You get a bonus - 1 coin for daily activity. Now you have 1 coin

4. MANAGEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION

Lecture



plan

The essence and content of management
Definition of the system of basic management functions
Content of main management functions
Psychic regulation of management
High variety and quality of heterogeneity of long-term memory material
Psychophysiological aspects in the activities of the head
Mode of work and rest of the head
Executive Training

Comprehensive goal

Know:

• laws of formation and functioning of a person in an organization;

• psychological phenomena associated with individual human behavior and related to his life in the organization;

• psychological patterns of interaction in the system "leader - slave";

• psychological mechanisms of management, laws n professionally important characteristics of the manager.

Be able to :

• use the system of categories and methods necessary for solving organizational and psychological tasks;

• identify the specifics of the mental functioning of a person in an organization;

• diagnose the characteristics and problems of management, determined by psychological factors;

• to identify the specifics of the mental functioning of the head, to make a psychological portrait of the manager;

• conduct peer review of professional management training programs.

Own :

• technologies of work of an organizational psychologist in the field of organizational and psychological diagnostics of management activities;

• active management training methods.

The essence and content of management

Among the variety of problems of theory and practice of management, the main place, of course, belongs to the complex of issues related to the content of management activities.

In order to give an answer to them, it is necessary to refer to the content of the concept of activity that has developed in psychology. This concept has the status of a general scientific category. It is studied in many sciences: sociology, economics, engineering disciplines, philosophy, physiology, psychology, etc. In its extremely general form, it is defined as an individual form of the existence of social relations and characterizes the way a person is included in the existing structure of the social division of labor. This general (philosophical) definition is specifically specified in each of the sciences that study activity, and the need to synthesize the knowledge obtained in them is designated as the principle of comprehensiveness in the study of activity.

Activity is defined as a form of the active attitude of the subject to reality, aimed at achieving consciously set goals and associated with the creation of socially significant values ​​and the development of public experience.

The subject of psychological study of the activities are the psychological components that induce, direct and regulate the labor activity of the subject and implement it in performing actions, as well as personality traits through which this activity is realized. The main psychological properties of activity are activity, awareness, purposefulness, objectivity and systematic character of its structure. The basis of the activity is always a motive (or several motives).

The activity involves two basic plans of characteristics - external (subject-effective) and internal (psychological). External characteristic of activity is carried out through the concepts of the subject and object of labor, object, means and conditions of activity.

The subject of labor is the totality of things, processes, phenomena with which the subject in the process of work must mentally or practically operate.

Means of labor - a set of tools that can enhance the capabilities of a person, recognize the characteristics of the object of labor and influence it.

Labor conditions are a system of social, psychological and sanitary-hygienic characteristics of activity. Internal characteristics of the activity involves the description of the processes and mechanisms of mental regulation, its structure and content, the operational means of its implementation.

The main structural components of the activity are the goal, motivation, information basis, decision making, plan, program, individual psychological properties of the subject, mental processes (cognitive, emotional, volitional), as well as control mechanisms, correction, arbitrary regulation, etc. activities - actions and operations.

Action is the basic unit of the structure of an activity, which is an arbitrary, deliberate activity aimed at achieving a perceived goal.

Operations - specific ways to perform actions and defined conditions of activity. The presence of a permanent, stable structure of the main components and means of realization of an activity is considered its most important psychological feature and is indicated by the concept of an invariant structure of activity. It, however, may undergo quite significant changes due to differences in the types and forms of the activity itself, differences in the conditions for its implementation and external requirements for it. Because of this, in psychology there are numerous classifications of types and types of activity, which differ in the bases used in them.

To determine the psychological essence of management as a special type of professional activity can be based on a fundamental criterion. According to him, all existing types and activities can be divided into two main categories - individual and joint. The corresponding psychology of activity includes two main sections: the psychology of individual and joint activities. Individual and joint activities have multiple and deep differences in their basic psychological characteristics. Psychological specificity of management in general, regardless of specific species, is that it is not only individual, only joint, but both are at the same time. Thus, it appears as a qualitatively unique type of activity, synthesizing in itself two other main types of activity (individual and joint). Indeed, management activity by definition implies the existence of a number of “controlled” subjects, i.e. is collaborative. However, it does not cease to be at the same time individual, since it requires the realization of all those components and means that are characteristic of the structure of individual activity. Moreover, the individual activities of the head, aimed at solving management problems, change significantly. It appears in the maximum expanded form, dramatically increasing the complexity and responsibility. At the same time, joint activities under the influence of management are not built as a simple cooperation, but by the type of hierarchical organization. As a result, it also takes on the most complex and psychologically rich look. Therefore, in psychological terms, management activity is interpreted as a synthesis of individual and joint activities.

