A Taxonomy of Management Theories

A Taxonomy of Management Theories Deming, Drucker, Maslow, McGregor, Schein, Senge, Taylor, Weber ‌ This prÊcis references influential management theories in the last hundred years: in each instance, the taxonomy flags the historical foundation, highlights basic theory and application, lists principally cited publications, and passes comment on how the theory is viewed today.

Olivier Serrat 26/09/2018

1 A Taxonomy of Management Theories Management theories1 matter because management matters: a means to an end, it changes organizations and the way people work. Throughout the ages,2 but especially from the second half of the 20th century, original and influential thinkers have offered guidance on management, notably in the United States where the search for the next "Big Idea" has often been the game preserve of management "gurus" (Smith & Hitt, 2007). From scientific management to time-andmotion studies, from the hierarchy of needs to motivation theory, from competitive advantage to the learning organization, and from managing information to scenario planning, to name a few Big Ideas, management philosophy and practice have been driven by concern for greater efficiency, productivity, performance, or profits on the one hand and higher satisfaction among workers on the other, preferably all at once but more often than not in seemingly partisan opposition.

Some management theories have stayed the course while others have not:3 but, much as paradigm shifts are better represented as a series of waves overriding one another, the general effect has been one of continuous renewal in the face of change. Taxonomy is the science of defining and naming groups based on (perceptions of) shared characteristics: the table overleaf posits and clusters a few influential management theories of the ages. Many theories vie for attention but a selection of the foremost drivers is always subjective and cannot be encyclopedic when illustration and attendant brevity are of the essence: for about 30 theories, the table overleaf flags the years and historical foundation, names the representative eminent thinker, highlights basic theory and application, lists the principally cited publication(s), and passes quick comments on how each theory is viewed today.

1

Merriam-Webster defines a theory as a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena. Social science theories endeavor to explain relationships between variables and few such theories, if any, are amenable to testing in laboratories; therefore, the term "theory" is in this paper taken to mean a contemplative and rational type of abstract or generalizing thinking, or the results of such thinking.

2 For instance, it goes without saying that effective management played a role in, say, the construction of pyramids in Egypt; administration in the Roman Empire; the conduct of business by the Phoenicians; the Muslim Agricultural Revolution of the 8th–13th century; and the legal framework for commerce in Venice in the 14th century.

3 Every two years since 2001, Thinkers50 has published its ranking of the world's top 50 management and leadership thinkers. Thinkers50 ranking is based on a combination of voting at the Thinkers50 website and input from a team of advisors. The criteria are (a) relevance of ideas; (b) rigor of research; (c) presentation of ideas; (d) accessibility/dissemination of ideas; (e) international outlook; (f) originality of ideas; (g) impact of ideas; (h) practicality of ideas; (i) business sense; and (j) power to inspire. Criteria 1–5 are based on how the thinker has performed over the last two years (since the last ranking); Criteria 6–10 are evaluated based on the thinker's performance over the long term (the last 20 years). Those recognized previously have included, alphabetically, Richard Branson, Peter Drucker, Clayton Christensen, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Tom Peters, and Michael Porter.

2 Table: A Taxonomy of Management Theories When 1910s

1930s

1940s

Historical Foundation Quantitative Methods and Engineering

Eminent Thinker Frederick W. Taylor

Basic Theory & Application

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Henri Fayol

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Max Weber

Weber described the rational–legal form of authority that now exists in many organizations, to which he ascribed the term "bureaucracy".

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905; translated, 1930); The Theory of Social and Economic Organization (1920; translated 1947)

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Elton Mayo

The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization (1933); The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization (1945)

Human Relations and

Reginald Revans

Whereas quantitative methods and engineering theorists had been concerned with structure and the mechanics of organizations, the theorists of human relations and behavioral sciences in the Hawthorne Studies focused on motivation and leadership; assumptions about the relationship between employers and employees were at the center of their thinking.

Revans explained that for an organization to survive its rate of learning must be at least equal to the rate of change in its external

Taylorism broke down the components of manual work in manufacturing environments, measuring movement (hence Gantt charts and the "time-and-motion" studies of Frank and Lillian Gilbreths) so there might be a proven best way to perform each task.

Fayol defined management, viz., planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling, and enunciated 14 principles to guide decision-making and management actions.

Principal Publication(s) The Principles of Scientific Management (1911)

Administration Industrielle et GĂŠnĂŠrale, (1916, translated in 1949)

Developing Effective Managers (1971); The Origins

Brief Observation Scientific management was (and continues to be) used to increase productivity and efficiency; however, it discounts the human aspects of employment (for both individuals and groups).

Fayol was describing the structure of formal organizations, hence the somewhat dictatorial language used. Many of Fayol's 14 principles were subsequently applied in many organizations but cannot cope with conditions of rapid change or other forms of organization.

Bureaucracy based on hierarchy of authority and a system of rules was deemed the most efficient way of working.

