17. The Competencies of a Master Manager (management series)

I don't know if I will finish blogging through each of the chapters of the book, but I have finished this book and wanted to post what would be the final post in the series. This is a summary of the competencies of a master manager as set out in the book.

Thinking Critically
In the Introduction, the general need for a manager to be able to think critically is set out. "The task of the critical thinker is to make the best decision with the available information in a particular circumstance" (20).  

I. Collaborate (human relations model of management)
The book uses what it calls a "Competing Values Framework" for management. These values are all part of the repertoire of a master manager, even though they are often in tension with each other. The four values are collaboration, control, competition, and creation.

1. Understanding Self and Others
To collaborate, you first need to have an understanding of yourself and others. This involves emotional intelligence and social intelligence. The Johari window is in this section. Myers-Briggs is mentioned in this section.

2. Communicating Honestly and Effectively
Once you have a basic sense of yourselves and others, you will need to be able to communicate to others in order to collaborate. Basic communication theory is in this section. 

3. Mentoring and Developing Others
In relation to personal interaction, part of being a manager involves the mentoring and developing of subordinates. Annual performance reviews are treated in this section, as well as coaching. Delegation is one way to train a person. 

4. Managing Groups and Leading Teams
A manager will lead a team at some point. The kinds of styles that members of a team sometimes play is mentioned here. The section also talks about how to run a meeting. The stages of forming, storming, norming, performing is also treated.

5. Managing and Encouraging Constructive Conflict
Working with others will inevitably result in conflict, whether personal or task-related. Such conflict can be productive, but there are better and worse ways to facilitate through it. Four approaches to conflict management are given.

II. Control (internal processing model of management)
One of the older theories of management has to do with the internal organization of that which is being managed. 

1. Organizing Information Flows
We are inundated with more data than ever. The TRAF method gives a system for processing the influx. The OABC method of composing concise messages is given. 

2. Working and Managing Across Functions
The complexity of the modern world requires working across silos in an organization. On the one hand, as organizations grow, workflows need to be differentiated (which leads to siloing). But these areas cannot be completely be separated, so there needs to be integrated across functions.

3. Planning and Coordinating Projects
Several project management approaches are presented in this section--work breakdown structure, PERT charts, GANTT charts, the human resource matrix. Also presented are cost and schedule variances, including concepts like "Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled," "Budgeted Cost of Work Performed," and "Actual Cost of Work Performed."

4. Measuring and Monitoring Performance and Quality
Assessment and measuring outcomes is an important part of any organization. 

5. Encouraging and Enabling Compliance
There will almost always be those who do not follow the rules. This section goes through a number of reasons people given for non-compliance. Motivations for compliance are also given--carrots, sticks, etc.

III. Compete (rational goal model)
Perhaps the oldest model for management is the one that has to do with goal setting, productivity, and profitability.

1. Developing and Communicating a Vision
Mission statements, vision statements, values statements are a standard part of organizations. 

2. Setting Goals and Objectives
The concept of SMART goals is presented. 

3. Motivating Self and Others
Some motivation theory is presented, including content theories (relating to desired things) and process theories (which focus on how motivation is done). Expectancy theory looks at why people are motivated. In particular, they need to be confident they are able, the outcome is possible, and that it is valuable.

4. Designing and Organizing
Material on org charts and hierarchical/non-hierarchical structures is given. Ways of organizing units are given along with Galbraith's "star" model for designing an organization. Different organizational cultures are given that correlate more or less to the emphases of the four different models.

5. Managing Execution and Driving for Results
Time Management is a topic of this section, going back to some fundamental insights of Peter Drucker. Three keys to execution are given--watching the people process, the strategy process, and the operations process.

IV. Create (the open systems model)
The final approach to management focuses on innovation, change, and adaptability. It has become increasingly important in the twenty-first century.

1. Using Power and Influence Ethically and Effectively
This section talks about the proper use of power, including five different sources of power. Some strategies of influence are given.

