Management Thinking Research Articles

Peter Drucker’s Principles, Philosophies, and Practices

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore Peter Drucker’s principles, philosophies, and practices. Knowledge workers and thought leaders are explained and knowledge and wealth are differentiated. The paper advises how everyone can excel as a knowledge worker and implores the augmentation of a knowledge pipeline. It outlines competencies for 21st -century managers and offers a strategy in an unpredictable world. Despite rapid changes in technology, the impact of Drucker’s ideas is shown to endure as his ideas on humanity, technology and prosperity are still relevant today. This article outlines his leadership lessons and equips the reader with his fundamental management tools. Drucker’s resonance reveals that individuals are mortal and ideas are immortal. The discourse substantiates that Peter Drucker is more relevant today and his ideas and insights continue to inspire the world, calling upon management thinkers, scholars, and practitioners to keep his legacy alive and carry it forward to build a better world. Research Limitations/Implications: The manuscript covers knowledge workers and management applying objectives from Peter Drucker’s perspective

Professional Thinking and Socio-Psychological Features of Managers in Education

Introduction. The strategic task of improving the quality of Russian education requires increasing the efficiency of education system management. The authors assume integration of cognitive and personal resources of the subject of activity. The researchers focus on professional thinking as one of the cognitive resources. The aim of the article is to study the relationship between professional thinking and the socio-psychological features of personality. Materials and Methods. The materials of the study were the data of a survey of 65 people. The authors used questionnaires and the method of analyzing problem situations. For statistical processing, the methods of mathematical statistics were used. Results. It is shown that the situational-suprasituational level of thinking is predominant. The relationship between the level of professional thinking and the flexibility of choosing strategies of behavior in conflict and stress is established. There are similarities between the talent pool and managers with experience in conflict and stress behavioral strategies, and differences in management motivations. The new socio-economic reality and changes in the educational environment suggest that the manager should be ready to solve new heterogeneous professional tasks, which require expanding the range of competencies and a different level of reality understanding, integrating their own psychological structures, where professional thinking will play a system-forming role. Discussion and Conclusion. The obtained results can be used in solving tasks of the Nation-wide Project “Educationˮ aimed at further training of teaching staff, and in administering the said programs of continuing education.

Using digital media resources to train future education managers

This article highlights the topic of using digital media resources in training specialists - future education managers. At the present stage, the relevance of training future education managers is important for improving the quality of educational services in educational institutions. Research methods: theoretical analysis, methods of questioning and survey among students and teachers. The article presents the obtained experimental data on the study of the development of creative thinking of future education managers. The analysis was made of modern teaching methods, common to which is the focus on self-education through open access and media resources to information. The most popular at the moment are video materials, presentations. Little coverage in the educational process of the university is given to the topic of online libraries. Online libraries are an important part of education and contain a large amount of scientific data. The survey revealed that only 32% of students - future education managers are familiar with online libraries. The development of creative thinking should be a priority in the training of future managers of the secondary and higher education system.

Managerial Thinking in a New Reality

The passing year 2020 has turned over a lot in society, economics and business, human behaviour and consciousness. Within a brief period, due to the pandemic situation, we found ourselves in a new reality. Still, we are trying to understand the changes that occurred and how to manage different processes effectively. But even more important is where all these processes will bring us. This very difficult period in human development took place in a completely different economy of impressions, information, knowledge and intelligence. In the framework of the large scale, overwhelming, and promising (however, somewhat controversial) Industry 4.0, we see the development and digital transformation that changed management and managerial thinking. The new fight for human consciousness has extended; methods and techniques of neuro-management, neuromarketing, and artificial intelligence are widely used. The consciousness became the object of influence and manipulation, the key topic in business and politics. This article focuses on several problems of a new quality of management thinking. It suggests and explains the essence and the necessity of hyper thinking as one of the most suitable and valuable approaches to understand and analyze the new contemporary reality and the ongoing processes and approach to education.

Managers' responses to the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic: an executive coaching perspective

PurposeThis research investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic initially affected organisational managers, as seen from their executive coaches' perspective by asking: (1) What challenges did managers experience during the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic? and (2) How did coaching foster crisis management skills during this time? Executive coaches are in a unique, confidential and professionally intimate position to observe their clients' thoughts, emotions and behaviours.Design/methodology/approachUsing an interpretivist approach, interviews conducted with 26 executive coaches from the USA, UK, Australia and South Africa during the initial stages of the pandemic (first three weeks of April 2020) were analysed using thematic analysis.FindingsCoaches observed how the Covid-19 pandemic caused managers to experience a tension between managing their staff, their own bosses and themselves. Ranging from logistical challenges to personal fear, uncertainty and loss of identity, managers confided in and relied on their coaches to help them to reflect, provide support, but also challenge them to take a forward-looking stance. Findings were interpreted through the lenses of crisis management and coaching efficacy theory. Crisis management theory is extended by suggesting that greater priority must be given to managers' personal well-being and by adding coaching as a new intervention to develop crisis management skills. Coaching theory is extended by showing that executive coaching can foster certain crisis management skills and that the benefits of coaching in non-crisis times are also relevant during a crisis.Practical implicationsManagers, their leaders, executive coaches and purchasers of coaching services, such as human resource practitioners, should take note of the challenges managers face during crises. They should consider executive coaching as a support intervention to foster requisite crisis management skills.Originality/valueThe findings provide novel, empirical evidence suggesting that executive coaching could foster crisis management skills. The unique Covid-19 context provides rare insights into managerial thinking, emotions and behaviour during extreme crisis situations, contributing to the design of appropriate support interventions.