Subsequent analysis identified many disadvantages including the tendency of bureaucracies to become procedure dominated, heavily formalized to the detriment of initiative and flexibility, and characterized by rigid behavior among senior managers that can lead to standardized services that do not meet the needs of the client. As a result, bureaucracies are known to demotivate their personnel.

From the 1950s, doubt was increasingly cast on the applicability of the Hawthorne Studies to everyday working life.

From its inception, action learning has developed in numerous ways including

3 When

1950s

Historical Foundation Behavioral Science

Eminent Thinker

Basic Theory & Application

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Kurt Lewin

The core idea of action research, which owes to Lewin, is that there should be an intimate relationship between inquiry and practical activities. Action research is applied, problembased research that usually involves the researcher as an active participant in an interactive, collaborative, and iterative process. The action research process is usually designed not only to generate knowledge but also to employ that knowledge.

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Tavistock Institute

Originating from research at the Tavistock Institute, sociotechnical systems theory had at its core the idea that the design and performance of any organizational system can only be understood and improved if social and technical aspects are brought together in a more complex system that treats task, structure, technology, and people (actors) as interdependent parts.

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Abraham Maslow

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory comprising a five-tier model of human needs: (a) physiological needs; (b) safety needs; (c) belongingness and love needs; (d) esteem needs; and (e) self-actualization needs.

environment. The Revans Formula is L = P + Q, where L (learning) = P (programmed knowledge) + Q (questioning insight).

Principal Publication(s) and Growth of Action Learning (1982); ABC of Action Learning (1983).

A Dynamic Theory of Personality (1935); Principles of Topological Psychology (1935); Action Research and Minority Problems (1946); Resolving Social Conflicts (1948); Field Theory in Social Science (1951) Some Social and Psychological Consequences of the Longwall Method of Coal Getting (1951)

A Theory of Human Motivation (1943); Motivation and Personality (1954)

Brief Observation virtual action learning, critical action learning, and action–reflection learning.

Action research has been called a contradiction in terms and deemed inherently unstable: in practice, it resolves itself either into inquiry that is subordinated to another activity or into specialized research.

The Tavistock Institute researchers who worked on sociotechnical systems theory saw it as a breakthrough in the design of organizations fit for people to work in. But, the first sociotechnical systems studies were undertaken in coal mines and weaving mills, a far cry from organizations in which information and communication technology is a fundamental part of the technical system or where virtual teaming is the norm. At best, sociotechnical systems theory may help understand helping us understand what happens when information and communication technology is introduced in this or that way.

Maslow was not finished with the hierarchy of needs when he passed away; in his later years, he had placed selftranscendence at the apex of the hierarchy, above self-actualization.

Maslow foresaw needs for highly-focused mental states—mindfulness, flow—that

4 When

1960s

Historical Foundation

Eminent Thinker

Basic Theory & Application

Principal Publication(s)

Organization Theory and Strategic Management; Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Peter Drucker

The Practice of Management was the first book to look at management as a whole.

Drucker proposed that a business exists as an economic establishment that produces value for its stakeholders and for the society; as a community that employs, pays, and develops people and coordinates their efforts to raise productivity; and as a social institution that is embedded in society and values.

The Practice of Management (1954)

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Frederick Herzberg

The Motivation to Work (1959)

Organization Theory and Strategic Management; Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Douglas McGregor

Building on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg developed a list of hygiene factors that should be present in a job before attempts are made to motivate workers. The basic assumption of Herzberg's two-factor theory revolved around redesigning and improving employee positions to increase motivation and involvement. The satisfiers that Herzberg identified were recognition, achievement, advancement, growth, responsibility, and job challenge; the dissatisfiers were working conditions, policies and administrative practices, salary and benefits, supervision, status, job security, fellow workers, and personal life.

Building also on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y are theories of human work motivation and management. Theory X states that management believes workers will do as little as possible to get by and thus need a great deal of direction, which underscores the importance of heightened supervision, external rewards, and penalties; conversely, Theory Y states that management believes workers are interested in doing their best and

The Human Side of Enterprise (1960)

Brief Observation enable people to surpass individual wellbeing.

Drucker is considered the most influential management thinker ever and deemed by many to have invented management: both modern and systematic (and in many ways postmodern), advancing both organization theory and strategic management as well as human relations and behavioral science, his pioneering and prolific work transcends typologies.

The Practice of Management (1954) is as relevant today as when it was first written.

Drucker conceived business as a humandriven enterprise that could be both profitable and socially responsible.

Herzberg coined the concept of "job enrichment": he separated the elements of a job into those that serve animal or economic needs (hygiene or maintenance) and those that meet deeper aspirations (motivation) and remains a major influence on management thinking.

Herzberg's work influenced such corporate developments as "flextime" as well as "cafeteria" plans, which allow employees to select their mix of benefits.

