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Management
fads and hypes
Wondirad
Seifu, May 31, 2008, The Reporter
Doubtful that weather balanced scorecard is a matter of
survival; the Ethiopian General Post Office is playing with it, wishing to
improve its traditional way of doing things. It was by accident that I came
to know of this when two ladies who were too officious, quietly slid a
questionnaire on a table that touched my chest while I was writing the
address of this paper on an envelope. Unfortunately, the moment one of the
ladies politely requested me to fill the questionnaire, I felt a heavy
weight on my back with a roaring mail’s voice saying, “cooperate with
them”. I dare not to see the man behind the voice; but as I judge from the
ladies’ radiant reflection, I guessed that he must be their boss. Yes sir,
here is my reflections, respectfully.
Since the 1950s, the business world has witnessed a
barrage of management fads, fictions and superstitions ranging from management
by objectives to business re-engineering to 360 degree feedback. Most are
American by birth. They were triggered by Japan’s stunning development;
conceived in response to the second oil shock and positioned against
China’s recent staggering stride forward.
Life
Cycle of Management Fad
Source:
Gerard B.(1993)
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Time
Categories
1. Academic discovery
2. Academic publication
3. Promotional presentation
4. Universal panacea
5. Realisation of difficulty
6. Determined Exploitation
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However, they are not free from contradiction and
confusions. Some say customer is the most important than quality. Some
maintain productivity is most important than quality. Some had stressed
that profit is more important than revenue. Some chatter that internal
customer is most important than external customer... measurement than
process... value added than add value... the game than the score...social
responsibility than corporate accountability... the list is inexhaustible.
By chance or by design most goods are known by three
letter acronyms: TQM, MBO, BPR, TQC, JIT, ... XYZ. However, despite their
new name with hyperbola hype, most fads lack independent originality and
profound theoretical background. They tend to be superficial, recycled again
and again in the name of F.W. Taylor, the father of scientific management
(1911). He was also believed to pioneer the practice of management
consultancy and advocating his principle: “one best way of doing things at
work”. Though, he was an engineer by profession, he was successful in
management practice.
Balance scorecard was invented by Prof. Robert S.
Kaplan, who was an accountant. It was promoted by a management consultant,
David P. Norton. It was designed to help the western practice of accounting
to measure business performance. However, some management historians claim
that it was inspired to recover the concept of” Managerial Accounting”,
which was one of the contributors to the loss of the American competitive
position at the end of the second World War . It focused on money than the
human factor and process.
Also the scorecard is claimed to link strategy to
action, it suffers from dearth of measurement. That is to say, if something
cannot be included in the scorecard, it tends to partially take up
different values of stakeholders. It is also uncomfortable with
organisation that presided over traditional management system. Still,
accountants would not be able to go beyond the book of accounts in such a
way that they fail to capture quality and opportunity costs.
Thus, management goods follow a trend similar to a
product life cycle from cradle to the grave (see graph). The scorecard is
supposed to be bogged down in the last phase were it is exposed to the next
money generating fad. The worst thing is that some fads disappeared by
their own accord; it is better say that they are vaporised, leaving behind
thousands and thousands of heir ardent supporters and fans , usually due to
word of mouth. In fact, this sort of fads traced their origin to “superstitious
learning”, which is diffused by lecture tourism, and facilitated by
frustrated managers who are bound to short-term objectives
Indeed, great ideas and theorized practices are vital
impetus to sustain successful business performance, particularly in the
world where the age of the machine had waned and the age of system had
dawned. That said, no more piston and pistol, but the question is how to
position them to hit the target customer.
The fad machine takes various forms, ranging from higher
learning institutions to consultancy firms and from think-thank clubs to
corporate departments. The Ethiopian management institute (EMI) is a living
proof of this in the country since it was created four or five decades ago.
However, the role of EMI is not encouraging and visible. Once I used to
know a person who visited EMI frequently to learn fad or fact. But he was
always speaking about EMI’s food service until he left for the next
training, probably an identical one. Sadly, many firms, particularly
public-ones have a miss-conception about EMI: some regard it as a place
where they avoid or hide menace workers; others see it as a recreational
site to take a fresh breath or to gain weight. Few consider it to train
their cadres and cadets. Recently its private equivalent is coming into
play: the “mysterious training unit that is lurking inside the honourable
A.A Chamber of Commerce.
In spite of such covert and overt efforts, our firms
seem to suffer from dearth of role model in best practices. And hence, our
institutes should look into their missions and vision. Of course, EMI
should also think over providing training on how to “feed on little” or
change the perception from food for weight to food for thought.
The twin thin ladies were vigilantly lurking behind the
tables arranged across the wide floor which is blocked by a glass wall and
some 50 or so service windows in a row. I rolled over them pleading to have
a single stamp while thinking the concept of the “mysterious shopper “and
“agility management” in light of service quality. A modest proposal. What
is the next fad?
llllll
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