Manging theories and globalization Essay

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to discuss whether general administrative theories argon relevant to managing modern ball-shaped schemes. It shall be argued that general administrative theories atomic number 18 a basic outline for managers in modern world(prenominal) organisations to give ear to, rather than a guide that should be strictly followed while ignoring circumstances that surround the outside environment of the organisation.IntroductionManagers these days are constantly be challenged with so many different obstacles, not only within the environment of the business, but from many otherwise exterior sources that may affect their decisions on a daily basis.The early 19th century brought about a number of administrative theorists who defined certain guidelines that perplexity should consider using to achieve mastery in the organisation. These theories helped to shape businesses in the in the beginning years and are now simply a foundation for managers to utilise, i f requisite. However, with globalisation and the ever broadening issues in the tender-heartedity today, such theories will not necessarily be efficient, effective, or relevant in the same organisation in one part of the world, to another on the other side of the globe. In addition to globalisation, there are many internal and extraneous forces that are constantly evolving and unfolding, forcing involuntary transfigureations of the way objectives may be achieved by managers. For any organisation accomplish their goals it is vital for management to focus on potpourris that occur inside and outside the organisation, and not just theories that are evenhandedly out dated or are not necessarily related to todays global companies and environmental issues.General Administration TheoriesHenri Fayol (1841-1925) was a French management theorist who introduced scientific organisational guidelines of labour, which had a great influence on organisations at the start of the 20th century. Fa yol was the first to identify the functions of management which are managing, planning, organising, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. In 1917 he introduced the xiv principles of management in French and then later on published them in English in 1949. (Wikipedia Encyclopaedia 2006). Fayols fourteen principles were a great beginning in defining what management should consider doing in general, especially throughout the industrial age where it was extensively utilised.It is proposed by pursuit (2001. p.1) that the world of work is being transformed at an unprecedented rate, placing increasing pressure on individuals to adapt to the changes around them and to cope with the challenges that emerge from these changes. Fayols theories are now being referred to as classical administration or Old prevalent Administration a constructst what is now being utilised in the world, New Public Management (Olsen 2002). With endless research since the 1900, there still has not been any ext ensive hypothesises on what managers or leaders do and no clear say on what good managers do that is unique. These individuals are believed to have a special visionary and driving force which allows them to inspire their employees to greater efforts, usually resulting in ungodly performance turnarounds (Craig & Yetton 1995, p.1185).Globalisation and TheoriesHaque (2002, p.103) interprets globalisation as a process of integrating nations, societies, mountains, and institutions in the economic, political, cultural, and intellectual domains through means such as capital, production, exchange, and information have and controlled unequally by states, classes, groups, and individuals. Globalisation is no longer constrained by theme borders. Australian companies are building properties in the United Kingdom and southeastward Asia, German cars are being built in the United States, McDonalds sells its burgers in China, and Japanese cars are manufactured in Australia. The world has defia ntly become a global village (Robbins et al. 2006, p.57).Along with globalisation comes a whole diverse standpoint on theories, and how or if they are applied. Between the years of 1980 and 2000, many transitions occurred. This close displayed the industrial age giving way to the economic imperatives of the information era (Hunt. 2001, p.1). Varied surrounding environments nowadays challenge management on a global scale, including Fayols methods. in that location are so many other principles that a manager must consider before resorting back to Fayols fourteen principles.For illustration internal, external, and specific circumstances these days shape the way a manager manages his or her firm. Some of these issues that need to be taken into consideration relate to suppliers, customers, humans pressure groups, competitors, global, economic, political, sociocultural, demographics, and technology matters. Environmental issues are expanding at a rapidly fast rate which is placing pre ssure on managers to pursue their own intelligent and logically ways and means in managing an organisation that will lead them to gaining the conquest and profits that is expected.Olsen (2002) suggests that the New Public Management portrays a centrally organized and rule-bound worldly concern administration as outdated. The cosmos sector is not distinctive from the private sector and the slogan let the managers manage implies fewer uniform, system-wide rules and procedures and more flexibility and decentralization. The public administration is primarily an instrument for efficient service production, governed by a performance-oriented culture with a focus