MODERN

APPROACHES
PREPARED BY:
GROUP 3
INTRODUCTION

The Modern Period (1960 to present). After, 1960 management

thought has been turning somewhat away from the extreme
human relations ideas particularly regarding the direct relation
between morale and productivity. Present management thinking
wishes equal emphasis on man and machine.
SOME MODEM APPROACHES ALSO PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT
ROLE IN THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THEORIES.

• System Approach
• Contingency Approach
 SYSTEM APPROACH
• A SYSTEM is a set of detailed methods, procedures and routines created to carry
out a specific activity, perform a duty, or solve a problem.
• The system approach is to look upon management as a system or as “an organised
whole” made up of subsystems integrated into a unity or orderly totality.
• The arrangement must be orderly and there must be proper communication
facilitating interaction between the elements and finally this interaction should lead
to achieve a common goal
SYSTEM APPROACH
• System approach to management views the organization as a unified,
purposeful system composed of interrelated parts.
• This approach also gives the manager to see the organization as a
whole and as a part of the larger external environment. They have to
operate in an open system, interacting with their environment.
Whether it is the issue relating to development of a new product or
selection of a new employee, an organization has to decide on it as
an open system because its decisions are interrelated and inter-
dependent on the environmental situation.
 SUBSYSTEM
• A subsystem, is where work is processed on the system. A subsystem is a single,
predefined operating environment through which the system coordinates the work flow
and resource use. The system can contain several subsystems, all operating
independently of each other. Subsystems manage resources

• All jobs, with the exception of system jobs, run within subsystems. Each subsystem can
run unique operations. For instance, one subsystem may be set up to handle only
interactive jobs, while another subsystem handles only batch jobs. Subsystems can also
be designed to handle many types of work. The system allows you to decide the number
of subsystems and what types of work each subsystem handles.
 The systems approach takes the viewpoint that a company is really an
interconnected group of systems that all work together (or should work
together). The best way to view this system is by thinking of a company as
a machine.You have:
• Inputs: Material, information or data that goes into the machine
• Processes: Work that is done to the material, information or data while
it's in the machine
• Outputs:The final product that comes out of the machine
 SYSTEMS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO CATEGORIES :
• (1) Closed systems: theoretical systems that do not interact with the
environment and are not influenced by its surroundings. Only the components
within the system are significant. Example: a sealed jar--nothing enters or exits
the jar, but whatever is inside can interact.

• (2) Open systems: real-world systems whose boundaries allow exchanges of

energy, material and information with the larger external environment or
system in which they exist. Example: a company--even if there are separate
departments in one organization, the workers share data and interact with each
other on a daily basis.
• Synergy is the phenomenon of open systems of management by which
the total system is more than a simple sum of its parts. It means, if a
manager effectively coordinates the efforts of related sub-systems, the
result would be greater than the sum total of such independent efforts,
i.e., 2 + 2 would be greater than 4.
• Systems Approach to management is also important because it helps in
avoiding entropy.
• Entropy is a syndrome, where systems and processes eventually decay.
By relating organization to environment, following the Systems Approach,
such situation can be averted.
PROPONENT

In the 1960, an approach to management appeared which tried to unify the prior schools of
thought. This approach is commonly known as ‘Systems Approach’. Its early contributors
include Ludwing Von Bertalanffy, Deniel Katz, Robert L. Kahn, W. Buckley , J.D. Thompson
and Chester Barnard.
PROPONENT

Chester I. Barnard
• a successful and respected business executive to the
Rockefeller Foundation (RF) when he was named
president in 1948.
• was the first person to utilize the systems approach in
the field of management.
• He feete that the executive must steer through by
keeping a balance between conflicting forces and
events. A high order of responsible leadership makes
the executives effective.
PROPONENT

Ludwig von Bertalanffy

• the founding father of the General System Theory
was born on September 19, 1901, in Atzgersdorf.
• The Bertalanffian rationale for building a science of
social systems is based on the assumption that social
organizations are like living organisms in the sense
that both display wholeness, interact with their
environment, exhibit strategies of self-maintenance,
and experience cycles of birth, growth, maturity and
decline.
PROPONENT

Robert L. Kahn
• Having been considered a “founding father”
of the modern approach to management.
• An American psychologist and social scientist
specializing in organizational theory and
survey research.
PROPONENT

