We just looked four important historical approaches to management
Two Classic Management Approaches
Both of which treat organizations as efficient machines
Both of which advocate worker education
Taylor's Scientific Management
Advocates increased productivity via Time and Motion Studies
Educates workers on the most efficient way to get the job done
Fayol's Bureaucracy
Advocates increased productivity via professional standards
Educates workers on the principles of management
Human Relations
Views workers as people whose productivity rises when they are treated as such
Manager as counselor
Human Resources
Views workers as self-managing resources
Asserts that people enjoy working when you empower them to achieve
Listening behavior provides a useful way to differentiate these approaches
Classical Management Theory assumes that managers talk and employees listen
Taylorism uses time and motion studies to assure that managers know the best way to do things
Fayolism uses detailed job descriptions to assure that people understand their responsibilities
Either way, managers talk and employees listen
But Fayolism does insist on cross-functional peer interaction
Human Relations Approaches assume that employees respond when managers listen to them
When a manager is a counselor, management listening skills matter.
Human Resources Approaches assume that employees are most productive when they listen to each other
Listening is an important skill in small group communication.
We'll talk about listening later in the semester
These approaches help us to understand why listening is such an important skill
For everyone.
These approaches are a baseline for the study of organizational communication, starting with Redding's approach
Redding, Organizational Culture, and Communication at NASA
Organizational culture:
a system of values, assumptions, and interpretive functions
communicatively structured
historically-based
guides and constrains organizational members
a system of meaning that guides the construction of reality in a social community
we'll have more to say about organizational culture later in the semester.
Redding's Ideal Organizational Climate
Superiors communication with subordinates determines the climate and culture of the organization
1/3 to 2/3's of a managers time spent talking to subordinates
The attitudes they act out impact people and organizations
Elements of Effective Management
Supportiveness
Participative Decision Making
Trust, Confidence, and Credibility
Openness and Candor
Emphasis on High Performance Goals
Avoid management bias in studying communication
Power is the biggest communication barrier in organizations
Openness is a general issue
Upward Distortion of Messages is a problem
Upward Influence should be a goal
Semantic-Information Distance between Superiors and Subordinates should be reduced
occurs when supervisors views organization differently than subordinates
we will soon encounter this at NASA
Next Index Card Assignment (Due Wednesday)
Identify at least three groups of people who work inside your groups organization. Identify at least three groups of people outside the organization who depend on or have a stake in the success of your groups organization.
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were written by participants on the Media Space Wiki, operated by Davis Foulger,
and should be cited accordingly. For example (APA): Foulger, D. and other
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