Foundations of Management Essay

This essay discusses various aspects of management, including managerial ideology, the impact of bureaucracy on decision-making, and the significance of a common moral purpose within organizations. It highlights the challenges faced by organizations in managing paradoxes and the importance of...Read More

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Foundations of Management
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Question 1
Managerial ideology basically relates to the primary frameworks and assumptions used
by individuals when dealing with practice and different aspects pertaining professional
management (Svetlana 2012). This ideology concerns the essential beliefs surrounding different
aspects which the management strives to attain under whatever circumstance, and the best
strategies which can be used to attain them.
Therefore, this ideology is basically based on what the management wants to attain for a
particular reason and the means which can be used to attain the desired outcome. Based on
managerial ideology, managers should utilize relevant factors to achieve their desired outcome
when performing their duties (Frank 2014). Because the concept of this ideology operates just
like the tools of trade, the machine metaphor stated by Morgan has a close relationship with it in
totality.
The machine metaphor is based on several factors which comprise of focusing to be
efficient, emphasizing on quality, and timeless of production processes in a machine up to
interlocking parts (Frank 2014). According to this metaphor, firms operate based on rational
economic ideologies, have a hierarchy in their organizational structure and focus on increasing
wealth. The machine metaphor also suggests that individuals in organizations are viewed as
mechanical parts or human resources which are supposed to be used in completing different
tasks. When using this metaphor, the reasoning and actions of individuals are infused with the
baggage of machine like associations, and as such, several factors like dehumanization arises.
To explain, the machine metaphor makes people to react as if they are the only functional
components whose value is only extended because they assist an organization to have continued
operations.

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Question 2
Bureaucracy is one of the worst obstacles which hinder proper decision making and
problem-solving in organizations (Thomas 2015). This happens because not all people in the
different levels of management are given opportunities to express their views. In most cases,
officials in the managers at the bottom level are there to be seen because only the senior and
those in the top level have say. The fact that decisions are only made by those in top level
management acts as an obstacle to proper decisions because views are not shared (Frank 2014).
The rationale-bureaucratic organization model is based on the machine metaphor of firms which
draw a similarity on the association between parts of a mechanical devices and the relationship
among positions in an organization.
There are various other obstacles associated with utilization of this model in
organizations. Some of them comprise of the strict and rigid conformity to rules, regulations, and
procedures, which in most cases undermine the firm’s primary objectives (Frank 2014). This
mostly happens because staff members are mostly focused on observing organization policies
which make them to end up overseeing the organizational goals. In most cases, this results to
reduced productivity or failure to meet the stated goals.
Some of the rational bureaucratic organizations have more difficult time in terms of
obstacles which hinder coming up with best decisions concerning ways of reaching a goal or
solve a problem than others because the strategies used to exercise power varies from one
organization to the other even when similar system is used (Ernesto 2013). For example, an
organization may operate based on rational bureaucracy but still have some strategies of

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involving all levels of management in decision making. In most cases, rational bureaucratic
organizations deal with problems which comprise of poor decision makings, reduced
productivity due to lack of team work, high employee turnover among others.
QUESTION 3
According to Chester Barnard common moral purpose can be termed as a good way of
explaining how organizations function to meet their goals. Common moral purpose relates to
how sometimes people are advised of the organization’s goals and the several strategies which
they can use to attain them. In most of the organizations, Staff members work to attain a
common purpose through creating a product or providing services to the consumers. In most
cases, job descriptions and roles relate to the organization’s objectives as well as long term goals.
Based on this perspective, all members of staff usually have a “common moral purpose.”
Common moral purpose is one of the best ways of describing various things that happen
in work organizations because irrespective of having different skills or working in different
positions, employees have something in common, and that is attaining the stated goals and
objectives (Cyrille 2013). The common purpose which employees share balances the
contributions which every member provide to the company’s collective purpose and the amount
of satisfaction which employees and organization attain in exchange.
The main motive of staff members should be matched with that of the company so that
common moral purpose can be attained. However, researcher suggest that an employees’
personalities may fail to be sufficiently empowered by the forces of the common moral purpose
(Krister 2010). For a common moral purpose to be attained without challenges, Staff members