2. Championing and Selling New Ideas
Seven Cs for business communication are well known. Messages should be complete, concise, considerate, clear, concrete, courteous, and correct. But messages are of different sorts. They can be relational, informational, promotional, and transformational. The SSSAP approach to effective presentations is given.

3. Fueling and Fostering Innovation
The difference between critical and creative thinking is presented. It is insisted that creative thinking can develop even in someone who is not "naturally" creative. Brainstorming as a technique is presented.

4. Negotiating Agreement and Commitment
We all have a "social credit rating," social capital that gives us a listen. For dialog, there must be mutual purpose, meaning, and respect. Some principles for successful negotiating are given.

5. Implementing and Sustaining Change
A force-field analysis is a predictor of whether change will happen. Is the organization in a dysfunctional state? Change will not be difficult to lead. Is it super-stable, in an "extraordinary state"? Then it will be hard to change. A "normal-ordinary state" is balanced and, again, will not necessarily sense a need for change. Four strategies for change are given--telling, forcing, participating, and transforming.

Conclusion
Again, the master manager will seek for integration of these competing values. Without integration, the zones of strength move into a negative zone where they are actually a weakness. A "systems thinker" sees the whole and can handle paradoxical thinking. 

13. The Knowing-Doing Gap (management series)

This is a fun one. 2000 book review in the Harvard Business School Press, 2000. The book is The Knowing-Doing Problem, by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton

Knowing what to do is not enough
"The gap between knowing and doing is more important than the gap between ignorance and knowing."

"Better ways of doing things cannot remain secret for long."

"Sustainable competitive advantage is built by doing things that are difficult to imitate."

Talk and Action
There is a "tendency to equate talking about something with actually doing something about it."

"Mission statement is one of the common means that organizations use ot substitute talk for action." :-) Love this one. So true.

"We should form our impression of others based on how well they perform" which "can be assessed only wih a greater time lag." This "clashes with the natural human tendency to form impressions quickly" and "does not fit within the time scale of the performance appraisal..."

"One of the best ways of sounding smart is to be critical of the ideas of other people. It is always possible to fid a reason to say no to some idea or proposal."

People also "try to impress others by using complex language." "Simple talk is valuable because it is more likely to lead to action." Mobilizing rhetoric:

• casts an imaginative vision of the future
• gives a realistic portrayal of the present
• a selective description of the pasat
• gives a sense of urgency

Memory and Thinking

"Memory often serves as a substitute for thinking."

"Most human beings are inclined to avoid evidence that disconfirms what they believe."

Three main ways to avoid relying on the past as a mindless guide to action:

• Start a new organization or subunit.
• Make people mindful of problems with doing things in old ways.
• Encourage radical decentralization--the more competent a central HQ is, the less the whole organization needs to think. :-)

Fear and Knowledge

"Driving fear out of the organization helps to encourage courageous behavior."

"People who fear their bosses not only hide bad news but may also lie about how things are going."

Measurement and Judgment

"What gets measured gets done. What is not measured tends to be ignored."

"Individual performance in an interdependent system is always difficult or impossible to measure."

Good measurement practices:

• global in scope
• focused more on processes and less on final outcomes
• reflect the model, culture, and philosophy of the organization
• a sense that the measurement system itself is in process and subject to evaluation
• relatively few metrics

Internal Competition

"Excessive internal competition can destroy the moral fabric of many organizations."

"Copying others inside the firm is perceived to have negative career consequences."

"Pygmalion effect. When teachers believe that their students will perform well, they do."

"Competition inhibits learning and creativity." "Intellectual tasks that require learning and inventing new ways of doing things are best performed under drastically different conditions than tasks that have been done repeatedly in the past."

Turning Knowledge into Action

We can minimize the knowing-doing gap by dealing with the following factors:

• Ask "why" before "how"
• We learn by doing and teaching, not by talking about it. "Learning is best done by trying a lot of things."
• Action counts more than elegant plans and concepts. 
• There is no doing without mistakes.
• Drive out fear. "Reasonable failure should never be received with anger."
• Fight the competition, not each other. Cooperation is good.
• Measure what matters.
• It matters how leaders spend their time.

