Marx's Theories and How They Apply to Modern Organizations - Essay Example

? Critical Management Theory Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Marxist Theory 5 Current Western approaches to Management and Leadership 8 Conclusion 11 Reference 13 Bibliography 13 Introduction Critical Managements studies are a rapidly growing concept of an innovative approach to management in organisations. The theory encompasses a range of perspectives which are critical of the traditional management theories. The critical theories explore and acknowledge the commonalities between the management elements, critical theories and critical theories. This project further explores the impact and relevance of the critical theory in organisations, academics, students and practitioners. The most important task and contribution of critical management theory “is to promote a more systematic and critical consideration of the contexts of organisational work” (Alvesson & Willmott, 1996, p.188). It is also meant to strengthen the resistance towards pressures to align with the functional imperatives and demand of the corporate wisdom (Alvesson & Willmott, 1996, p.188). CMS offers a number of alternatives with the view to maintain the management theories to radically transform the management practices. There is extreme scepticism regarding moral dispensability and as well as the ecological and social sustainability of the existing management forms in organisations. CMS has no concern for the individual’s manager’s personal failures. Neither is it concerned with the poor management practices of particular organisations. It is rather concerned with social injustice and the environmental destruction of the economic and social systems that the organisations and managers serve and then reproduce (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.2). It is important to explain the term critical in this context. A large team is considered to be an example in this case. Teamwork is considered to be a means which would be used by managers to mobilise the employees for improving their performance in business. By the reorganisation of work for accommodating task interdependencies, and by leaving a certain amount of autonomy with the team members to handle the interdependencies, such team work is considered to be the most effective and most efficient means of working in a business and managing employees. Issues like work force diversities have become increasingly important and are considered to be factors which would impede or facilitate effective team work. If such team work impedes, research suggests and finds out a way in which the problem can be mitigated (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.2). In CMS, both team work and mainstream theories informing it are considered to be problematic. Mainstream research ignores such problems or views them as pathological. However, critical research shows how team work can be used to take the organisation towards its goals and objectives and can result in internalising the business values by the team members. Team members than begin to exploit and discipline themselves and their peers towards better business performance and become responsible team players (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.2). While developing the critical agenda, contemporary developments which are beyond mere academia have influenced CMS. “Well-established critiques of the fundamental features of contemporary capitalism have been undercut by the decline and fragmentation of the left since around 1970” (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.2). The same period also witnessed the development of a number of social movements which opened new perspectives. Expansion of some of the European communities and emerging economies and the rise of the Chinese and Indian economy has modified the Anglo and American business values. These developments are directly related to the management of organisations and the daily experience of works. Critical Management Studies appeal to the faculties, practitioners, students and activists who are tired and frustrated by such conservative limits (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.3). The Marxist Theory For a long time Marxism was the most important forms of the structural critical scholarship. It appears in critical management studies as the primary foundation for a number of labour process theories and also in various other approaches. According to the theory of Marx, the key to the understanding of work organisations lie in the broader society structure in which it lies embedded. This concept is more important than the role played by human psychology, “in the dynamics of dyadic exchange, or in any timeless features of formal organizations” (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.16). Social structure is considered to be primarily determined by the existing production relations or the nature of property rights and control over the productive resources. Relations of the production characteristics in capitalist societies are derived from the commodity nature which is the core of the production in capitalist societies. The commodity is considered to be produced for the purpose of sale than to be used directly. It has two important aspects. First is its value which is the qualitatively determined value which is finds usage to the customer. Secondly the exchange value which is considered to be the power to demand a certain amount of money for it. According to Marx, the exchange value of the commodity is determined by the socially important labour time which is required for production of the commodity (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.16). In the system of production of commodities in capitalist societies the production relations have two important features. Firstly the ownership and control of the productive resources are dispersed among the owners of the firms who are confronted with each other as the producers of commodities in the market competitions. Secondly, along with the group who enjoy such ownership of resources are the ones who lack the alternatives to access the various means of consumption or production have to sell their labour power or their capacity to do works. It is the worker’s ‘property-less’ situation which makes allows the possibility of extraction of surplus labour from them. But the amount of this extra labour can be extracted would depend on the class conflicts (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.16). Marx has characterised certain distinct development tendencies in the capitalist societies. Firstly, market coordination remains unstable. This results in extreme competition among the existing firms leading to the tendency of firm’s over production which consequently leads to crisis. Secondly, combination of the unrestricted competition between firms and the conflict between the classes’ results