¶ … management and organization and reviews new trends. The essay also discusses new trends in management that affect organizations and the implications of those trends.
A survey of the literature reveals various definitions of management in use. Management has been defined as the process of getting things done through and with people. It is the planning and directing of effort and the organizing and employing of resources, both human and material, to accomplish some predetermined objective. (Jones and Bartlett, 2011).
BusinessDictionary.com (2011) defines management as the organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of defined objectives. Management consists of the interlocking functions of formulating corporate policy and organizing, planning, controlling, and directing an organization's resources to achieve the policy's objectives.
Traditionally the term management refers to the activities, as well as the group of people, involved in four general functions: planning, organizing, leading, and coordinating of resources. These four functions recur throughout the organization and are highly integrated (McNamara, n.d.).
Planning includes identifying goals, objectives, methods, and resources needed to carry out tasks. Organizing resources takes place to achieve goals in an optimum manner. Leading involves setting direction for the organization, and also influencing people to follow that direction. Coordinating or controlling the organization's resources takes place to efficiently and effectively reach goals and objectives (McNamara, n.d.).
Another common view is that management is getting things done through others. Still another view holds that the job of management is to support employees' efforts to be fully productive members of organizations and citizens of the community. There is also the position that management should focus more on leadership skills, on establishing and communicating visions and goals (McNamara, n.d.).
Emerging trends in management assert that leading is different than managing, and that the nature of how the four functions are carried out must change to accommodate a new paradigm in management (McNamara, n.d.).
In the discussion of leadership vs. management, Clemmer makes a key distinction: we manage things and we lead people. Clemmer also quotes Warren Bennis, Professor of Business administration at the University of Southern California: "Management is getting people to do what needs to be done. Leadership is getting people to want to do what needs to be done. Managers push. Leaders pull. Managers command. Leaders communicate" (Clemmer, 2010).
The environment of today's organizations has changed a great deal form a generation ago. Moreover the power of telecommunications technology has shrunken the world considerably. Also, increasing diversity among workers is responsible for a wide array of differing values, perspectives and expectations among workers. Public consciousness has become more sensitive and more demanding that organizations be more socially responsible. Many third-world countries have joined the global marketplace, creating wider opportunities for sales and services. Organizations have become responsible not only to stockholders but also to a wider community of stakeholders (McNamara, n.d.).
As a result of all these forces, organizations are required to adopt a new paradigm or view on the world, to be more sensitive, flexible and adaptable to the demands and expectations of stakeholders. Today's leaders must therefore deal with continual, rapid change. Nor can they necessarily refer back to an earlier developed plan for direction. Managing change does not mean controlling it but rather understanding and adapting to it.
McNamara provides a summary of old vs. new paradigms, based on Ferguson's The New Paradigm: Emerging Strategies for Leadership and Organizational Change.
Old Paradigm
New Paradigm
Promote consumption at all costs
Appropriate consumption
Imposed goal, top-down decision making
Autonomy encouraged, worker participation
Short-sighted
Ecologically sensitive
People to fit jobs
Jobs to fit people
Emphasis on short-term solutions
Recognition that long-range efficiency must take into account harmonious work environment
Strictly economic motives
Spiritual values transcend material gain
Manipulation and dominance
Cooperation with nature
Source: C. McNamara, Traits of the New Paradigm
According to McNamara, an organization in its simplest form is a person or group of people intentionally organized to accomplish an overall common goal or set of goals. Business organizations range in size from one person to tens of thousands. There are features that define the goal of the business organization that may be explicit or implicit. Ideally the features are carefully considered and established, typically during the strategic planning process (McNamara, n.d.).
The organization should have a vision, that is, members should have some image in their minds about how the organization…
