Digital CV

Evolution of Management Theory

Early management theory attempted to understand the new industrial life at the end of 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.It includes Scientific management, Classical organization theory, Behavioural school and management science

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT THEORY

Frederick W. Taylor was first person who gave Scientific Management in 1911. He also called the father of scientific management. According to Taylor, “scientific management means knowing exactly what you want men to do and seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way.”

Fedrick w Taylor (1986-1915) rested his philosophy on four basic principles.

1. The development of science of management so that the best method for performing each task could be determined
2. The Scientific selection of workers so that each worker can be given task based on what suits him/her best.
3. Education and development of the workers
4. Maintaining harmony between the management and worker union.

According to Taylor, the success of these principles required ”a complete mental revolution” on the part of management and labor. Both,management and labour should have common interest i.e. Increasing the productivity

CLASSICAL ORGANIZATION THEORY :

BUREAUCRACY MANAGEMENT (Max Weber-1900)

Bureaucracy management is a stream of classical theory of management. Max Weber was the first of management theorists who were concerned the management structure with the sets of rule and regulations. There are four major characteristics of organizational structure -

• Hierarchical positions
• Rules of system
• Division of  labour for specialization
• Impersonal relationship

Advantage of bureaucracy management :

1. Their is a hierarchy in he authority
2. Employment is based on the efficiency of an individual
3. Elimination  of managerial inconsistencies
4. Maintenance of  consistency of work.
5. Rules and regulation of the duties are followed by the employees.
6. People are given authority according to their position in organization.

Disadvantage of bureaucracy management:

1. Inter personal relations have no value
2. It does not allow for personal growth and development.
3. Organization becomes static and change is not anticipated.
4. Difficult to keep co-ordination and communication between employees.
5. It is a “closed system”.

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT (Henry Fayol)

Henri Fayol was real father of modern Management. Fayol laid the foundation of management as a separate body of knowledge. He always insisted that if scientific forecasting and proper methods are used in management than company can get satisfactory results.Henri Fayol’s Administrative Management is based on six admin activities. They are-
1.     Technical : Production and manufacture
2.     Managerial : Planning, controlling, co-ordination
3.     Commercial : Purchasing and selling
4.     Financial : Use of capital
5.     Accounting : Asset, Liabilities, cost, profits
6.     Security : Protection of goods and Person

Fayol’s fourteen Principles of management

1. Division of work: Division of work means specialization. Each job and work should be divided into small task and should be assigned to specialist of it.
2. Authority and responsibility: Authority means right to give order and command while responsibility means to accomplish objective.
3. Discipline: Fayol stated discipline in terms of obedience, application, and respect to superiors.
4. Unity of command: A subordinate should receive order from only one boss.
5. Unity of direction: All the works of an organization must work together to accomplish a common objective in under one plan and head.
6. Subordination of individual interest to common interest: Worker follows the common interest of organization rather than individual.
7. Remuneration: Remuneration should be fair and adequate. It includes both types of incentives financial as well as non financial.
8. Centralization: There should be one central point in organization which exercises overall direction and control of all the parts.
9. Scalar Chain: Scalar chain is the chain or line of command from superior to subordinates
10. Order: Only proper order can give an efficient management.
11. Equity: Equity creates loyalty and devotion among the employees.
12. Stability of tenure personnel: Security of job for an employee in an organization is very important. Retaining productive employee should always a higher priority of management.
13. Esprit de corps: Management should encourage harmony and proper understandings between      workers.
14. Initiative: Manager should be encouraged the employees Initiative for creative working.

NEO CLASSICAL THEORY:

Neo- classical theory is also referred to as behavioral science approach to modifying and improving the classical theory.  While classical theories focused more on structure and physical aspects of the worker while Neo-classical theory gives importance to human and social aspects of the worker and his relations in the organization.

The neo-classical theory is based on the Hawthrone experiments. Elton Mayo conducted the Hawthrone experiments at Hawthron plant of General Electronic Company (GEC) between 1927 and 1993 at Chicago with 30,000 workers. The objective of the experiment was to find out the behavior and attitude of workers at workplace under better working conditions. 

 Result of Hawthrone Experiments:

• Motivation: Employees are not motivated by only money (bonus scheme and incentive).

• Communication:  communication helps the management and employees to have better mutual understanding. Through proper communication, management can easily identified the problem faced by its employees and can easily solve out.

• Social factors: Social factors are responsible for deciding the level of output.

• Behavior of workers: Workers are not as individual identity but as members of a group in an organization and they have their own norms and beliefs. Workers behavior depends upon his mental level and emotions. Workers began to influence their group behavior towards management.

