Modern management approaches respect the classical, human resource, and quantitative approaches to management. However, successful managers recognize that although each theoretical school has limitations in its applications, each approach also offers valuable insights that can broaden a manager's options in solving problems and achieving organizational goals. Successful managers work to extend these approaches to meet the demands of a dynamic environment.
Modern management approaches recognize that people are complex and variable. Employee needs change over time; people possess a range of talents and capabilities that can be developed. Organizations and managers, therefore, should respond to individuals with a wide variety of managerial strategies and job opportunities.
Key themes to be considered, as the twenty‐first century progresses, include the following:
The commitment to meet customer needs 100 percent of the time guides organizations toward quality management and continuous improvement of operations.
Today's global economy is a dramatic influence on organizations, and opportunities abound to learn new ways of managing from practices in other countries.
Organizations must reinvest in their most important asset, their people. If organizations cannot make the commitment to lifelong employment, they must commit to using attrition to reduce head count. They will not receive cooperation unless they make it clear that their people will not be working themselves out of a job.
Managers must excel in their leadership responsibilities to perform numerous different roles.
Classical management thinkers _____.
utilize the “it all depends” approach
utilize quantitative decision‐making tools
look for the one best way to do something
realize that their most important and complex resource is people
The Hawthorne studies are an important foundation of the _____ approaches.
classical
human relations
administrative
quantitative
Models, simulations, and queuing theory are examples of techniques found in the _____ approach to management.
classical
quantitative
bureaucratic organization
modern
Which of the following statements does not accurately reflect the characteristics of contingency theory?
Managers should draw on all past theories in attempting to analyze and solve problems.
The best way to initially approach all management problems is through scientific management.
The contingency approach is integrative in nature.
Managers should stay flexible and consider the alternatives and fallback positions when defining and attacking problems.
In a fast‐changing environment, the most effective method of improving the quality of a product would be _____.
Kaizen
bureaucracy
reengineering
management science