Systems Approach to Management

Systems Approach to Management--It coordinative relations between all related business systems.
The systems approach to management is a concept which views a company as an interconnected purposive system that consists of several business sections. It is a management approach which enables the leadership to see the company as a unified part or a major section of the larger outside corporate environment. Even a small activity in a part has a substantial effect on other sections in the company. Such a system may be biological, physical or social; and may enable the management to efficiently determine the long-term goals of the company.
* Contributions of Systems Approach To Management :-
Under systems approach, managers have a good view of the organisation.
It gives importance to interdependence of the different parts of an organisation and its environment.
It foretastes consequences and plans actions.
Systems thinking warns managers against adopting piecemeal approach to the problem-solving.

Group cohesiveness and cohesion

Group cohesiveness -

A group is said to be in a state of cohesion when its members possess bonds linking them to one another and to the group as a whole. According to Festinger, Schachter, and Back (1950), group cohesion was believed to develop from a field of binding social forces that act on members to stay in the group. Cohesiveness is a measure of the attraction of the group to its members (and the resistance to leaving it), the sense of team spirit, and the willingness of its members to coordinate their efforts.

A group may be cohesive if : -

1. Its members have positive feelings towards one another (individual-level attraction),
2. Its members have positive feelings towards the group (group-level attraction), or
3. Its members have positive feelings towards other members and the group as a whole.

According to Hogg (1992), group cohesiveness typically develops from a depersonalized attraction to group members based on their status as group members, rather than a personal attraction based on specific relationships. In addition to group cohesion, this depersonalized form of attraction has also been linked to membership stability.

Other theorists stress that cohesion comes from group members’ commitment to work together to complete their shared tasks and accomplish their collective goals.

* Consequences of group cohesion -

Group cohesion has been linked to a range of positive and negative consequences. Firstly, members of cohesive groups tend to communicate with one another in a more positive fashion than noncohesive groups. As a result, members of cohesive groups often report higher levels of satisfaction and lower levels of anxiety and tension than members of noncohesive groups.

Secondly, group cohesion has been linked to enhanced group performance in non-laboratory-based groups. This bi-directional relationship is strongest when the members of a group are committed to the group’s tasks.

Membership in a cohesive group can also prove problematic for members. As cohesion increases, the internal dynamics (e.g., emotional and social processes) of the group intensify. As a result, people in cohesive groups are confronted with powerful pressures to conform to the group’s goals, norms, and decisions. In many instances these pressures to conform are so great that members suffer from groupthink. Individuals who refuse to yield to the ways of the majority are typically met with additional negative consequences, including hostility, exclusion, and scapegoating. Furthermore, group cohesion can trigger distress and maladaptive behavior in members following changes to the structure of the group.

Group Dynamics

Group Dynamics -

A group can be defined as several individuals who come together to accomplish a particular task or goal. Group dynamics refers to the attitudinal and behavioral characteristics of a group. Group dynamics concern how groups form, their structure and process, and how they function. Group dynamics are relevant in both formal and informal groups of all types. In an organizational setting, groups are a very common organizational entity and the study of groups and group dynamics is an important area of study in organizational behavior.

Group Dynamics is typically oriented with group study and its processes. A group is two or more individuals are connected to each other by social relationships. They interact and influence with each other, groups always develop a number of dynamic processes that separates them from a collection of individuals.

GROUP MEMBER RESOURCES

GROUP MEMBER RESOURCES--

A group’s potential level of performance is, to a large extent, dependent on the
resources that its members individually bring to the group.
a.Abilities--Set the parameters for what members can do and how effectively they will perform in a group.
b.Personality Characteristics--The magnitude of the effect of any single Characteristic is small, but
taking personality characteristics together, the consequences for group
behaviour are of major significance.

GROUP ROLES

GROUP ROLES - In formal groups, roles are usually predetermined and assigned to members. Each role will have specific responsibilities and duties. There are, however, emergent roles that develop naturally to meet the needs of the groups. These emergent roles will often replace the assigned roles as individuals begin to express themselves and become more assertive. Group roles can then be classified into work roles, maintenance roles, and blocking roles.

*Work roles are task-oriented activities that involve accomplishing the group's goals. They involve a variety of specific roles such as initiator, informer, clarifier, summarizer, and reality tester.

*Maintenance roles are social-emotional activities that help members maintain their involvement in the group and raise their personal commitment to the group. The maintenance roles are harmonizer, gatekeeper, consensus tester, encourager, and compromiser.