Such a synthetic nature of management activity as an individual-joint determines the presence of a number of basic psychological features. It is characterized not by direct, but by indirect connection with the final results of the functioning of an organization. The leader usually not only does not participate himself, but should not participate in the creation of the final results. On this basis, management activity is differentiated from the executive. The more management activity concentrates around non-performing functions and is exempt from directly performing work, the higher its efficiency.

Management activity is very specific in its subject matter. It, by definition, involves influencing other people in order to organize their joint activities. The specificity of management activity is that its subject, object of influence are the subjects. Naturally, they are characterized by a qualitatively different level of complexity than in many other types of activity, such as performing, dealing with "inanimate" objects. In this regard, it is necessary to note an interesting feature of management. In it, the subject and object of labor are not only identical in complexity to their organization, but also identical in their main, i.e. psychological features. In addition, the head has to deal simultaneously with many subjects, between which there are regular socio-psychological relations. The latter constitute an important management factor and are also included in the subject of the activity of the manager, giving him additional specificity. In connection with the above, management activities are attributed to the subject-subject class, which is more complex than the subject-object activity class.

Management activity is very specific and in its process. Its essence is the organization of other people's activities, i.e. "activities for the organization of activities" (activities of the "second order"). This property is generally regarded in theory as the main attribute for management activities. It is therefore denoted by the concept of meta-activity.

According to its content, management activity is the implementation of certain universal management functions (planning, forecasting, motivation, decision-making, control, etc.). The system of these functions is inherent in any management activity, regardless of its specific type, although their degree of severity may be different. Therefore, the invariant system of management functions is another of its main characteristics.

The purpose of management activities - ensuring the effective functioning of a particular organizational system. The latter belongs to a special type of systems - sociotechnical. They are qualitatively heterogeneous in composition of their components and include at least two main varieties - “technological” and “human”, its components. Therefore, the work of the head includes two main aspects - associated with the provision of the technological process and associated with the organization of interpersonal interactions. The first aspect is designated by the concept of the instrumental control loop, and the second by the concept of the expressive circuit. These contours are not always harmoniously combined with each other and, moreover, require the manager to implement qualitatively different ways and forms of behavior. In connection with this, the overall level of activity increases.

Management activity is specific and according to the organizational status of its subject-leader. This status is dual. The head, by definition, is at the same time a member of the organization (group) and stands, as it were, outside of it - above it - because of its hierarchically higher position. This creates many practical difficulties. Studies show that the effectiveness of an organization is higher, the more the leader is not just a formal “boss”, but also an informal leader (that is, a real member of the organization). But at the same time, the preservation of the hierarchical beginning ("keeping distance") is also an effective means of ensuring the effectiveness of the activities of organizations. Consequently, another sign of management activity is a combination of two basic principles of its organization - hierarchical (subordinate) and collegial (coordination), as well as the need for their optimal coordination.

Finally, management activities are quite specific in their typical conditions, which are divided into external and internal.

External conditions include:

- strict time constraints;

- chronic information uncertainty;

- the presence of high responsibility for the end results;

- unregulated labor;

- permanent shortage of resources;

- the emergence of the so-called extreme stress situations.

Internal conditions are due to:

- the need to simultaneously perform many actions and solve many problems;

- inconsistency of regulatory (including legislative) regulations, their uncertainty, and often the absence;

- unstated in a clear and explicit form of evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of activities, and sometimes their absence;

- a plurality of subordination of the head to various higher instances and contradictory requirements on their part;

- almost complete non-algorithmic activity, etc.

Along with the features that are directly inherent in management activities, they also highlight its features that are determined by the organizational status of the manager. They are denoted by the concept of "features of the post of the head" and are as follows:

- the head of the organization is the only person in it who has a dual affiliation. For example, the director of an enterprise, being its member, is at the same time a member of a higher-level governing body (say, on the board of directors);

- the head of the organization is the only person in it who is responsible for its functioning as a whole, and not for the work of any part of it;

- the post of the head gives him much greater opportunities than all other members of the organization to influence it as a whole.

