Management essay - Grade: 21/30 PDF

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Individual essay on management. Dr. Fodhla McGrane...

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“Reading a book about management isn’t going to make you a good manager any more than a book about guitar will make you a good guitarist, but it can get you thinking about the most important concepts” (Drew Houston) The quote is trying to portray that theoretical learning through books is not always sufficient enough to be good at the chosen task. This is about practical knowledge as well as theoretical knowledge which are two distinct approaches to learning. Favouring one approach to knowledge over the other approach may not be the best solution for the person to improve their skills. In order for an individual to develop and gain skills and expertise they need a balance of theory and practical experience. Both are necessary as they are interconnected and compliment each other, however one can be favoured. Management can be defined by “the process of planning, organising, leading and controlling the efforts of organisation members and of using all organisational resources to achieve stated organisational goals”. (Mescon, Albert and Khedouri, 1985) however a simpler version of a managers’ position is “getting things done by other people”. (Parker Follet,1941) According to Mintzberg (1990), “Managerial work involves performing a number of regular duties, including ritual and ceremony, negotiations, and processing of soft information”. This quotation shows that it is common for managers to do the same tasks daily and not go beyond their everyday norm. This can lead to managers being stuck and not thinking about new ways to motivate staff or new ways to lead a team correctly. Therefore, by a manager reading suitable management books, it helps to provide a more theoretical understanding. This theoretical understanding is important as it provides ideas beyond that of the individual. Reading these types of books allows people to think about other theories and other important concepts that they could introduce in their day-to-day tasks and help to improve the way they interact with others in order to improve their managerial skills. As said above, concepts are important to get the manager thinking beyond their own view. Concepts based on motivation of others can be very important for a manager to research as it can give an insight into the needs and desires of their subordinates. Concepts such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or the McClelland’s managerial needs theory can help a manager to increase strength and direction of their subordinates work performance, behaviour and output. This is theoretical understanding, which contradicts the quote. This is because having a deeper understanding of these concepts can lead to the individual becoming a better manager as they can take a different approach to motivating others. McClelland’s managerial needs theory looks at three main needs and their influence over others and how this impacts the individual when interacting with others. The

three needs are; need for achievement, need for power and need for affiliation. If managers have a good understanding of this theory then they can examine teams to determine which of the needs is a motivator to everyone and from that the manager

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can then alter their leadership style according to each need as to motivate the individuals correctly to motivate and get the best out of them. The individual in charge can improve his or her management and leadership styles with the aid of this concept. Without theoretical understanding the manager would not be able to apply this concept in order to improve. However, in contradiction to the above argument, without practical knowledge and experience a manager will not improve. As the quote means; a manager could read theoretical books but this will not help them to improve or become a better manager without actual experience in the job role. A Chinese proverb states “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand, step back and I will act”. This proverb shows that when reading a book, looking at concepts and using just theoretical knowledge, will not be enough to help the manager improve as they will forget. With involvement and experience the manager will understand and act in a way that will help them to become a better manager. Practical learning and experience is important as it allows the individual to reflect on their skills and have continuous improvements. Reflection can only be done once the individual has completed a task or series of jobs for them to look at and consider their strengths and the areas they can improve on. In 1982, the Australian Consortium on Experiential Education organised a conference surrounding the topic of reflection. They called this conference ‘Reflection: A neglected Area in Learning’. This was organised to stimulate individuals’ minds and get them thinking about how they can improve upon their physical skills and mentality based upon their daily work. Boyd, Keogh and Walker deducted that “reflection is a vital element in any form of learning”, they go on to describe how experience based learning paired with reflection can provide clarity. Reflection is a type of experiential learning that can only be accessed by lived experience. Experiential learning has a reflection cycle. This starts with concrete experience then reflective observation such as what went well and what did not, this leads onto abstract conceptualization which is when the individual makes sense of the experience and lastly active experimentation is when the individual tests their conclusions and has a new plan of action. This then allows the person to learn through experience and trial new ways of management and increase skills through seeing what works for their specific workplace and individual role. Four learning styles described in the Honey-Mumford model are activist; reflector; theorist; pragmatist. Activists prefer to learn by doing and tend to be more practically minded. Reflectors tend to observe and collect their own information before taking part, these people are also part of practical learning. Theorists question and need to have a deep understanding before practically doing anything. Theorists are said to have organised minds. Lastly are pragmatists, they look for new ideas and methods of doing tasks. People in this category are also classed as practical learners whereas theorists are theoretical learners. Honey and Mumford devised these four learning styles based upon research, as you can see the majority of these styles are based around practical learning rather than theoretical which shows that people find practical learning superior to theoretical.

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In conclusion, from above you can see the sides of theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge which relates to the quote. Theoretical knowledge being the method that teaches why, helps understanding, develops concepts and knowledge and helps set strategies. This is often based on the experience of others. This type leads to a deeper understanding of a concept as you can understand the meaning behind it. On the other hand, practical knowledge helps to acquire the specific techniques for your job as it is based around your actual day-to-day roles. Practical knowledge can often lead to a deeper understanding as the individual is actually doing and taking part which can help to cement the learning. In relation to the quote theoretical knowledge can help the manager to think about different concepts and scenarios, however this is not enough. Practical knowledge is the superior in this instance as one business concept might work in one firm but not in the other. Therefore, a manager could read and know concepts in detail but without the experience of working in the sector and working with their subordinates and superiors they will not actually improve as they will not know what is best suited to the business and the culture in that firm.

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Reference List Arnolds, C. A., & Boshoff, C. (n.d.). The influence of McClelland’s need satisfaction theory on employee job performance: A causal study. Journal of African Business, 4(3), 55–82. https://doi.org/10.1300/J156v04n03pass:[_]04 Boud, D. Keogh R. and Walker, D. (1994) Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning. Oxford. Routladge Falmer p.8 Hannagan, T. (2004) Management: Concepts and Practices. 4th Ed. UK: Pearson Education. P. 350. Manager. (2014). In: Collins Dictionary, 13th ed. [online] Glasgow: HarperCollins. Available at: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/manager [Accessed 17 Nov. 2018]. Maynooth University. 2018. What is experiential learning?. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/study-maynooth/maynootheducation/experiential-learning/experiential-learning-0. [Accessed 20 November 2018]. Mescon, Michael H, Albert, Michael and Khedouri, Franklin (1985) Management: Individual and Organisational Effectiveness. New York: Harper & Row Mintzberg, H. (1990) The manager’s job: folklore and fact, Harvard Business Review, March-April. Parker Follett, M. (1941). Collected Works. New York: Harper & Brothers. Pritchard, Alan. Ways of Learning : Learning theories and learning styles in the classroom, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ulster/detail.action?docID=1576055.

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