in increasing the size of firms which replaces labour by mechanisation. This creates pressure on the level of profits which further increases the tendencies for crisis. Thirdly, the capitalist society remains resistant to changes. Predominance of the market mechanism limits the functioning the alternate mechanisms. This also includes the mechanisms which could curtail the crisis to a certain extent. Further, the existence of market mechanism also corrodes community. This gives international mobility to the capital which outflanks the government. This reduces the government’s possibility of entering into the economic affairs of the country. Critical management system uses the Marxist ideas for studying the various themes (Adler, Forbes & Willmott, 2007, p.17). The advocates of Marx theories assume and proclaim enthusiastically the moral virtue of their application and prescription to reconstruct the modern organisations. Firstly, industrialisation has taken place and a number of scientific forces have come into play. Modern organisations have evolved new methods of production. Fragmentation of labour has increased. However, modern organisations continue to employ methods like the assembly line. Scientific research has been effective in breaking down the production process into component parts. This has deskilled the white-collar jobs and has bestowed greater power and monopoly in the hands of managers over the processes of production. According the Marxist theories, capitalism is highly exploitative in nature and is based on class distinction in society. He also argues that capitalism has internal contradictions which can be solved only by overthrowing the system completely. The revolutionary transformation can be possible given the fact that the working class has enough potential to do so. This is highly applicable in the modern organisations which are created by capitalism. These modern organisations prepare the workers who later become agents having the potential to revolutionise (Larson & Nissen, 1987, p.24). According to Marx, the labour movement has a positive contribution towards workers’ struggle. Trade unions are considered to be most important and most elementary requirement of workers to defend them. The class struggle then takes the shape of political struggle. When the working class gains wins the socialist society is created. This scenario demands the role and participation of the traders union considerably (Larson & Nissen, 1987, p.24). It is obvious that a given business requires capital which is always not enough to be accumulated in a lifetime. Skill alone does not have any value. It is “soon compelled to hire itself to capital” (Larson & Nissen, 1987, p.189). Soon an opposition arises out of the difference of interest between the employers and the employees. This creates the trade society. The entire concept of modern organisations lies on the fact that they have spontaneously evolved and developed themselves. This arises out of the differences between the functions of capitalism and the workmen (Larson & Nissen, 1987, p.189). Current Western approaches to Management and Leadership According to Bryman (1992), charismatic authority is the form of leadership which is able to articulate a vision relentlessly despite facing numerous resistances. Securing the commitment towards this vision is the primary aim of a leader. Bryman has emphasised on the importance of teamwork in attaining the goals of a leader. According to him, leadership and management are considered to be two sides of the same coin. Thus, a number of visions can be achieved by the role of managers and not only through the actions taken by the leader. The reason why the leader’s role has been greater emphasis is because of the research methods used. For example, if research focuses more on the role of individuals than the role of team work, this would devalue the significance of the team (Grint, 1997, p.14). The contingency theories which arose in the 1980s were considered to be “atheoretical” (Grint, 1997, p.14) and suspected empirically. The new studies on leadership styles revert back to the ‘one best way’ approach of the scientific management as the universal principle for success. However, it must be noted that the contingency approach is based on the ‘one best way’ approach. This is because each contingency situation generates one particular leadership style suitable for the situation and not a series of leadership styles. However, the emphasis might shift to the nature of the situation but the fact is that it there is only single leadership style for a particular situation (Grint, 1997, p.14). Studies reveal transformational leadership to be a necessary element in the development of an organisation. There are distinctive features in the transformational style of leadership. It has also been termed as ‘breakthrough leadership’. This form of leadership came into existence through innovation and vision. The inter-cultural differences are also highlighted in the transformational leadership style. It is revealed the transformational leadership suitable in Australia would be different from that in America. This is because the Australians emphasise more on equality. It was even concluded that the leaders in Australia were mote result and achievement oriented and also individualistic. However, they valued equality more than the Americans (Chhokar & House, 2007, p.310). Currently, in organisations leadership focuses specifically on the managerial leadership. This is meant to bridge the gap between the management practitioners and academics. Research was conducted to understand leadership behaviour starting from the 1950s. Initially leadership styles were divided as task oriented, participative leadership and relation oriented. It was observed that dyadic relationships have evolved between the leaders and the followers. This has given rise to a number of follower based leadership styles like the LMX (Leader Member Exchange), leaders’ attributions about the subordinates, followers’ attributes towards effective leadership and the self management or the social learning theories (Yukl, 2001, p.2). The words charismatic and transformational have been used interchangeably by researchers. However, Yukl have used them distinctly but there are certain characteristics between them which overlap. The charismatic styles of leadership have a major influence on the organisations. However, they have both positive and negative influence on the organisation. The critical characteristic of transformational style of leadership is that leaders make the followers understand the importance and value of the work that they are performing. It is also meant to encourage the followers to think beyond their self interest. The most difficult and important responsibilities of a leader is to lead changes. A compelling and clear vision needs to be established and created for guiding the organisation and