The Autocratic Management Style
The premise of the autocratic management style is the belief that in most cases the worker cannot make a contribution to their own work, and that even if they could, they would not. According to Douglas McGregor this belief system leads to the mindset of Theory X (Dessler 37). McGregor believes Theory X workers have no interest in work in general, including the quality of their work. Professor Henry Daryanto interprets McGregor’s theory as mangers dealing with this theory by using "carrots and sticks." The carrot is usually a monetary incentive, such as piece-rate pay schemes while the stick is docking pay for poor quality or missed production targets (Daryanto). It appears only money and threats can motivate the lazy, disinterested worker.
The natural management style for a manager with this Theory X belief system would be to favor is the autocratic management style. Autocratic managers attempt to control work to the maximum extent possible. A major threat to control is complexity. Complex jobs are more difficult to learn and workers who master such jobs are scarce and possess a certain amount of control over how the job is done. An autocratic managers attempt to simplify work to gain maximum control. Autocratic managers prefer a strict top-down; chain-of-command approach to management be practiced.
MANAGEMENT STYLE DEFINED:
Management style is a term that refers to the nature of the relationship between managers and non-managerial employees. It includes not only the personal relationship between people but
also the style of communication and the attitudes that managers have of employees and the attitudes they generate in employees. The term “leadership” is sometimes used. This refers to the ways in which managers achieve the attitudes and actions of their employees. Usually the actions desired are those which lead to the achievement of organizational objectives. A form of leadership therefore implies a style of management.
AUTOCRATIC MANAGEMENT DEFINED:
One particular style of management is autocratic, which our learning team sometimes refers to it as “antiquated.” The autocratic style of management is based on the use of coercion as a means of control in an attempt to force employees to behave in a particular way. The response of employees to such coercion is seen to be extremely authoritative, that is they will do as they are told because the alternative may be unemployment. Another reaction by an employee to this autocratic style is they might only do the absolute minimum required of them to retain their jobs.
Most leaders believed that employees in their organization disliked work and would avoid it if they could. Daniel McGregor in his 1960 groundbreaking book The Human Side of Enterprise argued that “Those running companies were operating from a faulty assumption about human behavior” (Pink, 2009, p. 74). Managers believe employees must be coerced, controlled, directed, and threaten with punishment to acquire them to put forth an effort to achieve set objectives. McGregor’s X-Y theory suggest that there are two ways to manage people.
Bureaucracy has been the main form of organisation for over a century and can be characterised by the following: functional specialisation, employees carrying out one function of activity as their primary role; hierarchy of authority, those in superior positions having authority based solely on the virtue of the position itself; a system of rules, the tasks of the organisation following a formal set of procedures and practices; and impersonality, individuals being treated on the basis of the rules rather than emotions and personality (Knights & Willmott, 2012). The mainstream perspective states that a bureaucratic organisation’s central aim is to maximise efficiency, objectivity and fairness and can be thought of as a ‘machine’ with the people making up the components (Knights & Willmott, 2012). This view attributes three problems to this rule-centred organisation: poor motivation, poor customer service and a resistance to innovation and change (Knights & Willmott, 2012). Employees in bureaucratic organisations tend not to be committed to their
Also Qantas was running with an autocratic leadership style meaning autocratic managers like to make all the important decisions and closely supervise and control workers. Managers do not trust workers and simply give orders (one-way communication) that they expect to be obeyed. This approach derives from the views of Taylor as to how to motivate workers and relates to McGregor’s theory X view of workers. This approach has limitations but it can be effective in certain situations.
An organization’s structure can affect its efficiency and productivity. The two main management theories are the Classic Theory and Theory X. Classical theory is defined as a management theory of a large organization in which management is led by intuition to motivate and control employees (Hamilton, 2008 p. 41). The Classic Theory can be divided into two large subgroups, scientific managers and bureaucratic theorists. Scientific manager’s focus is on reducing production costs while bureaucratic theorists focus is on administrative efficiency (Hamilton, 2008 p. 43). Although Theory X is not a large subgroup of the Classical Theory, it is under the classical theory and its crucial point is that workers are assumed lazy; therefore managers punish them to motivate them. Managers of Theory X believe that the average person; will avoid work because they do not like work, will not strive to achieve objectives, will avoid responsibilit...
