What Makes Good Management Tick? A Management Consulting firm completed a study on management techniques by some 50 Companies, considered to be well-run and found that they have SEVEN common attributes. None of them depends on management tool or gimmicks. None of them requires high technology or costs a cent to implement. All that is needed is time, energy, and willingness on the part of the Management to THINK rather than adhere to Management Formulae. Read about these 7 Attributes in this interesting article.
Even Good Management practices do change. What was good enough for Yesterday, may not be good enough for Tomorrow. There is no consensus as to what Good Management really is, so, what makes it tick?
Unlike Lawyers, Doctors or Engineers, Managers constitute a professional class without a formal body of doctrine or science. They are masters of the Ad Hoc, the quick decision made under pressure and based on an odd assortment of information, ranging from gossip to computer printouts. True, we have seen in recent years the mushrooming of graduate schools of business administration, whose purpose is to organise a credible mass of knowledge that will throw light on and add wisdom to the Manager’s role. To the outsiders, much of the management literature is difficult, portentous and laced with Jargon. So, there is a temptation to dismiss the claims of management as self aggrandising and perhaps even self-serving. This, however, would be a grievous mistake. For Managers are the people who, more than any other group or class, run our world. Management deserves our most careful study because it determines, to a large degree, how well our economies, our private installations and our Governments are conducted. If we are to meet the demands of our post-industrial society, we will need creative Managers capable of solving present problems in terms of the future instead of the past.
NEED FOR INNOVATION
The “Need to Innovate” is emphasised in every book on Management, but little attention is given to what Management must do to stimulate innovation and to make it effective.
All ongoing business assumes that present product lines and services, present markets and present distribution channels, present technologies and processes will continue. Thus, the first objective of a strategy for such a business is to optimise, what already exists or is being established. In contrast, an Innovative Strategy assumes that whatever exists is ageing and will soon have to be changed or replaced. The governing devices of an Innovative Strategy for the ongoing business might therefore be said to be “Better And More” the innovative strategy, the device has to be “New And Different”.
The foundation of Innovative Strategy is planning and systematic sloughing off the old, the dying, the obsolete. Second in a strategy of innovation, is the clear recognition that innovative efforts must aim high. The goal of innovating efforts is to make a significant difference. Therefore, the first and most important job of Management in an innovative organization is to convert impractical, half-baked and even wild ideas into concrete innovative reality.
Since the period ahead of us will be one of rapid change in technology, society, economy, and institutions, the development of an innovative organisation poses a major challenge to Management – private and public.
Faith and trust in people are fundamentals that we have to inject into our organisation, which, I am pleased to note, is now taking place, still experimentally, in many corporate entities. “Employee Involvement”, briefly called, EI, operates on principles of employee participation in problem identification and solution, related to their work and work for a recognition by employees and environment. It is truly a two – way partnership – Management that their common interest can be served best when there is common effort. “Employee Involvement” is the evolution of a process, not the implementation of a programme. The change in employees’ attitude must be preceded by a new attitude on the part of the Management. Reduced to one word, the New Management attitude must be one of RESPECT.
These common attributes are repeated here for your consideration.
· A bias toward action.
- The key words are “Do it, Fix it, Try it”.
· Simple form and lean staff.
- In other words, “Small Is Beautiful”.
· Continued contact with Customers.
- The well managed Company is Customer driven, not technology driven, product
Even Good Management practices do change. What was good enough for Yesterday, may not be good enough for Tomorrow. There is no consensus as to what Good Management really is, so, what makes it tick?
Unlike Lawyers, Doctors or Engineers, Managers constitute a professional class without a formal body of doctrine or science. They are masters of the Ad Hoc, the quick decision made under pressure and based on an odd assortment of information, ranging from gossip to computer printouts. True, we have seen in recent years the mushrooming of graduate schools of business administration, whose purpose is to organise a credible mass of knowledge that will throw light on and add wisdom to the Manager’s role. To the outsiders, much of the management literature is difficult, portentous and laced with Jargon. So, there is a temptation to dismiss the claims of management as self aggrandising and perhaps even self-serving. This, however, would be a grievous mistake. For Managers are the people who, more than any other group or class, run our world. Management deserves our most careful study because it determines, to a large degree, how well our economies, our private installations and our Governments are conducted. If we are to meet the demands of our post-industrial society, we will need creative Managers capable of solving present problems in terms of the future instead of the past.
NEED FOR INNOVATION
The “Need to Innovate” is emphasised in every book on Management, but little attention is given to what Management must do to stimulate innovation and to make it effective.
All ongoing business assumes that present product lines and services, present markets and present distribution channels, present technologies and processes will continue. Thus, the first objective of a strategy for such a business is to optimise, what already exists or is being established. In contrast, an Innovative Strategy assumes that whatever exists is ageing and will soon have to be changed or replaced. The governing devices of an Innovative Strategy for the ongoing business might therefore be said to be “Better And More” the innovative strategy, the device has to be “New And Different”.
The foundation of Innovative Strategy is planning and systematic sloughing off the old, the dying, the obsolete. Second in a strategy of innovation, is the clear recognition that innovative efforts must aim high. The goal of innovating efforts is to make a significant difference. Therefore, the first and most important job of Management in an innovative organization is to convert impractical, half-baked and even wild ideas into concrete innovative reality.
Since the period ahead of us will be one of rapid change in technology, society, economy, and institutions, the development of an innovative organisation poses a major challenge to Management – private and public.
Faith and trust in people are fundamentals that we have to inject into our organisation, which, I am pleased to note, is now taking place, still experimentally, in many corporate entities. “Employee Involvement”, briefly called, EI, operates on principles of employee participation in problem identification and solution, related to their work and work for a recognition by employees and environment. It is truly a two – way partnership – Management that their common interest can be served best when there is common effort. “Employee Involvement” is the evolution of a process, not the implementation of a programme. The change in employees’ attitude must be preceded by a new attitude on the part of the Management. Reduced to one word, the New Management attitude must be one of RESPECT.
These common attributes are repeated here for your consideration.
· A bias toward action.
- The key words are “Do it, Fix it, Try it”.
· Simple form and lean staff.
- In other words, “Small Is Beautiful”.
· Continued contact with Customers.
- The well managed Company is Customer driven, not technology driven, product
driven, or strategy driven.
· Productivity improvement via people.
- People are basically hungry for achievement and reward – Money, Power and Status.
- People are basically hungry for achievement and reward – Money, Power and Status.
The emphasis, however, should not be on monetary awards only.
· Operational Autonomy to encourage Entrepreneurship.
- Well managed Companies authorise their Managers to act like Entrepreneurs.
They will never Force their Managers to go against their own judgement.
· Stress on One Key Business Value.
- The outstanding Companies have one theme and stick to it.
· Simultaneous loose – tight control
- The successful Companies control a few variables tightly, but allow flexibility
and looseness in others.
The outstanding Corporate performers work hard to keep things simple. They rely on simple organisational structures, simple goals and simple communication. By sticking to these basics, their Managements are able not only to change but also to change quickly. They keep their sights aimed externally at their Customers and Competitors, and not on their own financial reports.
Good Management takes brute perseverance – time, repetition and simplicity.
