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The following article was published in the Charleston Post & Courier's Business Major, a featured monthly column in the Business Review Section on June 11, 2001. Approaches to Management 101 May DifferBy DOROTHY P. MOORE Special to The Post and Courier Business Major Management Principles and Concepts are considered so important that nearly every school and college of business offers a required introductory course at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The mere requirement suggests to the outside observer the existence of an agreed upon body of knowledge accepted by theorists and practitioners that is formally set down and passed on from one generation of managers to the next--irrespective of changes in technology, environments, and organizational designs and structures. To a considerable extent, this is true. But the apparent sameness of courses under the management rubric does not mean that the topic is commonly defined, approached or emphasized by scholars and practitioners in the field. The main themes of several leading management texts in widespread use, many appearing in multiple editions, reflect personal values and teaching styles of authors in the field. Most common and dominating in the field until recently, is the traditional approach to teaching management with its emphasis on organizational goals and processes. Leading examples include Thomas S. Bateman and Scott A. Snell, Management: Building Competitive Advantage, (4th Ed. Irwin McGraw-Hill, 1999). They organize their text around descriptions of what they consider to be the four most important functions of management: Planning (analyzing the present and anticipating the future, specifying goals, choosing strategies, and determining what resources will be needed); organizing (assembling the information, people, finances, and other resources); leading (directing, motivating and communicating with employees), and controlling (monitoring progress and making necessary changes). Managers who are both effective and efficient, the authors conclude, achieve the organizational goals with an economy of time, money, materials and people. Another book, "Management: A Competency-Based Approach" states at the outset that "effective management is the result of hard work and careful planning." Authors Don Hellriegel, Susan E. Jackson, and John W. Slocum, Jr. orient the student to carry out these traditional functions by developing six necessary competencies (self-management, strategic action, global awareness, teamwork, planning and administration, and communication. In some contrast, Richard L. Daft, author of "Management " holds that the demands on managers today go well beyond what is traditionally taught in management courses. New skills needed include a leadership ability that enunciates a shared organizational vision and values and harnesses peoples' enthusiasm and creativity. The good manager accomplishes this by sharing information and power and encouraging employee participation, collaboration, teamwork and learning. "Management: Leading People and Organizations in the 21st Century" by Gary Dessler, 2d ed. (Prentice-Hall, 2001) calls attention to what he perceives to be the important factor of a rapidly changing environment. He suggests that managing today is increasingly based on technology, particularly the Internet, which, he says, both allows and requires "managing at the speed of thought." Because people management cannot be separated from other managerial responsibilities in this environment, he structures his approach around themes in the management of change, the crucial roles of teamwork and entrepreneurship, both outside and within the organization, and the necessity of establishing or changing the values embedded in the organizational culture. Dealing with change in its forms of globalization, population movements, multiculturalism, and "perhaps most of all, the explosion of the information age" is also the underlying theme presented in Richard L. Daft and Dorothy Marcic in "Understanding Management." The field of management, say the authors, is undergoing a revolution. The focus today must be "on developing--not controlling--people to adapt to extraordinary environmental shifts and achieve total corporate effectiveness." What is going on here? While the ideas advocated by each management scholar can be easily subsumed under the topic of management, the emphasis is clearly different. One answer to the question is that managers operate at different levels and do different things in a multitude of environments, each of which is unique in some respect. One management size philosophy does not fit all. What you do as a manager depends, in part, on who you are in the organization. It also depends, in part, on what you actually manage-what decisions you get to make. Each manager needs to continually reevaluate the company mission, goals, and values. Adding to the value of your firm is part of the package of becoming and maintaining your profile as a successful manager. For Questions/Comments about this site, contact dot.moore@comcast.net. 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