*Blocking roles are activities that disrupt the group. They make take the form of dominating discussions, verbally attacking other group members, and distracting the group with trivial information or unnecessary humor. Often times the blocking behavior may not be intended as negative. Sometimes a member may share a joke in order to break the tension, or may question a decision in order to force group members to rethink the issue. The blocking roles are aggressor, blocker, dominator, comedian, and avoidance behavior. The aggressor criticizes members' values and makes jokes in a sarcastic or semi-concealed manner.

Group

Group -

1. A collection of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction, mutual influence, common feeling of camaraderie, and who work together to achieve a common set of goals.

A number of people or things that are located close together or are considered or classed together.

GROUP STRUCTURE - Group structure is a pattern of relationships among members that hold the group together and help it achieve assigned goals. Structure can be described in a variety of ways. Among the more common considerations are group size, group roles, group norms, and group cohesiveness.

GROUP SIZE - Group size can vary from 2 people to a very large number of people. Small groups of two to ten are thought to be more effective because each member has ample opportunity to participate and become actively involved in the group. Large groups may waste time by deciding on processes and trying to decide who should participate next. Group size will affect not only participation but satisfaction as well. Evidence supports the notion that as the size of the group increases, satisfaction increases up to a certain point. In other words, a group of six members has twice as many opportunities for interaction and participation as a group of three people. Beyond 10 or 12 members, increasing the size of the group results in decreased satisfaction. It is increasingly difficult for members of large groups to identify with one another and experience cohesion.
 

Taylor's 4 Principles of Scientific Management

Taylor's 4 Principles of Scientific Management
After years of various experiments to determine optimal work methods, Taylor proposed the following four principles of scientific management:

Replace rule-of-thumb work methods with methods based on a scientific study of the tasks.
Scientifically select, train, and develop each worker rather than passively leaving them to train themselves.
Cooperate with the workers to ensure that the scientifically developed methods are being followed.
Divide work nearly equally between managers and workers, so that the managers apply scientific management principles to planning the work and the workers actually perform the tasks.
These principles were implemented in many factories, often increasing productivity by a factor of three or more. Henry Ford applied Taylor's principles in his automobile factories, and families even began to perform their household tasks based on the results of time and motion studies.

Types of groups

Types of groups -

There are various ways of classifying groups, for example in terms of their purpose or structure, but two sets of categories have retained their usefulness for both practitioners and researchers. They involve the distinctions between:

• primary and secondary groups; and

• planned and emergent groups.

Primary and secondary groups

Charles Horton Cooley (1909) established the distinction between 'primary groups' and 'nucleated groups' (now better known as secondary groups):

*Primary groups are clusters of people like families or close friendship circles where there is close, face-to-face and intimate interaction. There is also often a high level of interdependence between members. Primary groups are also the key means of socialization in society, the main place where attitudes, values and orientations are developed and sustained.

*Secondary groups are those in which members are rarely, if ever, all in direct contact. They are often large and usually formally organized. Trades unions and membership organizations such as the National Trust are examples of these. They are an important place for socialization, but secondary to primary groups.
Planned and emergent groups

Alongside discussion of primary and secondary groups, came the recognition that groups tend to fall into one of two broad categories:

*Planned groups. Planned groups are specifically formed for some purpose – either by their members, or by some external individual, group or organization.

*Emergent groups. Emergent groups come into being relatively spontaneously where people find themselves together in the same place, or where the same collection of people gradually come to know each other through conversation and interaction over a period of time.

Types of plans

Types of plans:
A)Objectives:-Objectives or goals are the end which towards the activity is aimed.The process of objective setting is directed by management and it is the first step in planning

B)Purpose of missions:-The mission or purpose identifies the basic function or task of an enterprise or agency .Every kind of organized operation has ,or at least should have a purpose or mission .for ex the purpose of a business is the production and distribution of goals and services.

c)POLICIES:-Policies are guide to action. They include how resources are to be allocated and how tasks assigned to the organization might be accomplished .
Policies define a area within which a decision is to be made and ensure tat the decision will be consistent with and contribute to ,an objective.Plicies help decide issuses before they become problems ,make it unneccery to analyze the same situation every time it come up and unify other plans
•Policies are general statements or understanding which provides guidance in decision making of the subordinate.

D)STRATEGIES--A strategy is a unified, comprehensive, and integrated plan that relates the strategic advantages of the firm to the challenges of the environment. It is designed to ensure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved through proper execution by the organization" (William F. Glueck, and Lawrence R. Jauch). The role of strategy is to identify the general approaches that the organization utilize to achieve its organizational objectives.
•Strategies are the complex of plans for bringing the organization from a given posture to a desired position in thefuture period of time.

E)PROCEDURES:-It Prescribe the manner or method by which the work is to be performed and Specific tasks, time to perform, persons who will perform.Procedures are plans in that they establish a method for handling future activities.Procedure explains how each of its tasks will take place and by whom it is to be performed.

