the contemporary workplace
THE CONTEMPORARY WORKPLACE CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT ISSUES Networking in today’s economy • Today’s economy is a networked global economy • Organisations are expected to continuously excel on performance criteria • Individuals à no guarantees of long-term employment Intellectual capital Employees represent the firm’s intellectual capital. Challenge is to combine the talents of many people, sometimes thousands, to achieve unique and significant results • Intellectual capital: the collective brain power or shared knowledge of a workforce • Knowledge worker: someone whose knowledge is an important asset to employers Globalisation The worldwide interdependence of: resource flows, product markets and business competition. Technology Computers allow organisations, locally and internationally to speed transactions and improve decision making • ‘Virtual space’ à people in remote locations can hold meetings, access common databases, share information/files, make plans and solve problems together without having to meet face to face • Computer literacy à must be mastered and continuously developed as a foundation for career success Diversity • Workforce diversity - Differences among workers in gender, race, age, ethnic culture, able-bodiedness, religious affiliation and sexual orientation • Legal context of HRM is strict in prohibiting the use of demographic characteristics to make decisions about things like hiring and promotion • By valuing diversity, organisations can tap a rich talent pool and help people work to their full potential • Diversity bias still a limiting factor in many work settings • Prejudice – display of negative, irrational attitudes towards members of diverse populations • Discrimination – occurs when someone is denied a job or assignment for reasons not job-relevant • Glass ceiling effect refers to an invisible barrier limiting the advancement of women and minority groups Ethics • Ethics and social responsibility issues involve all aspects of organisations, the behaviour of their members and their impact on society. Expectations now include: • Sustainable development, environmental protection • Product safety and fair practices • Protection of human rights • In the workplace: equal employment opportunities, equity of compensation, privacy, job security, health and safety and freedom from sexual harassment Changing Careers Contemporary career implications include: • Core workers: full-time, pursuing a traditional career path • Contract workers: perform specific tasks as needed • Casual and part-time workers: hired as needed • Free agency: term increasingly used to describe career management – must be prepared to change jobs over time, and your skills must be portable and of current value in the market Organisations as open systems • Organisation • Collection of people working together with a division of labour to achieve a common purpose • Organisation should return value to society and satisfy customers’ needs to justify its continued existence • Open systems • Transform resource inputs from the environment into product or service outputs
Organisational performance – efficiency and effectiveness • Value is created when resources are used in the right way, at the right time, at minimum cost to create high-quality goods/services • Performance measures include: • Productivity – the quantity and quality of work performance, with resource use considered • Performance effectiveness – an output measure of task or goal accomplishment • Performance efficiency – measure of resource cost associated with goal accomplishment Productivity and the dimensions of organisational performance
Changing nature of organisations and quality Important organisational transitions include: • Pre-eminence of technology • Demise of command and control • Focus on speed • Embrace networking • Belief in empowerment • Emphasis on teamwork • New workforce expectations • Concern for work life balance • Total quality management (TQM) is managing with commitment to continuous improvement, product quality and customer satisfaction Organisation as an ‘upside-down’ pyramid
MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS, ROLES AND SKILLS Types and levels of managers in today’s workplace • Managers - People in organisations who directly support and help activate the work efforts and performance accomplishments of others • Top managers - Guide the performance of the organisation as a whole, or one of its major parts. Common job titles include chief executive officer, chief operating officer, managing director and director Levels of managers • Middle managers oversee the work of large departments or divisions • Project managers coordinate complex projects with task deadlines and people with many areas of expertise • Team leaders or supervisors report to middle managers and directly supervise non-managerial workers Types of managers • Line managers directly contribute to the production of basic goods or services
• • • •
Staff managers use special technical expertise to advise and support line workers Functional managers are responsible for one area of activity such as finance, marketing or sales General managers are responsible for complex organisational units that include many areas Administrators work in public or not-for-profit organisations
Management Process & “PLOC” Functions
Management: Process of planning, organising, leading & controlling use of resources to accomplish performance goals. Planning: The process of setting objectives and determining how to accomplish them. Controlling: The process of measuring performance and taking action to ensure desired results. Organising: Process of assigning tasks, allocating resources and arranging activities to implement plans. Leading: The process of arousing enthusiasm and directing efforts towards organisational goals. Mintzberg’s ten managerial roles
Katz’s essential managerial skills
• • • •
Technical skill – The ability to use a special proficiency or expertise in your work. Human skill – Ability to work well with other people. Emotional intelligence – Ability to manage ourselves and our relationships. Conceptual skill – Ability to think analytically and solve complex problems.
