Abstract
Traditionally, management involved planning to have tasks accomplished. It also involved organizing the company to promote effectiveness and efficiency, motivating the employees and controlling to ensure that the organizational goals are met. This has been the standard management procedure that has been used by most corporate organizations.
However, the 21st century has introduced a new work place in which every individual in the organization participates in the management process. Today’s society is constantly changing its demands and opportunities, thus there is no standard procedure for approaching business. Managers have shifted from the management position to become leaders who influence teams to complete the tasks ahead. The definition of the term management is diverse, and depends on each organization’s practice.
Introduction
Management is a difficult term to define because the world has become very dynamic. Leaders require continuous transformation and innovation to keep up with the changing demands. It does not have a standard definition since different organizations apply different practices to achieve organizational performance.
While in the past management was more concerned on the conversion of input into output at a low cost, today emphasis have also been put on ensuring that consumer needs are met (Dyck & Neubert, 2010). This paper will discuss on the various dimensions in the definition in management.
Management Today
Organizations are no longer structured and managers often find themselves attending to non managerial jobs where no one reports to them. This is due to the continuously changing nature of work and organizational demands. For a manager to have things done through people, he/she has to work amongst the teams so as to influence them. In such a scenario every individual works towards the defined goal including the manager.
Today’s manager not only employs managerial skills in work but also gives a human touch to the tasks by involving employees. Working alongside the employees enhances flexibility and promotes teamwork. Fredrick W. Taylor introduced scientific management in which there is one best way for accomplishing each task. This is applicable today. However, in today’s management there is room for employees to apply innovative changes that improve their performance.
Max Weber argued that bureaucracy makes everyone accountable for the activities that happen in the organization, today this has been enhanced by creating a sense of responsibility among the employees. Teams encourage employees to work towards a similar objective thus supervision roles have decreased tremendously (Reenen & Bloom, 2010).
Today the market is driven by consumer needs, therefore management performance is determined by the level at which the market needs are met. The change in management goals has resulted into a flexible work environment. Change has also been used by management as a way to gain a competitive advantage.
Today management encourages employees to bring innovation into the organization by thinking, feeling or doing something different from the norm. Innovation does not change an organization’s past patterns but gives an extension to what already exists. Based on this, management differs from one organization to another due the existing culture and how this culture is enhanced.
One organizations managerial practice may differ from the other depending on the decision making power given to employees. Therefore, a standard management practice does not exist in the modern work environment. Organizations are interested in meeting their organizational goals while staying ahead of the competition. The manager’s task is to utilize each employee’s strengths and knowledge to produce better results (Keller, 2011).
In the modern economic times, business value is defined by the employees’ knowledge. Unlike before when workers represented undifferentiated groups who waited for the managers to give them tasks, today managers simply define the roles. This gives the employees the freedom to choose the best approach to deliver results.
Therefore, today directing has been given another approach which addresses a knowledgeable worker. The role has advanced to include nurturing skills, developing talents and inspiring results. Defining this new role in management is difficult because different employees have diverse knowledge and needs. One employee’s needs are completely different from another’s yet it’s the same manager who serves both employees (Dyck & Neubert, 2010).
Managerial roles have been changed by globalization; there are more opportunities and challenges that come with international business. The workforce has become very diverse expanding the managerial roles to include uniting people of different backgrounds. They are presented with the task of learning, adopting and facilitating change in the teams.
This involves gathering knowledge and sharing it with the aim of improving organizational performance. This is a process which cannot be defined in the management functions since it is a continuous process whose approach depends on the setting. Management has been modified to fit the changing societal and specific organizational needs hence difficult to define (Reenen & Bloom, 2010).
Conclusion
Management has shifted from the traditional roles whose main goal was to deliver results efficiently. Today organizations attach value to the quality of products and services provided. Effective and efficient production is not enough. Performance is defined by the level of customer satisfaction.
This means that the employees and the managers have a similar task which is to satisfy customer needs. Management has become a continuous process specific to each organization. It concentrates on developing employees to increase knowledge, skills and develop talent with the aim of improving productivity. Management definition is relative to each organization since processes and procedures are unique in each organization.
References
Dyck, B. & Neubert, M. J. (2010). Management: Current practices and new directions. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Keller, G. F. (2011). Comparing the Effects of Management Practices on Organizational Performance Between For-Profit and Not-For-Profit Corporations In Southeast Wiscnsin. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 9(3), 29-38.
Reenen, J. V. & Bloom, N. (2010). Why Do Management Practices Differ Across Firms and Countries? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(1), 203-224.