All the characteristics and signs of management activity in their totality and in interrelation with each other form a certain symptom complex of psychological features inherent in it as a special type of professional activity and distinguishing it from other types. This symptom complex of features may, however, manifest with varying degrees of severity. The key parameter determining these differences is the level of leadership, the hierarchical status of the manager. The higher it is, the more pronounced all of these signs, and vice versa. In this regard, there is the concept of a continuum of management activity, formed from one "pole" by lower levels of management in small groups, and on the other - by higher levels of management by large (and largest) organizations, enterprises, and firms. It identifies three main categories of management positions, the content of which is quite significantly different precisely in the degree of severity of the main features (features) of management activities. These are the levels of top, middle and top managers (Fig. 4.1).

Lower-level managers (synonyms: first and lower level managers, operational managers, "junior commanders") belong to the organizational level that is directly above the employees (subordinates, not managers). A typical example is the master, the head of the department. Middle managers coordinate and supervise the work of "junior chiefs." This type of managers is the most diverse and numerous, which led to its separation.

4. MANAGEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION

Fig. 4.1. Levels of management

into two subgroups, two sublevels - to the upper and lower levels of the middle link. Examples of mid-level managers are the dean at a university, the director of a branch at a firm. Top executives - those who lead large industrial, social and government organizations, are at the very top of their hierarchy, responsible for their activities, for developing strategic decisions and their policies in general. The number of managers at this level is much less than the number of the previous two. However, this level has an incomparably greater influence on the organization. As a rule, his representatives leave their mark on the image of the organization as a whole. At any of these levels and sublevels, all the main psychological signs of management activity are preserved, i.e. its qualitative specificity. However, within the limits of the preservation of this quality, the measure of their severity undergoes significant differences. The combination of qualitative originality with quantitative differences in the degree of manifestation of the signs of management activity is another, but already a generalizing characteristic of it.

Definition of the system of basic management functions

The definition of a system of management functions is one of the most important, but at the same time, difficult tasks of management theory. Their common system is based on several grounds - criteria. These criteria are determined by the content of the activities of the head and are fixed in the concept of basic dimensions of managerial labor.

Firstly, this measurement is connected with the organization and regulation of direct management activity ( activity dimension).

Secondly, this measurement is associated with the impact on the most important and most specific component of management activity - on other people, on personnel ( personnel measurement).

Thirdly, this measurement is associated with the focus of management activities on the organization of the technological process itself ( production and technological measurement).

These three dimensions - activity, personnel and production-technological (aimed respectively at "administration", "at people", "at work") form the three main vectors of management activity and define its common "space". They are the basis for distinguishing the three main categories of managerial functions. In addition, taking into account the interrelation of managerial functions and their complex manifestation in activities requires the identification of not only the main “primary”, but derivative (“secondary”) functions. They are a form of integration of the functions of all three specified categories. This can be illustrated by the following scheme (Fig. 4.2).

Accordingly, all management functions are classified into four main categories, groups.

The first group - activity and administrative functions:

- goal setting;

- forecasting;

- planning;

- organization of performance;

- motivation;

- decision-making;

- communication;

- control;

- correction.

The second group - personnel functions:

- personnel Management;

- disciplinary;

- educational;

4. MANAGEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION

Fig. 4.2. Three dimensions of management activities:

1 - production and technical functions; 2 - personnel functions; 3 - organizational and administrative functions

- arbitration;

- psychotherapeutic.

The third group - production and technological functions:

- operational management;

- material and technical support;

- innovative;

- marketing.

The fourth group - derived (synthetic) functions:

- integration;

- strategic;

- representative;

- expert advisory;

- stabilization.

Any of these functions due to its complexity includes two main implementation plans. The first is the individual activity of the leader in their implementation. The second is corporate-wide: any of the functions, due to their complexity, can be provided not only by the activities of a manager, but by connecting many other structures of the organization being managed. For example, the planning function, remaining, ultimately, the prerogative of the manager, is in fact so complicated that many other people involved in the organization are involved in developing plans. Moreover, as a rule, it includes specialized units aimed at the implementation of this function. Many other functions are similar - also “distributed throughout the organization”. The corporate plan creates a context, a “field” for the managerial individual management. Therefore, it is simply impossible to uncover it outside the organizational aspect. Hence, the consideration of each function should be fairly general and include both its individual and corporate aspects. Consideration of this circumstance is necessary when characterizing the main management functions.