Skill and outcome assessment Managerial competence – A skill-based capability for high performance in a management job. • Competencies for managerial success include: – Communication – Teamwork – Self-management – Leadership – Critical thinking – Professionalism
HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MANAGEMENT Historical foundations of management • The Iraq War cost the United States more than 4000 lives and a good deal of respect internationally, Speaking about the Iraq War and the financial position of the United States, Joseph Stiglitz, US economist, said “we’ve borrowed every dime. It’s the first war in American history where we’ve borrowed everything... It’s actually the first war since the revolutionary war where America was created where we’ve had to turn to foreigners to help finance, 40 per cent of the money has been borrowed from abroad. And that means that all the bills will be paid by future generations” • Stiglitz believes the Vietnam War proved less of a drain on the US economy, because at least it was not funded with loaned money. The GFC tore the US’s international reputation to shreds. • Protestant work ethic à Robert Owen (1771–1858), Charles Babbage (1792–1871), Andrew Ure (1778–1857) and Charles Dupin (1784–1873) • Dominated by focus on technical aspects of production and the individual characteristics of the pioneer, rather than generalised ideas about managing. Classical approaches to management Assumption: “people are rational”
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I. Scientific Management Scientific management emphasises careful selection and training of workers, and supervisory support. Four guiding action principles: 1. Develop for every job a ‘science’ that includes standardised work processes and proper working conditions 2. Carefully select workers with the right abilities for the job 3. Carefully train and incentivise workers 4. Support workers with carefully planned work. Practical lessons from scientific management: • Make results-based compensation a performance incentive • Carefully design jobs with efficient work methods • Carefully select workers with the ability to do these jobs • Train workers to perform to the best of their abilities • Train supervisors to support workers so they can perform jobs to the best of their abilities. Motion study - the science of reducing a task to its basic physical motions.
II. Administrative Principles Henri Fayol identified the following rules or duties of management: 1. Foresight – complete a plan of action. 2. Organisation – provide and mobilise resources. 3. Command – lead, select and evaluate workers. 4. Coordination – fit diverse efforts together. 5. Control – making sure things happen according to plan. Fayol’s principles: • Scalar chain principle - there should be a clear and unbroken line of communication from the top to the bottom in the organisation • Unity of command principle - each person should receive orders from only one boss • Unity of direction principle - one person should be in charge of all activities that have the same performance objective Mary Parker Follet and administrative principles: • Organisations as ‘communities’ where individuals combine their talents for a greater good. • Making every employee an owner creates feelings of collective responsibility. • Business problems involve variety of factors that must be considered in relationship to one another • Private profits should always be considered in the interest of the public good. II. Bureaucratic Organisation • Bureaucracy (Max Weber)
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• Rational and efficient form of organisation founded on logic, order and legitimate authority. Defining characteristics: • Clear division of labour • Clear hierarchy of authority • Formal rules and procedures • Impersonality • Careers based on merit.
