Sam also applied Fayol’s idea on organising. She told the cook that it was his duty to sort of the problems with the oven and asked him if he had put in a request to get it repaired. She determines what needs to be completed and had the person in charge to do it in her way (I bid). She got the cook to get the oven fixed; hence, she was ‘getting things done through people’. She also noticed that many staffs would be going off at the same time. She wanted to do a staff roster in order to be fair and still maintaining the catering service for the hospital.
Fayol, (quoted in Lamond, 1998: 12) explains that control meant to “point out weaknesses and errors in order to rectify them and recurrence… to contribute to smooth working of each department in particular and of the concern in general”. From the case study, Sam studied the complaints from the wards about the not properly cooked food. She investigated the problem and found out that the kitchen oven was not heating as well. She got it fixed so that it would support the hospital’s service strategies. She also analysed the problem of too many staffs taking leave at the same time and planned to solve the problem by putting up the matter for next week’s team meeting.
Sam’s role as a leader (one of Mintzberg’s managerial roles) has showed when she called each ward manager for reports of food poisoning. She performed activities, which involves subordinates and got the reports of food poisoning through them. She also acknowledged her mails by replying them, which falls under Mintzberg’s idea on liaison (Robbins et al, 2003, p 12).
Sam received information from an outside source that the price of meat was going up by 20%. She practices Mintzberg’s idea on monitor (Jarvis, 2000). In a real life situation, MASkargo’s senior general manager, J.J. Ong, practices monitor too by monitoring the oil prices and the supply and demand on a day to day basis to see if the business should increase their pricing (Nathan, 29 March 2003).
Sam reports about the outcome of her complaints to the CEO and about the rising meat price. She too decided to put up the matter about the staffing on the agenda for next week’s meeting. She plays the disseminator role by transmitting information received from outside source to the members of the organisation, which is one of Mintzberg’s theories in both situations (Robbins et al, 2003, p 12).
When Sam had the trouble with the staffing, she was practising both disturbance handler role and resource allocator role by Mintzberg. She was organising strategies to overcome the problem and wanted to allocate her staffs using a staff roster (I bid). Sam also discussed the meat price rise with the CEO, which could have impact on her budget and proved that she was practicing the disturbance handler role (I bid). Based on the case study, Sam is a mid-level manager as the application of Mintzberg’s theories to her morning was more towards the interpersonal role.
There are two types of management thought, rational-functional and social-reality. In every type of management thought, there is the close system and open system. Closed system means that there are not interaction with the outside environment while open system means that interaction does occur. Rational-functional consists of classical management; and systems and management science, which is the close and open system respectively. Meanwhile, social-reality consists of human relations; and contingency power and politics. Some examples of rational actors are Fayol, Weber; and Katz and Kahn and some examples of social actors are Mayo, Maslow, Lawrence and Lorsh; and Mintzberg (Robbins et al, 2003; Enock, 2002). Classical management’s theory emphasises on the structure of the organisation and the prescriptive of what is best for the firm. Systems and management science or management science focuses on the technology where mathematical techniques such as for the modelling, analysis and solution of management problem are applied. The organisations focused here are organisations, which are complex due to technology. Human relations theory puts importance on motivation and leadership. Lastly, contingency power and politics theory is an inclusive view of people in organisation. It also suggests solutions for the diagnosis of the people, task, environment and technology (Enock, 2002).
In reference to the case study, Sam possesses both of the rational-functional perspective of management and the social-reality perspective. For example, Sam applied some of the Fayol’s 14 principles of management to get her work done. Sam puts main priority to the work of her team. This proves that she puts esprit de corps, as an important factor in the organisation’s success (Jarvis, 2000). Sam demonstrates authority when she called each ward manager to check for food poisoning. Sam also possesses equity. Although she was angry about having to deal about the complaints, she thought and discussed with the cook calmly about the problems with the food (I bid).
An example where Sam applied a social-reality theory is that she applied Mayo’s Hawthorne Studies. The Hawthorne Studies conducted by Mayo was to prove that the scientific management was inadequate. In the case study, Sam applied Hawthorne Studies when she was calmly discussing the problem with the cook although she was angry. In return, the cook requested to get the oven repaired immediately; and he also would fill in a report addressing the patients’ complaints, and the actions he would take to make sure the patients are unharmed. The cook took the initiative to do those actions. The Hawthorne Studies said that the reason behind the increase in productivity was that the employees were treated as special people and not due to the working conditions (West, 2000).
Based on the definition of the above management theories and the relationship between the theories and the case study, there is a distinction between the rational-functional perspective of management and the social-reality perspective. Rational-functional perspective of management is more of the scientific approach of management. This means that there is an objective decision and productivity is more important. Whereas for social-reality perspective, the arts approach of management is more emphasised. Decisions are often subjective and there are social coalitions between stakeholders. Hence, “management is not an exact science, but rather is a mix of art, scientific methodology, intuition, investigation, and, most of all, experimentation” (Miller and Vaughan, 2001: 11).
In conclusion, based on the case study, Fayol’s management functions and Mintzberg’s management roles can help to understand the rational-functional perspective and social-reality perspective of management. The management functions and roles shows the responsibility and duties of a manager meanwhile the rational-functional perspective and social-reality perspective of management are used to build organisations and guide them towards the organisation’s goals. It is also a conceptual framework for organising knowledge and it provides a blueprint for action. By applying Fayol’s and Mintzberg’s theories, the managers can have a guideline for their managing, getting things done through people and can use the management theories to assist their work.
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