Content of main management functions

One of the most important components of management activities, as well as the overall functioning of organizations, is goal-setting. It acts as the main function of the head, and the stage of management, and its structural component. Goal setting is defined as the formulation or choice of the purpose of the functioning of an organization, as well as its specification on the sub goals and their coordination. However, the interpretation of this function in the control theory is ambiguous. On the one hand, it is recognized not only "very important", but also the determining role in management activities and in the overall functioning of the organization. The presence of reasonable, long-term goals of the organization is the main condition for its functioning, and the ability of a manager to set them is one of the most important managerial qualities. On the other hand, the goal setting function is usually not singled out as an independent one, but is considered as part of another function, planning. Another interpretation of goal setting is that it is considered only as the initial stage of the entire management cycle and “precedes” it, as it were, therefore it is taken out of the limits of the system of management functions. This is partially true, but only in the sense that it emphasizes the determining role of goal-setting in management. Targeting as it were stands "outside and above" all other functions.

At the same time, both in its content and in its role in management, goal-setting is precisely a managerial function that permeates all the activities of a leader. So, goal-setting cannot be timed only at the initial stage of management for two reasons. First, the definition of the general direction of the organization’s activity really precedes all other functions. However, in the course of all the follow-up, there is also a reformulation and (or) formulation of new goals. This is necessary in cases where it turns out the ineffectiveness or fallacy of the originally formulated goals. At the same time, goal-setting is not the first stage of management, but, in a certain sense, a consequence of other administrative functions. Secondly, the specific responsibility of the head is to set goals for the performers, which is also included in the whole process of organizational functioning. Further, in its content, the function of goal-setting is a complex and time-unfolded process, having its own specific patterns that are not characteristic of other managerial functions. Finally, sometimes the goal-setting function is used as the basis for organizing the entire administration, its peculiar mechanism in the method of “management by objectives” (management by objectives ).

In control theory, a general characteristic of a goal is given on the basis of one of the main provisions of the systems approach, according to which it is understood as the system-forming factor of organizations. This means that it is the goal that determines the overall orientation of the organization’s activities, its composition (both subdivisions and personnel) and the structure, governs the nature of the interrelationships in the organization between its components, and also integrates them into an agreed system. In addition, it serves as the basis for the criteria for developing the most important strategic decisions in an organization, determines the content of planning. The nature of the goals significantly affects the overall image of the organization. The goal has a significant impact on the organization’s activities, since it determines the main priorities of its operation.

The implementation of the goal setting function begins with the definition of the most common goal of the organization, serving as the basis for all its activities. To define this most common goal, the concepts of "company philosophy", "firm policy" and, more often, "mission of organization" are used. The mission details the status of the organization, declares the main tasks and determines the general directions of its activities and management. The role of the mission is therefore very large, especially in a free market economy, when business entities are faced with the need to independently choose it. On the contrary, with centralized management, the goals and objectives of organizations are rigidly set, dictated from above — through a system of basic planning tasks. The presence of organizations of such freedom is the key to the effectiveness of the economy as a whole and its viability.

In management science, there are no unambiguous "recipes" for defining the mission of an organization, although the implementation of one most general rule is considered mandatory. It consists in the fact that, as an organization’s mission, it should not formulate its profit, although, of course, it is this factor that constitutes a necessary component of its goals, business objectives as such. The mission should include the formulation of more general and broad, socially significant goals. Profit is an internal organization problem. But since any organization, especially a large one, is a social and open system, it can survive if it satisfies any need that is outside of it. Textbook in this respect is, for example, the formulation of the mission of the company "Ford". Keeping the profit in the lead in ensuring the viability of the company, its representatives, nevertheless, formulate the mission as “providing people with cheap transport”. This laconic formulation contains all the necessary features of a properly formulated mission: consumer orientation, definition of the scope of activity, orientation towards broad social goals. In addition, the mission should not depend on the current state of the organization, forms and methods of its work; on the contrary, they themselves must be determined by the mission.

Another basic management function is the forecasting function . “To lead is to foresee” - this famous expression can briefly characterize the role of forecasting in management and in the functioning of organizations as a whole. The founder of the “classical” school of administrative management, A. Fayol, repeatedly expressed the same idea, calling it “ prevision ( prevoyance ) the essence of management”. This is the ability to “look ahead”, go beyond the present, evaluate the future and take appropriate preparatory measures.