Once the procedure is established, this can be used over and over again.
F)Rules:-–a decision made by the management regarding what is to be done and what is not to be done in a given situation.

What is the Purpose of Organizational Structure?

What is the Purpose of Organizational Structure?---
The purpose of an organizational structure is to define the guidelines, parameters and the procedural process necessary for a group to accomplish a main objective.
An organizational structure organizes priorities hierarchically by means of identifying tasks critical to a group realizing an end goal.It's primary purpose is facilitating the achievement of organizational goals in an efficient manner.
a)Distribution of Authority:-Determining how an organizational structure distributes tasks involves identifying if the structure will adopt a decentralized strategy .
b)Span-of-Control:-Span-of-control portion of an organizational structure defines the amount of employees an authority figure is responsible for.The span-of-control is expressed one of two ways: a wide span of control where managers supervise many employees; a narrow span of control where managers supervise few employees.
c)Line vs. Staff Structures:-An organizational structure may adopt a live structure or a staff structure or both to achieve their main objectives.Line structure identifies the activities directly responsible for the organization's main goal, such as the labor involved in making an actually product. A staff structure is the support staff or network assisting the line structures in their goals.
d)Organizational Height:-Organizational height defines how many levels or layers from the decision makers and down there are. Organizational height is expressed as tall organizations with many levels or flat organizations with few levels.
c)Departmentalization:-It determine, categorize, and organize the variety of tasks to be accomplished when achieving a main goal and decide how to separate specific tasks from others.

Systems Approach to Management

Systems Approach to Management--It coordinative relations between all related business systems.
The systems approach to management is a concept which views a company as an interconnected purposive system that consists of several business sections. It is a management approach which enables the leadership to see the company as a unified part or a major section of the larger outside corporate environment. Even a small activity in a part has a substantial effect on other sections in the company. Such a system may be biological, physical or social; and may enable the management to efficiently determine the long-term goals of the company.
* Contributions of Systems Approach To Management :-
Under systems approach, managers have a good view of the organisation.
It gives importance to interdependence of the different parts of an organisation and its environment.
It foretastes consequences and plans actions.
Systems thinking warns managers against adopting piecemeal approach to the problem-solving.

WHY DO PEOPLE WORK IN GROUPS

WHY DO PEOPLE WORK IN GROUPS ?
1.Security--By joining a group, individuals can reduce the insecurity of “standing
alone.” People feel stronger, have fewer self-doubts, and are more
resistant to threats when they are part of a group.
2.Status--Inclusion in a group that is viewed as important by others provides
recognition and status for its members.
3.Self-Esteem--Groups can provide people with feelings of self-worth. That is, in addition
to conveying status to those outside the group, membership can also
give increased feelings of worth to the group members themselves.
4.Power--What cannot be achieved individually often becomes possible through
group action. There is power in numbers.
5.Goal Achievement--There are times when it takes more than one person to accomplish a
particular task; there is a need to pool talents, knowledge, or power in
order to complete a job.

Role of Project Manger

Role of Project Manger -
A project manager is charged with the responsibility for managing a specific project.

In this context, his role is as follows:

1. A project manager is required to accomplish specific project that requires personnel outside his direct control.

2. The project manager acts as a focal point to permit the major project considerations, such as the determination of basic policy and making strategic decisions. Since, he has an overall view of the project, he has the perspective necessary to consider cost, performance and schedule aspects of the project.

3. The project manager acts as an integrator. He integrates the efforts of functional managers to

accomplish the goals of the project and the organization. As a unifying agent for the total management function, he has no line authority to act but depends upon other manifestations of authority to attain the objective.

4. In co-ordinating various professionals, the project manager's role requires the use of different management techniques than i simple superior-subordinate relationship. His techniques of motivation, persuasion, an control should be thoroughly suited to highly competent professionals.

MBO

MBO-(MBO) is a process of defining objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they need to do in the organization.

"The superior and subordinate managers of an organisation jointly define its common goals, define each individual's major areas of responsibility in terms of the results expected of them and use these measures as guides in operating the unit and assessing the contribution of each of its members."
Management by objectives (MBO) is a systematic and organized approach that allows management to focus on achievable goals and to attain the best possible results from available resources.
*Goals--It aims to increase organizational performance by aligning goals and subordinate objectives throughout the organization. employees get strong input to identify their objectives, time lines for completion, etc. MBO includes ongoing tracking and feedback in the process to reach objectives.
MBO --
-participate in the strategic planning process, in order to improve the implementability of the plan, and
-implement a range of performance systems, designed to help the organization stay on the right track.