McGregor may have couched Theory X too negatively, which logically ought to preclude its use entirely. With work to be done and wages to be claimed, there is little alternative to the carrot and stick if, paraphrasing the clichĂŠs of Theory X, the average employee is indolent; lacks ambition, dislikes responsibility, prefers to be led; is inherently self-centered, indifferent to organizational needs; is resistant to change; is gullible, not very

5 When

Historical Foundation

Eminent Thinker

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Robert Blake & Jane Mouton

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Ludwig von Bertalanffy

Basic Theory & Application will perform well if given freedom, which highlights the motivating role of job satisfaction and encourages workers to approach tasks without direct supervision.

Crucially, McGregor did not consider Theory X and Theory Y to be opposite ends of the same continuum but rather two different continua in themselves: a manager would need to adopt (variants of) both approaches depending on the evolving circumstances and levels of internal and external locus of control throughout a particular workplace.

Robert Blake and Jane Mouton developed a binary management model based on two orientations: (a) (low to high) concern for people—this evidences the degree to which a leader considers the needs, interests, and areas of personal development of personnel when deciding how best to accomplish a task; and (b) (low to high) concern for results—this evidences the degree to which a leader emphasizes concrete objectives, organizational efficiency, and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task. In the resulting grid, Blake and Mouton made out five different combinations of the two orientations, with which they associated distinct leadership styles: (a) impoverished management (low results/low people); (b) deliver-or-perish management (high results/low people); (c) middle-of-the-road management (medium results/medium people); (d) country club management (high people/low results); and (e) team management (high results/high people). (Team management, the optimal leadership style in the model, is based on McGregor's Theory Y.) Models that were conceptualized organizations and their human agents as closed systems include Taylor's scientific management and Weber's bureaucratic

Principal Publication(s)

Brief Observation bright, and the ready dupe of the charlatan and the demagogue? But what if the average worker is not a slacker yet needs a modicum of guidance (or if the nature of the work demands it)? For a while, Theory X and Theory Y influenced the design and implementation of personnel policies and practice; but, as managerial research progressed, McGregor's binary division of styles came to be considered simplistic.

The Managerial Grid (1964)

Asserting that a mere two dimensions can characterize managerial behavior offers the promise of vital truths about management styles and their implications.

Would-be managers should understand the basics of the Managerial Grid. But, the problem with binary explanations of the world is that they describe what they promise: nothing less—for what that is worth— but certainly nothing more: the Managerial Grid, for instance, sheds no light on the characteristics of leaders, the characteristics of followers, or the characteristics of the situation.

General System Theory: Foundations,

Bertalanffy developed systems theory to help (a) investigate the whole, not just the parts; (b) understand the interactions, interdependencies, and inter-relationships

6 When

Historical Foundation

Eminent Thinker

Basic Theory & Application theory. Generally, closed systems deal with routine tasks, task specialization, emphasis on means (of, say, production), and top–down management of related conflicts: they have minimal or no interaction with the surrounding environment. Bertalanffy, the best known of the system theorists, described organizations as open systems that are influenced by both internal and external environmental factors; crucially, however, organizations influence in turn the same internal and external environmental factors so that dynamic relationships can develop as a result.

1970s

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Victor Vroom & Philip Yetton

Organization Theory and

Henry Mintzberg

The Vroom–Yetton Decision Model developed by Victor Vroom in collaboration with Phillip Yetton (and later with Arthur Jago) hinges on seven "yes/no" questions that one needs to answer to find the best decisionmaking process for a situation. The seven questions are: (a) Is the quality of the decision important? (b) Is team commitment to the decision important? (c) Do you have enough information to make the decision on your own? (d) Is the problem well structured? (e) If you made the decision yourself, would the team support it? (f) Does the team share organizational goals? and (g) Is conflict amongst the team over the decision likely?

The five different styles (ranging from autocratic to consultative to group-based decisions) to be adopted based on the situation and level of involvement are (a) Autocratic Type 1 (AI); (b) Autocratic Type 2 (AII); (c) Consultative Type 1 (CI); (d) Consultative Type 2 (CII); and (e) GroupBased Type 2 (GII).

Disconcertingly, the reality of what managers actually do was unexplored until Mintzberg

Principal Publication(s) Development, Applications (1969)

Leadership and Decision-Making (1973)

The Nature of Managerial Work

Brief Observation of the parts within their system, with other systems, and with the surrounding environment; and (c) deal with increasing numbers of variables and with complexity.

Nowadays, most organizations run as open systems but even then, pace Bertalanffy and such as Senge, often act as if they can operate independently of the world around them: if systems theory must be blamed, one can point to its interpretation of organizations and environments as concrete items and to its epistemological inability to recognize that functional unity and harmony are not necessarily (or easily) possible. (Systems theory may also push the metaphor of organizations as organisms too far.)

The underlying assumption of the VroomYetton Decision Model is that no single decision-making process fits all situations.

The model walks decision makers through logical steps to help them identify the most appropriate processes and associated leadership styles. However, the model takes no account of the many kinds of social interaction that typically impact stakeholder relations. Moreover, it stands to reason that constructive, wellmanaged controversy can improve the outcome of decision making. Hence, the model may be more useful at the preplanning stages of a decision.

