Short‐termism, control, quick‐fix and bottom line: Toward explaining the Western approach to management

Abstract

Western managers have been criticized for their obsession with profit maximization, concentration on short‐term benefits, control of the work process and hastiness in adopting and abandoning new ideas. Why Western managers manage the way they do has not been addressed adequately in our view. This paper seeks to address this issue by presenting theoretical analysis that attempts to improve our understanding of why managers are preoccupied with pecuniary considerations, myopic decisions, work process control, hasty adoption and quick abandonment of novel ideas. This exploratory paper argues that without considering factors such as the managers’ national culture, the pressure from shareholders and the stock‐market, the objectives of the organization, and the organization as a rational institution, the behaviour of Western managers may not be fully explained and the criticisms may therefore be unjustifiable.