Behavioural approaches to management
Hawthorne studies and human relations • 1924: The Hawthorne studies – how economic incentives and physical conditions of the workplace affected workers’ output, e.g. better lighting would improve performance. – failed to find this relationship; determined ‘psychological factors’ interfered with experiment. • 1927: Elton Mayo began further research into effect of worker fatigue on output. – Again failed to find any direct relationship between physical conditions and output; productivity increased regardless. • Mayo concluded that new ‘social setting’ in the test room accounted for increased productivity: – Group atmosphere. The workers shared pleasant social relations with each other. – Participative supervision. Test-room workers were made to feel important, were given a lot of information, and asked for opinions. This was not the case in their regular jobs, or for other workers. • The Hawthorne effect: tendency of people singled out for special attention to perform as expected. • The Hawthorne studies showed that people’s feeling and relationships with co-workers, and the ‘work group’, should be important to management. • Set the stage for: – The human relations movement: Managers using good human relations will achieve productivity. – Organisational behaviour: The study of individuals and groups in organisations. Maslow’s theory of human needs • Self-actualisation needs – (highest level) need for self-fulfilment, to grow and use abilities to fullest and most creative extent • Esteem needs – need for esteem in eyes of others, need for respect, prestige, recognition and self-esteem, personal sense of competence, mastery • Social needs – need for love, affection, sense of belongingness in relationships with other people • Safety needs – need for security, protection and stability in the events of day-to-day life • Physiological needs – most basic of all human needs: need for biological maintenance, food, water and physical wellbeing. Maslow’s theory is based on two principles: • The deficit principle: Satisfied need is not a motivator of behaviour. People act to satisfy ‘deprived’ needs, those for which a satisfaction ‘deficit’ exists. • The progression principle: The five needs exist in a hierarchy of ‘prepotency’. A need at any level only becomes activated once the next-lower-level need has been satisfied. Alderfer’s ERG theory of human needs • Existence • Relatedness • Growth McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y Managers should give more attention to the social/self-actualising needs of people at work. • Theory X assumes people dislike work, lack ambition, are irresponsible and prefer to be led. • Theory Y assumes people are willing to work and accept responsibility, and are self-directed and creative. Self-fulfilling prophecies occur when people act in ways that confirm another’s expectations. Quantitative approaches to management
Organisational performance – efficiency and effectiveness • Value is created when resources are used in the right way, at the right time, at minimum cost to create high-quality goods/services • Performance measures include: • Productivity – the quantity and quality of work performance, with resource use considered • Performance effectiveness – an output measure of task or goal accomplishment • Performance efficiency – measure of resource cost associated with goal accomplishment Productivity and the dimensions of organisational performance
Changing nature of organisations and quality Important organisational transitions include: • Pre-eminence of technology • Demise of command and control • Focus on speed • Embrace networking • Belief in empowerment • Emphasis on teamwork • New workforce expectations • Concern for work life balance • Total quality management (TQM) is managing with commitment to continuous improvement, product quality and customer satisfaction Organisation as an ‘upside-down’ pyramid
MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS, ROLES AND SKILLS Types and levels of managers in today’s workplace • Managers - People in organisations who directly support and help activate the work efforts and performance accomplishments of others • Top managers - Guide the performance of the organisation as a whole, or one of its major parts. Common job titles include chief executive officer, chief operating officer, managing director and director Levels of managers • Middle managers oversee the work of large departments or divisions • Project managers coordinate complex projects with task deadlines and people with many areas of expertise • Team leaders or supervisors report to middle managers and directly supervise non-managerial workers Types of managers • Line managers directly contribute to the production of basic goods or services
• • • •
Staff managers use special technical expertise to advise and support line workers Functional managers are responsible for one area of activity such as finance, marketing or sales General managers are responsible for complex organisational units that include many areas Administrators work in public or not-for-profit organisations
Management Process & “PLOC” Functions
Management: Process of planning, organising, leading & controlling use of resources to accomplish performance goals. Planning: The process of setting objectives and determining how to accomplish them. Controlling: The process of measuring performance and taking action to ensure desired results. Organising: Process of assigning tasks, allocating resources and arranging activities to implement plans. Leading: The process of arousing enthusiasm and directing efforts towards organisational goals. Mintzberg’s ten managerial roles
Katz’s essential managerial skills
• • • •
Technical skill – The ability to use a special proficiency or expertise in your work. Human skill – Ability to work well with other people. Emotional intelligence – Ability to manage ourselves and our relationships. Conceptual skill – Ability to think analytically and solve complex problems.
