Thursday 14 August 2014

Contingency Approach to Management

This is another modern approach that has attempted to integrate finding of other perspectives. They believe that it is impossible to select one way of managing that works best in all situations. Their approach is to identify the conditions of a task, managerial job and person as parts of a complete management situation and attempt to integrate them all into a solution which is most appropriate for specific circumstance.

The manager has to try systematically to identify which technique or approach will, in a particular circumstance or context, best contribute to the attainment of the desired goals.

The contingency approach may consider, for policy reasons, that an incentive scheme was not relevant. Also the expense of a job enrichment scheme may rule this out. The complexity of each situation should be noted and decisions made in each individual circumstances.  

It should be borne in mind that the contingency approach is not really new, that emphasized the importance of choosing the general type of management best suited to a particular case.

The contingency approach seeks to apply to real life situations ideas drawn from several of management thought. Different problems and situations require different approaches and no one approach is universally applicable. Manager must seek to identify the approach that will serve them best in any given situation, so they can achieve their goal.

It is important to note that the contingency approach stresses the need for managers to examine the relationship between the internal and external environment of an organization.

The system approach to management emphasizes that relationships between various parts of an organization are interlocked. The contingency approach has emphasized this idea by focusing on the nature of such relationships.

Criticisms of the contingency approach are that it has little theoretical foundation and is basically intuitive. This can be countered by noting that the contingency approach examines each situation to find out its unique attributes before management makes a decision. Earlier approaches tended to consider universal principles which were not always applicable to specific situations.

Managers today are advised to analyze a situation and find appropriate combination of management techniques to meet the needs of the situation.



Tuesday 12 August 2014

Systems approach in Management

Many activities in organization were treated in an essentially descriptive. The approaches, scientific, administrative management, behavioral are useful in different circumstances, but it is difficult to be sure which one is right in a given situation. In view of this, it is considered that the newer systems and contingency approaches may provide a more complete integrated approach to the problems of management.

Thinking about management with knowledge of the systems approach can help to postulate conceptually the interrelationship of apparently separate and even contradictory ideas underlying management theory for the first time.

A system is an organized combination of parts which form a complex entity, with interrelationships or interactions between the parts and between the system and environment.

A management system encourages one to consider the cutting across of traditional boundaries of responsibility between departments in order to appreciate the objectives of the whole organization. Distinct demarcation lines between purchasing, manufacturing, engineering, marketing, etc., may becomes less distinct and a revision of organization may be needed. This is essential in viewing the management process as a system.

The systems approach stresses the need for more understanding in the development of sophisticated problem-solving techniques, e.g. simulation, operations research and computerized information systems. All these aim to improve the control mechanisms of organizational systems so that they can plan for, and react more effectively to changes in the environment.

The systems approach attempts to give managers a way of looking at organizations as a complete whole. It implies that activities in any part of the organization will affect the activities of every other part. The adoption of a system approach will involved a marked change in organization, hence the vital need to prepare the organization well in advance for the need to accept change.

Whatever classification is given to managerial activities and responsibilities, they becoming more dynamic and complex because a greater rate of change and problems of co-ordination and integration as more jobs become specialized.

Traditional managerial theory and behavioral science have provided guidelines to cope with uncertainty and change, but the approaches are too fragmented. It is here that a systems approach can help.

General systems theory provided valuable insights into the structure and process of management. The systems approach recognized variety and offers a way of interrelating differences by reconciling them within the whole. This is an approach which emphasizes theory and conformity.