Does the Classical Management Style Allow Followers to Think and Make Decisions, Essay Example

Yes, there are different types of machines. There is the wristwatch and there is the computer. There is the surgeon who does 30 colonoscopies a day, and there is the internist who sees 30 different patients a day. Is this a limitation of this metaphor in that it describes only one type of machine?

Does the classical management style allow followers to think and make decisions?

In a way, the differences of machines from each other specifically make the machine metaphor stronger rather than limited. Relatively, although the metaphor responds to only one machine, the description it provides is rather general hence making such definition applicable to all kinds of machine which logically defines the different types of machines. However, it could not be denied that this condition also poses a sense of distinction on the metaphor’s weakness in defining the role of each member of an organization enjoined in the so-called ‘machine’. If an organization is to be likened to a traditionally created machine, it could be realized that the function of each member is stipulated by the leader, hence cannot be misrepresented or mishandled. If in case such situations happen then the condition of the whole organization shall be jeopardized. The instances by which management takes on a machine-like structure is when it becomes fully directed by the brains. For example, a computer’s brain is the CPU. Whatever is programmed in the CPU shall be followed by the other working components of the computer. The said components cannot do otherwise unless there has been the occurrence of some reprogramming procedures.

In this case, an organization that follows such a process of machine-like function indicates the non-contradiction of the members under the guidance of the leader [or the brain of the group]. True, in making a human-based management procedure, there are more complexities compared to the creation of a machine-like structure of organization. When managing humans, it should be considered that the members all have something to share, they have brains and emotional capacities that need to be addressed by the leader. To do such condition of thinking and development, it is essential that leaders see their members more than just members of the machine but as contributing factors closer to the functional structure of more modern computers, which include artificial intelligence. This means that humans ought to be given the chance to develop their way of thinking, share their ideas and become more productive in a group so as to contribute fairly and become a source of strength for the entire organization. In a way, thinking and making decisions should be given a particular concern by management leaders as they relate the situations that their organizations are in to their members thus allowing them to contribute to the resolutions of the problems that defines the path of success for everyone.