Is Management the Cornerstone of Organizational Effectiveness? a Case Study
Key Learning Outcomes
By the end of the case, students should be able to:
- Understand the meaning of management and organizational effectiveness in an organization
- Understand whether management is the cornerstone of an organization’s effectiveness
- Apply the knowledge attained to real-life scenarios
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Organizational effectiveness is a comprehensive and complex concept that helps an organization to thoroughly measure whether the company has achieved its goals and objectives. An effective organization operates like a refined and finely tuned machine. Organizational effectiveness embraces a number of aspects that contribute to an organization’s performance such as its objectives, strategies, processes, culture, structure, and outcomes. On the other hand, management is an organizational function that involves planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the activities and assets of an organization. Management in an organization is considered a key factor that impacts organizational effectiveness. This essay will look at whether management is the cornerstone of organizational effectiveness.
Is management the cornerstone of organizational effectiveness? The answer to this question depends on how one defines organizational effectiveness. Some scholars contend that organizational effectiveness is a complex concept that cannot be reduced to a single criterion. (Oghojafor, F.I. Muo and S.A. Aduloju: 2012) A number of them suggest that different stakeholders have different prospects and preferences regarding what institutes an effective organization. For instance, in an organization customers may value quality, quantity, and satisfaction, employees may value engagement and empowerment, shareholders may value profitability and growth, and society may value social responsibility and sustainability. In this observation therefore management is not the cornerstone of organizational effectiveness, but rather one of the many key elements that contribute to it.
Other scholars contend that organizational effectiveness is an outstanding concept that can be evaluated and compared across organizations. They put forward that there is a universal set of criteria or indicators that reflect the extent to which an organization fulfills its mission and vision. For example, some common measures of organizational effectiveness are productivity, efficiency, innovation, adaptability, and competitiveness. In this view, management is the cornerstone of organizational effectiveness, as it is responsible for setting the direction, aligning the resources, motivating the people, and monitoring the results of the organization.
Both the perspectives above have their merits and limitations, and there is no definitive answer to the question of whether management is the cornerstone of organizational effectiveness. However, one thing is clear; management plays a vital role in shaping and enhancing organizational effectiveness, regardless of how it is defined and measured. Therefore, managers should always strive to develop and apply the skills and knowledge that enable them to lead their organizations toward excellence.