Words and Silence in Job Mentoring

Today, economic sustainability is a social priority and it implies positive, rewarding, and creative relationships in the workplace. Creativity, innovation, and subjective welfare will remain extremely important for sustainable production models in an age of technological acceleration, ecological threats, and digital globalization. With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the new ways to organize work, this is even more important. The basis for this is to be found in education, especially in secondary and higher education. Good mentoring is becoming essential in professional development; this activity is based on words and silence, using corporate and individual coaching tools to open new doors of creativity. Following Peter Drucker’s (1954) work in management thinking and the approach of positive psychologists, this paper presents a new concept of sustainable working relationships for the 21st century based on words and narratives.

Scope and Challenges of Self-Directed Learning in Undergraduate Medical Education: A Systematic Review

Context: Self-directed learning (SDL) is an individual’s ability to effectively use various strategies to reach his/her learning goals. We conducted this systematic review to explore the different methods, advantages, and challenges in SDL. Method: A systematic and comprehensive literature search on PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases was carried out using keywords such as “self-directed learning”, “self-regulated learning”, and “medical undergraduate curriculum” among articles published between 2010 and 2020. Original articles having methods, advantages, and challenges were included. The data were summarized and analyzed thematically. Results: Out of the total number of 1781 screened articles, sixteen eligible studies were included in the systematic review. Flipped classrooms, problem-based learning, case-based scenarios, video lectures, and e-learning were the commonly used methods. Self-assessment, time management, motivation, teamwork, and critical thinking were the advantages. Faculty guidance, time constraints, distraction due to technology, lack of organizational skills, and difficulty to learn complex topics were the common challenges of SDL. Conclusions: Most of the articles in recent years explain the growing interest in SDL in the medical curriculum. Despite numerous advantages of SDL, there are several challenges and limitations due to the lack of specific and defined guidelines for its implementation. Further research is required for structured methods and strategies for SDL effective implementation.

Analysis of the Influence of Traditional Economic Management Thoughts on Contemporary Economic Management

In today’s business environment, due to the complexity of organizational phenomena, the quick repair methods used in traditional economic management control will have adverse effects and more serious problems. The focus of this article is to integrate traditional economic management thoughts related to economic and social management to improve contemporary economic management, and to demonstrate the potential contribution of socio-economic management methods to guiding overall sustainable performance.

Perlmutter revisited: Revealing the anomic mindset

The assortment of issues that arise in situations where there is a divergence between managers’ prevailing mindsets and the demands of their complex operating environment have yet to be fully revealed. Engaging critically with Perlmutter’s framework and the broader global mindset literature, and drawing on insights curated from a 2-year field study, we reveal the existence of the anomic mindset among a cohort of international managers. We conceptualize this mindset as a stock of knowledge, cognitive and psychological attributes that results in these managers returning to and entrenching themselves in an outdated, most probably idealized, world view of business in opposition to a changing socio-economic context. Its presence sees them resisting rather than adapting to the globalization that surrounds them, and leads them to engage in detours from the pathway toward the development of a global mindset. Unlike the ethnocentric mindset which describes ex ante managerial thinking in organizations moving toward internationalization, the anomic mindset results from the ex post responses of managers following a protracted period of involvement in international business. Its existence opens up a significant debate on progress in, and the prospects for, globalization and the development of global mindsets, along with their preservation in the face of this persistent anomie.

Preparing project managers for the human aspects of project work: fostering sensemaking abilities

PurposeTo prepare project managers for the human aspects of project work using a new classroom-based approach to foster abilities in collective sensemaking.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed an approach for fostering collective sensemaking abilities through three class sessions inspired by Merrill's First Principles of Instruction. The authors implemented the sessions in two cohorts of students, with a total of 57 participants, and evaluated its impact through a series of surveys.FindingsFindings demonstrated how each component of the educational approach contributed to an increase in students' sensemaking understanding and ability. Through explanation, demonstration and application components, students reported increasing levels of confidence in their ability to facilitate collective sensemaking in practice.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ findings are based on a sample of 57 students in one university setting. Further studies are required to evaluate the educational approach; such studies could use larger numbers of students or other education settings. Triangulating students' reported understanding and abilities would increase confidence in the effectiveness of this approach.Practical implicationsBy explaining the authors’ approach to sensemaking education and providing initial evidence of its success, they provide educators with an example of how to foster collective sensemaking through classroom-based project management education. The approach has potential for teaching other interpersonal skills.Originality/valueThis research provides a novel classroom-based approach to foster sensemaking awareness and skills, and for dispersing contemporary project management thinking and tools to practitioners.