The importance of forecasting in management is hard to overestimate. It is one of the main and most specific prerogatives and functions of a manager. In control theory, there are two main approaches to the interpretation of the prediction function. It is either singled out as independent, or is considered as one of the main stages of the implementation of another management function - planning. The first interpretation is more adequate. The fact is that, both in their role in management, and in the originality of content, and in the presence of specific forms and methods of implementation, forecasting is very specific, plays an important independent role in management. Therefore, it should be understood as one of its pivotal functions. Forecasting is as meaningful as possible and is deployed most intensively when defining the goals of an organization, and especially when moving from a goal to the stage of developing plans for an organization’s activities. Thus, it plays the role of a link, a kind of “walkway” between the functions of goal formation and planning.

The sense of the forecasting function in management is that it is a decisive factor in the transition from a "passive response" strategy to changing external conditions to a "proactively anticipated" strategy of these changes and timely preparation for them, and then to measures to prevent the most negative of them. Прогнозирование выступает основным средством трансформации пассивной стратегии управления в активную, способом замены "терапевтического" управления "профилактическим". Прогнозирование в управлении и необходимость его совершенствования приобрели еще большую актуальность в связи с получившей в последние десятилетия широкое распространение ситуационной методологией. Центральная идея ситуационизма – положение о том, что любая организация – это открытая система, которая приспосабливается к своей многообразной внешней и внутренней среде. Главные причины того, что происходит внутри организации, лежат вне нее. Поэтому решающими для эффективного управления являются такие понятия, как адаптация и внешняя среда. В свою очередь, сама адаптация может быть двух основных типов: ситуативная адаптация при изменении условий внешней среды и перспективная (упреждающая), базирующаяся на обнаружении и заблаговременном учете тенденций изменения внешней среды. В этом случае управление во все большей мере строится по типу так называемого опережающего управления (proactive management).

В связи с этим для раскрытия содержания функции прогнозирования необходимо обратиться к понятию внешней среды организации. Именно она представляет собой основной объект прогнозирования, а ее принципиальная изменчивость есть главная причина существования этой функции в целом. Чтобы выжить и успешно развиваться, организация должна уметь приспосабливаться к этим внешним изменениям; но для этого, в свою очередь, необходимо их также и прогнозировать.

Внешняя среда как источник изменений и как объект прогнозирования имеет два компонента – среда прямого и среда косвенного воздействия. Среда прямого воздействия включает факторы, которые непосредственно влияют на деятельность организации и испытывают на себе такое же прямое влияние ее деятельности. К ним относятся трудовые ресурсы, поставщики, законы, деятельность учреждений государственного регулирования, потребители, конкуренты. Среда косвенного воздействия состоит из факторов, которые могут не оказывать прямого, немедленного воздействия на деятельность организации, но все же опосредованно сказываются на ней (причем достаточно сильно, а порой – и определяющим образом). Это – факторы состояния экономики, научно-технических достижений, социокультурные и политические факторы, международные события и др.

The difficulties of forecasting in an environment that includes a large number of factors (also very complex in themselves) increase sharply due to the fact that they are not isolated from each other, but are closely interconnected and intertwined. This results in a number of generalizing characteristics of the external forecasting environment - interconnectedness, mobility, complexity and uncertainty.

The interrelatedness of environmental factors - the level of force with which a change in one factor affects other factors.

The mobility of the environment - the speed at which changes occur in the environment of the organization.

The complexity of the external environment - the number of factors to which the organization must respond, as well as the level of variability and complexity of each factor.

The ambiguity of the external environment is a function of the amount of information the organization has (or its manager) and confidence in its authenticity about each factor and their combination.

So, organizations and their leaders should not only respond effectively to changes in the external environment, but also be able to predict its trends in order to ensure the survival of organizations and the achievement of their goals.

Along with this, another important function is planning. The concept of planning in relation to management activities has two basic meanings, which can be designated as “broad” and “narrow”. In its broad interpretation, the planning function includes a number of other functions, including those already considered, such as goal development, forecasting, and the organization of execution, etc. Even the function, which seems to be sharply different from planning, such as control, is also considered in theory as a planning component. G. Kunz and S. O'Donnell point out that planning and control are “Siamese twins”: control is impossible without a work plan and performance criteria, but a plan that is not supported by follow-up control will remain just a plan. There is a similar connection between another function — decision making and planning. It is sometimes even defined through the decision-making function: “Planning is essentially a choice. It only needs to occur when an alternative course of action is discovered.” "Planning is a system of decisions made in advance." Planning, thus, is included in all other management functions, acts as their necessary component, by virtue of which it is customary to speak of its "omnipresence". Planning at the same time organizes all other functions, giving them, and therefore, the entire management in general, the necessary degree of organization. A broad interpretation of planning is the basis of one of the most modern and most promising approaches to the organization of management activities - the basis of "strategic planning."