• Relationship: Employees do not like order and command. They preferred to maintain amicable relationship with their co-workers. They want co-operative attitude from their superiors.

• Production level:  Teamwork and Group psychology increases productivity.

MANAGEMENT SCIENCE THEORY

Management theory attempts to determine the predictable relationship between actions, outcomes and situations. The theory seeks to integrate the various schools of management thought by focusing the inter-dependence of many facts involves in the managerial situations.

Six different themes in management theory:

1. New Organizational environment: The dynamic engagement approach recognizes that an organization environment is not some set of fixed, impersonal forces. Rather it is a complex, dynamic, web at people interacting with each other. As a result Managers not only pay attention to their own concerns, but also understands what is important for other managers within the organization and in other organization. They interact with theses other managers to create jointly the condition under which these organizations prosper and struggle.

2. Ethics and Social Responsibility: Managers using a dynamic engagement approach pay close attention to the values that guide people in their organizations, the corporate Culture that embodies those values, and values held by the people outside the organization.

3. Globalization and Management

4. Inventing and Re-inventing Organizations: Managers who practice dynamically engagement continually search for ways to unleash the creative potential of their employees and themselves. A growing chorus of theorist is urging managers to rethink the standard organization structures to which they have become accustomed.

5. Cultures and Multiculturalism: Managers who embrace the dynamic engagement approach recognize that the various perspective and values that people of different cultural backgrounds bring to their organizations are not only a fact life but a significant source of contributions.

6. Quality: By the dynamic engagement approach, total quality management (TQM) should be in every manager’s vocabulary. All managers should be thinking about how every organizational process can be conducted to provide product and service .That is responsible to tougher and tougher customer and competitive services. Strong and lasting relationships can be fruitful by product of quality frame of mind and action by this view. Total quality management adds one more Dynamic dimension to management because quality too is always a moving Target.

3 Idiots crossing the Valley

The objective of this session of Dr. Mandi was TEAM WORK. We were given an assignment which was an exercise of “3 Idiots crossing the valley" which had the following agenda:

• What is TEAM WORK?
• Designing the work in such a way that it becomes "Team Based" 
• Comparison of TEAM WORK with INDIVIDUAL WORK

What is Team Work???

A team is one wherein all team members work towards a common goal. The communication between the team members should be free from any barriers. It should be well channelized and directed towards team building.

It’s a process of working together in order to achieve a goal. It forms a business part of day to day business as it is necessary for the colleagues in a company to work together. In a team, individuals cooperate using their individual skills and provide constructive feedback.

One piece of log creates a small fire, adequate to warm you up, add just a few more pieces to blast an immense bonfire, large enough to warm up your entire circle of friends; needless to say that individuality counts, but team work dynamites. - Jin Kwon

Why Is Team Work Important?

·        Achieving Goals:
It is a widely understood concept, that united we stand and divided we fall.  Collective team activities are very important if the company or a process wants to reach its goal. There are some tasks that cannot be done individually, but can be easily accomplished by working in a team.

·        Increasing Individual Learning:
In simple terms, a team is a group of people who have come together for achieving a common objective. Therefore, in a group of people, there are many intelligent minds and brains working. When team members work together as a team, they can learn the skills and capabilities of each other and advance their knowledge. This certainly can be beneficial in your professional as well as personal life.

·        Resolving Conflicts:
There are many types of conflicts that may arise in the company, which may in turn have an adverse effect on the collective output. In order to resolve business conflicts; the knowledge, understanding and expertise can be used efficiently for determining solutions to the problems. This significantly helps the business to grow.

Good Communication:
Communication is an inevitably important factor in teamwork. When employees work in a team, they are able to pass on their ideas clearly. This rules out the possibilities of miscommunication due to complex hierarchy in the company. And due to ideas and concepts passed clearly, there is no scope for misunderstanding.

Generating New Business Improvement Ideas:
If a manager encourages team members to participate in collective decision making, he will be able to reach a good strategy by considering views and suggestions from all members. The business can also think of incorporating ideas suggested by the team members. Employee participation in the management is a very effective tool in meliorating business strategies.

The Activity – 3 Idiots crossing the valley

We can see that three people were able to cross the valley without much trouble. At each point of time when one of the team member is in trouble (crossing the valley), the other 2 team members support the one at risk. Following observations have been made from the activity:

 

·        Every Team Member has equal distribution of different kind of risk :

Fully Safe – 5 times

Half Safe – 2 times

Fully Unsafe – 1 time

·        All the three members have the same role in terms of effort and risk. Nobody is overloaded or relaxed.

