A Critical Review of Interpretations of Management Theories

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of different interpretations of management theories, focusing on modernist, symbolic interactive, and postmodern perspectives. It discusses how these theories influence organizational behavior and decision-making processes. The essay highlights the importance of understanding these theories for effective management and competitive advantage. It further examines the role of managers in implementing these theories to address organizational issues and foster a positive organizational culture. The paper concludes by advocating for the postmodernist approach as the most suitable for contemporary business environments, emphasizing innovation and adaptability. Desklib offers a wealth of similar resources for students seeking to deepen their understanding of management theories and their practical applications.

Running head: INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
Interpretations of Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The organization theories are very important factors for the management to look upon to
run the organization in the better ways. The managers should be effective and they should be
accountable to communicate with the employees so they can put up the best effort to gain the
competitive advantage (Robbins and Judge 2012). It is the responsibility of the managers to
discuss the different organizational theories and make the perfect implementation of those
theories to make the best impacts. There are some different perspectives of the organizational
behavior. These different types of behaviors are modernist behavior, symbolic interpretive
behavior and the modernist organizational behavior.
In this essay all these theories would be discussed properly to find out the issues within
the management. The problems might be sorted out with the open conversation between the
employees and the other organizational members like the stakeholders. The best ways to study
these behaviors would be described in this paper and the organizations might be able to gain the
benefits from these theories (Pinder 2014). The decision making of the managers or the leaders
should be considered as very much significant for the organization. However, these theories
would be discussed in this paper properly to find out both the positive and negative impacts.
The behavior of the organizational members
The behavior of the organizational members is a very crucial thing for the success of the
organizations in the best manner. However, the role of the managers and the organizational
members is to keep the proper balance so the organization can be able to run smoothly despite
the several issues (Robbins and Judge 2012). The managers must follow the different
organizational theories so that they can guide the organizational members in the right path.

2INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
However the structure of the organizations and its inherent culture are very important parts of the
process (Jones 2013). The organizational indeed plays a powerful role in this matter.
If the organizational members are given the independence by the authority their
performances can flourish with time since they would not be bound to complete a specific
project with the guided instructions (Pinder 2014). They can use their innovative and creative
quality to improve the outcomes for the organization. The organizational behaviors have been
changing throughout a longer period of time. The main purpose of the organizational members is
to reach their goals within a specific amount of time so they must plan their ways in the best
manner for the overall success of the organization (Miner 2015). The three organizational
behaviorist theories namely modernist, symbolic interactive and postmodern would be discussed
in the following section.
Modernist theory
The modernist management theory of the organization is a very crucial aspect of the
change of the modern organizations (Jones 2013). There are some approaches that are considered
as very important in this section. The ideologists and the theorists have viewed their opinions
that the social responsibilities of the business organizations are really important for the
organizations to be practiced in the contemporary times (Miner 2015). This is why the
organizations would be liable to perfect and refine their actions accordingly.
The organizations must look at the probable options for the betterment of their policies
and the organizations should analyze their faults and issues (Oktay 2016). The elaboration of the
issues would be needed for the organizations so the managers can take the proper decisions in the
difficult times. The theory can be applied to the different sections like the human resources area,

3INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
marketing area, operations area and strategy area (Wagner and Hollenbeck 2014). The managers
would need to know about the several issues from the several reliable sources and then they can
take the decisions by consulting with the other organizational members.
Several issues like the sales, logistics, productivity, marketing, recruitment, selection and
training issues should be highlighted when taking the decisions properly (Oktay 2016). The
members of the organization are free to produce the data and statistics for the successful
portrayal of the policies that have been implemented. The phenomenon of interest is a very
significant deal in this section (Wagner and Hollenbeck 2014). The inputs from the employees
would decide the outcomes of the organizations. The organizational environment has also been
considered in this section as well. The contingency theory by Burns and Stalker is indeed a
crucial one to think of for the overall development of the organizations (Jones 2012).
According to these theorists the organizations should always produce a stable
environment that would let the employees employ the skills as per needed. It should be
encouraged since the changing work patterns and the rapidly changing working environments
would need such employees who could be flexible indeed (Jones 2012). There are high chances
of the complexity within the organizations that can be resulted from the vast change i.e. already
taking place. The elements of the organization are on a raid change and this determines the rates
of change (Hatch 2018).
The uncertainty within the organization would surely result from the complexity of the
organizational members’ and the rates of change. The managers will notice the uncertainty
within the organization when they would see something unpredictable indeed. The
environmental contingency takes place whenever the conflicts arise from the mechanistic and

4INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
organic forms of the organizations (Luthans, Luthans and Luthans 2015). The organizations
would fight for the survival and this would give the rise to the phenomenon of interest for the
organizations.
Symbolic interactive theory
The symbolic interactive theory is another theory that has been considered as one of the
most effective ones for the understanding of the management (Hatch 2018). The human agency
and organizational structure of the organization are perceived as the significant issues for
understanding of the issues within the organizations. The theorist named Philip Selznick has
invented the institutional theory. This theory has played a mammoth role in identifying the issues
within the contemporary management (DuBrin 2013). The organizations should look into the
legal and political influences on the organizations that can control the proceedings of the
organization. The norms, values and expectations of the organizations would direct the cultural
influences on the organizations. Thus the organizational culture of the organizations can be
determined (Jones 2013). The organizations must abide by the rules and norms of the country
they are doing their business in. In this scenario, the social influences can be considered as
effective means as well.
There are some four other processes that can be included within this discussion. The first
one is the coercive influences that include the international pressures on the organizations as the
pressure comes from the government laws. The second issue is that of the normative where the
pressure comes from the cultural expectations (DuBrin 2013). The third one is Mimetic where
the desire to look like other organizations is a concern. The Social legitimacy is also one very
important factor since they must be accepted in the society they are operating in. This is why the

5INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
organizations would have to deal with several issues within the constraints of the society. The
way the people tend to interact with the organizations has been discussed in this section
particularly (Shafritz, Ott and Jang 2015). The theorists have proclaimed that the organizations
should be able to interact with the people and the society. It would be much helpful for the
managers to cope up with the changes like environmental ones. They can deal with the rapidly
changing world in a better manner (Nicolini 2016). It would be easier and effective for the
organizations to use the decision making. The managers would be able to take their decisions in
a more effective manner indeed. The organizing process would be a very interesting one when
the theoretical perspective of the symbolic interaction should be implemented (Shafritz, Ott and
Jang 2015). It is because the social, cultural and political influences are so very crucial to
determine the better ways for the overall improvement.
Postmodern theory
It has to be mentioned in the beginning of this section that both the symbolical
interpretive and contingency theories have attributed to the advent of the postmodern
organizational theory (Oktay 2016). According to the theorists of the postmodern theories,
organizations would surely develop as per the post-positivist and the post-functionalist views. It
has been the one-step further approach to that of the modernist views of the organization. Some
relevant approaches related to that of art, culture and philosophy have contributed to the
development of this theory in vast manner (Nicolini 2016). So, the organizational members will
need to follow this approach for their developments.
There have been several complications in the postmodern theory than the time it had been
invented in the earlier times. The concept has evolved a lot from the earlier times and it is the

6INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
role of the managers to interpret the issues within the systems (Oktay 2016). The believers and
theorists of postmodernist theorist have always attempted to remove the traditional practices and
institutional techniques of running the organization. However, the implementation of the new
and updated technologies will help the organizations to survive in this changing world and
managers would thrive for success (Bolman and Deal 2017). This is why the organizations
would need to adapt to the changing conditions very swiftly. The adaptability to the changing
conditions of the organizations in this rapidly changing world seems to be one of the most
significant aspects for the success of the organization.
The organizations always prefer to stay one step ahead of their rivals. This issue indeed is
very complicated and confusing for the people who want to lead their teams in the competing
business environment (Kerr, Robinson and Elliott 2016). The postmodernist approaches in the
organizational theory are indeed much viable for the overall success of the organizations in the
most effective manner. It has been considered rather as a literature style and not a proper
philosophical system in a systematic manner (Bolman and Deal 2017). The creative development
in the organization is rooted in the approaches to the organizational theory.
According to the critics, the organizations can surely cope up with the difficulties that
arise in this system. This is why the organizations would need to implement the postmodern
organizational theory (Kerr, Robinson and Elliott 2016). The innovative capabilities of the
organization members have been noted as one of the most significant factor for the overall
development of the organizations (Hatch 2018). This is the reason why the postmodernist
approach is very much accountable for the use of the proper technology. The users would be able
to globalize by using the postmodernist theory in the organizational phenomena.

7INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
The best way to study the organizational behavior
All the three organizational theories and methods are really important for the
development of the organizations in this regard. The organizations face a lot of troubles in the
current competitive business environment (Hatch 2018). This is why the managers would be
required to make the proper decisions on how they can gain the competitive advantage. In this
regard, it can be opined that the best way to study this behavior is to follow the postmodernist
approach. As the contemporary business proceedings are mainly based on the growth of the
technology, this approach would fit in this section as the best one (Layder 2014). This approach
encourages the employees to be innovative and they get the independence to work with enough
freedom so they can produce the best ways for the overall development. This theory would be
the most suitable for the organizations in the contemporary business environment.
Conclusion
To conclude this essay it can be said that the organization theories are very much
important for the implementation in the difficult situations. These situations can arise anytime in
the competitive business scenario. The organizations can use the postmodernist theories as this
theory or behavior would suit the needs of the organization most fittingly. The growth of the
technology will be the most useful factor for the success of the organization when they would
undertake the change initiatives and adjust to the rapid changes within the business environment.

8INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
References
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons.
DuBrin, A.J., 2013. Fundamentals of organizational behavior: An applied perspective. Elsevier.
Hatch, M.J., 2018. Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives.
Oxford university press.
Jones, G.R., 2012. Organizational theory, design, and change: Texts and cases. Pearson Higher
Ed.
Jones, G.R., 2013. Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson,.
Kerr, R., Robinson, S.K. and Elliott, C., 2016. Modernism, Postmodernism, and corporate
power: historicizing the architectural typology of the corporate campus. Management &
Organizational History, 11(2), pp.123-146.
Layder, D., 2014. Structure, Interaction and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory). Routledge.
Luthans, F., Luthans, B.C. and Luthans, K.W., 2015. Organizational Behavior: An
EvidenceBased Approach. IAP.
Miner, J.B., 2015. Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership.
Routledge.
Nicolini, D., 2016. Knowing in Organizations: A Practice-Based Approach: A Practice-Based
Approach. Routledge.

9INTERPRETATIONS OF MANAGEMENT
Oktay, R.R., 2016. A Conceptual Framework for Postmodernism. In The Challenges of
Contemporaneity (pp. 5-10). Springer, Cham.
Pettigrew, A.M., 2014. The politics of organizational decision-making. Routledge.
Pinder, C.C., 2014. Work motivation in organizational behavior. Psychology Press.
Robbins, S.P. and Judge, T., 2012. Essentials of organizational behavior.
Shafritz, J.M., Ott, J.S. and Jang, Y.S., 2015. Classics of organization theory. Cengage Learning.
Wagner III, J.A. and Hollenbeck, J.R., 2014. Organizational behavior: Securing competitive
advantage. Routledge.