For its definition, the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy does not help us much since it only tells us what management is: Manager's position, management's responsibility, manager's office, time a person occupies this position.
What is indicated by this dictionary is interesting, on the one hand it associates the term management with management and on the other hand, it associates it with the office occupied by the manager.
In this way, we could say that the word management is used to refer to the set of highly qualified employees who are in charge of directing and managing the affairs of a company. The term also allows to refer to the position held by the manager of the company, who fulfills different functions: coordinating internal resources, representing the company in front of third parties and controlling the goals and objectives.
Well, if we walk through history, we will find traces that clearly indicate that the peoples, since their origin, have worked together in organizations, only by way of example do we find the Greeks, the Romans, let alone the Catholic Church and without forgetting to the Chinese with its great wall. Unquestionably they used and put into practice what we know today as Administration.
Thus we find Sumeria, considered the first and oldest civilization in the world, formed the southern part of ancient Mesopotamia, between the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. At the end of the 4th millennium BC Sumeria was divided into a dozen Cities, independent states, each one governed by a "patesi" (Ennsi), or sometimes by a king (lugal). The patesi were supreme priests and military chiefs, controlled the construction of levees, irrigation canals, temples and silos, imposing and administering the taxes to which the entire population was subject. Interestingly, approximately, for the year 3001 BC there was an administrative control of the collection of taxes.
The Egyptians were not far behind, in fact, their pyramids are strong proof of the need they had to administer and manage a significant number of people in order to build each pyramid (it is estimated that it needed approximately 100,000 people for twenty years).
What do you tell me of Confucius' parables that suggest good management practices? The famous work of the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu "The Art of War", written more than two thousand years ago, a work that was adapted and used by the legendary Mao Tse Tung, in 1949.
Continuing in history we find that the civilization that most influenced administrative thought was the Roman people, who marked the foundations of our society; His foray into administration went so far as to classify companies into three: Public: Those that carry out State activities. Semi-public: Those that belong to unions. Private: Those that were managed by civilians.
A little further on in time we find Fray Luca Paccioli and his double departure without forgetting the famous work "The Prince", masterfully written by Machiavelli in 1531.
From Sumeria to Machiavelli, there was no idea of the Administration and much less the term management was known, however, this journey in history would not have been possible without its implementation.
Now, the term management comes from the root gesture, which comes from the Latin gestures, defined as attitude or movement of the body, which in turn is derived from generate, which means to carry, lead, carry out (negotiations). The meaning (concept) manager, whose origin is from 1884, comes from "gerens", with the sense of managing or carrying out. On the other hand, management, also from 1884, comes from gesture, -onis, defined as the action of carrying out something and has synonyms for managing, manager and administrator (Corominas and Pascual, 1984).
But what is Management ?, according to Henry, Sisk and Mario Sverdlik (1979): “… The term (management) is difficult to define: it means different things for different people. Some identify it with functions performed by entrepreneurs, managers or supervisors, others refer it to a particular group of people. For the workers; Management is synonymous with the exercise of authority over their working lives… ”(Sisk Henry and Mario Sverdlik (1979)).
According to Etkin (Etkin, J. (2000)) the term management refers essentially to three things: the search for opportunities, the coordination of capacities and the rational application of resources.
Following this order of ideas, we can affirm that management is a process that involves the coordination of all the resources available in an organization (human, physical, technological, financial), so that through the processes of: planning, organization, direction and control objectives are achieved.
Management is an important part of the Administration, it is part of the nature of the entrepreneurial efforts of the social group, be it organization, company, cooperative, university, hospital, municipality, association or club.
As with other areas of knowledge and given the enormous range of specialties and knowledge that accompany the term, "management" by itself does not say much, it is necessary to adjective it with a component that gives it, at least, a more precise approach And so we find: Project Management, Finance Management, Human Management Management, Operations Management, etc.
The entire scenario experienced in the 20th century, its events and evolution, its political, economic, social and organizational dynamics, was nothing more than the platform that allowed and catalyzed the construction of knowledge about organizations and their functioning; generated knowledge of all kinds, necessary and essential, so that they satisfy, fulfill, and respond to the purposes for which they were created, and within them, we find management, with a leading role depending on their forms, styles, behaviors and results.
Types of management
Today we have three types of management:
Patrimonial
This type of management is one that in the feudal domain modality, regardless of whether it has academic knowledge, experience, attitudes and capabilities, regardless of whether or not it meets the profile necessary to occupy the position, management positions and other higher positions in the hierarchical structure, they are retained by members of the owning family.
It is the one that works with a hierarchical tree in which, in general, the owners of the company are in charge of directly managing their business, personally defending their assets.
Politics
In the political world, this is classic management in which a group of people who make up a political cabinet help a president, a minister, a ruler, or a leader to administer a country or locality.
In business, political management is the least common, political parties do not usually take into account knowledge, capacity, experience in one field or another and when they take control of a company, they choose managers more for their camaraderie and their loyalty to the political force that represent that due to their professional merits in the area that they are going to manage, in fact, in general, their implementation in a business organization, is highly damaging to the point that their chances of survival they are weak not to say non-existent.
In a more pronounced way than the wealth management, regardless of whether you have academic knowledge, experience, attitudes and capabilities, regardless of whether or not you meet the profile necessary to occupy the position, key administrative positions are assigned on the basis of an alleged ideology affiliation (camaraderie) and tacit political loyalties.
What happens is that, ironically, not everyone understands it, or is it perhaps that it is not the same to operate an ocean liner as to operate a peñero? Overall, both float and sail in the sea.