In Simply Managing (2013), an abbreviated version of Managing (2009),

7 When

Historical Foundation Strategic Management; Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Eminent Thinker

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Tom Gilbert

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

James MacGregor Burns

Basic Theory & Application searched for it: he found that managers were slaves to the moment, shifting from task to task with every move dogged by yet another diversion and yet another call. Mintzberg made out that the manager at work performs a great quantity of work at unrelenting pace; undertakes activities marked by variety, brevity, and fragmentation; favors issues that are current, specific, and non-routine; prefers verbal rather than written means of communication; acts within a web of internal and external contacts; and is subject to heavy constraints but can exert some control over the work. From these observations, Mintzberg identified the manager's work roles to be (a) interpersonal (i.e., figurehead, leader, and liaiser); (b) informational (i.e., monitor, disseminator, and spokesman; and (c) decisional (i.e., entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator).

Gilbert devised human performance technology when he realized that formal learning programs often only brought about a change in knowledge, not a change in behavior. The Behavior Engineering Model that Gilbert devised consists of three Leisurely Theorems that (a) distinguish between accomplishment and behavior to define worthy performance; (b identify methods for determining the potential for improving performance; and (c) describe six components of behavior that can be manipulated to change performance (i.e., environmental—data, resources, and incentives; and individual—knowledge, capacity, and motives).

Burns described two contrasting two modes of leadership—transactional and transformational. At its simplest, transactional leadership is the promise of reward for work (that could be psychological or material in nature); transactional leadership also

Principal Publication(s) (1973); Simply Managing (2013)

Brief Observation Mintzberg revisited the work he conducted 40 years earlier: he reviewed in greater detail what managers do but concentrated on what they might do better; the highlights include a Model of Managing on the three planes of information, people, and action, and thoughtful reflection on 13 inescapable conundrums of managing.

Remarkably, Mintzberg's original work seems evermore relevant.

Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance (1978)

Gilbert founded the field of human performance technology: his work inspired much of the organizing framework upon which the International Society for Performance Improvement is based.

Leadership (1978)

Critics have pointed out that rewards motivate only at a base level and produce poor results where higher-level thinking is needed: exchanging higher-quality commodities may help for a time but approaching leader–follower relationships

8 When

Historical Foundation

Eminent Thinker

Basic Theory & Application

Principal Publication(s)

promotes compliance through threat of punishment. However, transformational leaders approach their work from a more altruistic perspective, seeking to truly engage their followers and motivate them to higher levels of performance; transformational leadership originates in the personal values and beliefs of leaders, not in an exchange of commodities with followers.

1980s

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Geert Hofstede

Hofstede is noted for seminal work on the influences that shape national culture (viz. power distance index, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance index, long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation, and indulgence vs. restraint). The six dimensions allow accurate measurement of organizational culture, enabling in turn the delivery of solutions to optimize international teamwork, improve global cooperation, and find the right balance between standardization and localization.

Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values (1980)

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Michael Porter

Porter developed three generic strategies— lowest cost, differentiation, and focus—to bring structure to the task of strategic positioning. He showed how competitive advantage can be defined in terms of relative cost and relative prices, thus linking it directly to profitability, and presented new perspectives on how profit is created and divided.

Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (1980)

Brief Observation from a transactional perspective cannot but limit outcomes. This said, the principal challenge of transformational leadership is that the intentions of transformational leaders cannot be guaranteed, even if they are conceived as morally positive; in the hands of a skilled operator, this can lead to abuse of power (a conundrum that then sparked interest in authentic leadership). What is more, transformational leadership sheds no light on the characteristics of followers nor on those of the situation by virtue of its nearexclusive focus on those of transformational leaders, Originally based on a worldwide survey of IBM employees, Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory is a framework for cross-cultural communication: the theory is well known and makes for fascinating comparisons across countries and their cultures. This said, in Hofstede's work just as anywhere else, what are termed "dimensions" are of course imagined and there can be any number of others. On top, as globalization intensifies and organizations become ever more international, Hofstede's six cultural dimensions may come to reveal less and less in a categorical sense.

The lowest cost strategy may actually be a differentiation strategy based on low price. Also, research has shown that differentiation and lowest cost strategies can co-exist even though Porter stipulated that each requires a different culture.

Elsewhere, contrary to Porter's views, differentiation strategies have been shown to be more profitable than lowest cost strategies.

9 When

Historical Foundation Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Eminent Thinker Tom Peters & Robert Waterman

Quantitative Methods and Engineering; Organization Theory and Strategic Management

W. Edwards Deming

Organization Theory and Strategic

Edgar Schein

Basic Theory & Application Peters and Waterman argued that eight common attributes were responsible for the success of the 43 corporations they reviewed: (a) a bias for action; (b) close to the customer; (c) autonomy and entrepreneurship; (d) productivity though people; (e) hands-on, value-driven; (f) stick to the knitting; (g) simple form, lean staff; and (h) simultaneous loose–tight properties. The platform for Peters and Waterman, onto which their research and theorizing built, was the McKinsey 7-S Model of strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style, and staff.