In a narrower and more special sense, planning is considered as a stage, a phase of the management cycle, localized between the stages of forecasting and the organization of execution. These two interpretations do not contradict each other and are complementary. The ambiguity of the concept of planning is a natural consequence of the real and close interconnection of all managerial functions, their “interpenetration” into each other. All of them form organic integrity and are presented in unity. This gives management its real life complexity and inconsistency. Any analytical selection of various aspects of management, its main functions is conditional. It is justified only within certain limits, for example, for detailed acquaintance with the content of management activities.

The essence of planning lies in the fact that it allows optimally coordinating the individual efforts of the members of the organization and departments to achieve its goals. This alignment has two main aspects.

First, it is a functional division of responsibilities between individual members of the organization and its divisions, the definition of their main tasks and their interface with corporate goals. This is content planning.

Secondly - the chronological distribution of tasks of departments and individual performers in time, the definition of a rational sequence of their implementation. This is time planning, or procedural planning.

In the first case, the question is solved what the performers will do. In the second - when they should do it and in what sequence. As a result, the cumulative activity of many executive units of the organization (individuals and divisions) acquires meaningful and temporary orderliness, their efforts are synchronized, and the activities of the organization become holistic and coordinated. Thus, the planning function provides in fact the main task of management — organizational and therefore constitutes the essence of management as a whole. The key role of planning in management, combined with its complexity and variety of tasks, requires an understanding not only of the duties of the manager, but also of the functions performed by many other divisions of the organization. Therefore, as part of this function, there are three main components:

1) the individual activities of the planning manager;

2) the activities of specialized units and services (as well as specially engaged consultants) for planning;

3) the interaction of the head with specialized planning units and the organization of the activities of these units.

Similarly, the planning function is another function - organizational, which is also multidimensional and has three main manifestations. The function of an organization is the general process of creating a certain organizational structure, i.e. the choice of the type of this structure, its differentiation into divisions in accordance with the goals and objectives. This process is denoted by the concept of organizational design and the subsequent implementation of the selected project.

First, in its course, the question of what the overall organizational structure should be, based on its mission, main goals, external environment, is decided.

Secondly, organization refers to the functional separation and subsequent coordination of the main types of work between individuals in a controlled system. It is the construction of an agreed system of duties, rights, powers of the performers and managers; definition of their functional roles and their coordination within the framework of the already chosen organizational structure.

Third, the organization also identifies certain coordinating processes necessary for the implementation of any other management function. This is reflected, for example, in terms such as “planning organization” or “organization of control”. In addition, this meaning of the concept of organization is also used to denote the processes of coordinating management functions among themselves.

Along with this, there are two more extremely general meanings of the concept of organization. An organization can be interpreted as a process and, in this sense, is practically identified with management activities as a whole. Organization as a result denotes a particular institutional structure - an enterprise, firm, institution, corporation, etc. The polysemy of the concept of organization reflects the truly fundamental role of the relevant function in management and its complexity.

The need for organizational function is a consequence of group, joint activity as such. “People are forced to unite in groups,” writes C. Barnard, “in order to perform work that they cannot carry out individually. They join forces to achieve their personal goals due to the presence of a number of physical, biological, psychological and social limitations ". In the process of joint activities as the basis of organizational functioning, an objective need arises for the solution of two main tasks.

First, it is important to distribute the entire content of the joint activity among its members in such a way that each of them contributes to it, i.e. implement a functional division of labor.

Secondly, it is necessary not only to divide, but also necessarily to coordinate, organize individual "contributions" to a common goal. The need for proper organization into joint activities is thus a direct cause of the phenomenon of governance as such. The processes of differentiation and integration within joint activities necessitate management of them, i.e. the organization of this activity with the aim of making it as holistic as possible, and therefore efficient. Management initially focused on the organization of performing activities. However, the general case, the most typical of modern, especially large institutions and enterprises, is a more complex picture of the organization. There is, as a rule, a number of intermediate levels of management between the manager and the executives. Therefore, top managers should carry out not only and even not so much the organization of execution as such, but also the organization of the entire hierarchy of levels of management subordinate to them. Because of this, the organizational function of the head includes two main aspects - the organization of performance and the organization of management. The second aspect is no less significant, and in many cases is dominant (the larger the organization and the higher the level of the manager, the more).