By objectives
It is basically a dynamic system that integrates the company's need to achieve its objectives, with the knowledge worker's need to contribute to their own development. It is a planning system that integrates all the hierarchical levels of the organization, it is based on the initiative and responsibility of each person on their work. This type of management is synonymous with organization and professional level. The establishment of a goal is in effect, the explicit determination of a purpose, where everyone directs their efforts and knowledge to complete a specific task and therefore the stated goal, and when applied to a business organization, it becomes the tool to fulfill Strategic Planning and with it give shape, color and texture to the Mission and Vision of the company.
Some management styles
1. Autocratic
It is characterized by vertical decision making, there is no sense of responsibility rather orders are followed and it has a destructive effect on the motivational system. In this style, the manager initiates the actions, directs, motivates and controls his staff; reserves and owns the following functions: selects possible alternatives for action; evaluate the different alternatives; decide which alternative will be carried out; he commissions his subordinates (defines functions and tasks); controls the execution (compares the real with the budgeted).
In short, it centralizes all decisions and is the only one authorized to establish rules and regulations. It is not by chance that he selects the staff, who does things as he defines them, that is, the mere cultivation of absolute obedience "command and command" there is only one thinking being and that is the boss, the others obey. In the long run this style is based on threats and punishments.
2. Advisory
In this style, we find some trust towards the collaborators, the manager with the support of his collaborators define the objectives and goals. The manager recognizes the specialty of his collaborators who consult them at specific points.
3. Democratic
In contrast to the autocratic style, it focuses more on the worker than on production. In this style there is a participatory action of the collaborators in most of the functions. Together, goals and objectives are defined, possible alternatives are selected, they are evaluated, and the best alternative to follow is decided together. The manager subordinates his decisions, to the criteria of the majority of the group in the decision, this leads to a clear wear and tear since he tries, at all times, to achieve said majority, therefore, he consults again and again without deciding to act.
Among its main features we find the use of numerous negotiation tactics that become persuasive measures (delays) that the manager must use in order to create consensus among team members.
The American psychologist Daniel Goleman tells us that in situations that demand personal decision-making, the democratic style is often counterproductive, "One of its most exasperating consequences may be endless encounters where ideas are debated without reaching consensus and the only visible result is the scheduling of more meetings. »
4. Participatory
This style is supported in consultation, but the manager reserves the right to make final decisions and control. In the participatory style it is solved in a team: the definition of objectives, the selection of possible action alternatives, the evaluation of them, the choice of the optimal alternative and the assignment of tasks (teamwork). All contribute to a common good, the well-being of management and therefore of the company.
5. Let do
It is characterized by a high level of maturity and specialization. Under a flat organizational structure, this style is where the functions are exercised together, where each one contributes from his or her specialty and discipline and no one is anyone's boss.
The manager participates in a minimal way in the determination of the goals and objectives since the members have complete freedom in the development of the activities and the decision making.
In the absence of the required specialization and maturity level, this management style, totally opposed to the authoritarian one, conspires against the traditional vision of a leader and could be absolutely dysfunctional.
6. Bomberil
This is one of the most charming and devastating styles, it is characterized by the lack of organization and the term planning is conspicuous by its absence.
Everything is for yesterday and no matter how, no matter the environment, the important thing is to fight small fires and that others worry about the fire. Although it seems contradictory, the manager, feeling like a hero, proudly comments on his great feats in fighting his own chaos.
7. Conflictive
This style is one of the great legacies of the well-known diplomat, public official, political philosopher and Italian writer Nicolás Machiavelli. It basically consists of the cunning administration of power mechanisms in interpersonal relationships.
As is well known by all, the power struggle is strengthened in conflict situations (competing interests). Far from being an impediment in daily life, far from being a frustrating reality, the manager in this style feels like a fish in water, designing and establishing strategies to solve the crisis that he generally created.
According to the Canadian Dr. Henry Mintzberg, professor of the Management Chair at Mc Gill University (city of Montreal, Canada), one of his main strategies revolves around the development of informal communications. Informal communication channels provide managers with the opportunity to receive information at a low cost of exposure, which gives them a basis for their formal decisions.
As a supposed leader, he probes his surroundings in a cunning, malicious and insightful way and builds, like a craftsman, apparently friendly but at the same time calculating relationships, keeping his distance and avoiding any personal commitment.
This style of management, by giving greater importance to the informal, calls into question the entire formal organization of the company and, without realizing it, constantly promotes the breaking of windows among its collaborators, resulting in the corrosion of the foundations of the entire company. organization.
Bibliography
- Goleman Daniel. "Leadership that Achieves Results", https://es.slideshare.net/escuelaelectoral/liderazgo-que-logra-resultados-goleman taken on 07-27-2013 Tarantino Salvatore. “Metaphor about the support of work teams. The Manic Task Manager and the Heroic Firefighter syndrome ”, http://www.gestiopolis.com/metafora-sobre-el-apoyo-de-equipos-de-trabajo.htm on 02-08-2013Tarantino Salvatore. "Theory of the broken window with a broader vision of the administration", http://www.gestiopolis.com/teoria-de-la-ventana-rota-con-una-vision-mas-amplia-de-la- administracion.htm taken on 02-08-2013Tarantino Salvatore "Fiscalization, transparency and accountability against corruption" http://www.gestiopolis.com/fiscalizacion-transparencia-rendicion-cuentas-contra-corrupcion.htm taken on 02- 08-2013
