Paternalistic Management

Text I. Types of Management

Read and translate Text 1.

Management takes on different roles in every organization, and these include interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. Essentially, management is deemed as the process of getting tasks done efficiently by getting the help of other people. While it may seem like a simple role to fulfill, being a manager is actually quite challenging considering that people have different personalities, attitudes, and beliefs. Anyone can be a manager but not all managers are effective, which is why it is imperative that you learn everything you can about managing people so that you will know what to do when placed in a managerial position.

A familiarization of the different types of management is going to help you become a good manager. Knowing what they are can help you determine which type or style would suit you best, based on your own skills, personality, and abilities, as well as other factors such as the kind of people you will be handling and the work environment you belong to. At the moment, there are already a handful of management styles that can easily get a newbie manager confused. To help you, we will discuss only the most widely used types of management in this article and hopefully, you will be able to pick one or two styles that you can use.

Basic Functions of a Manager

Before we go ahead and tackle the various management styles, you must first get to know the basic functions of a manager. Keep in mind, however, that the extent of a manager’s scope would depend on which level he belongs to—lower, middle, or upper management. Functions remain the same but the scope varies depending on designation.

A manager’s roles include:

Planning

Staffing

Organizing

Reporting

Budgeting

Coordinating

Directing

Common Types of Management

Autocratic Management

Paternalistic Management

Democratic Management

Laissez-faire Management

Management by Walking Around

Autocratic Management

This style of management gives the manager full authority to run a department or group, and make all the decisions. With Autocratic Management, expect that majority of the decisions made are based on the manager’s opinions, ideas, knowledge, and personality. Using this management style can be both good and bad for the company. While it allows for quicker decision-making and implementation of any plan or strategy, it can also lead to employee resentment, which will eventually bring down people’s morale.

Studies show that companies adopting the autocratic style of management have one of the highest turnover rates, especially if those taking on management roles are not really ready to use this management style. It may work for some organizations but definitely not for the majority.

Paternalistic Management

This type of management is, in some ways, similar to Autocratic Management in the sense that all decisions come from only one person. However, it can be differentiated from the other because with Paternalistic Management, subordinates are given utmost priority. It can be likened to a father taking care of his child. He may have the final say on all matters but he always has their best interest in mind. The main problem with Paternalistic Management is that employees become too dependent on their managers and they are no longer able to use their ideas and creativity to get things done.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29