Introduction
Management is often termed as a wide area of study by a substantial number of people, including managers, managerial experts, researchers, and the wider section of the modern population. A substantial number of people in the modern society are still highly involved in managerial research. Diverse aspects of management, for instance management skills, are given much attention in modern research in management.
Management is an old field of study that has attracted a lot of researchers. It can be said that all activities that are conducted in the modern economy revolves around aspects of management. It is good to explore how the field of management has changed over time. This can only be done through an explicit exploration of the course, which management has taken especially from the 19th century onwards.
However, it is vital to note that the foundations of the studies and practice of management in the 19th century were derived from the developments in management in the 18th century (Willmott 1987: 249). In order to make an explicit comprehension and acknowledgement, or even criticism of modern managerial work, one must understand the methods that have been deployed in management research over the past five decades.
A lot of empirical explanations and models of management have been developed out of the wide research that has been and is still being done in the field of management. The modern managers are faced with complex organizational tasks due to the needs and demands of the work environment (National Research Council 1999: 161).
The changes that are seen in the nature of managerial work in the contemporary business landscape are highly dependent on the findings of research studies that have been conducted by managerial experts (Mintzberg 1998: 27). This paper carries out an analytical evaluation of the studies that have been done in the field of management for the last five decades.
The paper analyzes the findings of the researches in order to bring out the most critical findings. The paper begins by developing a brief overview of managerial work, after which an exploration of diverse studies in managerial work is done.
Understanding managerial work
According to Tengblad (2012: 312), the concept of managerial work is quite broad. It is critical to understand what entails managerial work before exploring research work and findings that have been derived from the research. Managerial work comprises of a set of activities and practices that are developed and implemented by organizational leaders who are at times referred to as organizational managers.
As used in this paper, managerial work refers to a number of practices that are desired in administration of organizations and institutions. This includes the setup of work environments and the skills that are demanded for setting up such environments. Therefore, managerial work as used in this paper revolves around the issue of skills and skill requirements and developments by both managers and subordinates in diverse organizational setups.
There is a need to explicate diverse studies about managerial skills, and to what level the findings in these studies point to the relevance of certain managerial skills in contemporary management. A wide section of people point to the need for the advancement of managerial skills of modern managers. These skills cannot be effectively advanced without a look into the previous research findings on managerial work (Tengblad 2012: 312-313).
A critical look into these researches can help modern managerial experts understand areas that need improvement through the establishment of further research in new forms of management. A lot of attention is being paid to the nature of managerial work in contemporary organizations. It is argued that there is insufficient empirical research on the nature of managerial work that is exercised by modern managers.
While this is looked at as a crisis by a section of experts, a number of people see this as an opportunity to explore other research findings in order to come up with empirical findings on the nature of work and the managerial skills that are demanded of modern managers (National Research Council 1999: 161).
It is critical to observe that managerial work is deeply rooted in education. Managerial education is oriented towards equipping learners with the moral requirement in diverse contexts of management. Managerial education is critical in the advancement of various fields of research in managerial work (Burgoyne 1995: 92).
Overview of research in managerial work
As noted earlier, managerial work is the pillar of the functionality of almost all organizations that operate in the contemporary environment. Therefore, it is easy for one to conclude that there is a lot of research in managerial work. While this seems to hold some logic, it is vital for people involved in the field of management to ascertain the existence of research and research findings in managerial work.
This can help to categorize the findings in managerial work over time, thus making it easy pattern the methods utilized in the researches with the findings of the researches. Research work in the field of management can be traced from the ancient times, when a number of managerial theories and models were developed. These include the theory of bureaucracy by Weber and the principles of management by Fayol. These theories and models fall in the classical times (Thomas 2003: 38).
It is argued that there has been a paradigm shift in managerial work, which has been witnessed from the mid years of the 20th century to date. The shift is likened to the changing nature of the work environment, marked by things like increased competition between business organizations, decrease in the amount of resources, and the rise in the number of external factors that affect organizational existence and operation.
These findings from the recent research work have been critical to the development of new models of management, which captures the changing demands in organizational management. The questioning of the classical theorists of management is the denominator for the development of modern research in managerial work.
Modern research in management is quite elusive and captures all the critical issues that appertain to management in organizations. Modern research focuses on the roles of managers, employees and other organizational stakeholders in the shaping the managerial environment in organizations (Lee & Cassell 2010: 35).