on results, entrepreneurship and efficiency.Environmental ForcesTechnology is one of the biggest issues that management has had to deal with. Hunt (2001. p5) suggests that our increasingly wired world has effectively been evolving progressively over the past twain decades. This outstanding evolution has been driven by two re fer factors. The first is the widespread commitment on the part of organisations everywhere to accelerate and maximise their levels of competitiveness. The second is the digital revolution, which has resulted in technological developments that have helped to transform the way in which work is carried out. According to Haque (2002, p.106) one of the approximately effective measures enhancing globalisation has been the internet. It has been predicted that the number of internet users has increased from 26 gazillion in 1995 to 143 million in mid-1998. That figure currently stands at 1,022,863,307 billion as of March 31st, 2006 (Internet World Stats 2006). With the ever increasing and advancing technology, managers need to be able to accommodate the organisation streamlined and stable through newer structures and methods of managing, while keeping up with the vast technological variations and competition.Another important issue that has dramatically changed since the introduction of the earlier theories is the political and legal system that surrounds almost any particular business or organisation. Australian managers are accustomed to stable legal and political systems, which change at a slow rate. This may not be the case in many other countries around the globe such as southern Africa, South America, and China (Robbins et al. 2006, p.137). Another particular country that places strains on managers, due to constant changes, is Saudi-Arabian Arabia. Many mangers in Saudi Arabia have to deal with dramatic political and legal system changes that are unexpected and unpredicted. In September 2005, the government of Saudi Arabia passed a rectitude that states the number of Saudi workers hired by the employer must be no less then 75% of the total workforce, although the labour minister is entitled to reduce that proportion temporarily if there is no competent nationals to fill relevant jobs (New Saudisation law comes into force 2005).This dramatic law was applied almost immediately which had managers searching for ways to restructure their organisation in the most efficient, effective, honest way. Regardless of where the company originates from, organisations had a time period of three months to ensure this percentage was achieved or penalties would apply. Many foreign investors and organisations have relocated their companies, due to this inconvenient law, to the United Arab Emirates, where globalisation is welcomed widely. Others opted to remain and try to bypass the law by employing any Saudi national, qualified or unqualified, just to bump the numbers required. Qualified Saudi nationals are available in remarkably small numbers and are usually highly paid, whereas some of the unqualified Saudi nationals are usually not committed or are ircreditworthy in employment which leads them to being trained to handle lower and less responsible positions.Yet, some organisations have decided to register Saudi nationals on their payroll, regardles s whether they show up to work or not. The advantage of having them on the payroll allows the organisation to meet the conditions of Saudi government without changing the structure excessively. However, this has caused additional overheads leading to a reduction in total profits for these organisations. Managers in such countries hardihood great uncertainty as a result of political instability (Robbins et al. 2006, p.137). Fayols theories in situations like this one are totally irrelevant. Managers have to afterthought their strategy at any accustomed moment in a much more complicated direction, while the government decides which step to take next, whether it is ethical or unethical.Risk management is an important point that needs to be looked at in organisations also. At the present time, many companies working in serious environments thoroughly evaluate and plan risk management, before planning any other organisational objectives. Initial theorists did not contemplate risk man agement or whether it was needed or not, whereas managers in recent times acknowledge that it is of a high priority in some countries. The September eleven attack is a contingency that no one can forget, especially for the numerous organisations that were in the twin towers. What risk management plans did managers outline prior to this unpredictable incident? The answer is most probably none.Management in the towers at the time may have used some basic administrative theories on that day, but never imagined they that would be dealing with matters beyond any management model or structure. Chief partner for Capco, Joe Anastosia commented in an interview that There are new thoughts on human skills, skills you cant back up on computer. How do you protect your people? How do you protect against intellectual capital loss? Where giving people information on how to leave the building, how to seek out help, and were not unique. Most firms are doing that now (Clark 2001). With the increased pressure of the external environmental forces, managers are exploring and adopting other alternatives to managing that are not included in Fayols theories but are in fact more suitable to todays alternate world.Older theories maybe adopted and applied to non- westward countries, but only to a certain extent as several cultural issues may collide with western methods. Expatriate mangers that