Decreasing CT Acquisition Time in the Emergency Department through Lean Management Principles

Lean management thinking and tools were leveraged to solve CT patient flow issues in the emergency department of a quaternary-care academic medical center.

What Do the Managers Think of Us? The Older-Worker-Perspective of Managers' Attitudes.

Background: Due to demographic changes, the need to prolong working life has become increasingly salient. Paradoxically, stereotyping and discrimination against workers based on their age can limit possibilities for a long working life. A large body of research has investigated attitudes towards older workers; however, less is known about differences across occupational groups as well gender differences. Aim: To compare perceptions of the managers’ perceptions of older workers between employees from mainly seated work and mainly physical work as well as men and women. Method: Data from 11,444 workers aged 50+ from the baseline questionnaire survey in the SeniorWorkingLife study were analyzed. Results: Across all groups, a larger proportion of the respondents indicated that their managers had more positive than negative perceptions of older workers. Respondents from the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) group 5–9 (mainly physical work) and women were less likely to point at both positive and negative perceptions than the ISCO group 14 (mainly seated work) and men, respectively. Conclusions: The results indicate that there are differences between those with mainly physical and mainly seated work as well as gender differences. More research is warranted to explore the nature of these differences and, in particular, attitudes towards older female and male workers, respectively.

Conceptual Framework for the Strategic Management

This study aims to reveal the development of strategy and strategic management thinking, which has become even more important in today's intensely competitive environment, and the direction of current research issues in strategic management issues. In this framework, a literature review has been made to make comments and reach new syntheses by examining the subject with a broad and deep perspective in our study. It has been ensured that the sources related to the subject of the article are reviewed, opinions, attitudes, and descriptions are found. In this article, the pioneers of strategic management thought and philosophy from the past to the present and the historical development process, the strategic management schools and research issues that have emerged until today, have been tried to be revealed through a literature review. In our study, the progress and developments provided by strategic management thinking have been examined.

Strategic Drift and Organizational Culture in Oil and Gas Company of Nigeria

The main purpose of this study was to examine the impact of strategic drift on organizational culture in the oil and gas company of Nigeria. The study used a survey research design. The primary method of data collection was employed for the study. A quantitative approach and multiple regression analysis were adopted for testing the hypotheses. Findings from the study revealed that strategic resilience, organizational flexibility and managerial culture have significant and positive relationships with organizational culture in the Oil and Gas Company of Nigeria, while has not significantly impacted the organizational culture in the Oil and Gas Company of Nigeria. The paper provides that strategic managers of the oil and gas companies in Nigeria need to build and improve on strategic resilience capability. The managers of oil and gas companies should encourage the widespread use of formal and informal organizational flexibility as a strategy to meet business, individual needs and good culture for sustainability. The research provides some contributions in theory and strategic management. The paper has provided insight for management thinking in terms of strategic drift and organizational culture in the Oil and Gas companies of the developing economy which has not been studied in the previous literature.

Management and Society

Management existed as early as mankind. It has a biblical foundation and reference. It has been practiced for thousands of years and organized projects were directed by people responsible for planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Management theories and practices evolved in the past showing the evolving nature and character of management. Early management scholars and contributors recognized the existence of the three approaches of management which are classical approach, behavioural approach and integrative approach. This research article presents the evolving nature of management thoughts and practices from the early approaches of management to modern approaches to management. This in effect would give the much clearer understanding of hundreds of definition of management ranging from simple to complex. And that management is not only the process of getting things done effectively and efficiently, with and through people but it also has become a social institution. Hence, it cannot escape social issues.

Strategic Drift and Organizational Culture in Oil and Gas Company of Nigeria

The main purpose of this study was to examine the impact of strategic drift on organizational culture in the oil and gas company of Nigeria. The study used a survey research design. The primary method of data collection was employed for the study. A quantitative approach and multiple regression analysis were adopted for testing the hypotheses. Findings from the study revealed that strategic resilience, organizational flexibility and managerial culture have significant and positive relationships with organizational culture in the Oil and Gas Company of Nigeria, while has not significantly impacted the organizational culture in the Oil and Gas Company of Nigeria. The paper provides that strategic managers of the oil and gas companies in Nigeria need to build and improve on strategic resilience capability. The managers of oil and gas companies should encourage the widespread use of formal and informal organizational flexibility as a strategy to meet business, individual needs and good culture for sustainability. The research provides some contributions in theory and strategic management. The paper has provided insight for management thinking in terms of strategic drift and organizational culture in the Oil and Gas companies of the developing economy which has not been studied in the previous literature.

