POLC Reflection Management

This paper reflects on the author's managerial experience and discusses the theories of scientific management and administrative management. It also explores how established companies, such as Microsoft and Walmart, utilize these management theories in their operations.

Running head: POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary
The respective paper is a reflection of my managerial experience along with an essay about the
two different approaches and theory of management, scientific management and administrative
management, its definition and scope along with description of an established company that
utilizes the two management theories or perspective in their operations. The respective paper
concludes by providing an insight about personal pragmatic experience of management and the
theoretical perspectives at the same time.

2POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
As an undergraduate management student, I have been habituated with conceptual
assignments as well as pragmatic managerial internships as a part of my coursework. The
respective paper which is presented is a reflection paper of my managerial experience as a team
leader of research and development team of a supermarket in Australia. In this paper, I have
provided a precise description about my experience in the organization as a team leader, how I
managed the area of management, which included POLC (Planning, Organization, Leadership
and Control). The essay is also about the two different approaches and theory of management,
scientific management and administrative management, its definition and scope along with
description of an established company that utilizes the two management theories or perspective
in their operations. The respective paper is a reflective essay and an essay about management and
theories associated with it.
As a management student of undergraduate program, I have been provided with
conceptual assignments as well as practical and pragmatic internships during my coursework of
management studies. At the end of the semester I had been appointed as a team leader of the
research and development team of a supermarket in Australia for a week. Throughout my
internship, I had been subjected to various managerial tasks such as planning, organizing,
leadership and controlling. I have been subjected to various ups and downs and obstacles within
the team as well. As a team leader of the research and development team of the respective
supermarket in Australia, even for a week, I have been bestowed with the duties and
responsibilities of the credibility of the team as well as accountability towards the performance
of the team and the employees and subordinates working under me. The research and
development team of an organization can also be called as one of the nerve centers of the
organization that has a plethora of activities to carry out. For instance, in order to develop a new

3POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
product, the responsibility of the research and development wing of the organizations is to
conduct a deep introspection and research about the product and its developmental standards and
quotes (Shafritz, Ott and Jang 2015). The activities in such cases include introspection and
determination of the specific diagram of the product, the study of the anatomy of the product
with details and specifications which also helps in understanding and providing budget and
production timing of the product to the organization. The positive as well as negative aspects of
the market or prospective market where the product is or is going to be launched is checked and
researched by the research and development wing. The research and development wing tends to
take in all the information regarding the market structure where the organization is thinking of
launching their products and services. Quality checks of the products which are an important
analysis for the products, are sometimes handled by the research and development team of the
companies because the team has certain intrinsic as well as instrumental knowledge of the
products of the respective companies. The research and development team of the supermarket
where I had been appointed is indeed the most suitable one however, there are present certain
fallacies and follies in the team inside the organization. In order to meet the short term and long
term objectives of the respective organization, I had been appointed as a management
professional, rather, a team leader and also to meet the requisites of the employees in the team
while working. Installation of digital signage as well as other digital portals in order to detect and
analyze psycho-social behavior of the female consumers of the supermarket was the strategy that
the research and development wing of the respective organization had taken and I, as a team
leader, was given the responsibility to plan, organize, lead and control the team with the strategy
taken up. The strategy was indeed an important one and had the usage of premium and sensitive
digital media and gadgets which required expert handling. In order to execute the strategy, I had

4POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
been taking up the responsibility of hiring the mechanics and digital experts who would place,
install and upload the technologies in the departments so that there is no confusion regarding the
installment and usage of the new gadgets. Other tertiary programs such as training sessions and
workshops regarding the installation and usage of those digital portals were also been done by
me in order to provide the employees opportunities to enhance their technical skills and dexterity
in fields such as computer hardware and software so that their productivity is well aligned and
synergized with the technical competencies. I had made a team of three members who would be
looking after the matter of contacting the mechanics and technological experts who would be
placing and installing the hardware and software of the digital portals. I had also formed a team
of three members who have degrees in various technological fields who would be assigned the
duty of providing the novice and technologically ill-informed employees the training sessions on
how to utilize the digital portals effectively and efficiently. As a leader, I guided them about
how, when and in what way the task should be initiated and completed and I kept a strict control
over the teams with the help of proper surveillance and investigation dynamics. The task went
quite well and my performance as a team leader for one week in the research and development
department was successful. However, it has to be remembered that Australian labor market is
marked with diversity. The organization where I worked was diverse in their human resource and
manpower. Different people from various gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and
nationality had been employed in the supermarket in the research and development team. Inside
the department, there had been certain miscommunication and problems of interpersonal
communication among the employees and me which could have been avoided by utilizing active
listening, check on non-verbal communication and feedback processes within the team. In a
diverse workplace, cross cultural interpersonal communication is of utmost importance because

5POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
the companies in today’s world operate and function not only locally but also in the global
market. Therefore, I would have taken care of cross cultural communication inside the team if I
would have received a second opportunity.
Serial Number Candidate’s name Contribution
1. Training Group Mrs. Parker Supercomputer analyst and
trainer of the novice
employees
Mr. Thomas Expertise in Microsoft
software, trainer
Mr. Atkinson Website developer and trainer
2. Technology support
group
Mr. Robinson Given the task to call the
mechanics
Mr. Winfrey Contacting the technological
experts from websites,
journals and newspapers
Mr. Carter Contacting the gadget experts
through phone calls and
emails.
WORK DESIGNATION CHART
I have taken two management principles from the session of “Evolution of management
theories” namely, Scientific management and administrative management. Scientific
management can be defined as theory of management that analyses and synthesizes workflow
with the help of scientific and logical calculations and scientific, rational mechanisms based on

6POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
probability and reasonable grounds (Morden 2017). The main objectives of scientific
management are to increase the credibility of the organizations with the help of bringing in
economic efficiency, especially labor productivity of an organization. Scientific management is
also called Taylorism as it was first introduced in the contemporary global business world by
Fredrick Winslow Taylor. The company that utilizes scientific management is Microsoft, which
is a computer software company based in America. It utilizes scientific management theory in
the areas of innovation of its products. It is known that innovation might not be directly
associated with scientific management, however, it requires undertaking of original thoughts and
non-standardized approaches to execute them. Such constant innovation and its strategies have
given the company long-term competitive advantage over other software manufacturing
companies (Microsoft.com.2019).
As far as administrative management is concerned, Fayol has provided the business
world with administrative management theory which consists of fourteen principles, they are:
Initiative, equity, scalar chain, remuneration personnel, unit of direction, discipline, division of
work, authority and responsibility, unity of command, subordination of general interest,
centralization, order, stability of tenure and esprit de corps (union is strength) (Khorasani and
Almasifard 2017). Walmart, which is a listed company of Fortune 500 companies list, utilizes
the Fayol theory of administrative management in their operations. Walmart has a clear
management strategy of taking up the right initiatives with proper discipline, division of work,
proper distribution of authority and responsibility with the concept of esprit de corps that has
helped the company achieve such huge success. The “Green Project” of Walmart that has
provided the company to gain success as it took up Fayol’s administrative management

7POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
principles, and therefore, administrative management is considered to be a key factor for the
growth and development of an organization (Walmart.com.2019).
The respective paper is a reflection of my managerial experience along with an essay
about the two different approaches and theory of management, scientific management and
administrative management, its definition and scope along with description of an established
company that utilizes the two management theories or perspective in their operations. The
respective paper concludes by providing an insight about personal pragmatic experience of
management and the theoretical perspectives at the same time.

8POLC REFLECTION MANAGEMENT
References:
Khorasani, S.T. and Almasifard, M., 2017. Evolution of management theory within 20 century:
A systemic overview of paradigm shifts in management. International Review of Management
and Marketing, 7(3), pp.134-137.
Microsoft.com.2019. Available at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/
Morden, T., 2017. Principles of management. Routledge.
Peaucelle, J.L. and Guthrie, C., 2015. Henri Fayol. In The Oxford Handbook of Management
Theorists.
Taylor, F.W., 2015. Fundamentals of scientific management. In Working in America (pp. 35-42).
Routledge.
Walmart.com.2019. Available at: https://www.walmart.com/
Waring, S.P., 2016. Taylorism transformed: Scientific management theory since 1945. UNC
Press Books.