*Main Principle--The principle behind Management by Objectives (MBO) is to make sure that everybody within the organization has a clear understanding of the aims, or objectives, of that organization, as well as awareness of their own roles and responsibilities in achieving those aims. The complete MBO system is to get managers and empowered employees acting to implement and achieve their plans, which automatically achieve those of the organization.

Management Thoughts

Management Thoughts -

*Classical Thought - The classical management thought emerged throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Since the beginning of time, managers have needed to know how to perform the functions discussed earlier. The Industrial Revolution emphasized the importance of better management as organizations grew larger and more complex. As industry developed, managers had to develop systems for controlling inventory, production, scheduling, and human resources. It was the managers who emerged during the Industrial Revolution, many who had backgrounds in engineering, who discovered that they needed organized methods in order to find solutions to problems in the workplace.

*Classical management - In this, theorists thought there was one way to solve management problems in the industrial organization. Generally, their theories assumed that people could make logical and rational decisions while trying to maximize personal gains from their work situations. The classical school of management is based on scientific management which has its roots in Henri Fayol's work in France and the ideas of German sociologist Max Weber. Scientific management is a type of management that bases standards upon facts. The facts are gathered by observation, experimentation, or sound reasoning.

*Behavioral Management Thought - It was because the classical management theorists were so machine-oriented that the behavioralists began to develop their thinking. The behavioral managers began to view management from a social and psychological perspective. These managers were concerned about the well-being of the workers and wanted them to be treated as people, not a part of the machines.

In the behavioral management period, there was a human relations movement. Advocates of the human relations movement believed that if managers focused on employees rather than on workers would become more satisfied and thus more productive laborers. Human relations management supported the notion that managers should be paternalistic and nurturing in order to build work groups that could be productive and satisfied.

The behavioral science movement was also an important part of the behavioral management school. Advocates of this movement stressed the need for scientific studies of the human element of organizations. This model for management emphasized the need for employees to grow and develop in order to maintain a high level of self-respect and remain productive workers. The earliest advocates of the behavioral science movement were Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), who developed Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and Douglas McGregor (1906-1964), who developed Theory X and Theory Y. These theories are discussed in depth in other articles.

*Contemporary Management Thought - In more recent years, new management thoughts have emerged and influenced organizations. One of these is the sociotechnical system. A system is a set of elements that function as a unit for a specific purpose. Systems theorists believe that all parts of the organization must be related and that managers from each part must work together for the benefit of the organization. Because of this relationship, what happens in one part of the organization influences and affects other parts of the organization.Management Thought--
*Behavioral Management Thought - It was because the classical management theorists were so machine-oriented that the behavioralists began to develop their thinking. The behavioral managers began to view management from a social and psychological perspective. These managers were concerned about the well-being of the workers and wanted them to be treated as people, not a part of the machines.

In the behavioral management period, there was a human relations movement. Advocates of the human relations movement believed that if managers focused on employees rather than on workers would become more satisfied and thus more productive laborers. Human relations management supported the notion that managers should be paternalistic and nurturing in order to build work groups that could be productive and satisfied.

The behavioral science movement was also an important part of the behavioral management school. Advocates of this movement stressed the need for scientific studies of the human element of organizations. This model for management emphasized the need for employees to grow and develop in order to maintain a high level of self-respect and remain productive workers. The earliest advocates of the behavioral science movement were Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), who developed Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and Douglas McGregor (1906-1964), who developed Theory X and Theory Y. These theories are discussed in depth in other articles.

Role of Functional Manager

Role of Functional Manager  -
A functional manager is charged with managing a functional entity in support of the system of projects that are flowing through the organization -

In this context, the role of a functional manager is as follows:

1. A functional manager is responsible for one of the principle elements of the organization, such as production, marketing, finance, etc. He has to provide functional services in his disciplines and for supporting all; the projects in the organization.

2. The functional manger has line authority over this personnel in the project. He is responsible through the chain of command for his department. A functional manager tends to concentrate on the activities of his discipline.

3. Each functional manger tends to emphasize his own function. Sometimes, this tendency creates conflict in the organization. Since the responsibility of the functional manager is limited to his area, he seeks to make that area as efficient and effective as possible, often without regard to the effect of his function on others or on the basic task which the organization has to perform. 

FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

Planning
*Look ahead and chart out future course of operation
*Formulation of Objectives, Policies, Procedure, Rules, Programmes and Budgets

Organising
*Bringing people together and tying them together in the pursuit of common objectives.
*Enumeration of activities, classification of activities, fittingindividuals into functions, assignment of authority for action.

Directing
*Act of guiding, overseeing and leading people.
*Motivation, leadership, decision making.

Controlling
*Laying standards, comparing actuals and correcting deviation-achieve objectives according to plans.

Co-ordination
*Synchronizing and unifying the actions of a group of people.