·        Every team member is indispensable in completing the task

·        At equal instances, individual needed support of the other two.

The activity was an example of how we can make the work “TEAM BASED”. Team based work is process oriented and not person oriented.

This is how team work becomes very important and can benefit entire team as well as the individual. To tell you the importance of Team Work and how if not implemented can have bad outcomes, let me narrate a story .....

A little mouse living on a farm was looking through a crack in the wall one day and saw the farmer and his wife opening a package. The mouse was intrigued by what food the package may contain. He was aghast to discover that it was a mousetrap. The mouse ran to the farmyard warning everyone “there is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house”.

The chicken raised his head and said “Mr. Mouse, I can tell you this trap is a grave concern to you, but it has no consequence to me and I cannot be bothered with it.”

The mouse turned to the pig, “I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse, but the trap is no concern of mine either.”

The mouse then turned to the bull. “Sounds like you have a problem, Mr. Mouse,” the bull said, “but not one that concerns me.”

The mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected that no one would help him or was concerned about his dilemma. He knew he had to face that trap on his own.

That night the sound of a trap catching its prey was heard throughout the house. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she could not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife.

The wife developed a bad fever and the farmer knew the best way to treat a fever was with chicken soup. He took his hatchet to the farmyard to get the soup’s main ingredient.

The wife got sicker and friends and neighbors came by to take turns sitting with her round the clock.   The farmer knew he had to feed them, so he butchered the pig.    

The farmer’s wife did not get better, however.   In fact she died. So many friends and family came to her funeral that the farmer had to slaughter the bull to feed them all.

The story beautifully suggests that in an organization, if problem comes it’s not the problem of an individual, it is the problem of entire organization and each individual should contribute to solve the problem.

In my previous blog, I mentioned about how we at workplace faced problem initially due to lack of team skills and then we employed TEAM WORK and solved the difficulties.

In previous blogs I have talked about INDIVIDUALISM through “Tower Building” activity and here we have talked about TEAM WORK through “3 idiots crossing the valley” activity. Below chart presents the advantages of team work over individualism:

Three Monks

Three Monks is a Chinese animated movie film produced by the Shanghai Animated Film Studio. After the Cultural Revolution and the fall of the political Gang of Four in 1976, the film was one of the first animations created as part of the rebirth period. It is also referred to as The Three Buddhist Priests.

Those of you, who have not seen the animated movie, please watch the video posted below. This would help you understand the content of the blog much better.

The film is based on the ancient Chinese proverb "One monk will shoulder two buckets of water; two monks will share the load, but add a third and no one will want to fetch water.

This movie holds in itself immense amount of lessons for the budding managers. Dr. Mandi asked us to watch the movie, which would be discussed in the class the other day.

There was a healthy discussion on the same in the class. The discussion on the movie made us understand the intricacies of Team Dynamics. We understood how a simple situation (crisis) turns into a complicated one and how instead of providing a simple solution we end up giving complex ones.

1st Part of the movie:

The first part of the movie shows that there is a monk who lives in a monastery on the top of a hill. He comes down to fetch water from the river and lives happily. He does his job seriously. Then a second monk comes and starts living with the first monk. The problem starts when they go to fetch water. None of them wants to put in extra effort to carry the filled buckets back. They are unable to decide how to divide the work among themselves as no one wants to do any extra work. The monks calculate the length of the stick carrying the bucket and hang the bucket in between. 

Dr. Mandi explained us that as a manager our job is to find simple and easy solution. The solution should be universal so that the application does not depend on the kind of user involved. A system should be such that is allows application to be used by anyone, anywhere without possessing any special knowledge or skill. Organization with complex rules and regulation mostly do not thrive.

2nd Part of the movie:

2nd part shows the arrival of 3rd Monk in the monastery. The arrival of the third monk creates a conflict as he consumes more amount of water than the other two plus who two will bring the water. Since they are not able to resolve this conflict no one goes and the monastery is without water. The conflict makes them disregard each other. They do not talk to each other, do not share the resources. They even stop performing their duties of worshiping Buddha .Then one day fire breaks in the monastery. Seeing the crisis, all three of them start working together. Each one of them put in lot of efforts and finally they cease the fire.

This is short time management as the decisions are being taken for a very short duration of activity. It explains how they were not ready for the crisis. It also shows how by working for a common cause they were able to achieve success in ceasing the fire. Though they did not employ an easy way to fetch water, they were able to achieve results because of their hard work and common mission.

3rd Part of the movie:

This part shows the monks coming together as a group and devising a technique for drawing water which will require less effort and better coordination of the three people. They employ a pulley for the operation. This was an efficient as well as effective way of fetching water.

