• How has the
complexity of products and services trended over the last 50 years in the
following fields?
– Consumer
product design, production and marketing?
– Health care?
– Banking?
– Government?
• Will this
trend continue?
• How has the
change in complexity changed jobs and workers?
• How has
this changed the role of managers?
Management developed to serve the assembly line for
relatively simple products. It was adopted from the command structure of the
military, the only existing model for management at the time, other than
religious organizations, which typically have management structures similar to
that of the military. This was a reasonable approach since workers of that time
were primarily “manual” workers so that “good” workers needed to follow
instructions and be efficient. A manager could measure worker performance by
the quality and quantity of work performed. The work environment was not unlike
the military so that the military based management approach was effective at
that time; when it wasn’t used to oppress workers.
Products and services (public and private) have become more
complex over the years and tend to change more frequently. Much of this new
complexity is enabled by the rapid development of low cost electronics,
computers and software. This increased complexity leads to creation of more and
more job specialties and we can expect the trend to continue. These new
specialty workers are knowledge workers rather than manual workers; they make
decisions and they plan, organize, integrate, motivate and measure, just like
executives.
Managers pre-WW II usually were experienced in several
different jobs and often skilled in most of the jobs they managed because they
had worked these jobs as they progressed up the organizational ladder. Modern
managers cannot be experienced or skilled in most of the jobs they manage
because the jobs change as fast as their careers evolve. As discussed in the
introduction to this course, the flatter organizations popular today mean less
opportunity for promotions and therefore less opportunity for new experience
that prepares a manager for more senior positions. Therefore today’s managers
must lead and motivate specialists without having the skills of the specialists
they are leading. This is a key reason Theory Z management style is more
effective than X or Y in today’s work environment.
To summarize this lecture: Modern workers are “Knowledge”
workers. “Good” workers are effective; they must get the right things done as
well as doing things right. Therefore the old performance measures don’t apply.
Today managers must measure results that are typically not traceable to the
quality and quantity of work completed by the knowledge workers. Today managers
shouldn’t “manage” knowledge workers in the traditional sense. Peter Drucker
says you must know the strengths and knowledge of knowledge workers and lead
them so that their specific characteristics make each of them productive. (See
p. 81, The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker)
Exercise
1. Compare the
goods and/or services produced by your organization today with those produced
five and ten years ago. Do today’s goods or services offer more features? Are
they more complex as a result? Is the quality the same or changed?
2. Compare the
business processes used to produce your goods or services. How have they
changed compared to the processes of five and ten years ago?
3. Are workers
with advanced degrees or special skills required in the production of your
goods or services?
4. Would you
classify workers in your organization as “manual” workers or “knowledge”
workers?
5. Do you
understand fully how to do every job that you manage or hope to manage?
6. Given your
answers to questions 1-5 would you say that a traditional manager is best for
your organization or is a manager that knows the strengths and knowledge of
each worked needed to make them productive, as described by Drucker?
7. Which
management style (Theory X, Y, or Z) best fits the task of managers of
knowledge workers as described by Drucker?
If you find that the pace of blog posts
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like to maintain in studying this material you can buy the book “The Manager’s Guide for Effective
Leadership” at:
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