OB/Unit-I:

Mngt. Philosophy and Approaches

-TYPOLOGY/CLASSIFICATION-
8 TYPES OF MANAGEMENT STYLES
1. Democratic Management Style
2. Laissez-Faire Management Style
3. Autocratic Management Style
4. Charismatic Management Style
5. Coach Management Style
6. Pace setting Management Style
7. Bureaucratic Management Style
8. Transactional Management Style
1. Democratic Management Style
• This style is rooted in collaboration.
• These leaders seek input from their employees before making
business decisions.
• They engage employees by remaining open to new ideas and granting
employees the freedom to use their voices to share their opinions.
• This management style can create strong bonds between employees
and leaders.
2. Laissez-Faire Management Style
• These leaders are hands-off and maintain a high level of confidence in
their employees.
• Leaders who adopt this management style don’t manage their
employees instead, grant them full freedom to work on their
delegated tasks independently.
• This style works best when managing highly experienced
professionals.
• When these employees are given freedom, they often demonstrate
greater initiative.
3. Autocratic Management Style
• This style is centred on results and efficiency and is usually devoid of
employee collaboration and freedom.
• The leader manages the employees to ensure that they follow
company policies and rely on authority to provide instruction.
• This style may be useful in an emergency.
4. Charismatic Management Style
• The leaders are charming, highly persuasive and deeply committed to
their cause.
• These leaders are also interested in building personal relationships
and rallying their team around a common goal.
• This style is useful for helping employees feel supported, highly
engaged and motivated toward achieving business objectives.
5. Coach Management Style
• The leaders often possess qualities like a sports coach.
• They are dedicated to their employees’ ongoing development and
quickly identify what motivates each employee to succeed.
• A coaching leader is skilled in recognizing each employees’ unique
strengths and weaknesses and determining how to help them
become better professionals.
6. Pace setting Management Style
• The leaders often set high standards for their team and are especially
concerned with speed and efficiency.
• These leaders are always seeking new ways to become more
productive and expect the same of the employees they manage.
7. Bureaucratic Management Style
• The leaders focus on assigning specific duties to employees within a
well-defined hierarchy.
• They are less concerned with collaboration and more interested in
following rules and procedures.
• These leaders assign each employee a set of responsibilities and
independent tasks and all work is streamlined from top to bottom.
8. Transactional Management Style
• The leaders enhance employee performance with positive rewards
like bonuses and incentives and respond to negative outcomes with
disciplinary action.
• They often act as mentors and provide explicit instruction to help
increase performance and ensure employees consistently meet
expectations.
MANAGERIAL APPROACHES
• 3D MODEL OF MANAGERIAL APPROACH
INTRODUCTION
• A development of the Blake and Mouton Management Grid is the
three-dimensional (3D) model of managerial behaviour suggested
by Reddin.
• By adding a third dimension of managerial effectiveness to task
orientation and relationship orientation, the 3-D model identifies
eight possible styles of managerial behaviour.
The Eight Styles of Management
1. Bureaucrat (1-4 More Effective Styles)
2. Benevolent Autocrat
3. Developer
4. Executive
5. Deserter (5-8 Less Effective Styles)
6. Autocrat
7. Missionary
8. Compromiser
More Effective Styles
1. Bureaucrat: A low concern for both task and relationships.
• The manager adopting this style is seen as being interested mainly in
rules and procedures to control the situation.
2. Benevolent Autocrat: A high concern for task and low concern for
relationships.
• Managers adopting this style know what they want and how to
achieve it without causing resentment.
Contd…
3. Developer: A high concern for relationships and a low concern for
task.
• The manager adopting this style is seen as having implicit trust in
people and concerned mainly with developing them as individuals.
4. Executive: A high concern for both task and relationships.
• The manager adopting this style is seen as a good motivator, sets high
standards, treats people as individuals and favours team
management.
Less Effective Styles
5. Deserter: A low concern for both task and relationships in a
situation, where such behaviour is inappropriate.
• The manager lacks involvement and is passive or negative.
6. Autocrat: A high concern for task and relationships in a situation
where such behaviour is not appropriate.
• The manager is seen as lacking confidence in others, is unpleasant
and is interested only in the task in hand.
Contd…
7. Missionary: A high concern for relationships and a low concern for
task where such behaviour is inappropriate.