12. How to Manage Radical Innovation (management series)

The next article is by Robert Stringer from 2000 in California Management Review, "How to Manage Radical Innovation."

1. Innovation is a Strategic Imperative

"Corporate size is inversely correlated to growth through innovation" (71).

2. Why aren't large companies more innovative?

• Industry leaders can't afford to embrace radical innovation. They may invest in "sustaining technologies" for improved performance, but they are not well-equipped to deal with "disruptive technologies."
• Structures and cultures discourage bringing big ideas to market. "The cultures of most large companies act as powerful stabilizing influences" (72).
• Relying too much on internal R & D. "Industry leaders must be very careful about prematurely assuming a new technology will be the best solution and committing the company to it" (73). "If a senior executive hasn't screamed at you lately for grossly exceeding your authority, you're probably not doing your job" (relayed by Bernard Meyerson of IBM, who pushed IBM to make silicon-germanium semiconductors)
• Large companies don't attract or retail radical innovators. "A large corporate environment is one dominated by the need for power, not the need for achievement" (74).

3. Why are small companies the source of most radical innovations?

• "Often, the entire organization can be built around a single breakthrough concept" (74).
• Usually there is a concentration of inventive entrepreneurs found in them.
• Entrepreneurs are motivated by "need for accomplishment" and "achievement motivation."

Four drivers of entrepreneurs:

• to compete against an internal standard of excellence
• to make a unique contribution to the world
• to engage in moderately risky activities (like 50/50 chance)
• to receive constant, concrete, measurable feedback on performance and progress

"High achievers are planners" (75). "High achievers are not simply idea people--they are builders. They take ideas and put them to work, and this is what makes them successful as entrepreneurs" (75). Sometimes entrepreneurs, however, are poor team players.

Meanwhile, for entrepreneurs, large companies have "too many rules, too much compromise, too many meetings, and too little willingness to 'just do it.'"

4. Stimulating innovation in large companies--nine different strategies arranged from more to less potential. They're also arranged from less to more desperate.

I. Inside-Out Strategies

• Make breakthrough innovation a strategic and cultural priority.
• Hire more creative and innovative people.
• Grow informal project laboratories within the traditional organization.
• Create "idea markets" within the organization.
• Become an "ambidextrous organization." Keep the innovators separate from the traditionalists.

II. Outside-In Strategies

• Experiment with acquisitions, JVs, cooperative ventures and alliances with outside innovative entities.
• Engage in corporate venturing--creating and supporting new businesses that are managed apart from a company's existing business.

III. Working with Venture Capital

• Establish a corporate venture capital fund.
• Participate in an emerging industry fund (EIF). This is giving money to a third party to manage toward innovation.

10. How do you motivate employees (management series)

The next one in the series of HBR and other management articles is, "One More Time: How Do Motivate Employees" (2002), by Frederick Herzberg.

1. "What is the simplest, surest, and most direct way of getting someone to do something?" A kick in the... pants (KITA).

• You can do it literally.
• You can do it psychologically.
• You can also give positive "KITAs" -- rewards

Other attempts at "positive" KITA:

• reducing time spent at work
• spiraling wages
• fringe benefits
• human relations training
• sensitivity training
• communications
• two-way communications
• job participation
• employee counseling

2. How do you install a generator in an employee? 

Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory of job attitudes

• "The factors involved in producing job satisfaction (and motivation) are separate and distinct from the factors that lead to job dissatisfaction" (91).
• "The opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction but, rather, no job satisfaction; and, similarly, the opposite of job dissatisfaction is not job satisfaction but no job dissatisfaction."
• Avoidance of job dissatisfaction comes from our animal drive to avoid pain. But our drive to satisfaction comes from our drive to achievement and growth, unique to humans.
• Motivator factors include the drive to achievement, recognition of achievement, responsibility, advancement...