CREATIVE THINKING OF MANAGERS

The article explores the creative thinking of managers and the creativity of the person. It has been established that among the ways of activating the internal reserves of a person the most effective is the disclosure, development and approval of natural creativity forming the life of orientation as a genetic given, which is embedded in the body and initially in it. It has been established that creative thinking of managers can develop, for example, by psychological training of innovative thinking, flexible thinking and communication, asertive behavior. The main ways of developing the creative thinking of managers are given, namely, purposeful modeling of business situations, in which participants of training are constantly faced with the need to apply existing knowledge, skills and abilities, with conditions requiring them to show imagination, improvisation, intuition, flexibility of thinking and communication, self-confidence, perseverance and perseverance, focus on efficiency and quality and the like.

Internationalization and Firm Performance –Case of Manufacturing Firms in Argentina

The main objective of the study is to investigate the relationship between the degree of internationalization and the performance of businesses in the manufacturing sector in Argentina. Using a panel data collected by the World Bank over the years 2006, 2010, and 2017 of the manufacturing firms in Argentina, the regression results show empirical evidence of a non-linear relationship (an inverted-U shape) between the degree of internationalization and firm performance of manufacturing firms in Argentina. The implication of this study provides the strategic thinking for managers to understand and come up with the right strategies to reduce risks and enrich business performance in the process of internationalization.

Creative leadership, innovation climate and innovation behaviour: the moderating role of knowledge sharing in management

PurposeInnovation, in most enterprises, originates from employees. In this study, how organizational climate, creative leadership ability and emotional reaction to imposed change impact on innovative behaviour of employees vis-à-vis knowledge sharing within the workplace is explored.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a social cognitive perspective, a model is constructed to explain factors influencing the innovation behaviour of employees along two key aspects, that is, organizational climate (innovation vs risk-taking climate) and creative leadership ability (leadership skills, vision incentive) vis-à-vis other moderating factors. A survey questionnaire, administered to a total of 311 manufacturing employees in China, was used to verify the proposed research model via Smart PLS.FindingsResults unveil several key factors impacting positively on creative leadership in organizations. Specifically, creative leadership ability, emotional reaction to imposed change, innovation climate and knowledge sharing are found to impact positively on innovation behaviour while supportive versus risk-taking climate as well as emotional reaction are found to impact positively on innovation climate. Additionally, knowledge sharing is found to regulate the relationship between innovation climate and innovation behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsWhile offering insights into the antecedent factors of innovation behaviour, the study extends research on the intermediary role of innovation climate and employees' innovation behaviour. Additionally, it improves one's understanding on the moderating role between knowledge sharing and innovation behaviour.Practical implicationsThe study findings will assist enterprises in diagnosing the implementation environment of innovation strategy, thereby providing a reference for training enterprise leadership while improving the employees' understanding of innovation and reform in the workplace.Originality/valueThe study contributes both theoretical and managerial thinking on the extent in which organizational climate and creative leadership ability may and/or should be evolved appropriately to support, encourage and nurture employees' innovation behaviour in the workplace.

Dialectics and dilemmas arising from Covid-19 immunity testing: presenting a workforce management paradox

PurposeCovid-19 has caused many businesses to rethink their short- and potentially long-term workforce operations. The use of lateral flow serology can provide a clinically convenient approach for the assessment of prior infection with Covid-19. However, its widespread adoption in organisations seeking to use it to test for workforce immunity is controversial and confusing. This paper aims to explore the paradoxical dilemmas and dialectics immunity workforce testing creates.Design/methodology/approachThis study involved capturing the ethnographical participation of a chief executive officer (CEO) dealing with the experience of managing the outcomes of Covid-19 workforce immunity testing. The aim was to take a snapshot in time of the CEO's empirical world, capturing their lived experiences to explore how management actions resulting from Covid-19 immunity testing can played out.FindingsProviding staff with immunity tests at first glance appears sensible, decent and a caring action to take. Nevertheless, once such knowledge is personalised by employees, they can, through dialectic dialogue, feel disadvantaged and harbour feelings of unfairness. Subsequently, this paper suggests that immunity testing may only serve to raise awareness and deepen the original management dilemma of whether testing is a worthwhile activity.Originality/valueThis paper aims to be amongst the first works to empirically explore the workforce management challenges that arise within small businesses within the service sector following the completion of Covid-19 immunity testing of their staff. It seeks to achieve this via utilising the robust theoretical framework of the paradox theory to examine Covid-19's impact upon small business workforce management thinking and practice.