• The manager is seen as interested mainly in preserving harmony.
8. Compromiser: A high concern for both task and relationships in a
situation requiring high concern for neither or for only one orientation.
• The manager is seen as a poor decision-maker, too easily influenced
by the pressures of the situation and as avoiding immediate pressures
and problems at the expense of maximising long-term output.
Appropriate Style of behaviour
• According to Reddin’s 3-D theory, managerial effectiveness cannot be
measured simply in terms of achieving production or relationships
with other people.
• The manager must also be adaptable in adopting the appropriate
style of behaviour which will determine effectiveness in achieving the
output requirements of the job.
General Criteria for Managerial Effectiveness
1. Overall effectiveness (most frequently mentioned criterion)
2. Relationships with subordinates
3. Decision-making, problem-solving, self-development of the
manager and maintenance of the organization
4. Coping with ambiguity and the handling of conflict (relatively
unimportant criteria)
2. THE CLASSICAL APPROACH
• The classical writers thought of organisation in terms of purpose and
structure.
• They emphasised on:- planning of work, technical requirements of
the organisation, principles of management and rational & logical
behaviour.
• An understanding of purpose of an organisation is understanding
how the organisation works.
• Attention is given to the division of work, clear definition of duties
and responsibilities and maintaining specialisation and coordination.
Sub-groupings of Classical Approach
• There are two sub-groupings of the classical approach.
• They are:
A. Scientific Management
B. Bureaucracy
A. Scientific Management
• Improvement of management as a means of increasing productivity.
• Obtaining increased productivity from individual workers through
technical structuring of the work organisation.
• Providing monetary incentives as motivation for higher output.
• A major contributor to this approach was F. W. Taylor, the ‘Father of
Scientific Management’.
• Taylor believed that just like there is a best machine for each job, so
there is a best working method for people to undertake their job.
• Each job was broken down into parts; each part was timed, and the
parts rearranged into efficient method of working.
Principles of Scientific Management
• The development of a true science for each person’s work;
• The scientific selection, training and development of the workers;
• Co-operation with the workers to ensure work is carried out in the
prescribed way;
• The division of work and responsibility between management and the
workers.
Relevance of Scientific Management
• Taylor adopted this approach with the application of standard
procedures.
• Workers regarded as rational beings, motivated directly by monetary
incentives linked to the level of work output.
• Workers viewed more as units of production to be handled in the
same way as machines.
• Hence, scientific management is often referred to as Machine Theory
Model.
B. BUREAUCRACY
• A form of structure to be found in many large-scale organisations is
bureaucracy.
• Weber, a German sociologist pointed out that the definition:
• “of tasks and responsibilities within the structure of management
gave rise to a permanent administration and standardisation of work
procedures notwithstanding the changes in the actual holders of
office.”
Main Characteristics of bureaucracy
• Weber identified the main characteristics of a bureaucratic type of
organisation.
• He emphasised:
• The importance of administration based on expertise (rules of
experts) and administration based on discipline (rules of officials).
• The tasks of the organisation are allocated as official duties among
the various positions.
• There is an implied clear-cut division of labour and a high level of
specialisation.
Contd…
• A hierarchical authority applies to the organisation of offices and
positions.
• Uniformity of decisions is achieved through formally established
systems of rules and regulations.
• An impersonal orientation is expected from official in their dealings
with clients and other officials.
• Employment by the organisation is based on technical qualifications
and constitutes a lifelong career for the officials.
Main Features of Bureaucracy by Stewart
1. Specialization: applies more to the job than to the person
undertaking the job.
• This makes for continuity because the job usually continues even if
the present job holder leaves.
2. Hierarchy of authority: makes for a sharp distinction between
management and workers.
3. System of Rules: aims to provide for an efficient and impersonal
operation.
• Knowledge of the rules is a requisite of holding a job in a bureaucracy.
Contd…
4. Impersonality: means the allocation of privileges and the exercise
of authority should be according to the laid-down system of rules.
Role of Bureaucracy
• As organisations face increasing global competitiveness and complex
demands of the information and technological age, the need arises
for alternative forms of corporate structure and systems.
• Bureaucracies allowed people with knowledge to control ignorant
workers.
• Now, new structures are needed as knowledge spreads.