KITA type things relate to avoidance of pain. In his study, 81% of the things contribution to job satisfaction were motivators. 69% of those contributing to dissatisfaction were "hygiene" or KITA type things.

3. Three philosophies of personnel management:

• Organizational theories -- organize the jobs in a proper manner, most efficient structure, job attitudes will follow [wrong]
• Industrial engineers -- use incentives to facilitate the most efficient use of the human machine
• Behavioral scientists -- change the attitudes, "Proper attitudes will lead to efficient job and organizational structure" (93).

Seek for job enrichment. "Job loading" merely enlarges the meaninglessness of the job. He calls this horizontal job loading. He favors "vertical job loading," where greater authority and autonomy is given the employee.

Hawthorne effort -- people who know they are being studied sometimes change because they are being paid attention to.

Motivators have a much longer-term effect on employees attitudes.

"If you have employees on a job, use them. If you can't use them on the job, get rid of them, either via automation or by selecting someone with lesser ability."

9. Strategy and the Internet (management series)

The next article is a 2001 HBR article by Michael Porter called, "Strategy and the Internet." I am mindful that this article came out around the time of the bursting of the dot.com bubble. 

1. The internet is "an enabling strategy--a powerful set of tools that can be used wisely or unwisely, in almost any industry and as part of almost any strategy" (64).

"The key question is not whether to deploy Internet technology--companies have no choice if they want to stay competitive--but how they deploy it." The internet itself is not a competitive advantage (I might add that he is assuming a smart company will be engaged with the internet. This is a less certain assumption in the world of higher ed, I would say). "Many of the companies that succeed will be ones that use the Internet as a complement to traditional ways of competing, not those that set their Internet initiatives apart from their established operations."

With regard to the last statement, places like IWU did well in that period precisely because they cordoned off their online initiatives from traditional forces that would almost certainly have sabotaged them.

"The Internet actually makes strategy more essential than ever" (64).

2. Distorted Market Signals

"In the early stages of the rollout of any important new technology, market signals can be unreliable." "When prices are artificially low [because of leveraged buy-in, no government sales tax, etc], unit demand becomes artificially high."

By the way, Amazon has smashed this part of the article to smithereens. It was just wrong. Borders no longer exists. The CEO of Amazon is the richest person in the world.

"The sheer number of dot-coms in many industries often revealed nothing more than the existence of low barriers to entry, always a danger sign" (65).

3. A Return to Fundamentals

"Many businesses active on the Internet are artificial businesses competing by artificial means and propped up by capital that until recently had been readily available."

In transition periods, it may appear that there are new rules of competition, but as market forces play out, old rules regain their currency. "The creation of true economic value once again becomes the final arbiter of business success."

Economic value is the difference between price and cost. A company's current stock price is not necessarily an indicator of economic value. 

"In periods of heavy experimentation, even sellers of flawed technologies can thrive."

Two fundamental indicators of profitability:

• industry structure (which indicates the profitability of the average competitor)
• sustainable competitive advantage 

4. Industry Structure

The internet has changed the front-end of some businesses, but not so much the businesses themselves. 

The structural attractiveness of an industry is five-fold:

• intensity of rivalry among existing competitors
• barriers to entry for new competitors
• threat of substitute products or services
• bargaining power of suppliers
• bargaining power of buyers

The very benefits of the internet make it more difficult for companies to capture those benefits as profit.

5. The Myth of the First Mover

He argues that switching costs (the cost of switching from one service provider to another) did not go up with the internet. He argues that network effects (accumulating a customer base because of combined services) have not made getting on the internet first important. Partnering is not a win-win means to improve industry economics (e.g., product complements, outsourcing).

6. The Future of Competition 

"The most important determinant of a marketplace's profit potential is the intrinsic power of the buyers and sellers in the particular product area."

A competitive advantage can be achieved by a lower cost, commanding a premium price, or both. Cost and price advantages can be achieved in two ways--operational effectiveness or strategic positioning. Porter thinks that operational effectiveness will rarely provide a big advantage in the internet age.