Lessons from the Movie:

• Teamwork enhances efficiency: The Three monks first allow personal pride/ego to interfere in the performance of daily tasks, each believing that the other two should be the ones to go downhill to fetch water. When a fire breaks out, however, they understand how silly they have been and work together to save the monastery. So, from this we learn that in an organization, it’s important to take personal vanity out of the equation and to perform the duty at hand so that there is no regret later. A Manager has to take a note of this and check for any signs of work-delegation to others in the team.

• Disputes tend to arise, but we should not forget the mission: As the complexity of an organization increases (as no. of people increase) the arguments or disputes do occur, but they should not affect your day to day work. A good manager is one who does entertain people’s suggestions or opinions, but at the same time makes sure that the basic agenda or the mission of the organization stands healthy.Team working towards a common goal is best direction for an organization.\

• Technology should always be used to the fullest: Human Beings develop technology so that they can be used to deliver efficient and effective outputs. An organization should always be ready to employ better technology.

•  Complex Problems, Simple Solution: A manager should always try to give simplest of the solution to a problem. No matter what the complexity of the problems is, there are always simple solutions to them.

• The most efficient method to solve a problem evolves over a period of time: So which of the following is efficient way of bringing in water :

          a)     1 Monk bringing 1 bucket of water at a time, or
          b)  1 Monk bringing 2 buckets of water at a time,or

          b)    2 Monks bringing 1 bucket of water at a time
          
          Here we define the term "productivity"
        
PRODUCTIVITY - Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is the ratio of production output to the efforts or inputs given to produce the same.

Productivity = Total Output/One unit of Total Input

There was lot of discussion on the same in the class; the solution for the same is explained in the following table:

Event	Output (No. of buckets)	Input (No. of Monks involved)	Productivity = Output/Input
1 Man – 1 bucket	1	1	1
1 Man – 2 buckets	2	1	2
2 Men – 1 bucket	1	2	0.5

•  2 + 2 = 5
•      An individual’s strength when realized and utilized properly gives better results compared to result achieved when they work individually. Each monk’s strength was better utilized when they drew water by pulley. This helped them develop a simple solution to long lasting problem.

 I had such an experience in my professional career.I worked in an IT industry. Once in my project,the entire team was suppose to develop a particular deliverable in specific time frame.It consisted of lot many modules.The modules were highly inter dependent on each other. Initially each of the developers tried to just be concerned about finishing their own module,without realizing that its not the module's success which matters,it entire deliverable which matters.As I said,the modules were highly interdependent.Working of ones module made the other dis function. 

As a result not all test cases were tested plus many of the functionalities did not work till dead line.Finally,all the team members held a meeting.The approach and strategy to deal with the issue was planned.We all realized the dependent elements.Worked in team,tested each others codes and functionality and got most of the deliverable working.

Initially,we had a lot of time.We did not utilize it properly.We were busy completing our own work.Had we planned at the first place,we would not have faced the crisis and surely could have avoided working on weekends to complete our work.It was sheer lack of management and team work.But we finally understood the importance of working in team and making proper plans and strategies before rushing into things.

Shoot,Shoot,Shoot and then Aim

At the last session, Dr. Mandi asked us whether anyone of us had worked on 3-D Printing machine. One of our classmate had a "Rapid Prototyping Machine" in his college and had worked on the same(was a part of his project).

3-D Printing is being talked around the world and has lot of advantages.The class also raised questions on the credibility and limitations of 3-D Printing.Dr. Mandi told us that never talk about limitations at the first place.Always try to utilize the advantages of the technology. Make business out of it.

When we love a girl ,do we talk about the parents or laws that could go against us.No.What we only think about is our relation with the girl.We think if this relation goes good,other things would rightly fall into places.

            In the same way,if we make the best use of technology or an idea,we can make business out of it.And then the other issues like laws,hindrances in the path would be easily taken care of.

With this 3-D Printer example,Dr. Mandi wanted us to realize that there are lot of sectors and fields where not much innovation or business is done.Sectors like education,Waste recycling,Water supply etc have lot of scope and good business can be made out in these fields.he asked us to not restrict ourselves to think about sectors or fields which are doing good business,"broaden your vision and you will see lot of scope".

He asked us to "Shoot,Shoot,Shoot and then Aim".

If we aim first,it would make us nervous,it would make success very important for us.Failure would bring in disappointment and we would never realize the pleasure of "learning from mistakes".

Shooting and missing the shot would actually let me analyze my mistake.I will know what not to do or rather,what would not fetch me result.In other words,every shoot and every miss would be learning experience.After enough learning,I will automatically Aim correct and result would be delivered.