Research in managerial work and evaluation of the findings
It is argued that managerial field of study is quite old, which implies that a lot of studies and study methods have been deployed in research in managerial work. One main area of study that has been the focus of a substantial number of researchers in the field of management concerns the roles of top executives in organizations. It is vital to note that the roles of top executives are critical to the work practices in organizations.
They are often termed as the main determinants of the scale of performance in organizations. However, this does not draw away the role of employees and other organizational stakeholders since these stakeholders play a critical role in the implementation of organizational functions as strategized by the executives. This determines organizational success.
In most cases, comparative studies are utilized in studying the roles of top executives across a number of industries. The studies are often geared towards examining the managerial behaviour of top executives and how they shape the performance of organizations. One author who was concerned with the developments in research in managerial work is Henry Mintzberg.
In his book titled ‘The nature of managerial work’, Mintzberg drew a comparison of researches that touched on the behaviours of organizational executives. This research provided a background on which a number of skills of organizational executives were coined (Tengblad 2006: 1437).
Tengblad (2006: 1437) opined that one of the findings in such studies is that the division of work and time is no longer critical to organizational effectiveness in contemporary organizations. This is a critical finding, basing on the fact that modern researchers have been preoccupied with finding ways in which organizational managers can craft their organizations to minimize external pressure.
The orientation of contemporary organization is quite different from the orientation of organizations a century ago. This can be justified by the argument that was made earlier in this paper, which pointed out that the modern operational environment is quite complex.
The level at which the division of time and labour in organizations is not given much attention in modern research in managerial work. This can be understood through exploration of findings that point to the demands of the modern working environment.
The contemporary managerial environment requires diversity of skills by both the organizational managers and the subordinates. The need for diversity of skills draws away the demand for division of work that prevailed in classical studies in managerial work. The diversity of skills implies the need for managers to open up their minds so that they can handle the emerging issues in organizations.
The approach to specialization has totally changed in that managers are required to be ready to be creative and innovative to handle complex tasks outside their defined work roles. An example that can be given here is that the creative ability of people is considered in the process of recruitment in contemporary organizations (Tengblad 2006: 1438).
Dyck et al. (2005: 387) observed that contemporary research in managerial work is directed towards broadening managerial work through analysis of the institutional, systematic and moral grounds on which managerial work ought to be pegged on. This is a positive outcome that points to the need for picturing managerial work from the broader confines of the environment in which organizations exist and operate.
The mainstream research in managerial work has received a lot of criticisms. Arguments that are cited in the criticisms dwell on the fact that mainstream researchers seem to ignore the expansiveness of the environment in which organizations operate.
Organizations, whether business or not-for-profit, operate within the larger political environment , thus one cannot claim to picture the tasks of managing organizations without analysing the impact of the political environment on the setting of managerial policies (Willmott 1987: 249-250).
Fox (1997: 580) observed that research in managerial work does not focus on management itself, but it revolves around the tenets of management. This entails the study of strategic outcomes of the managerial practices that are applied in different business organizations. The number of actual studies in managerial work began rising towards the end of the 20th century, where organizations began to highly embrace the structures of management in relation to organizational practices and the subsequent outcomes.
The findings of research in managerial work also point to the fact that there is a high level of inclination of management towards intellectual economism. This implies that managerial work is assessed in terms of the benefits that accrue from the work practices and outcomes that are derived from research work (Fox 1997: 582-583).
According to Fox (1997: 583), management is seen as a wide field that entails the participation of a substantial number of players. The more the numbers of players that are involved in the decision making cycle in business organizations, the wider the scope of managerial policies and the effectiveness of the management of organizations.
This is likened to the argument by Hales, who observed that empirical researches in management are moving away from identifying the roles of managers and are focusing on what managers ought to do in order to be effective and to abound by the pressures of organizational performance. In other words, it can be said that descriptive studies are becoming obsolete in as far as the management of organizations in the contemporary economy is concerned.
Modern studies in managerial work ought to be analytical so that they can offer a chance for people to make logical deductions, which are critical in devising mechanisms of improving organizational performance in modern times. This is to say that exploratory studies are favourable since they help to define what managers do and what they ought to do in order to bring about desirable standards of performance in organizations (Hales 1986: 89).
