Free Management Dissertations - As A Result Striking A Balance Between Theoretical Issues And Business
As a result striking a balance between theoretical issues and business realities at the strategic planning level is an issue of importance.
Bureaucracy
An important feature of larger organizations is that they are often highly bureaucratic in terms of organisational structure. The work of Weber (1964) illustrates a key in terms of the relationship between power distance and bureaucracy in that management with responsibilities in administration exert strong power over control of an organisation’s behaviour. The principal feature of this approach is to see an organisation’s tasks as being achieved through well established systems and formalised routines where cooperation between administrative authorities contributing to the management of an organisation (Blau, 1966). However this approach is argued to place too much emphasis on rules and procedures with creativity amongst employees being limited as a result. Argyris (1964) claims that the psychological growth of individuals can result in conflicts and result in failure to achieve organisational goals and it is important then to mention that a concern with organizational structure can be seen as an important development in considering effective management. This is because an appropriate organisational structure is able to contribute to levels of efficiency in performance. For example the rise of Japanese enterprises is to a large degree related to the typical Japanese organisational structure which is more often than not bureaucratic itself reflecting national cultural influences in fostering and supporting long power distances. However challenges from technological developments in terms of information systems has generated significant concerns over rigid bureaucratic structures since flatter organisational structures are believed to be more effective in information and knowledge flows contributing to better overall performance.
Human Relations Approach
Developments in human relations theory have seen a rising emphasis being placed on the importance of people within organisations. The Hawthorne experiment looked at the factors that have influences on workers’ productivity within an experimental group where the physical working environment remained unchanged as much as was possible (Mullins, 2005). However criticisms of this approach have arisen due to the ignorance in terms of considering the impact of environmental variables on organisational behaviour which sees the conclusions as being argued to be too simplified (Silverman, 1970). The development of human relations in the subject of management provides a clearer understanding on methods of improving management through a full appraisal of people’s psychological needs rather than the mechanistic techniques developed by the scientific model.