Daniel Katz
• A social scientist wish to understand human
organization, to describe what is essential in
their form, aspects, and functions,
PROPONENT

Walter F. Buckley
• An American sociologist, and Professor of
sociology, who was among the first to apply
concept from General System Theory, based
on the work of Bertalanffy, to sociology.
FEATURES OF SYSTEM APPROACH
FEATURES OF SYSTEMS APPROACH
• A system consists of interacting elements. It is set of inter-related and inter-dependent
parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified whole.
• The various sub-systems should be studied in their inter-relationships rather, than in
isolation from each other.
• An organizational system has a boundary that determines which parts are internal and
which are external.
• A system does not exist in a vacuum. It receives information, material and energy from
other systems as inputs. These inputs undergo a transformation process within a system
and leave the system as output to other systems.
• An organization is a dynamic system as it is responsive to its environment. It is vulnerable
to change in its environment.
EVALUATION OF SYSTEM APPROACH:

• The systems approach assists in studying the functions of complex organisations and has
been utilized as the base for the new kinds of organisations like project management
organisation. It is possible to bring out the inter-relations in various functions like
planning, organising, directing and controlling. This approach has an edge over the other
approaches because it is very close to reality. This approach is called abstract and vague. It
cannot be easily applied to large and complex organisations. Moreover, it does not
provide any tool and technique for managers
CONTINGENCY APPROACH

• The contingency approach to management is based on the idea that there

is no one best way to manage and that to be effective, planning, organizing,
leading, and controlling must be tailored to the particular circumstances
faced by an organization.
• The contingency approach to management (also called the situational
approach) assumes that there is no universal answer to such questions
because organizations, people, and situations vary and change over time.
CONTINGENCY APPROACH
• suggests the most appropriate style of management is dependent on the
context of the situation and that adopting a single, rigid style is inefficient
in the long term. Contingency managers typically pay attention to both the
situation and their own styles and make efforts to ensure both interact
efficiently.
• The task of a manager, according to this theory, is to identify which
technique will, in a particular situation and at a particular point of time,
contribute best to achieving organizational goals. The theory contends
that organizational phenomena exist in a logical pattern, which managers
can understand gradually by interpreting the various situations. They can
thereby frame their managerial styles, which may vary from situation to
situation.
CONTINGENCY APPROACH
PROPONENT
Fred Fiedler
• An Austrian descent, Emeritus Professor and one of the
leading researchers in the field of leadership
and organizational performance.
• The founder of the contingency theory that shows the
relationship (contingency) between leadership
effectiveness and situational circumstances.
• The contingency theory emphasizes the importance of
both the leader's personality and the situation in which
that leader operates. Fiedler and his associates studied
leaders in a variety of contexts but mostly in military
context and their model is based on their research findings.
PROPONENT
Joan Woodward
•was a leading academic and commentator in the field of
Organization Theory, particularly Contingency Theory.
•found that financially successful manufacturing organizations
with different types of work technologies (such as unit or small
batch; large-batch or mass-production; or continuous-process)
differed in the number of management levels, span of
management, and the degree of worker specialization. She linked
differences in organization to firm performance and suggested
that certain organizational forms were appropriate for certain
types of work technologies
PROPONENT
Paul Lawrence
• an American sociologist, Professor of Organizational Behavior
at the Harvard Business School, and consultant, known from his
work with Jay W. Lorsch on "Differentiation and integration in
complex organizations.
• they suggest that organizational units operating in differing
environments develop different internal unit characteristics, and
that the greater the internal differences, the greater the need for
coordination between units.
 FEATURES OF CONTINGENCY APPROACH:
• Firstly, the contingency approach does not accept the universality of management theory. It
stresses that there is no one best way of doing things. Management is situation, and managers
should explain objectives, design organisations and prepare strategies, policies and plans according
to prevailing circumstances. Secondly, managerial policies and practices to be effective, must
adjust to changes in environment.
• Thirdly, it should improve diagnostic skills so as to anticipate and ready for environmental
changes. Fourthly, managers should have sufficient human relations skill to accommodate and
stabilise change.
• Finally, it should apply the contingency model in designing the organization, developing its
information and communication system, following proper leadership styles and preparing suitable
objectives, policies, strategies, programmes and practices. Thus, contingency approach looks to
hold a great deal of promise for the future development of management theory and practice.