SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT

Signature Assignment

Signature Assignment

Introduction

Management - its principles, processes, and techniques - is central to the advance of human civilization. It is a ubiquitous concept, universal across cultures and relevant over time. Its centrality is such that a search on Google produces 830 million results; more salience by the millions than most other words, including: 'faith' (747), 'sex' (580) and 'leadership' (141). It is not surprising that the concept of management garners robust debate in academe, in particular as to its epistemology and pedagogy.

Management is a trusting work relationship with other human beings that produces sustainable, escalating value. The concept of relationship is valuable because it avoids much of the hierarchical baggage from the socially divisive industrial age. Each of us can identify with the complexity and dynamic nature of relationships, both functional and dysfunctional. We all recognize the need to attend to and nurture relationships. We all understand the need for balance and communication; one-sided relationships engender exploitation and are subject to failure.

The word sustainable is worthy of note. While an interaction might be a one-off event, a relationship only has meaning over time.

Trusting is also an important qualifier. Whereas work was historically physical, tangible and observable, modern work is virtual, intangible and invisible. As such, trust becomes a critical factor for managerial effectiveness (Handy, 1995). It would be archaic to conceptualize modern management using traditional notions of supervision and oversight. It is not that control is obsolete, but it must be recognized that the loci of control and power have shifted.

It is important for students to appreciate that management is a specific type of relationship. In the managerial sense, relationships should be synergistic, producing value greater than the sum of individual inputs. But, more importantly, relationships should be developmental, such that the potential to produce value grows over time. This contemporary conceptualization of management is non-hierarchical; it subsumes a capability to manage 'upwards' and 'downwards', as well as horizontal management within teams.

Similar debate ensues in the literature as to how management should be taught. Seers (2007) provide a complete review of issues in management education and argues that management education needs to fit within the larger, evolving context of the emerging knowledge economy.

What - A Conceptual Perspective on Management

Addressing the question of 'what is management' presents a significant pedagogical challenge amidst current volatility and change. What defines modern management is very much open to debate (Hamel, 2009).

The task is not helped by the etymology of the word whose Latin root, manus, means hand (Wensley, 1996). Implicit in the word's origin is the notion of supervisory/visual control over less intelligent entities. While this connotation may have been appropriate in the industrial age when the common moniker for a worker was a hired 'hand', it is a constraint in an information age in which the human brain forms the source of value creation.

One of the first to challenge the industrial age view of workers was eminent management guru Peter ...