![]() No final agreement has yet been reached as to the best definition. Over the last month, an informal group of practitioners and analysts has been discussing possible definitions of management that would meet these criteria. Some Initial Contenders For The Definition Of ‘Management’ ![]() Potentially acceptable to multiple schools of thought: Although it is unlikely that the warring factions will abandon their own definition at oance, the definition must have the potential to be acceptable to all the main schools of thought, once they have grasped the futility of the current situation, a meaningless Tower of Babel. And “ processes” might be used in the definition as a collective term for all the observable phenomena such as processes, practices, structures, systems, methods, frameworks, and capabilities,ġ0.Thus “ mindsets” might be used in the definition as a collective term for all the non-observable phenomena including mindsets, philosophies, goals, values, attitudes, leadership, assumptions, tacit knowledge, and culture.It would thus include the management deployed by the armies of evil tyrants in this way, we can have a discussion as to why any particular form of management is good or evil, without getting bogged down in definitional questions. It should be wide enough ro include not only the patterns of management of which we approve, but also those of which we do not approve. Value-free: The definition needs to be value-free, in the sense that it should not include an endorsement of any particular recommendation as to what the most desirable pattern of management is or should be. It is not amenable to change by simple linear cause-and-effective interventions, nor are the results of interventions in principle predictable.Ĩ. It is a complex adaptive system, as shown in Figure 1, with multiple interacting dimensions. An Interactive Complex Adaptive System: The definition should reflect that the fact that an organization is not only a complicated phenomenon. Thus, processes without subjective mindsets or philosophy are inert, while mindsets or philosophies without processes cannot consistently guide action.įigure 1: The organization as a complex adaptive system Stephen Denningħ. “management is mindset”) or limited to what is objectively observable (“Management is a process or a system”), a review of the several-thousand-year history of the subject suggests that both subjective and objective dimensions are necessary elements of management. Both Subjective and Objective: Although there are currently definitions of management that are purely subjective (e.g. It cannot be in the form of recommending a single firm, “Do what Morning Star does” or “Adopt the Spotify model.” To be usable, the definition should contain the principal characteristics of management, while refraining from incorporating recommendations as to what the desirable pattern of management should be in any particular time or place.Ħ. Descriptive, Not Merely Illustrative or Prescriptive: The definition must include the most important characteristics of management. ![]()
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