7. Six fundamental principles of strategic positioning

• have the right goal -- superior return on long-term investment
• must deliver a value proposition
• must deliver something distinctive
• robust strategies involve trade offs. "Trying to be all things to all customers almost guarantees that a company will lack any advantage" (71).
• strategy makes sure everything fits together
• Strategy involves continuity of direction. "Frequent corporate re-invention... is usually a sign of poor strategic thinking."

8. Lack of Strategy

Acquisition of customers is not the same as the building of profitability.

I will say I think history has proven some of this article wrong, although it has many helpful features. A company like Merrill Lynch wouldn't stand a chance without online options. CDs don't exist any more. Take this ridiculous comment: "Online music distribution may reduce the need for CD-manufacturing assets." You think? Blockbuster is long gone. And Grainger is currently in major jeopardy from Amazon Business. I also smile at how often he compliments AOL. Who?

9. The Internet and the Value Chain

"The Internet does not represent a break from the past; rather it is the latest stage in the ongoing evolution of information technology" (74).

evolution of IT:

• automation of discrete transactions (entry)
• functional enhancement of individual activities (hr, sales...)
• cross-activity integration (CRM, SCM, ERP)
• entire system integration
• integrated product development

Virtual activities do not replace the need for physical activities:

• "Introducing Internet applications in one activity often places greater demands on physical activities elsewhere."
• "Using the Internet in one activity can have systemic consequences, requiring new or enhanced physical activities that are often unanticipated."
• "Most Internet activities have shortcomings in comparison with conventional methods."

He doesn't see the internet as a new economy but an old economy that has access to new technology.

Wrong.

3. "An Uneasy Look at Performance Appraisal," by Douglas McGregor

Continuing my readings from the Principles of Management course I am participating as part of Houghton's new Certificate in Business Administration.

The second of ten Harvard Business Review articles for the course is a 1957 classic by Douglas McGregor on performance reviews. McGregor is known for the concept of Theory X and Theory Y leaders. Theory X leaders lead by reward and punishment. You do well you get rewarded. You do poorly you get dinged. This fits with the "rational goal" model of management.

Theory Y is a more hands-off approach that assumes people will work better if they find their work fulfilling and are self-motivated. It believes people do not necessarily need supervision to do well if they believe in the mission of the organization. This fits more with the "human relations" model of management. 

1. In 1957, performance appraisal plans had three primary goals:

• to provide a mechanism for promotion, pay increase, sometimes demotion or termination
• giving feedback and letting subordinate know where they stand, where they need improvement, etc.
• "increasingly" a basis for coaching and counseling

Apparently, at that time, superiors did not exactly enjoy this part of managing. McGregor suggests there may be some intuitive wisdom at work here, that the way performance reviews have taken place is lacking. He wonders if "playing God" in this way violates our sense of judging the worth of others. "It reflects an unwillingness to treat human beings like physical objects" (135).

2. McGregor sought a new approach, one that fit with Peter Drucker's sense of management by objectives. The core idea is to let the subordinate determine the performance goals for him or herself. The subordinate does so:

• after a good deal of thinking about his or her job
• after making a careful assessment of their own strengths and weaknesses
• after formulating specific plans to achieve their goals

The job of the superior is then to help connect these personal goals, these targets, to the realities of the organization.

3. The first step is for the employee to formulate a sense of the major features of his or her job. This is not the formal position description but a sense of what the person actually does in practice. This involves a dialog between superior and employee until there is some agreement.

Then the employee sets goals/targets for the next six months, specific actions they plan to take. This should include not only the overarching actions ("reorganize the office") but the detailed steps that are required to get there.

At the end of the six months, the employee evaluates him or herself with factual data. In the interview both go over the self-evaluation and set goals for the next six months.

The superior has veto power at every step of course.

4.  This is a shift from appraisal to analysis. The employee "becomes an active agent, not a passive 'object'" (136).

"One of the main differences of this approach is that it rests on the assumption that the individual knows--or can learn--more than anyone else about his own capabilities, needs, strengths and weaknesses, and goals."

