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6.1 Introductionmanagement has changed significantly since the development of the factory system, with its mass production and assembly lines. The 3 dominant management theories are the classical, behavioural & contingency approaches.6.2 Classical approachA classical perspective on management emphasises how to best manage and organise work so as to improve productivity. Bureaucracy (set of rules & regulations that control the business) is the most efficient form of organisation.The goal of managers was to maximise employee productivity.The harder the employee worked, the higher output and greater the profit for the owner.Management focused on increasing output by increasing worker effort and saving time. Management as planning, organising and controllingPlanningPlanning involves deciding on the direction the business will take in, in the future, then setting goals and objectives.Planning also needs to establish the course of action, strategies, managers will implement to achieve its long-term general goals and short-term specific objectives.Strategies are based on the experience of managers and their technical knowledgePlans need to be completed for several different timeframes. These are outlined below:Strategic planning: is long-term planning for the overall business, the business’s vision.Tactical (medium term) planning: is flexible, adaptable planning, usually over 1 to 2 years.Operational (short term) planning: day to day running of the businessOrganising Organising involved creating the framework for the implementation of the business plan. It will determine: What will be doneWho will do itHow it will be doneControllingWhen controlling, managers compare the results achieved with what was plannedExternal influences such as changing consumer preferences or a new product released by a competitor could explain what happened.The control function needs to establish standards to use when comparing goals with results. These standards may be based on the firm’s past performance, industry benchmarks and even world’s best practice.Hierarchical organisational structureHenry Fayol and Frederick W. Taylor developed the basis of classical management theory.Their goal was to work out how management could be applied better to achieve the most efficient organisation of workers to improve productivity.He used ‘time and motion’ studies to divide tasks into smaller specialised activities, thus generating a hierarchical organisational structure based on the division of labour.Division of labour refers to the process whereby each task is divided into small steps in the production process and a worker is assigned to each.Classical theory had a tall, narrow hierarchical structure.138493535814000Through division of labour, each employee is given a simple task and will earn the task quickly.Autocratic leadership style in the classical-scientific management theory, employees are grouped together to perform specialised tasks headed by a manager with a small span of control.Managers are autocratic under the classical approach.This means that the managers make all decisions without employee involvement.They tell employees what to do and how to do their tasks.A manager using an autocratic leadership style tends to:Makes all decisionsDictates work methodsLimits worker knowledge about what needs to be doneFrequently checks employee performanceThis management style controls the organisation closely and motivates through threats and disciplinary action.6.3 behavioural approachmotivating as leading, motivating and communicatingAccording to the behavioural management approach, the main management functions are:Leading: having a vision of where the business should be in the long and short term and being able to direct and motivate the human resources in an organisation to achieve its objectives.Motivating: involves energising and encouraging employees to achieve the business’s goals.Motivation is the individual, internal process that energises, directs and sustains an individual’s behaviour.Is the personal force that causes a person to behave in a particular way.Human factors such as recognition, self-worth and positive reinforcement are as important to motivation as external factors such as pay rates and working municating: exchanging information between managers and employees. TeamsTeamwork involves people who interact regularly and coordinate their work towards a common goal.Team structure framework has seen managers change their roles from controllers to facilitators.Characteristics of effective teams include:Members share a common goalMembers trust each other-each member feels valuedDecisions are made by consensusAdvantages Can complete any work quickerMore efficient and collaborativeDisadvantagesSomeone in the team may not participate A clash of ideasA manager using the behavioural approach would use a more participative or democratic leadership.Participative and democratic leadership styleA manager using the behavioural approach would use a more participative or democratic leadership style.A participative leadership style is one in which the manager consults with employees to ask their suggestions and then seriously consider those suggestions when making decisions.Flat organisational structure:The pyramid structure is commonly seen as obsolete (no longer used) by managers.Advances in technology (such as the internet) with the significant pressures of competition due to the forces of globalisation have resulted in changes to organisational structures-the traditional structure is:Slow and unresponsive to changeExpensive to maintainStifling of creativityDifficult to manage due to its many layers.Flatter organisational structures have evolved due to the ‘de-layering’ of management structures resulting in the elimination of one or more management levels:Greater responsibility given to individuals in the organisation. Wider span of control-6350020256500People are given more freedom and autonomy to carry out their tasks Participative and democratic leadership styleUnder a participative style of leadership, employees are encouraged to share their opinions and suggestions. The manager will take responsibility for final decisions after considering the input from employees.A democratic leadership style refers to one that is very collaborative in nature, and focuses on supportive leadership. This approach is used with more skilled and experienced employees.6.4 Contingency ApproachOne of the most important contemporary viewpoints is the contingency approach to management. It stresses the need for flexibility & adaptation of management practices and ideas to suit changing circumstances.Contingency theorists point out to managers that no 2 situations are absolutely identical.Each situation, therefore, requires its own unique solution.Due to unstable external business environment, managers need to be flexible and borrow and blend from a wide range of management approaches.6.5 Strengths and weaknesses of the approachesEach of the 3 approaches to management has strengths and weaknessesStrengthsWeaknessesTask analysis to increase productivity and reduce wasteHigh degree of specialisation Business goals are the priorityClear sets of rules, policies and etc.Effective in a crisisemployee’s skills are under developedquality issues due to repetition of boring taskslower worker satisfaction and motivationhuman and social needs ignore ................
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