An analysis of management theories

While it is essential for a manager to utilize management theories in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency, the manager’s personality traits can often accelerate or even sabotage these efforts. Thus, managers study these enduring characteristics in order to circumvent or take advantage of these qualities. Chapter 3 describes the traits, attitudes, moods and emotions, as well as the organizational culture, which can shape the manager as a person; these aspects, although highly personal, have significant implications and contribute to the organizational effectiveness of planning, organizing, leading and controlling.

Manager’s personality traits – enduring tendencies to feel, think and act in certain ways – influence their behavior and approach to managing people and resources. However, no single trait is right or wrong for being an effective manager. Rather, effectiveness is determined by a complex interaction between the characteristics of managers and the nature of the job and organization in which they are working. They can be characterized in five qualities:

1) Extraversion is the tendency to experience positive emotions and moods about oneself and others. Extraverts tend to be sociable, affectionate, outgoing and friendly. Conversely, introverts – managers who are lows in extraversion – tend to be less inclined toward social interaction and have a less positive outlook. Thus, the characteristic of each task will depend on the mannerism of the manager.

2) Negative affectivity is the tendency to experience negative emotions and moods, feel distressed, and are critical of oneself and others around him. As a result, managers high in negative affectivity will usually be more critical and complain about their own and oth...

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..., expectations, values, norms and work routines that influence the ways in which teams interact with one another and cooperate to achieve organizational goals also has an effect on the performance of an institution. Some companies instate formal relations and are unyielding, while some have informal rule and are flexible. Several institutions have a serious policy and prefer to create predictable innovations with decisions made top-down, while others encourage serendipitous actions and creative innovations, and decisions are made bottom-up. As Benjamin Schneider explains, this culture is created because founders of firms tend to hire employees whose personalities are similar to their own. Thus, the terminal and instrumental values of the founder will eventually have a mark on the organization and signify what the business and its employees are trying to accomplish.