Total Quality Management, as Deming's set of management practices came to be known, was premised on the idea that the key to quality improvement was in the hands of management; in other words, most problems are the result of the system and not the fault of employees. Deming offered a theory based on Fourteen Points for Management: (a) create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service; (b) adopt the new philosophy; (c) cease dependence on mass inspection; (d) end the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone; (e) improve constantly and forever the systems of production and service; (f) institute training and retraining; (g) institute leadership; (h) drive out fear; (i) break down barriers between staff areas; (j) eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce; (k) eliminate numerical quotas; (l) remove barriers to pride of workmanship; (m) institute a vigorous program of education and selfimprovement; and (n) put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation.

Schein enriched the field of organizational development in the areas of career development—where he coined the concepts

Principal Publication(s) In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies (1982)

Brief Observation As early as 1984 it had become apparent that Peters and Waterman's choice of companies ranged from poor to indifferent: NCR, Wang Labs, Xerox, and others were no longer producing excellent results and seemed to have just been large firms with dominant positions in markets that were senescent or static.

The research methodology that Peters and Waterman employed was criticized as the delusion of connecting winning dots.

Out of the Crisis (1982)

Deming's precepts for quality control remain essentially unchallenged, though they can be and are constantly redirected, refined, and absorbed into new management techniques, such as business process redesign (or reengineering). Deming himself considered the Fourteen Points work in progress.

Organizational Culture and Leadership (1985)

Ever the reflexive thinker in the vein of Mintzberg, Schein considers of late that organizational culture is no longer the

10 When

1990s

Historical Foundation Management; Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Eminent Thinker

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

C. K. Prahalad & Gary Hamel

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Peter Senge

Basic Theory & Application of the "psychological contract" and "career anchor"—and group process consultation but his mark on organizational culture is arguably greatest. Schein held that culture is the primary source of resistance to change within an organization and that an accurate understanding of organizational dynamics begins with recognizing this fact. To help describe and analyze organizational culture phenomena, Schein made out a three-level model comprising: (a) artifacts—visible and "feelable" phenomena; (b) espoused beliefs and values; and (c) basic underlying assumptions.

The concept of core competency that Prahalad and Hamel introduced was defined as a harmonized combination of multiple resources and skills that distinguish a company in the marketplace and are therefore the foundation of that company's competitiveness. Prahalad and Hamel outlined three tests that determine whether something is a core competence: (a) a core competence provides potential access to a wide variety of markets; (b) a core competence makes a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the endproduct; and (c) a core competence is difficult for competitors to imitate because it is a complex harmonization of individual technologies and production skills.

Senge popularized the concept of the "learning organization" and brought it to the forefront of management thinking. He described the learning organization as a place where: "… people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together." In an environment of rapid change,

Principal Publication(s)

Brief Observation relevant topic: what with globalization, organizational culture must now be considered through the prism of macro culture, nations, and corporations—where nationalities and occupations play out—as well as micro cultures because multicultural teams comprising different occupations increasingly interplay.

Evermore, cultural literacy is becoming of the essence, which places a premium on learning—or rather learning to learn—as the world becomes more different, more complex, and more culturally diverse.

The Core Competence of the Corporation (1990)

Organizations are more complex than ever, what with multi-national operations; outsourcing; offshoring; contingent staffing; out-tasking; layoffs, downsizing, rightsizing, reductions in force, etc.; and mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.

Excepting the case of small companies, focusing on core competencies may no longer be practicable.

The Fifth Discipline (1990)

It is still difficult to find an example of Senge's learning organization, perhaps because the ideal he made out seems at odds with the need—or perceived imperative—to deliver short-term profits to shareholders. However, we live in fastmoving times when knowledge and the ability to identify, create, store, share, and use it for creativity and innovation are at a premium. The learning organization may not yet be a reality but aspiration toward

11 When

Historical Foundation

Eminent Thinker

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Peter Schwartz

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Richard D'Aveni

Basic Theory & Application Senge argued, only those organizations that have the flexibility and skills to adapt will survive. They must master five basic disciplines: (a) shared vision—a genuine vision that encourages people to excel and learn because they want to; (b) mental models—deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures and images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action; (c) personal mastery—the proficiency to live in a continual learning mode, which brings self-confidence to the individual, who is not afraid to admit ignorance and the need to grow; (d) team learning—because people need to be able to act together and learn from one another in order to achieve maximum creativity and innovation; and (e) systems thinking—the ability to see the whole rather small, unrelated, and manageable parts.