In this approach, the proper role of the superior is to help the subordinate relate his or her career planning to the needs and realities of the organization. In discussion, the superior leads the employee to:

• increased knowledge and skill
• contribute to the organizational objectives
• test their own self-appraisal

"The knowledge and active participation of both superior and subordinate are necessary components of this approach" (137).

The emphasis comes to be on the future rather than the past. It is "constructive." The emphasis is on performance rather than personality. 

5. This approach should result in a different attitude toward performance appraisals on the part of both superior and subordinate. Both gain. "No formal machinery is required" (138).

McGregor leaves it to the "traditional ingenuity of management" to invent the methods for this new approach's implementation. It will take more time than before. But it just might lead to better outcomes.

2. "The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact," by Henry Mintzberg

The Principles of Management course involves reading ten articles from the Harvard Business Review. The first is from 1990 and is titled, "The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact."

Let me just say that I think the ten roles of managers in this article is gold.

1. The article starts with mention of Henri Fayol's 1916 classic four tasks of management: plan, organize, coordinate, and control. As seen in the previous post, this is the "internal process" model of management. Minzberg gives examples that don't fit Fayol's outline, namely, tasks involving improvisation (open systems model) and relationship (human relations model).

Managers don't always know what it is that they do. Mintzberg aims to describe the manager's job on the basis of research on how real managers actually spend their time.

Four Myths about the Manager's Job

a. Managers are reflective, systematic planners.

In reality, managers work constantly in ways characterized by brevity, variety, and discontinuity. They are action oriented and tend to dislike reflective activities. "A manager is always plagued by the possibilities of what might be done and what must be done" (164). Managers tend to plan in the context of daily actions.

b. The effective manager has no regular duties to perform.

The reality is that managers are often involved in ritual duties. They are not orchestra conductors but regular participants in the action as needed. They often see customers, gather "soft" external information, substitute in more routine places.

c. The senior manager needs aggregated information, probably from some "management information system" (MIS) or "total information system."

In reality, in 1990, managers favored verbal media, telephone calls, and meetings over documents. "Today's gossip may be tomorrow's fact -- that's why managers cherish hearsay" (166). I sense that email and the data dashboards of this time significantly have modified this dynamic. Big data is all the rage right now. Whether it is as effective as everyone seems to think, however, is another question.

Two of the prime uses of information are 1) identify problems and opportunities and 2) build mental models. Mintzberg argues that in 1990, managers tended to do these tasks based on tidbits of information rather than some total information system. This fact may have changed. 

However, I personally do not yet know of a MIS that makes decisions mechanical for a team of wise and creative individuals. Although I am crazy about the data science program at Houghton, I know enough about the black swan dynamic to think someone is going to come along with some serious words to say about it.

Richard Neustadt suggested that Eisenhauer, Roosevelt, and Truman made decisions not on "bland amalgams" of data but by "the odds and ends of tangible detail that pieced together in his mind" (166). "To help himself he must reach out as widely as he can for every scrap of fact, opinion, gossip, bearing on his interests and relationships as President."

Two important points: 1) verbal information is stored in brains--"The strategic data bank of the organization is not in the memory of its computers but in the minds of its managers" and 2) this explains a reluctance to delegate on the part of managers. I hear him, but some of this may be dated.

d. Management is quickly becoming a science and profession.

In 1990, management still involved a lot of judgment and intuition. I imagine it still does.

2. There's a side-box about how to research managerial work. Sune Carlson investigated managerial work in Sweden by having managers keep diaries of their daily work. Richard Neustadt analyzed the behavior of US Presidents in Presidential Power. 

3. Defining the manager's job.

Who is the manager? A manager is "that person in charge of an organization or subunit" (168). They all have a certain "formal authority" to make certain decisions. From his research, Mintzberg identified ten roles a manager plays that can be grouped into three categories: interpersonal, informational, and decisional.

Interpersonal Roles

The three interpersonal roles of a manager are 1) as a figurehead, 2) as a leader, and 3) as a liaison.

