised by Stalker, M and Tom Burns in the 1960’s. The core issue promoted by the theory is that there is no explicit approach to managing the organisation. But rather management depends on the attributes of the external environment in which the organization operates (Donaldson, 2001). Management in the current society also greatly focuses on understanding and responding to the external environment, as demonstrated by Figure 1.0. By understanding and reacting to the external environment a manager can apply diverse approaches to management. It can therefore be argued that management two generations ago and in contemporary organizations embodies this similarity. Classical management approach, on the other hand, focused more on examining the internal environment as opposed to the external environment. Figure 1.0 Management theory 1970- 2000 It can also be stated that management practice in the past two generations has not changed extensively when compared to modern day management. Contemporary approaches to management such as the resource-based are also similar systems theory which highlight the significance of using resources in order to gain a competitive advantage in the business environment (Sapru, 2013). Imperatively, the theories recognize the importance of effective coordination of resources in the improvement of the competitiveness of an organization. The classical management theories such as the scientific theory focused on production processes. What is evident is that contemporary management practice in the current business organizations still focuses on business process, however, the use of resources or competencies in order to gain a competitive advantage is considered essential. It can also be stated modern day management and management two generations ago is still similar due exiting resemblances with the classical approaches to management. For instance, contemporary management approach emphasizes on the significance of quality. Total quality management is akin to the aims of the scientific model as it identifies the production process and the importance of ensuring that there is effective and efficient production in all the stages of the production process (Zeiger 2016). Therefore, the internal approach of the scientific management model has been expanded to have other different processes of business functions. For example, marketing campaigns are essential processes for a business today. However, business entities need to ensure that the production process is effective and can result in the production of quality goods and services. In 1960, Juran (1995) discloses that many firms, especially in Japan, focused on the issue of quality. Quality management is therefore not a recent concept but an idea that was applied in the past. For instance, in the 1960 and 1970s, most of the Japanese manufactures expanded their market share in regions such as the United States due to the manufacturing of products with superior quality. Japan became a dominant player in the production of machine tools, automobiles and electronics. The 1960s saw the introduction of the Zero Defects Program. During the same period, American and Japanese manufacturers laid the foundation for Total Quality Management (Gong, 2013). It can therefore be argued that not much has changed because TQM is still practiced in modern day management. Additionally, the human relations theory has been used as the foundation of current employee motivational approaches. Imperatively, insights formulated by Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory and Herzberg’s two-factor approaches continue to constitute the foundation for motivational schemes in many organizations around the world (Raduan et al 2009). The modern theories provide enrichment to the classical theories by emphasizing the benefit of incorporating organization’s staff into the implementation of a firm’s strategy. In additional to remuneration systems that recognize performance, most firms engage in job improvement and development training that are aimed at making their employees get more fulfillment for their duties. Furthermore, these approaches challenge employees to increase their productivity and ensure that they meet their hierarchical needs (Tukhvatulina et al. 2016). Therefore, both classical and contemporary theories emphasize the need to focus on employee motivation and development because of their strategic importance to ensuring that an organization achieves high performance. Management today just like in the 1960s places emphasis on proper recruitment, an aspect that resonates well with the modern or contemporary management practices where organizations are keen on recruiting qualified and highly talented employees for effective execution of their obligations and duties (Zeiger 2016). Again, the development of scientific personality tests during interviews as a way of complementing oral interviews serves to enrich the requirements highlighted in the classical management theory, especially the scientific management as advanced by Fredrick Taylor. The roles or functions of management in the current organizations and in the previous generations has never changed. Management has been defined as the art of getting things done through people (Maheshwari, 1997). The steps or initiatives that are undertaken by the management in order to get things done includes planning and organization, coordination and control, directing and motivation. It is evident that Henry Fayol’s definition of management and the role of management was relevant in the 1960 and 1970 and is still applicable today. According to Fayol, the functions of management include, to forecast and plan, to command, to plan, control and coordinate (Maheshwari, 1997). Organizations today and even in the past still apply this functions. For instance, a manager still coordinates the activities of the organization in order to ascertain that the set objectives are met. It can be argued that not much transformation has taken place in the practice of management today and in the 1960s and 1970s. An outstanding aspect that emerges is that organizations have eliminated the prominence on bureaucracy, an aspect of management that was common during the classical period (Olum, 2004). Max Weber’s romanticized bureaucracy and believed that it would promote efficiency in organizations. Similarly, Fayol had the opinion that teams dynamics was a practice that can only be implemented in organization that is ‘’Ideal’’ (Olum, 2004). However, during the 1960s managers begun to develop teams and eliminate the dominance of the top management. The introduction of team management in the recent decades and its continued emphasis in modern day organizations indicates that not much has not changed based on the fact that in the 1960s and 1970s, the use of teams had already gained prominence. The concept of strategic management is very common in modern day organizations. In fact, an organization that does have a strategy or a strategic plan is perceived as a business that lacks focus and clear direction. It is essential to take note of the fact that despite the eminence of strategic management in the modern business environment, it is actually not a new concept. Furrer, Thomas and Goussevskaia (2008) disclose that the emergence of the strategic management field can be traced to the 1960s to Igor Ansoff’s (1965), Alfred Chandler’s (1962) and the Harvard textbook Business (1965). The birth of the management approach was geared towards shifting from the practice of one –best –way tactic of managing organizations, to an approach that involves contingency and the ability to adopt to the external surrounding. Strategic management is today used by organizations as approach of dealing with the dynamic nature of the business environment. Organizations use strategies which include the plans and directions to attain the set goals and objective. It can therefore be stated that the emphasis of the strategic management approach has been to deal with the external environment, an aspect that has not changed. Conclusion The above discussion presents the argument that much has changed in management theory and practice in the past two generations when compared to modern society. The paper argues that similarity exists in concepts such as the application of the open systems theory, the focus on the external environment, the use of TQM, the functions of management, the recruitment of qualified workforce and the application of strategic management. In conclusion it can be argued that although the business environment is dynamic, the practice of management still embraces theories used in the past. References Cole, G. (2004). Management Theory and Practice. Cengage Learning EMEA. Donaldson, L. (2001). The Contingency Theory of Organizations Foundations for Organizational Science. Sage. Furrer, O, Thomas, H and Goussevskaia, A. (2008). The structure and evolution of the strategic management field. International Journal of Management Reviews, 1468(2007), p 1-9. Gong, Y. (2013). Global Operations Strategy: Fundamentals and Practice Springer Texts in Business and Economics. Springer Science & Business Media. Grabot, B, Vallespir, B, Gomes, S, Bouras, A and Kiritsis, D. (2014). Advances in Production Management Systems: Innovative and Knowledge-Based Production Management in a Global-Local World. Springer, Maheshwari, P. (1997). Principles of Business Studies. Pitambar Publishing. Juran, J. (1995). A History of Managing for Quality in the United States-Part 2. Quality Digest. Olum, Y. (2004). Modern Management Theories and Practices. Makerere University. Raduan, C.R., et al. (2009). Management, Strategic Management Theories and the Linkage with Organizational Competitive Advantage from the Resource Based View. 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