No one can accurately predict what tomorrow will bring but we do know that do that volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity now define the future. Scenario planning, aka called scenario thinking or scenario analysis, is a strategic planning method that some large organizations use to make flexible long-term plans: it involves aspects of systems thinking, specifically the recognition that many factors may combine in complex ways to create sometime surprising futures. Schwartz, a leading theorist and practitioner, has specified the discrete steps of scenario planning to be (a) uncovering the focal issue; (b) making out key factors; (c) listing driving forces; (d) ranking driving forces; (e) fleshing out scenarios; (f) drawing implications; and (g) selecting indicators.

Hypercompetition takes place when technologies (or offerings) are so new that standards and rules are in flux and competitive advantages and profits cannot be

Principal Publication(s)

Brief Observation the ideal has led many to see learning as a benefit and not a cost. It would be fascinating to see learning organizations develop in our lifetimes; in spite of everything, the leaning organization needs no apology.

The Art of the Long View (1991)

Scenario planning is not a panacea: the end result is not an accurate picture of tomorrow but better thinking about the future. Since scenarios provide a context for decisions, better thinking should lead to more robust decisions. Still, just as important as the permanent process of reading the future is planned and systematic abandonment of what no longer serves purpose, conveys satisfaction, or makes a contribution; otherwise, the best definition of the focal issue under scenario planning will turn out to have been a thankless exercise.

Hypercompetition (1994)

In a Schumpeterian update of Porter's five competitive forces (i.e., competitive rivalry, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of customers, threat of

12 When

Historical Foundation

Eminent Thinker

Basic Theory & Application

Principal Publication(s)

sustained. Under hypercompetition, D'Aveni explains, companies must find and build temporary advantages through market disruption. Specifically, companies must move up escalation ladders whereby advantage is continually created, eroded, destroyed, and recreated by maneuvers in the four arenas of (a) price and quality; (b) timing and know-how; (c) stronghold creation/invasion; and (d) deep pockets.

Economics and Philosophy

Linda TreviĂąo & Katherine Nelson

Business ethics encompass business management theory; theories of individualism vs. collectivism; free will among participants in the marketplace; the role of self-interest; invisible hand theories; the requirements of social justice; natural rights—especially property rights—in relation to the business enterprise; the social responsibilities of businesses; and, unavoidably, ethical

Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk about How to Do It Right (1995)

Brief Observation new entrants, and threat of substitute products or services), D'Aveni advocates that companies in hypercompetitive markets should seek temporary advantages rather than structure themselves to achieve equilibrium in their environment: toward this, what is needed is a new set of guidelines, aka the new 7S's framework, that provides a vision for generating the next market disruption.

D'Aveni's new 7S's framework hangs vision, capability, and tactics, on (a) stakeholder satisfaction; (b) strategic soothsaying; (c) positioning for speed; (d) positioning for surprise; (e) shifting the rule of the game; (f) signaling the strategic intent; and (g) simultaneous and sequential strategic thrust. There is something of the Big Idea in D'Aveni's definition of and approaches to hypercompetition: much as Porter's (and so many others'), time will (rapidly) tell.

Typically, Big Ideas are framed to encompass and explain all: but, it is not clear if hypercompetition is the hallmark of new markets and industries or any market and industry; however refreshing the Big Idea may be, hypercompetition does not speak to the public or civil society sectors either Paradoxically, D'Aveni's overarching message is that the only real sustainable competitive strategy lies in a company's ability to reinvent itself; and, that is nothing new.

Conceptual clarity is hard to come by and theory testing is made difficult when theories involve many constructs (e.g., leader traits, skills, values, and behaviors; follower values, perceptions, and needs; group-level and organizational processes; and multiple outcomes and criteria. But, the need for ethical leadership is a sine qua non and the key messages of

13 When

Historical Foundation

Organization Theory and Strategic Management; Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Eminent Thinker

Karl Weick

Basic Theory & Application leadership. TreviĂąo and Nelson, to name but two, have developed a systems approach to thinking about organizational ethics, the premise being that ethical cultures depend on aligning multiple formal and informal systems to send consistent messages about expected behavior. The formal systems by means of which to promote ethical cultures include the selection system; policies and codes; orientation and training; the performance management system; the authority structure; formal decision processes; and formal communications from leadership. The informal systems by means of which ethics can be advanced in organizations include the behavior of role models and heroes; norms of daily behavior; organizational rituals; and myths, stories, and language.

Sensemaking is the process by which people give meaning to collective experience. Weick introduced the concept the 1970s to encourage a shift away from the traditional focus of organization theorists on decisionmaking and toward the processes that constitute the meaning of the decisions that are enacted in behavior. Weick articulated the principal attributes of sensemaking to be: (a) sensemaking starts with noticing and bracketing; (b) sensemaking is about labeling; (c) sensemaking is retrospective; (d) sensemaking is about presumption; (e) sensemaking is about action; and (f) sensemaking is about organizing through communication. The idea was that a consciously detailed process of sensemaking can help us understand not only the impact that a certain experience has but also what made that experience have the impact of interest; crucially, understanding the process of sensemaking empowers us to build more impactful experiences in the future.