Relevance today
• Organisations are more decentralised in order that quick decisions
can be taken.
• People are more readily able to move across functional and
geographical borders.
• To fully exploit current knowledge, managers need to know what the
company needs.
• However, as Stewart suggests, more organisations today will still have
bureaucratic features although there is more reliance on professional
discretion and self-regulation than on control through rules and
regulations.
3. THE HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACH
• During the 1920s, the years of the Great Depression, greater
attention began to be paid to the social factors at work and to the
behaviour of employees within an organisation – i.e., human
relations.
• The human relations approach strove for a greater understanding of
people’s psychological and social needs at work and also improving
the process of management.
• It is usually regarded as the first major approach to organisation and
management to show concern for industrial sociology.
Contd…
• The human relations approach recognised the importance of the
informal organisation which will always be present within the formal
structure.
• This informal organisation will influence the motivation of employees
who will view the organisation for which they work through the
values and attitudes of their colleagues.
• Their view of the organisation determines their approach to work and
the extent of their motivation to work well.
Contd…
• Human relations writers demonstrated that people go to work to
satisfy a complexity of needs and not simply for monetary reward.
• They emphasised the importance of wider social needs of individuals
and the importance of group and group values and norms, in
influencing individual behaviour at work.
• The human relations approach was about ‘people with organisation’
whereas the classical approach was concerned about ‘organisation
without people’.
4. THE SYSTEMS APPROACH
• One of the founders of this approach was the biologist Ludwig Von
who used the term ‘systems theory’ and who is generally credited
with having developed the outline of Systems Theory.
• Organisations are complex social systems and are more open to
change.
• A business organisation is an open system.
• There is continual interaction with the broader external environment
of which it is part.
Contd…
• The systems approach views the organisation within its total
environment and emphasises the importance of multiple channels of
interaction.
• The systems approach views the organisation as a whole and involves
the study of the organisation in terms of the relationship between
technical and social variables within the system.
• Changes in one part, technical or social, will affect other parts and
thus the whole system.
The Socio-technical system
• The concept of organisation as a ‘socio-technical system’ directs
attention to the transformation or conversion process with a series of
activities through which the organisation attempts to achieve its
objectives.
• The socio-technical system is concerned with the interactions
between the psychological and the needs and demands of the human
part of the organisation and its structural and technological
requirements.
Contd…
• People must be considered as an equal priority along with investment
in technology.
• For example:
• Major technological change has brought about dramatic changes in
worker behaviour and requirements.
• It is the people who unlock the benefits and opportunities of
information communication technology.
5. THE CONTINGENCY APPROACH
• The contingency approach showed concern with the importance of
structure as an influence on organisational performance.
• The contingency approach is seen as an extension of the systems
approach which highlights organisation structures and systems of
management.
• The structure of the organisation and its success are dependent upon
the nature of tasks designed and the nature of environmental
influences.
Contd…
• The contingency approach is seen as a development of systems
approach, by relating environment to specific structures of
organisation.
• The contingency approach emphasises the need for flexibility.as the
term contingency implies, this approach does not seek universal
principles that can be used for every situation, instead seeks to
explain how one characteristic depends upon another.
• The contingency approach can be seen as a form of ‘if-then’
relationship.
Contd…
• If certain situational factors exist, then certain variables in
organisation structure and systems of management are most
appropriate.
• Situational factors may be identified ways such as size, technology
and environment.
HAWTHORNE EXPERIMENTS
• Hawthorne studies gave academic status to the study of
organisational behaviour.
• The studies were carried out at the General Electric Company’s
Hawthorne works in Chicago.
• Elton Mayo was the person responsible for conducting the studies.
• Naturally, he is called the ‘Father of Human Relations Approach’.
• Hawthorne studies reflected the approach of seeking greater
efficiency by improving the tools and methods of work.
• The research involved three sets of studies.
1. ILLUMINATION STUDIES
• This constituted the first set of experiments and took place between
1924 and 1927.
• In these studies, lighting was decreased over successive periods for
the experimental group (the group for whom lighting was altered),
while it was kept at a constant level for the control group (a
comparison group working in another area).
• The researchers were surprised to discover that productivity
increased roughly at the same rate in both the groups.
• The researchers concluded that factors other than lighting were to be
considered and so the project was discontinued.