Skill and outcome assessment Managerial competence – A skill-based capability for high performance in a management job. • Competencies for managerial success include: – Communication – Teamwork – Self-management – Leadership – Critical thinking – Professionalism
HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MANAGEMENT Historical foundations of management • The Iraq War cost the United States more than 4000 lives and a good deal of respect internationally, Speaking about the Iraq War and the financial position of the United States, Joseph Stiglitz, US economist, said “we’ve borrowed every dime. It’s the first war in American history where we’ve borrowed everything... It’s actually the first war since the revolutionary war where America was created where we’ve had to turn to foreigners to help finance, 40 per cent of the money has been borrowed from abroad. And that means that all the bills will be paid by future generations” • Stiglitz believes the Vietnam War proved less of a drain on the US economy, because at least it was not funded with loaned money. The GFC tore the US’s international reputation to shreds. • Protestant work ethic à Robert Owen (1771–1858), Charles Babbage (1792–1871), Andrew Ure (1778–1857) and Charles Dupin (1784–1873) • Dominated by focus on technical aspects of production and the individual characteristics of the pioneer, rather than generalised ideas about managing. Classical approaches to management Assumption: “people are rational”
• •
•
•
I. Scientific Management Scientific management emphasises careful selection and training of workers, and supervisory support. Four guiding action principles: 1. Develop for every job a ‘science’ that includes standardised work processes and proper working conditions 2. Carefully select workers with the right abilities for the job 3. Carefully train and incentivise workers 4. Support workers with carefully planned work. Practical lessons from scientific management: • Make results-based compensation a performance incentive • Carefully design jobs with efficient work methods • Carefully select workers with the ability to do these jobs • Train workers to perform to the best of their abilities • Train supervisors to support workers so they can perform jobs to the best of their abilities. Motion study - the science of reducing a task to its basic physical motions.
II. Administrative Principles Henri Fayol identified the following rules or duties of management: 1. Foresight – complete a plan of action. 2. Organisation – provide and mobilise resources. 3. Command – lead, select and evaluate workers. 4. Coordination – fit diverse efforts together. 5. Control – making sure things happen according to plan. Fayol’s principles: • Scalar chain principle - there should be a clear and unbroken line of communication from the top to the bottom in the organisation • Unity of command principle - each person should receive orders from only one boss • Unity of direction principle - one person should be in charge of all activities that have the same performance objective Mary Parker Follet and administrative principles: • Organisations as ‘communities’ where individuals combine their talents for a greater good. • Making every employee an owner creates feelings of collective responsibility. • Business problems involve variety of factors that must be considered in relationship to one another • Private profits should always be considered in the interest of the public good. II. Bureaucratic Organisation • Bureaucracy (Max Weber)
•
• Rational and efficient form of organisation founded on logic, order and legitimate authority. Defining characteristics: • Clear division of labour • Clear hierarchy of authority • Formal rules and procedures • Impersonality • Careers based on merit.
Behavioural approaches to management
Hawthorne studies and human relations • 1924: The Hawthorne studies – how economic incentives and physical conditions of the workplace affected workers’ output, e.g. better lighting would improve performance. – failed to find this relationship; determined ‘psychological factors’ interfered with experiment. • 1927: Elton Mayo began further research into effect of worker fatigue on output. – Again failed to find any direct relationship between physical conditions and output; productivity increased regardless. • Mayo concluded that new ‘social setting’ in the test room accounted for increased productivity: – Group atmosphere. The workers shared pleasant social relations with each other. – Participative supervision. Test-room workers were made to feel important, were given a lot of information, and asked for opinions. This was not the case in their regular jobs, or for other workers. • The Hawthorne effect: tendency of people singled out for special attention to perform as expected. • The Hawthorne studies showed that people’s feeling and relationships with co-workers, and the ‘work group’, should be important to management. • Set the stage for: – The human relations movement: Managers using good human relations will achieve productivity. – Organisational behaviour: The study of individuals and groups in organisations. Maslow’s theory of human needs • Self-actualisation needs – (highest level) need for self-fulfilment, to grow and use abilities to fullest and most creative extent • Esteem needs – need for esteem in eyes of others, need for respect, prestige, recognition and self-esteem, personal sense of competence, mastery • Social needs – need for love, affection, sense of belongingness in relationships with other people • Safety needs – need for security, protection and stability in the events of day-to-day life • Physiological needs – most basic of all human needs: need for biological maintenance, food, water and physical wellbeing. Maslow’s theory is based on two principles: • The deficit principle: Satisfied need is not a motivator of behaviour. People act to satisfy ‘deprived’ needs, those for which a satisfaction ‘deficit’ exists. • The progression principle: The five needs exist in a hierarchy of ‘prepotency’. A need at any level only becomes activated once the next-lower-level need has been satisfied. Alderfer’s ERG theory of human needs • Existence • Relatedness • Growth McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y Managers should give more attention to the social/self-actualising needs of people at work. • Theory X assumes people dislike work, lack ambition, are irresponsible and prefer to be led. • Theory Y assumes people are willing to work and accept responsibility, and are self-directed and creative. Self-fulfilling prophecies occur when people act in ways that confirm another’s expectations. Quantitative approaches to management