Further, the most important role in the activities of a manager is the decision-making function . This function is most specific in the activities of the head and to the greatest extent reflects its originality. It is very widely represented in management activities and permeates all other components and stages of this activity. In management theory, it has become axiomatic that the decision-making function is the central link in all the activities of a manager. It is noted, for example, that "... decision making is an integral part of any management ... more than anything else that distinguishes a manager from a non-manager." G. Kunz and S. O'Donnell point out that "managers consider decision making to be their main business." M. Meskon and others generally define management activities through the decision-making function, noting that "the essence of management is to influence the organization and change its structure in order to make decisions."

Basic management functions are also often defined through a decision function. For example, planning is traditionally interpreted as “choosing one of the alternatives for the functioning and development of an organization”, and goal-setting as “choosing a mission, goals and objectives of an organization’s activities”. The position of the key role of decision-making in management activities is consistent with the established empirical, everyday ideas. According to them, the essence of the leader’s activity lies in the fact that he is “obliged to decide” that he is then needed in the management system in order to make decisions and take upon himself the burden of responsibility for them. Even the general measure of the real power and influence of a manager is how much he concentrates the decision-making functions, how much the "last word" belongs to him in solving the problems of an organization.

A distinctive feature of this function is significantly less, compared with other management functions, standardization and algorithmization. In this connection, the role of subjective, psychological factors proper is very large in it . There are, of course, numerous rules, procedures, and decision-making methods that facilitate this process. However, each manager knows from his personal experience how great the role of non-formalizable, subjective, and often intuitive factors in decision-making processes. By virtue of this, the decision-making function is a subject of study both in control theory and in psychology. This is an organizational problem as well as a psychological one. It is the decision-making function that makes us feel most clearly that management is, of course, science, but also art. The analysis of the content of the decision-making function therefore includes two main, very different from each other and closely interrelated aspects - organizational and psychological.

It should be emphasized that the problem of management decisions has played an important role in the evolution of management thought in general. For a long time, right up to the emergence of a behavioral approach, the control theory was based on the postulate of rationality of behavior in general and decision making in particular. It consists in the fact that the subject (leader) must and can build his behavior and make decisions, focusing on the maximum consideration of all factors of the situation. This led to the development of so-called rigid control schemes, the emergence of a "classical theory of the firm," based on the ideas of "rational man." However, in the fundamental works of C. Barnard, G. Simon, D. March, D. Olsen, D. Kahneman, it was proved that the psychophysiological limitations objectively inherent in man make strictly rational behavior and decision making impossible, and taking full account of all objective factors is also impossible in principle. As a result, the concept of "bounded rationality" was developed, one of the main points of which is that the subjective psychological characteristics are objective, limiting factors of behavior. They have an important, and often decisive, influence on decision-making processes and on management. As a result, a “decision-making school” arises, justifying the need to move from rigidly rationalistic ideas to soft management schemes. The classic theory of the company gave way to behavioral theory.

At present, there are two main approaches in the control theory and in the theory of decision making - regulatory and descriptive.

The normative approach explores these processes when abstracting from subjective, psychological factors and is aimed at developing rules, procedures, a kind of ideal methods and "recipes" for decision making. A descriptive approach, on the contrary, requires consideration of these factors as the main ones. The first approach sets as its main task the study of how decisions should be made. The second is how it really happens. Modern control theory synthesizes these two approaches. The disclosure of the content of the decision-making function as a component of management activity requires organizational and regulatory consideration. The disclosure of the psychological laws of managerial decision-making processes already requires a different - descriptive approach.

Organizational analysis of the function of decision making in management activities includes the following main areas:

- a description of the place and role of managerial decision-making processes in the overall structure of management activities, as well as their interaction with other managerial functions;

- analysis of the main parameters of the external and internal environment of the organization, which determine the need for the implementation of this function and have the strongest impact on it;

- description of the regulatory structure of the process of making a management decision; determination of its main stages and phases;

- the characteristics of the main types and classes of management decisions, the systematization of the forms of realization of this function;

- identification of key regulatory requirements for management decisions.

With regard to the role of this function in the overall structure of management, then, as noted above, it is considered as the most important and obvious prerogative of the head. This circumstance is fixed in a kind of mutual substantiation of the concepts "decision making" and "management activities". The decision-making function and, accordingly, the processes for its implementation are a kind of "core", the core of all activities of a managerial type, to the greatest extent embody its real complexity and responsibility. The localization of this function, its place in the overall management process is due to three main circumstances.