Nowicki M , Summers J. (2003). The benevolent autocrat: is it the right fit for the times? By now, most managers have hung their autocratic management style in the back of the closet . Healthcare Financial Management. 1 (1), 1.
Authoritarian style is implemented when the person in charge tells his/her employees what is expected and how it should be done, without getting the advice of cohorts. A quantity of the suitable conditions to employ it is when you have all the information to get to the bottom of the dilemma, you are limited on time, and your workforce is well motiva...
“Management is a process of planning, organisation, command, coordination, and control” (Morgan 2006, p.18). Rational organisation design is a bureaucratic method of management which emphasizes efficiency to achieve the end goal and the management of multiple companies have taken upon this system. Figures such as Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford have both shown and laid a path way for Rational Organisation which has become known as Taylorism and Fordism. The design has received criticism and both Taylor and Ford have been portrayed as villains with Taylor being called “enemy of the working man” (Morgan 2006, p.23) as the system dehumanised workers by taking all of the thought and skill from them and giving it to the managers this is because the tasks given were simple and repetitive. As staff needed little training they became an easily replaceable asset and thus more machine than human.
...may have our preferences in the style of management we deem to be the most successful, we have just seen three examples of individuals and companies who took it upon themselves to use the style of managing that is normally unfavorable and have made their organization a successful empire.
Some of these concepts can be further expanded upon by sharing a recent personal experience by this essay’s author on the subject matter. A work team with long term negative work attitude challenges and unexceptional performance was transferred to this author’s scope of authority from another department in the organization. The work team was made up of three employees and a team supervisor. The team supervisor displayed attributes of a Theory X belief system and was very vocal about dislike for work. Holding true to Theory X leadership characteristics, staff on the team were closely monitored in all aspects of their daily activities by the supervisor in an autocratic manner. Cross training the staff in each other’s duties wasn’t a priority for the Theory X supervisor. Furthermore, the supervisor’s expectations of the group reaching high productivity standards and goals were
Theory X & Y was officially expounded (and named) by Douglas McGregor, a social psychologist at MIT in the 1960s. His idea was that there are two fundamentally different styles of management. Theory X is an authoritarian concept where one assumes that individuals work reluctantly, without motivation. On the other hand, Theory Y is a libertarian concept where one assumes that people will perform beyond their duties if they are motivated and are dedicated to the overall goals set forth for them.
Developing managerial effectiveness: This includes challenge of developing the relevant skills - such as time management, prioritisation, strategic thinking, decision-making, and getting up to speed with the job - to be more effective at work. Standardization of norms, work processes and output not only result in achieving tangible success such as optimization of resources and maximization of profits but also in intangible success such as greater job satisfaction and goal oriented rather than a process oriented mood. Thus, managerial effectiveness is all about streamlining the processes and ensuring smooth transition of the methodologies for quick emergence of decision giving sufficient time to act on the same. Adhocracy, as popularized by Alvin Toffler and Henry Mintzb...
Miles, R. (1975) Theories of Management: Implications for Organisational Behaviour and Development. McGraw-Hill, New York.
It is also crucial which management style is effective for the structure of the organization .there different management style using now days. Talk about the structure now days there two style of construction follows. Structured or highly programmed work egg .assembly line work in a mass production factory which clearly defined method and time of the work and all so job description is very precise for each employees t for the work they have freedom to make few work decision. Unstructured or loosely programmed work normally it seems to be in research laboratory it is in very broad terms and gives the subordinate a large number of decision regarding the method and sequence .they employees often given the freedom to choose their prefer to
There are several theories that examine an organization and it’s approach to managing work in an effort to develop efficiency and increase production. Two classical approaches to management are Taylor’s scientific management theory and Weber's bureaucratic management theory. Both men are considered pioneers of in the study of management.
Over the past hundred years management has continuously been evolving. There have been a wide range of approaches in how to deal with management or better yet how to improve management functions in our ever changing environment. From as early as 1100 B.C managers have been struggling with the same issues and problems that manager’s face today. Modern managers use many of the practices, principles, and techniques developed from earlier concepts and experiences.