Contemporary Approaches

INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

“CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES”

Explain how the four contemporary approaches to management are different from one another. Define “open systems” and describe the internal, competitive, and macro environments of an organization. Lastly, indicate whether the four contemporary approaches to management are relevant in these three environments and why or why not. You may research external sources to support your answer. Cite any external sources used.

Sociotechnical Theory suggests that organizations are effective when their employees have the right tools, training, and knowledge to make products and services that are valued by customers. Sociotechnical promotes the use of teamwork and semiautonomous work groups as important factors for creating efficient production systems. They believed that workers should be given the chance to correct problems at an early stage of production rather than wait until products were finished creating waste.

Quantitative Management helps a manager make a decision by developing mathematical models of the problem. Computers facilitated the development of specific quantitative methods. It included techniques such as: statistical decision theory, linear programming, queuing theory, simulation, forecasting, inventory modeling, network modeling, and break even analysis. Despite having all these methods, many managers will use results that are consistent with their experience, institution, and judgment. Many managers have not been trained to use these techniques.

Organizational Behavior studies and identifies management activities that promote employee effectiveness through an understanding of the complex nature of individual, group, and

organizational processes. Organizational behavior draws from a variety of disciplines, including psychology and sociology, to explain the behavior of people on the job.

Systems Theory organizations are open systems, dependent on inputs from the outside world, such as raw...