ignore foreign values and customs and apply an attitude of ours is better than theirs, will quickly find it hard to compete against other global managers who are willing to understand the cultures that are tied to the organisation where they reside (Robbins et al. 2006, p.122). Successful global management is obligated to have a higher sensitiveness to cultural differences, customs, and practices in various parts of the world (Robbins et al. 2006, p.125). GLOBE (Global Leadership and organisational Behaviour Effectiveness) investigating cross-cultural leadership, has been able to research data obtained from 18,000 middle managers in 62 countries.This has lead to nine diverse dimensions on which national cultures differ. These include assertiveness, future orientation, gender differentiation, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism/collectivism, in-group collectivism, performance orientation, and humane orientation. such(prenominal) research and investigation has enabled managers to gain additional information to help them identify and manage cultural differences. Jun (2000, p.277) believed that it is difficult to understand or predict the changing contexts of other cultures and nations through a theoretical lens used by post-industrial Western nations. Managers with an open mind and attitude, including easy adaptation, will be able to decipher how to gain success through the understanding of the local culture.As countries are confronted with the need for crisis management and with the uncertainty and ambiguity of coping with turbulent changes, ideographic, in ductive, and qualitative approaches to local and national situations seem more useful for understanding different administrative problems as well as diverse ways of dealing with them (Jun 2000, p.284). Individuals, such as managers or leaders, find it difficult to identify key factors that are relevant to a particular situation, even if judgment could be passed through, the factors or mechanisms themselves are usually so limited in its understanding that it is not clear how to manage them. Leadership research has shown that the theories that were widespread in the fifties and sixties were focussed on the conduct of the leader, with expectation that these were ensuring participation, being concerned with people, and structuring up tasks (Kotter 1990, p.1186). As a matter of choice, present managers seek their own individual ways of motivating their employees to ensure success for the organisation, with special consideration to the surrounding environments that cause changes inside an d outside the organisations environment.Many managers today still refer to the works of Fayol as a basic logically approach in management, yet many other theories have been brought forward, with up-to-date modern recommendations which are more suitable to current managers in the global market. Kotter (1990) suggested that these theories are able to aid managerial competencies. For instance there has been a lot of evidence that if people are set high achievable goals, and are given the skills needed, than performance improves. Leadership is a powerful concept and is increasing. There are many people who produce leadership, and it is hard not to think theyd made a difference. However, there is never a chance to see what may have happened if someone else had lead that certain organisation at that time.There has been considerable evidence that success relies on a complex pattern of organisational and environmental forces. There is little doubt that successive waves of downsizing initiat ives and the drive towards outsourcing key corporate functions have placed greater pressures on managers to ensure that their organisations remain cohesive and integrated while preserving the capacity for innovation and adaptability. Slimmer organisational structures of the present age hold in it almost impossible for managers to operate according to the old hierarchical paradigms with their concentration being on command and control administrative dimensions. Managers are required to percent larger amounts of information these days unlike before, as it has shown that their capabilities to do so influences performance levels of many others around them (Hunt 2001, p.8).ConclusionIt is evident that general administrative theories may have been relevant to organisations many years ago when external environmental influences had a lesser affect on the organisation and its structure. The world has changed with the introduction of globalisation and its accelerated growth, which has lead to many changes in the way a manager manages, plans, organises, commands, coordinates, and controls. Without the assistance of any particular theories, managers have been able to deal with internal and external matters with a level-headed, rational and sensible manner which will possibly solve the problem at hand and achieve the organisations main objective.BibliographyAljezzera Net 2006, New Saudisation law comes into force. Retrieved April 28, 2006, from http//english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BCED3E8F-DB85-4932-8FED-B16DD840B717.htmClark, P 2001, Firms deal with displacement, B to B. vol. 86, no.19, October 15, p. 6 & 21.Haque, MS 2002, Globalisation, new political economy, and governance A third world viewpoint, Administrative surmise and Praxis, vol. 24, no.1, pp. 103-124.Hunt, J 2001, The future of work in Weisner, R & Millett, B (Eds.) Management and organisational behaviour contemporary challenges and future directions, Wiley, Brisbane, pp. 3-10.Internet World Stats 2006, Usa ge and population statistics. 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