nach oben

2018 | Buch

Kapitel lesen Erstes Kapitel lesen

Building Efficient Management and Leadership Practices

The Contemporary Relevance of Chester I. Barnard's Thought in the Context of the Knowledge-Based Economy

verfasst von: Stefania Zanda

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten

Über dieses Buch

This book examines the relationships among leadership, the quality of the management process and business results. Drawing from the pioneering contributions of Chester I. Barnard, this book defines the role and characteristics of an effective and efficient manager in the new knowledge economy. This book also examines the relevance of Barnard’s work on modern studies in economics and business administration.

Chester I. Barnard considered the company to be a complex socio-economic system, oriented towards general aims. A company’s behavior is rational if its constituent elements and management models are planned, organized, guided and regulated in order to create and maintain a cooperative system that combines efficiency and effectiveness. In this book, the conceptual construction of Barnard’s management theory is represented by a synthetic scheme in which the various components of the business process (including leadership) and their influences on the outcome variables of the company are linked as a system. This approach makes this book appealing to academics, scholars and professionals in business, management, administration and knowledge management.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Objectives and Research Methodology

Abstract

Our main aim is to analyze the thought of Chester Barnard on the creation and maintenance of a cooperative system, the executive process, and the function of leadership, and to examine its relevance for modern studies in economics and business administration.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 2. Outlines of an Effective Management Model in the Light of the Economic, Social, and Moral Requirements of the Knowledge-Based Economy

Abstract

This chapter outlines an effective executive model, analyzing modern doctrine on the subject, to be used also as a benchmark for the evaluation of Barnard’s contribution to management theory. For our objective, the reference model should permit evaluation of Barnard’s theoretical system in relation to the economic, social, and moral requirements of the current knowledge-based economy. Now knowledge has become a strategic production factor and influences significantly the organizational structure, management models, and results of modern enterprises.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 3. The Cultural Background and Socio-Economic Context in Which Barnard Developed his Theory of Executive Functions to Create an Efficient and Effective Cooperative System

Abstract

In this chapter, we outline the economic, social, and cultural environment in which the conceptions of Barnard matured: the reference is to the 1930s; we analyze the contribution of the management model proposed by the author to make the capitalist system sustainable.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 4. The Executive Process and Its Organic Functions. The Fundamental Role of Leadership

Abstract

In this chapter, the analysis interprets the thought of Barnard on the management process. The author’s approach is systemic: he uses the concept of system as the basis of development for his management theory. Apart from some differences in terminology, the management functions adopted by Barnard are very similar in substance to those recurrent in the modern theory of management; on this issue, the author seems a precursor of subsequent theoretical developments. What is really original in his theoretical construction is the relationship between the set of management functions (management process) and the function of leadership.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 5. The Formulation and Control of the General Purposes of a Company and Its Sub-system Objectives. The Creation of the Organizational Structure and the Information System

Abstract

In this chapter, two management functions are analyzed: one that leads to the formulation of general objectives and the system of corporate objectives and one to create the organizational structure and the communications system. The approach followed by the author is “holistic”: the corporate system is considered as an integrated whole and both the elements that make up the system and the relationships between them are analyzed simultaneously.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 6. Barnard and the Theory of Authority

Abstract

In this chapter, we explain the theory of authority developed by Barnard. This theory is a milestone in the development of studies on the organization and the management of for-profit and non-profit companies. The phenomenon of authority cannot be fully understood unless we favor the so-called subjective aspect and the objective aspect. Barnard affirms that “the objective aspect” of authority is of great importance for executives and for scholars because this profile concerns the organizational structure and, in particular, the control lines (defined as lines of communication), which have the task of “holding together” the structure, to create order, stability, and coordination of management activity.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 7. The Role of Executives in Making the Organization’s Goals Compatible with Members’ Goals. The Search for Equilibrium Between the Organization’s Incentives and Members’ Contributions

Abstract

In this chapter, we focused on the problem of creating and maintaining a sustainable “cooperative system.” This led to the problem of making company goals and objectives compatible with those of individuals and of the various groups involved in operational activities. In this chapter we also discuss the solution to this problem through the introduction of a system of incentives provided by the company, and through careful and cautious persuasion aimed to induce people to collaborate and supply satisfactory performance.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 8. The Compatibility of Effectiveness and Efficiency: The Pillars of Barnard’s Theory of Cooperation

Abstract

In this chapter, the research focuses on certain concepts often cited earlier: effectiveness and efficiency. It must be emphasized that the two phenomena that underpin cooperation are not spontaneously convergent and that effectiveness and efficiency and, above all, their equilibrium are the effect of the systematic management process, inspired and shaped by the quality of leadership.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 9. The Executive Process, Leadership, and the Realization of a Cooperative System: The Theoretical Model of C.I. Barnard

Abstract

In this chapter the nature, characteristics, and elements of leadership are specified as well as its influence on the overall management process. The relationships between leadership, the process of management, and qualitative and quantitative business results are also represented in a schematic way.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 10. Summary of the Present Work

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the contents, the essence of each chapter to highlight the logical structure adopted in the sequence of chapters, and introduces Chaps. 11 and 12.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 11. The Relevance of Barnard’s Theoretical System to the Economic, Social, and Moral Requirements of the Current Knowledge-Based Economy

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the relevance and originality of Barnard’s thought in relation to the economic, social, and moral requirements of the current knowledge-based economy.

Stefania Zanda

Chapter 12. Limitations of Barnard’s Model

Abstract

In this chapter, we give our personal view on important elements of organization structure and operation able to strengthen the cooperative business system, which were neglected or little emphasized by Barnard, in the light of the most recent scholarship on the quality of leadership.

Stefania Zanda

Titel: Building Efficient Management and Leadership Practices
verfasst von: Stefania Zanda
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-60068-0
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60067-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60068-0