Principal Publication(s)

Brief Observation eminent thinkers such as TreviĂąo and Nelson are pertinent and will endure.

Sensemaking in Organizations (1995)

Organization theory and strategic management have been dominated by a focus on decision-making and the concept of strategic rationality: however, the rational model ignores the inherent complexity and ambiguity of real-world organizations and their environments.

Weick broke much new ground when he defined how the sensemaking process shapes organizational structure and behavior; surely, there is much more work to de done in this area.

14 When

2000s

Historical Foundation Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Eminent Thinker Clayton Christensen

Quantitative Methods and Engineering; Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Various

Basic Theory & Application Innovation plays an important role in an organization’s success and Christensen made out two types of innovative technology.

There are what he called sustaining technologies, which merely improve existing products and services, and disruptive technologies (e.g., mobile phones, digital photography, and internet shopping) that completely change the nature of a market or business (and are typically cheaper, simpler, smaller, and, frequently, more convenient to use). Focusing on disruptive technology, Christensen showed why most companies miss out on new waves of innovation and presented a set of rules for capitalizing on the phenomenon. He noted that successful companies (a) develop the disruptive technology with the "right" customers, not necessarily their current customer set; (b) place the disruptive technology into an autonomous organization that can be rewarded with small wins and small customer sets; (c) fail early and often to find the correct disruptive technology; and (d) allow the disrupting organization to utilize all of the company's resources when needed but are careful to make sure the processes and values were not those of the company.

Business process management can be traced to ancestral record management, studies of workflows in the 1960s–1970s, and business process reengineering in the 1990s.

Specifically, and commonly by means of information and communication technology, business process management addresses how organizations can discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and automate processes between systems (that may involve human interaction), this to automate and streamline to save time and money and put the greatest energy into the most strategic and vital activities. A complete business process management framework

Principal Publication(s) The Innovator's Dilemma (1997)

Various

Brief Observation Much as In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies (1982), the Innovator’s Dilemma (1997) has been criticized as a theory that explains little other than the instances when it happens to be true. This said, there is no doubt that Christensen, climbing on the shoulders of such as Drucker and Joseph Schumpeter, helped place innovation on the map. The purview of innovation has since expanded greatly to include business model innovation, management innovation, and social innovation, all of which invite new theories.

In theory at least, business process management looks at processes that may span an entire organization. In practice, while the steps can be viewed as a cycle, all sorts of constraints (e.g., economic, political, time, etc.) are likely to limit the process to a few iterations. The true value of business process management may lie in the discovery of informal business processes; but, discovery frequently plays second fiddle to the enshrinement of formal processes.

15 When

Historical Foundation

Eminent Thinker

Organization Theory and Strategic Management

Mary UhlBien & Russ Marion

Human Relations and Behavioral Science

Edward Deci; Marylène Gagné; Daniel Pink; Richard Ryan

Basic Theory & Application addresses four elements: (a) workflow management; (b) content management; (c) enterprise application integration; and (d) process monitoring.

With roots in complexity science, complexity leadership theory aims to broaden leadership study beyond its traditional focus on the actions and influence of leaders to consideration of leadership as a broader— dynamic and interactive—organizing process.

Complexity leadership theory proposes a leadership paradigm that focuses on enabling the learning, creative, and adaptive capacity of complex adaptive systems within the context of knowledge-producing organizations: the framework includes three entangled leadership roles (i.e., administrative leadership, adaptive leadership, and enabling leadership) that reflect a dynamic relationship between the bureaucratic, administrative functions of organizations and the emergent, informal dynamics of complex adaptive systems.

The concept of "drive" in motivational theories has been around since the early 1900s but Pink has argued against old models of motivation driven by extrinsic factors (e.g., fear, reward) and laid forth the premise that human motivation is largely intrinsic. The intrinsic aspects of motivation can be divided into: (a) autonomy—the desire to be selfdirected; (b) mastery—we want to get better at doing things; and (c) purpose—connecting to a cause larger than yourself. Reference to Pink's work must acknowledge Deci, Gagné and Ryan's work on self-determination, which focuses on the degree to which an individual's behavior is shaped by universal, innate, and psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

Principal Publication(s)

Brief Observation

Complexity Leadership: Part 1: Conceptual Foundations (2007)

Approaches that are not conditioned by organizational boundaries seem most relevant to the quickening complexity of our times. Potentially, complexity leadership theory can shift leadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era. Surely, there is much more work to de done in this area.

Self-Determination Theory and Work Motivation (2005); Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (2011)

Eminent thinkers have dismissed the carrot-and-stick approach ever since Taylor turned it into the cornerstone of scientific management in the early 20th century. Pink offers another—very optimistic—rebuttal: people will do more if they are given the opportunity to work on their own time, be creative, and do good.

Missing from Pink's arguments, however, is the Maslovian idea that there are five or six different needs, attention to which changes over time. What is more, motivation may not serve if what is needed to perform (i.e., means and opportunity) is missing. Context is everything.