As figurehead, the manager performs certain ceremonial duties (retirements, welcoming, statements). The leadership role can involve hiring and training. Of course we have witnessed a mountain of leadership material these last thirty years. I was generally trained to think of leadership as the highest task and that managerial functions are subordinate to it.

"The influence of managers is most clearly seen in the leader role. Formal authority vests them with great potential power; leadership determines in large part how much of it they will realize" (168).

The "liaison" role has to do with contacts outside the vertical chain of command. Managers in the past have spent much less time with their superiors than with their subordinates, and about as much time with peers as with their subordinates.

Informational Roles

Mintzberg describes three informational roles: 1) monitor, 2) disseminator, and 3) spokesperson.

"Managers don't leave meetings or hang up the telephone to get back to work. In large part, communication is their work" (169).

As monitor, the manager is constantly scanning the environment for information. As disseminator, the manager passes information on to subordinates and the organization. As spokesperson, the manager speaks to those outside the organization. 

In a sidebox, Mintzberg notes that his article was only balancing out the managerial equation. Planning, organizing, coordinating, and controlling are part of the manager's job. But these are cerebral functions. There are also the insightful functions that involve commitment and integrity. "In practice, management has to be two-faced--there has to be a balance between the cerebral and the insightful" (170).

"No job is more vital to our society than that of the manager. It is the manager who determines whether our social institutions serve us well or whether they squander our talents and resources" (175).

Decisional

The four roles of the manager in relation to decisions are 1) entrepreneur, 2) disturbance handler, 3) resource allocator, and 4) negotiator.

If the manager is constantly monitoring new things in the environment, this information can lead to innovation. "Chief executives appear to maintain a kind of inventory of the development projects in various stages of development. Like jugglers, they keep a number of projects in the air" (171). This is the manager as entrepreneur.

The manager also has to respond to pressures and change outside his or her control. They become a  disturbance handler. "Every manager must spend a considerable amount of time responding to high-pressure disturbances" (172).

The third decision role is that of resource allocator. "The scarcest resource managers have to allocate is their own time" (172). The manager may determine a unit's structure. The manager may authorize important decisions before they are implemented. "Few CEOs approve a proposal -- they approve a person" (171).

A final role is that of negotiator. E.g., to get a hire the manager may have to negotiate.

The ten roles come together into a gestalt. Different types of managers may lean toward one or the other categories. For example, sales managers lean toward the interpersonal. Production managers lean toward the decisional. Staff managers lean toward the informational.

4. Effective Management

"The manager's effectiveness is significantly influenced by their insight into their own work" (173). "Managers who can be introspective about about their work are likely to be effective at their jobs."

Three areas of concern: 1) a lack of delegation, 2) all the information in the manager's head, and 3) working with "management scientists."

a. The manager needs to share privileged information with the right people. Regular meetings with key people are important. "The time spent disseminating this information will be more than regained when decisions must be made" (173). [A special kind of information that needs to be written down somewhere is institutional memory.]

b. The "planning dilemma" is the need for the manager to communicate with the data specialists, and for the data specialists to give to the manager the right kind of information.

c. Turn obligations into advantages and desires into obligations. "Unsuccessful managers blame failures on obligations. Effective managers turn obligations to advantages" (175). Then "the manager frees some time to do the things that he or she -- perhaps no one else -- thinks important by turning them into obligations. Free time is made, not found."

5. Training

"You can't teach swimming or management in a lecture hall." "We are taught a skill by practice plus feedback."

6. Self-Study Questions for Managers:

• Where do I get my information?
• What information do I share?
• Do I tend to act before I have enough information?
• Do I know enough to make judgments on subordinate's proposals?
• What is my vision for the organization?
• How do my subordinates react to my management style?
• What are my external relationships?
• Do I have a system of time management?
• Do I overwork?
• Am I becoming superficial?
• How do I use media?
• How do I blend my rights and duties?