2. THE RELAY ASSEMBLY ROOM STUDY
• The second set of experiments took place between 1927 and 1933.
• The study involved women who assembled electrical relays in the
Royal Assembly Test Room, where they were away from others .
• The researchers altered work conditions and evaluated the results.
• The researchers changed the usual supervisor arrangement so that
there would be no official supervisor.
• Instead, the workers would operate under the general direction of the
researchers.
Contd…
• The workers were also given special privileges such as, leaving their
work without permission, free mid-morning lunch, a workday that
was half-hour shorter, a 5-day workweek and variations in the
methods of payment.
• The researchers concluded that the change in the supervisory
arrangement was the major reason for the increase in the
productivity.
• The researchers felt that physical changes such as rest pauses, free
lunches and incentive payments were of lesser importance.
3. THE BANK WIRING ROOM STUDY
• This study was conducted between 1931 and 1932 and constituted the
third set of experiments.
• The motivation for this study was built on the findings of the second set.
• A group of 14 men who wired telephone banks was observed in a standard
shop condition.
• An observer was stationed in the room with instructions to take continuous
notes on the workers’ actions.
• Although, initially the workers were apprehensive about the observer, they
settled into more natural and relaxed behaviour after about 3 weeks.
Contd…
• The researchers concluded that the behavioural norms set by the
work group had a powerful influence over the productivity of the
group.
• The higher the norms, the greater the productivity. The lower the
norms, the lower the productivity.
• The power of the peer group and the importance of group influence
on individual behaviour and productivity were confirmed in the bank
wiring room.
• Thus, Hawthorne Studies laid a foundation for understanding people’s
social and psychological behaviour in the workplace.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF:
1. HENRY FAYOL
2. F. W. TAYLOR
3. PETER DRUCKER
1. HENRY FAYOL
• The contributions of Fayol are generally termed as operational
management or administrative management.
• He is the ‘Father of Modern Operational Management Theory’.
• Fayol looked at the problems of managing an organisation from top
management point of view.
• He has used the term ‘administration’ instead of ‘management’,
emphasising that there is unity of science of administration.
• For him, administration was a common activity and administrative
doctrine was universally applicable.
Contd…
• He has emphasised that principles of management are flexible and
not absolute and are usable regardless of changing and special
conditions.
• Fayol found that activities of an industrial organisation could be
divided into 6 groups:
1. Technical (relating to production;
2. Commercial (buying, selling and exchange);
3. Financial (search for capital and its optimum use);
Activities of Industrial organisation Contd…

4. Security (protection of property and person);

5. Accounting (including statistics);
6. Managerial (planning, organisation, command, coordination and
control)
Fayol’s approach of management
• Fayol has divided his approach of studying management into three
parts:
1. Managerial qualities and training
2. General principles of management and
3. Elements of management
1. Managerial qualities and training
• According to Fayol, there are 6 types of qualities that a manager
requires:
i. Physical (health, vigour and address)
ii. Mental (ability to understand and learn judgement, mental vigour,
and capability)
iii. Moral (energy, firmness, initiative, loyalty, tact and dignity)
iv. Education (general acquaintance with matters not belonging
exclusively to the function performed)
v. Technical (peculiar to the function being performed)
vi. Experience (arising from the work)
Contd…
• Fayol has observed that the most important ability for a worker is
technical.
• As one goes up the chain, managerial ability increases its importance.
2. General Principles of management
• Fayol held that managerial ability should be acquired first in school
and later in the workplace.
• To acquire managerial knowledge, he developed principles of
management to be taught in academic institutions:
i. Division of work vi. Subordination of individual
ii. Authority and Responsibility interest to General interest
iii. Discipline vii. Centralisation
iv. Unity of command viii. Equity ix. Stability of Tenure
v. Unity of direction x. Unity is strength
3. Elements of management
• Fayol holds that management should be viewed as a process
consisting of 5 elements.
• He has regarded these elements as functions of management.
• These are:
1. Planning
2. Organisation
3. Commanding
4. Coordination and
5. Controlling
Elements contd…
• He has regarded planning as the most important managerial function
and failure to plan properly leads to hesitation, false steps and
untimely changes in directions which cause weakness in the
organisation.
• Commanding function is necessary to execute plans.
