Reflective Essay: Comparing Traditional and Contemporary Management

This essay provides a reflective comparison of traditional and contemporary management approaches, highlighting the evolution of management theories and their impact on business practices. The author reflects on their learning during a management module, discussing the key differences between goal-oriented traditional methods and modern approaches that emphasize employee well-being and development. A personal analysis identifies strengths in communication and presentation skills, alongside areas needing improvement such as leadership, time management, and problem-solving. An action plan is outlined to enhance leadership skills through online sessions, mentorship, and practical application within team tasks. The reflection concludes with a summary of key learnings and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Reflective paper
comparing traditional
and contemporary
approaches of
management

Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
Learning's during the module..........................................................................................3
Personal analysis..............................................................................................................4
Action plan.......................................................................................................................5
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................6
References............................................................................................................................7

Introduction
Management refers to the process of planning, organizing, controlling resources of
organization so that desired objectives can be accomplished within predefined period of time.
Now, there is a lot of improvements have been done in the field of management in order to
receive positive outcomes (Tuczek, Castka and Wakolbinger, 2018). The present study is a
reflection where I am going to demonstrate the knowledge I have gathered throughout the
learning sessions. Apart from this, I will also analyzed the area of improvements and prepare an
action plan in order to develop suitable skills accordingly.
Learning's during the module
I learned several insights of management during the session. I gained knowledge of
different tools, theories and approaches of management and their application in business. I
learned that management is the most crucial aspect of success of a business entity. It is about
managing and administrating different functions so that an organization can successfully attain
its goals. Management helps in adding value to resources with an aim to improve the overall
experience of customers. In addition to this, management is related with human being. Here,
managers make people capable to use their strengths in positive manner (Rusconi, 2019). The
unit includes role of managers introduced by Mintzberg. I learned that four crucial task of
management are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Additionally, I get to learn that
managers are the key person of organization. They ensure that organization attain it’s predefine
purpose and also help in maintaining the stability within business environment.
During the learning sessions, I get to know that traditional management approaches are
goal oriented. Here, managers structure the goals and employees need to follow the policies
prepared by strategies. In this, managers focus on extrinsic motivation, rewards, short term
horizon and more. They just focus on achievement of short term goals rather having the long
term perspective. While studying in the session, I also got exposure with traditional approaches
of management which are classical, system and human relation approach. I learned that classical
approach focus on purpose, technical requirement, hierarchy of management and more. In
addition to this, I learned about human relationship approach which focuses on leadership,
informal organization and behavior of people. In traditional management approach, managers

only aim to improve the profitability of business. They did not pay attention towards
development and upliftment of human resources. Rather, human resources were used to treat as
machines who were getting paid in return of their efforts. On the contrary, contemporary
management theories such as scientific management and more are developed. While going
through with the study material, I gathered knowledge regarding contemporary management
practices. I learned about scientific management which is a well known theory of management
developed by Taylor. This theory brought a revolution in the field of management. It emphasis
on maximizing profit by making effective use of skills and potential of work force. Here, it is
considered that behavior of employees can be controlled by training, monetary incentives.
However, the modern approach of management is based on behavior, attitude and perception of
employees. As per the modern management, it is considered that employees work to attain
satisfaction, happiness and self fulfillment (Ten Have and et. al., 2018). Therefore, I learned that
approaches of management have evolved over the period of time. The traditional management
was based on exploitation of employees while the contemporary practices consider employees as
crucial asset of business.
Personal analysis
During the learning sessions, I got opportunity to carry out my personal analysis. It
helped me to identify the areas in which I am good. In addition to this, I also identify certain
areas in which I need improvement in order to enhance my future performance.
Areas in which I am good
I realized that I am good at communication skill as I was able to interact with other
people in an effective manner. Due to this skill, I was able to impress my faculty members. In
addition to this, my presentation skills are also up to the mark which helped me in delivering
effective presentation in front my batch mates and faculties. Due to strong presentation skills, my
teachers always have a positive gesture towards me which also helped me in studies.
Areas of work which need to improve
While studying in the session, I realized that I am lacking in certain areas which might
affect my future performance. I identified that my leadership skill are nor remarkable so that I
am unable to play a role of leader while it comes to work in a team. Apart from this, I am lacking

in time management. Due to this, I am unable to prepare a proper schedule. Also, sometimes I
miss the deadlines which might hamper my impression among peers. Additionally, my problem
solving skills are not up to the mark. I am unable to find the appropriate solutions of problem
which directly affect my decisions making capabilities.
Action plan
I analyzed that I am lacking in leadership skills. This skill is crucial in order to
significantly contribute towards success of team. In addition to this, it helps in providing
appropriate direction to individuals. For improving this skill, I will join online sessions on
leadership which will help in enhancing my theoretical knowledge about leadership. Further, I
will take guidance from some experienced and well known personalities. I will try to learn from
their leadership lessons. As the another step, I will take initiatives to work as a leader during
team task. Apart from taking these steps, I will measure my own performance constantly and try
to identify areas of improvement. In addition, I will also work on feedback received from my
team members. I have been determined a time period of 3 months to sharpen my leadership
skills.

Conclusion
It is analyzed with above -mentioned information that I learned significant insights about
traditional and contemporary management during the sessions. I identified that I am good at
communication and presentation skills while lacking on some areas such as leadership, problem
solving and time management. I have made an action plan in order to work on my leadership
skills for further enhancement.

References
Books and journals
Adams, D., 2018. Mastering theories of educational leadership and management. University of
Malaya Press.
Rusconi, G., 2019. Ethical firm system and stakeholder management theories: a possible
convergence. European Management Review, 16(1), pp.147-166.
Ten Have and et. al., 2018. The Social Psychology of Change Management: Theories and an
Evidence-based Perspective on Social and Organizational Beings. Routledge.
Tuczek, F., Castka, P. and Wakolbinger, T., 2018. A review of management theories in the
context of quality, environmental and social responsibility voluntary standards. Journal
of cleaner production, 176, pp.399-416.