The Machiavellian Approach to Management

The Machiavellian Approach to Management

Whether you love him/her or hate him/her everybody has one…a boss. Most people have their own opinions as to what kind of boss it is that they would like to work for. Most would probably agree that the worst kind of boss is a new boss. This is more than likely due to people’s extraordinary fear of change and the unknown. Whatever the reason, the employee always has the option to leave their position and seek work elsewhere. The same can not be said for subjects of states, who by no action of their own, were to be ruled by a new prince. Just as varied as the ways in which one “inherits” a new boss, likewise new principalities have an abundance of ways of being acquired. Niccolo Machiavelli, in his work The Prince, describes several of these options. And interestingly enough, the views Machiavelli expresses, can be integrated into today’s business community particularly to issues pertaining to how management obtains and keeps their positions.

Machiavelli cites several ways that one can obtain a principality, which bear striking similarities to how one can come into a position of management. The first path to a principality is that of a hereditary nature. Machiavelli claims that this is the easiest of states to maintain, as long as “such a prince is of ordinary ability” and he does not “break [the] ancient customs” of those he governs (Machiavelli 7). So to, in a management position where the offspring of a boss takes over, he/she should not run into many difficulties in maintaining the company. Yet, the new boss must be competent to handle all responsibilities assumed in his/her position or the company will surely suffer. Furthermore, he/she must be careful not change how ...

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...ions but to implement changes. They have obviously been placed in this position because the prior boss was not utilizing his/her skills to enhance the betterment of the company. That is, that his/her ways of doing things were not working; therefore, changes in policy would be deemed necessary.

Change is not always to be feared. Yet, people today as well as those of yesterday will always accept it hesitantly. This is perhaps most true when it involves a change in those who govern or employ us. Machiavelli details not only how principalities can be obtained but also how they can be maintained in The Prince. From the views he expresses, one can compare in today’s society how positions in management can be made available and how difficulties avoided.

Bibliography:

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Trans. Peter Bondanella. New York: Oxford, 1984.