First, this function acts as one of the most important stages of the strategic planning process. It is located between the phases of analysis of strategic alternatives and the actual implementation of the strategy. The decisions that are produced in this case are of the greatest importance for the entire functioning of the organization; they are strategic both in direct meaningful and is evaluative meanings.

Secondly, the decision-making function is included as a necessary component in the implementation of all other management functions. It acts, therefore, as a kind of mechanism for their implementation. For example, defining the goals of an organization is associated with their choice from some alternative set of them. The function of the organization also involves the choice of its structure. The planning function requires the choice of a strategic development option. The implementation of the control function is again organically linked with the choice of forms, methods and frequency of control.

Thirdly, any significant stage in the activity of a manager is always associated with the need to assess the degree of attainability of the problems and tasks being solved there. Therefore, at the end of each stage, the manager also necessarily decides whether the initially set goals were achieved or not, whether it is possible, therefore, to consider it completed and proceed to the next stages. Thus, the decision-making function also plays the role of a kind of “bridge” from one stages and phases of management to another. That is why the decision function is defined as a binder.

Equally important for management activities and another function - the function of motivation. Действительно, достойные цели, перспективные планы, правильные решения, хорошая организация будут малоэффективными без обеспечения мотивации – заинтересованности исполнителей в их реализации. Поскольку суть менеджмента – это "достижение результата посредством других людей", нужно, чтобы они захотели делать то, что от них требуется. Как гласит один из постулатов управления, "единственный способ заставить человека сделать что-либо – это сделать так, чтобы он сам этого захотел". Индивидуальная производительность, а также эффективность деятельности организаций в целом находятся в прямой и очень явной зависимости от степени мотивированности работников. Мотивация может компенсировать многие недостатки других функций – например недостатки в планировании или в организации. Однако слабую мотивацию практически невозможно чем-либо компенсировать и восполнить. В силу этого важнейшей функцией руководителя является мотивирование исполнителей – создание, поддержание и развитие мотивации работников.

Раскрытие содержания функции мотивирования тесно связано с проблемой мотивации трудовой деятельности в целом. Это создает большие трудности решения данной проблемы – прежде всего из-за ее широты и комплексности. Поэтому вначале необходимо определить те ее аспекты, которые наиболее специфичны управленческой деятельности.

Во-первых, это характеристика мотивации исполнительской деятельности. Она требует характеристики основных мотивов трудовой деятельности – того, к чему должен апеллировать руководитель, организующий свои мотивационные воздействия.

Во-вторых, это характеристика собственной мотивации деятельности руководителя, выявление специфики ее основных закономерностей (мотивация управления).

В-третьих, это описание состава, структуры и содержания непосредственно функции мотивирования как одного из основных компонентов управленческой деятельности. В реальной практике управления эти аспекты тесно взаимосвязаны.

Для того чтобы лучше понять сущность функции мотивирования, необходимо обратиться к одному из наиболее общих положений теории мотивации трудовой деятельности. Оно состоит в том, что сама необходимость мотивирования является прямым следствием разделения труда в совместной деятельности. В условиях строго индивидуальной деятельности, направленной на создание того или иного продукта, конечного результата этой деятельности, он сам и те блага, которые он принесет, являются достаточным мотиватором. Поэтому здесь нет необходимости в мотивировании как таковом. В совместной деятельности под влиянием разделения труда происходит отчуждение субъекта от конечного результата. Каждый член совместной деятельности превращается в частичного работника. Он работает не на конечный результат как средство удовлетворения своих потребностей, а совершенно по иным причинам. Например, ни один работник какой-либо аэрокосмической корпорации никогда в жизни не пользовался и даже не думает пользоваться итоговым ее продуктом – космическим кораблем. Этот продукт,

продолжение следует...

Продолжение:


Часть 1 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION
Часть 2 Psychic regulation of management - 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION
Часть 3 High variety and quality of heterogeneity of long-term memory material
Часть 4 Psychophysiological aspects in the activities of the head - 4.
Часть 5 Executive Training - 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION


Comments


To leave a comment
If you have any suggestion, idea, thanks or comment, feel free to write. We really value feedback and are glad to hear your opinion.
To reply

Organizational psychology

Terms: Organizational psychology