"Competing Values Approach to Management" (book review, introduction)

1. I consider myself an academic entrepreneur of sorts. That's really why I came to Houghton, because I thought it might be a perfect opportunity to exercise some of these skills. One of the creations we saw happen this spring is the beginning of a Certificate in Business Administration.

It's ideal for a pastor wanting to improve the business skills that a pastor is often called on to exercise and yet for which most pastors are ill-prepared. 

Five of us signed up, including me. The first course is Principles of Management. We walk through the course and then take a comprehensive exam at the end to receive certificate credit. It is $200 a course.

In preparation for the exam, I'm going to blog through my reading and preparation. There were three key learning features of the first week for me.

• a Competing Values self-assessment
• reading the introduction to Becoming a Master Manager: A Competing Values Approach
• reading a Harvard Business Review classic, "The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact"

2. The fundamental approach of this book to management is to think of a manager's role as involving four different domains or values that are often in competition with each other:

• Compete -- the output and goal orientation (rational goal model) -- This is the oldest model of modern times. The goal is profit and productivity. It's the dollar sign. "The ultimate value is achievement and profit maximization" (5).
• Control -- good processes (internal process model) -- This is the bureaucracy model. You want stability. you want routinization. The pyramid.
• Collaborate -- cohesion, morale orientation (human relations model) -- Get everyone involved in the process and decision making. It will get more commitment. The circle.
• Create -- adaptability to circumstances (open systems model) -- Be flexible and able to adjust depending on the environment. The amoeba.

3. Those who have known me in my previous and current roles as a leader would predict that, on the Competing Values Assessment, I scored high on create. I also definitely have an output orientation. I scored fairly high on collaborate too. Predictably, my lowest score was on control. I fully recognize the need for good processes, but I get very annoyed by bureaucracy.

4. The four competing values correlate to varying emphases in the study of management that have played out over the years:

A. The beginning of the twentieth century saw an emphasis on output (rational goal model). Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) was the "father" of scientific management with four basic principles:

• There should be a science for every job.
• Pick workers to fit the job, and train them.
• Offer incentives to follow the science.
• Plan the work for each job.

B. Then as the century progressed, you had Max Weber and Henri Fayol advocating for a professional bureaucracy. "Routinization leads to stability" (5). Here are Fayol's principles of management:

• Divide up the work logically to reduce the number of tasks to be done.
• Give authority and responsibility to the right people.
• Expect discipline.
• One superior for each person
• One plan, one head, one objective
• General interest over individual interest
• Give a fair wage.
• Centralized authority
• Chain of authority
• Order -- a place for everything and everything in its place
• Equity
• Long tenure of personnel
• Think out the plan before enacting it.
• Esprit de corps

Here are the elements of Weber's bureaucracy:

• division of labor
• hierarchy of authority 
• personnel selected for each job
• Keep good records.
• Pay your managers.
• standard rules and procedures

C. In the mid-twentieth century an emphasis on human relations developed in management. A key book in this period was How to Win Friends and Influence People. It became important to pay attention to the needs of the people who work for you and not just to focus on output.

D. Change accelerated in the late twentieth century and the importance of being able to adapt to changing situations became more and more important. Thus the open systems model and the idea of an "adhocracy" over bureaucracy.

Contingency theory emphasizes a leadership that adjusts as necessary:

• Change the process and procedures as the size changes.
• Change the technology in relation to the situation.
• Change the structures and styles depending on the environment.
• Adjust your approach depending on the people who work for you.

Complexity in the 80s led to the hit book, In Search of Excellence. Then there was Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline in the 90s.

5. The book introduces a number of core competencies of a "master manager." Mastery implies a change in what you know (knowing), your skills (doing), and who you are (being). Character is part of being an effective manager.

The rest of the introduction introduces the process of the book and the first competency. The first competency is to be able to think critically. 

Thinking clearly involves being able to tell the difference between a "claim," a "ground" or basis for the claim in evidence, and a "warrant" which makes the connection between the claim and its ground.

6. The process of learning in the book is called the "ALAPA model":

• Assessment
• Learning
• Analysis
• Practice
• Application