16 Note. The English verb "manage" comes via the French word mesnagement (or ménagement) from the two Latin words manus (hand) and agere (to act): it stood for housekeeping, including the care of domestic animals. Management is not a modern conceptualization: evidence of management thinking in history can be found (among many others) in: • The Code of Ur-Nammu (~2,100–2,050 BCE)—The oldest (surviving) code of law.

• Egyptian papyri (~3,000–1,300 BCE)—These contain miscellaneous information on administration, law, and management.

• The Code of Hammurabi (~1,754 BCE)—The oldest (surviving) extensive code of law.

• The Art of War (~771–476 BCE)—Sun Tsu wrote the first military treatise, with each of the 13 chapters devoted to a distinct aspect of warfare.

• Socrates (469–399 BCE)—Philosopher and teacher (ethics, morality, government).

• Aristotle (384–322 BCE)—Philosopher and teacher (formal inductive reasoning).

• Meditations (Undated)—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) recorded ideas on Stoic philosophy and made notes to himself.

• The Quipu (also called khipu) (~1400–1532)—A method based on strings and knots used by the Incas (and other ancient Andean cultures) to keep records and communicate information in the absence of an alphabetic writing system.

• Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita (1494)—Luca Pacioli is recognized as the father of accounting.

• The Prince (1532)— Niccolò Machiavelli offered practical guidance on getting and retaining political power.

• Cameralists (1700s)—German and Austrian advisers on management of the state's finances and the science and technology of administration.

• Political Arithmetick (1690)—Sir William Petty is recognized as the father of political economy.

• The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)—Adam Smith is recognized as the father of classical economics.

Note. The elements that make up the taxonomy of management theories—including others not listed there—are usually (and sometimes subjectively) aggregated into schools. The high-level taxonomy adopted in this précis classifies them into economics and philosophy, human relations and behavioral science, organization theory and strategic management, and quantitative methods and engineering. (The number of management theories that fall under human relations and behavioral science is high—about 60%, which suggests that psychology has played a preponderant role in the development of management theories.) Another (common) high-level taxonomy detects—or rather ascribes—chronological order, with management theories classified as pre-industrial (administrative, legal, military, political), political economy, scientific management, bureaucracy (public administration), classical, neo-classical, and modern (contingency, systems, etc.). Yet another taxonomy categorizes management theories by the nuts and bolts of their outlook: financial management, human resource management, information and communication technology management, marketing management, operations management and production management, and strategic management. Otherwise, McGrath (2014) proposed that we have seen three "ages" of management since the industrial revolution, each placing emphasis on a different theme, namely, execution, expertise, and empathy. For McGrath (2014), the focus of the first era (up to the 1920s) was wholly on execution of mass production. The second era (from the 1930s to the 1990s, one might say) witnessed such writers as Elton Mayo, Mary Parker Follett, Chester Barnard, Max Weber, Chris Argyris, Douglas McGregor, and Peter Drucker importing theories from other fields (e.g., psychology, sociology) so that managers might with expertise provide advanced services. Beyond execution and expertise, McGrath (2014) saw that in the third era organizations should with empathy create complete and meaningful experiences.

17 Note. Sometimes, the work of eminent thinkers spans decades: for example, Drucker's first book, Concept of the Corporation, appeared in 1946; his last, The Five Most Important Questions, was published posthumously in 2008, more than 60 years later.

Hence, what chronology is given in this prĂŠcis flags principal publications only and should be considered approximate.

18 Figure: Select Timeline of Management Theories 1900s

•1908 – The Assembly Line

1910s

•1911– Scientific Management •1916 – Fayol's Principles

1930s

•1930 – Bureaucracy & Public Administration •1932 – Hawthorne Studies

1940s

•1945 – Action Learning •1946 – Action Research

1950s

•1951 – Sociotechnical Systems Theory •1954 – Hierarchy of Needs •1954 – The Practice of Management •1959 – Hygiene & Motivational Factors

1960s

•1960 – Theory X & Theory Y •1964 – The Managerial Grid •1969 – Systems Theory

1970s

•1973 – Vroom–Yetton Decision Model •1973 – The Nature of Managerial Work •1978 – Human Competence •1978 – Transformational & Transactional Leadership

1980s

•1980 – Cultural Dimensions •1980 – Competitive Strategy •1980 – Supply Chain Management •1982 – Excellence •1982 – Total Quality Management •1985 – Organizational Culture

1990s

•1990 – Core Competency •1990 – Learning Organization •1991 – Scenario Planning •1994 – Hypercompetition •1995 – Ethics •1995 – Sensemaking •1997 – Disruptive Innovation

2000s

•Early 2000s – Business Process Management •Mid-2000s – Complexity Leadership •2011 – Drive

References McGrath, R. (2014). Management's three eras: A brief history. Harvard Business Review. July.

Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/07/managements-three-eras-a-brief-history.

Smith, K., & Hitt, M. (Eds.). (2007). Great minds in management: The process of theory development. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.