• Coordination is necessary to make sure that everyone is working
together and
• Control looks whether everything is proceeding according to the plan.
Conclusion
• Fayol holds the view that these functions are required at all levels of
management and in all types of organisation.
2. F. W. TAYLOR
• The concept of scientific management was introduced by Frederick
Winslow Taylor in USA in the beginning of 20th century.
• Scientific management was concerned essentially with improving the
operational efficiency.
• Taylor defined scientific management as, “ Scientific management is
concerned with knowing exactly what you want men to do and then
see that they do it in the best and cheapest way.”
• He carried out experiments about how to increase the efficiency of
people.
Contributions of Taylor
• Taylor’s contributions can be described in two parts:
1. Elements and tools of scientific management and
2. Principles of scientific management.
1. Elements and tools of scientific
management
i. Separation of planning and Doing: The worker was put under the
supervision of a supervisor, whose job was merely to see how the
workers were performing.
• Taylor emphasised that planning should be left to the supervisor and
the worker should emphasize only on operational work.
ii. Functional Foremanship: Taylor evolved the concept of functional
foremanship based on specialization of functions, which were:
• Persons concerned with planning of different types of work and
• Persons concerned with the doing aspect of different types of work.
Contd…
iii. Job analysis: is undertaken to find out the best way of doing the
things, which requires the least movements, consequently less time
and cost.
• The best way of doing the things can be determined by taking up
Time-Motion Fatigue studies:
o Time study: involves the determination of time a movement takes to
complete and the movement that takes the minimum time; it is the
best.
oMotion study: involves the study of movements in parts, involved in
doing the job and eliminating wasteful movements.
Contd…
oFatigue study: shows the amount and frequency of rest required in
completing the work.
• Thus, job analysis given by Taylor suggests a fair amount of a day’s
work which requires certain movements and rest periods to complete
it.
iv. Standardisation: should be maintained in respect of instruments,
tools, period of work, amount of work, working conditions, cost of
production etc.
Contd…
v. Scientific selection and Training of workers: Workers should be
selected based on their education, work experience, aptitude,
physical strength etc.
• Also, emphasis should be given on training of workers which makes
them more efficient and effective.
vi. Financial incentives: can motivate workers to put in their
maximum efforts, as workers will be able to earn more.
vii. Economy: For the purpose of economy and profit to be achieved,
techniques of cost estimates and control should be adopted, thus
eliminating wastages.
Contd…
viii. Mental revolution: There should be cooperation between
management and workers, for which there should be a mental change
in both the parties from conflict to cooperation.
2. Principles of Scientific Management
• The development of a true science for each person’s work;
• The scientific selection, training and development of the workers;
• Co-operation with the workers to ensure work is carried out in the
prescribed way;
• The division of work and responsibility between management and the
workers.
3. PETER DRUCKER
• Peter Drucker was described as the “Founder of modern Management”.
• He has developed solutions to several management problems.
• The main contributions of Drucker are as follows:
1. Nature of management
2. Management functions
3. Organisation structure
4. Federalism
5. Management by Objectives (MBO)
6. Organizational changes
Contributions of Drucker
1. Nature of management: He emphasised management with creative
and innovative characteristics, which include development of new
ideas, combining new and old ideas, adaptation of new ideas from
other fields and encouraging people to carry out innovation.
2. Management functions: He sees management through its
tasks/functions, performed by a manager which are – setting of
objectives, decision making, organising and motivating.
Contd…
3. Organisation structure: He emphasised three basic characteristics
of an effective organisation structure:-
i. Enterprise should be organised for performance.
ii. It should contain the least possible number of managerial levels.
iii. It must make possible the training and testing of tomorrow’s
managers – giving responsibility to a manager while he is still
young.
Contd…
4. Federalism: refers to centralised control in decentralised structure.
• It creates a new constitution and new ordering principle.
5. Management by Objectives: is regarded as one of the most
important contributions of Drucker to the discipline of
management.
• It transforms the basic assumptions of managing from exercising
control to self-control.
• To practise MBO, the organisation must change itself.
Contd…
6. Organisational change: Drucker visualised rapid changes in the
society because of rapid technological development.
• Since rapid changes are occurring in the society, human beings should
develop philosophy to face the changes and take them as challenges
for making the society better.