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should always value organizations and trust. They should also understand what the organization
wants to attain and match it with what they want to do for it to attain its goals.
Question four
The importance of managing paradoxes in organizations is impacted with the nature of
environment in which the firm operates in (Frank 2014). Organizational environment is very
dynamic and associated with uncertainties because of several factors which comprise of shorter
product cycle time, increased globalization, stiff competition and increased interdependence in
value chain organizations (Frank 2014). For managers to successfully manage paradoxes, they
must understand the importance of dealing with contradictions and embracing incompatible
forces, instead of choosing between them.
Organizations want to have both economies of scale and economies of scope because
attaining reduced cost of production and increased profitability is a common goal which each one
of them wants to attain (Muhadam 2013). Economies of scale is based on the benefits which
organizations gain through engaging in production of large volume of goods and services, while
economies of scope refer to the benefits which organizations gain by producing different
products through employing similar operations. The major reason why organizations want to
have both scale and scope is to ensure maximum revenue.
Organizations realize huge profits with least production cost (Pasi 2012). This means if
the cost of production is reduced by applying both scale and scope, the management realizes
maximum profits. There are various factors which should be in present for economies of scale
and scope to Co-exist. One, the company should have enough resources because these two
aspects work different and one may require much resources than the other. The other thing which

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should be in presence is ensuring the management understands how each one of them works.
Economies of scope and scale have the potential of making an organization to be successful if
managed with authenticity. Before embraced these two economies of scale and scope in an
organization, the management must ensure there is adequate personnel in the relevant
departments to coordinate all activities.
Enough personnel in organizations helps in ensuring all functions involved in production
processes are coordinated without interruption and therefore it is one of the major aspects which
should be in place for economies of scale and scope to coexist. The paradoxical demands can
only coexist peacefully in organizations which have competent management (O’Connor 2012).
Otherwise, these demands can make the management to realize downfall especially when they
are not monitored effectively.

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References
O’Connor, E., 2012, Creating New Knowledge in Management: Appropriating the Field's Lost
Foundations, Stanford Business Books, Stanford, CA
Pasi, J., 2012, ‘The Paradox of Post-Bureaucracy: Trust Formation among State Administration
Employees in Finland,’ Journal of Social Research & Policy 3(1), 76-89.
Muhadam. L., 2013, ‘Characteristic of Weber Bureucracy and Its Relevance in Indonesia,’ Asian
Social Science, 9(2), 54-67.
Cyrille, D., 2013, ‘Bifurcating Time: How Entrepreneurs Reconcile the Paradoxical Demands of
the Job,’ Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 29(3), 24-34
Pettinger. R., 2010, Organizational Behavior: Performance Management in Practice,
Routledge, New York.
Krister. B., 2011, ‘Theoretical Foundations of the Concept of Management Control: A
References Analysis,’ International Journal of Management, 28(2), 54-67.
Ernesto , D., 2013, ‘Breathers, Releases, Outlets and Pauses: Employee Resistance in the
Context of Depersonalized Bullying,’ The Qualitative Report, 9(1), 43-67.
Svetlana. S., 2012, ‘From the Chaos of Transition Economy to "Normalized" Managerial
Practices: The Role of Group Interaction in Creating Meaning in Managerial Work,’ Journal for
East European Management Studies, 17(4), 456-467.
Frank . S, 2014, ‘Thomas Klikauer: Managerialism: A Critique of an Ideology,’ Journal of
Australian Political Economy, 74(1), 39-56.

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Thomas. T., 2015, Critical Management Studies and Critical Theory: A Review,’ Capital &
Class, 39(2), 89-96.