Had I aimed first and succeeded, I would not know what actually could have made me fail. And if a situation of crisis comes in future,I would panic,I would not know how to react,as I never tasted that failure.

But at the same time,making mistakes is fine but not repeating them."To make a mistake is not a mistake,but to repeat a mistake is a mistake."

We are in our early years of career making,we all can afford to make some mistakes at this point of time.It would give us great learning experience.This experiences would prepare us for more vital tests to come in future,and trust,we won't fail there.

So,"Shoot,Shoot,Shoot and Aim",broaden your vision,realize new scopes were some of the vital learning from the session.

SMART Goal and Pygmalion Effect

“I recommend that you focus on both substance and process of your goals. I believe that both are equally important: by setting a high-quality SMART goal you will enable yourself to be conscious and your actions will carry more meaning; meanwhile, it is the execution of the SMART goals strategy that separates achievers from the rest of the people.” 
― Anna Stevens, Turn Your Dreams And Wants Into Achievable SMART Goals!
The above quote in itself speaks about the importance of setting smart goals.

Today's class was all about setting SMART goals.We were all expecting another surprising element out of Dr. Mandi's bag.This time it was a snail shell.Now this shell has a lot to tell us.It was handed out to each one of us,to observe it.

The thing that we realized out of this shell was it's SPIRAL form.
"GOALS SHOULD ALWAYS BE SET SPIRALLY"

Economic Time also used the same concept to show how its business grew spirally.Now this all is based on the concept of Fibonacci Series.We all have the potential to set spirally growing goals and achieve them.Even our Finger prints support it.

This is how the goals should always be set.The Higher you set the goals,the more you thrive to achieve it.

Goal Set * Goal Achieved = Performance

Goal Set should always be higher then Goal Achieved.If Goal Achieved is higher than Goal Set,then that means you have undermined your potential.Dr. Mandi explained us the graph which would explain the relation between Goal Set,Potential,Goal Achieved and History(Previous Achievement)

                        A- Goal Set
                        B- Potential
                        C- Goal Achieved
                        D- Previous Achievement






This concept explaining Higher expectations leads to Higher results was derived from Pygmalion.This was a play be  George Bernard Shaw. 

So what does Pygmalion effect say?
Pygmalion Effect : How we perceive others,positively or negatively could have a big impact on their performance level.


 
                                                                                                                 

"More Out Of Less For More"

In this blog, I would be bringing in quantitative and qualitative approach to management. I would be talking about famous 3 E's of management. The whole management revolves around these 3 E's:

• Efficiency
• Effectiveness
• Excellence

Efficiency by literal meaning is the extent to which money, efforts or time is used for a purpose or a task. It's a very objective term. It's so because a measurable output is associated with it. It is the ratio of Output to Input.

Effectiveness is more of a subjective term. It is  simply a capability to produce desired results. It's more of a qualitative element.

Efficiency and Effectiveness are very common business terms.However,most of must mix their meaning and usage. "Being Effective is doing the right things,being efficient is doing things right".

This reminds me of very good example I read about Efficiency and Effectiveness.

There were two persons,A and B trying to replace  flat Tyre of their cars.Person A starts by taking out a jack and placing it under the car. He did not now where to position the jack.After some hard work,he was somehow able to replace the flat Tyre. He wasted around 20 min in the process.

As A was doing right thing,but he was doing it poorly  he was effective but not efficient.

B,on the other hand,starts by cleaning the replaceable Tyre with a towel.He wants to make the Tyre as clean and shiny as possible before pacing them on. He was very good at this cleaning.He cleaned the Tyre and then went on to replace the flat Tyre.

B was very efficient in his work but his work was not effective.Its not effective because cleaning is not a important step when changing the Tyre.

This example explains Efficiency and Effectiveness very clearly.

So what is Excellence then? Excellence is defined as:

Excellence =  Efficiency * Effectiveness

In case of above example, had there been another person C, who could have replaced the flat Tyre by following right steps and doing it quickly, he could have been "Effective as well as Efficient" i.e. Excellent in his work.

Excellence in organizations is all about achieving "More out of Less for More" where "More out of Less" is Efficiency and "for More" is Effectiveness. The world has seen many organizations which have followed brilliant business strategies and made world say "Wow!". Excellence is combined effort of Efficiency and Effectiveness and is highly interrelated.

Well I leave you to think on this with this beautiful quote -

The leader must discover the "Doing things right is not as important as doing the right things." A comparison between the Effective leader and the Efficient one is helpful.