the followers through the change process. The leader requires providing the guidelines through which the change is implemented. The change may be political, people oriented or organisational. Throughout the change process the key role is played by the leader (Yukl, 2001, p.3). There is interrelatedness between the transactional and transformational styles of leadership. The transactional style of leadership involves “contingent reward, active management by exception, passive management by exception and laissez-faire” (Adams, 2009, p.7). On the other hand transformational style of leadership involves idealised influence or charismatic, intellectual stimulation, individualised consideration and inspirational motivation. Transformational behaviour demonstrates all the above behaviours while the transactional leader may act as transformational leader at times (Adams, 2009, p.7). The Marxist theory did not seem accurate in the context of the transformational style of leadership. He said that true consciousness can be achieved only by perpetual conflicts. His theory was accurate in his era and his time (Waite, 2008, p.7). Critics suggest that Marx did not expend mush research on the complex relationships that existed between the motives and the behaviours of individuals. Marx primarily stressed on conflict theory. Very often, “conflict will reveal the leaders of a particular moment in history” (Waite, 2008, p.8). However, there are other theories which suggest that leaders are the impetus of conflicts. Thus it is important to realise both leaders and the situation plays an important role in the development of an organisation. Some suggests that the situation decides the role and style of leadership while others think that some people are “destined to become leaders” (Waite, 2008, p.8) not matter what the situation is. The different forms of leadership and various perspectives on the organisational theories have evolved at different times and also continue to develop because of the reactions to each other. Their proponents create communities within the organisational theory and research is conducted to bring out ways to bring distinction between them. The different perspectives among the organisational theories interplay among themselves which makes it all the more difficult to sort out through the different ideas in organisational theory. Conclusion During the course of the project it was found that critical management studies are a growing concept in the field of management in organisations. Critical theorists have viewed organisations as a system of dominations in which different classes of actors exploit one another. CMS has a very ambitious objective to contribute towards the progressive transformation of the management theories and practices. CMS does not show any concern for the personal performances of managers or employees. Rather it takes into consideration the social injustice and environmental destructions of the social systems which the organisations and managers have been serving and reproducing. Critical theories trey to resolve the problem that clashes in interests are not tried to be resolved not reconciled. The only means by which they are resolved is by suppressing the weaker by the stronger in society. A direct involvement with the organisational changes and the development efforts could be an effective way for CMS to inform the realistic management practices and the organisational processes for attaining its goals. Several researches have been conducted to identify the potential function of CMS in the development of organisations and brining about change initiatives. Although it has proposed a number of valuable insights into developing the system, still it faces pressure for translating these insights into practice (Voronov, Deetz & Jones, 2003, p.3). Marx has emphasised on the ways in the managerial ideologies which are developed to naturalise and justify the arrangements which were inequitable and arbitrary. According to Marx’s theory the importance of understanding work organisations lie in the broader society in which it operates. According the theory, the social structure is developed through the kind of property rights enjoyed by individuals and the extent to which they have access or control over the productive resources. In this context the commodity has an important role to play. The commodity is considered to be produced more for the purpose of selling than for their usage. This creates an exchange value for the commodity or the power by which it cam demand for itself in exchange. The people who are able to have ownership over the productive resources are considered to be more powerful in the society. This is why the workers situation worsens because he has no access to these resources. This allows the employers to extract surplus hours of work from the employees. Finally, the project discusses about the various western approaches towards management and leadership in organisations. In this context the transformational style of leadership have been chosen and analysed. In the views of Bryman (1992), both management and leadership are considered to be of equal importance. In fact the role played by managers is at times more critical in attaining the organisations vision and mission than the leaders. In the western organisations, the transformational style of leadership plays the most significant importance. It is also referred to as breakthrough leadership because it came into existence out of vision and innovation. In this context the Marxist theory differs slightly. According to him changes were introduced only by the prevalence of conflicts and was applicable in his time and era but not in the modern world. Reference Adams, H. A. 2009. Effective transformation teams: The influence of values and transformational leadership. 16th EDAMBA Summer Academy. Henley Business School. Adler, P. S., Forbes, L C. & Willmott, H. 2007. Critical Management Studies. University of Southern California. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Alvesson, M. & Willmott, H. 1996. Making sense of management: a critical introduction. SAGE. Chokkar, J. S. & House, R. J. Culture and leadership, across the world: the GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. Routledge. Grint, K. 1997. Leadership: classical, contemporary, and critical approaches. Oxford University Press. Larson, S & Nissen, B. 1987. Theories of the labor movement. Wayne State University Press. Voronov, M., Deetz, S. & Jones, T. G. L. 2003. Perspectives on Critical Management Studies in Organizational Consulting: Invitation to a Dialogue. Columbia University. Waite, M. R. 2009. Fire Service Leadership: Theories and Practices. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Yukl, G. 2001. Leadership in Organizations. National College for School Leadership 2003. Bibliography Bottomore, T. B. 1991. A Dictionary of Marxist thought. Wiley-Blackwell. Read More