This is further explicated in the research that was done later by Hales, which sought to identify the changing duties of first line managers in organizations. The findings in the research pointed to the fact that first line managers have been charged with more responsibilities today than it was in the classical times. The responsibilities include: stewardship, translation of organizational strategies in real organizational practices, management of units within organizations, as well as overseeing business practices in organizations.
A substantial number of people have pointed out that the changing role of first line managers in contemporary organizations is a reflection of the weakness of the studies that were conducted in the mid years of the 19th century, which constricted the roles of line managers in organizational functioning (Hales 2005: 471-475).
According to Watson (2001: 221), theoretical trends in the study of managerial work show that the concept of the modern manager is being widely discussed in the realms of organizational complexity, and the need for efficiency in organizations. This concept is designed in order to reflect the theoretical underpinnings in managerial research that points to the role of individual orientation and its implications on organizational performance.
Organizational psychology has come out as a critical concept for enhancing learning in organizations. Modern managers are required to grasp all issues to do with the management of emotions in organizations in order to embrace the occupational environment in organizations. Different ways of learning can be used to cultivate a learning environment in organizations.
The ingredients of a learning environment in organizations come from the social, physical, emotional, and cultural factors, which are drawn from the managers and subordinates. Management is, thus, seen as a moral activity, which entails the cultivation of desirable behaviours in the organizations (Watson 2001: 225).
It is argued that managerial tasks differ according to the nature of the organization. Therefore, there is variation in the application of managerial practices in service oriented organizations, as well as those organizations that are not service oriented. However, research shows that employee voice is critical to organizational functioning, irrespective of the sector in which the organization is situated.
Organizational managers are, thus, bestowed with the responsibility of empowering employees. This is one of the steps towards building an inclusive organization; an organization in which the employees feel that they are part and parcel of the organizational practices and outcomes.
The nurturing of a culture that promotes the participation of employees in decision making boosts the esteem of the employees, thereby acting as a motivational factor in employee performance (Hales & Klidas 1998: 88-95).
No one can talk about the functioning of organizations without capturing the issue of technology adoption and use in management. Research shows that organizations that have been active in terms of technology adoption have attained high achievement. However, one needs to have an open mind when researching on the impacts of technology adoption on organizational performance (Forsyth & Lee 2006: 157).
Adoption of technology in organizational functioning is often a daunting task since it entails not only the installation of these technologies, but also the knowledge on how to use these technologies to enhance organizational efficiency and productivity. Several studies have focused on establishing the implications of technology adoption and utilization in organizations.
The pointer in the researches is that technology adoption can only be helpful when it is analysed before its adoption and utilization. Failure to consider these results in organizational burdens that come from technology failures (Heath, Luff & Svensson 2002: 185).
In their synthesis of research studies on managerial effectiveness, Marshall & Stewart (1981: 178) found out that one of the issues that affect the performance of organizational managers is the perception of the tasks. Job perception has been widely researched by managerial researchers.
The findings indicate that there is a strong link between the perceptions of jobs by managers and the motivation and influence of employees on job performance. The development of cognitive behaviours in organizations has a strong foundation in the managerial perceptions of their jobs. These findings are critical to modern organizations.
They often guide the establishment of parameters that are utilized by organizations in the recruitment of managers, as well as other employees. However, it has been noted that perceptions are not static since they are often affected by the developments in both the internal and external environments of organizations.
In the ancient forms of managerial studies, there was minimal emphasis on the search for the attributes of measuring the success of managers. The focus of research on studying the individual managers has resulted in the documentation of autobiographies of the managerial attributes of individual top managers.
The most critical question that can be posed at this point concerns the relevance of these autobiographies in managerial work. The field of management is increasingly dynamic, thus the need to gain managerial experience from diverse attributes of organizational management that have proved to be workable. Leadership characteristics of contemporary organizational executives are often drawn from the study of these autobiographies (Sims 1993: 58).
Conclusion
Managerial work is an extensive field and can only be understood through exploration of various research studies and the findings of the studies. From the discussion, it can be concluded that there has been extensive research in managerial work. A lot of variations exist in the methods applied in managerial research and the outcomes of the studies.
The diverse study methods utilized in the study of managerial work are a reflector of the broadness of the field of management. They include empirical methods, explanatory methods, as well as the descriptive study methods.
Most of the findings in research studies point to the fact that management is a dynamic practice that keeps changing in order to suit the demands of the work environment. Most findings of contemporary research in managerial work are often subjected to criticism, which results in the demand for more research.
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