Humanism and business

Le Monde of 16 september 2008 titled "It is difficult to select the managers of tomorrow".  Is it ? The article mentioned that since three years HEC had introduced a leaderships component in their MBA (I sincerely hope it exists already longer). The article continues that managers in general are seduced by short toolkit-driven courses like "developing your charisma in three days". Interesting, not really new.

The Newzy of June 2008 asks the question whether a business could be humanistic and they observe that increasingly companies become interested in "meaning".  What are we doing it for ? A few statements in the article are illustrative.  "Today, people often have opinions, but few have a view point". "In companies, we observe a vocabulary that becomes ever poorer with a misuse of meaning, under the false cover of sophistication".

And yes, the suggested way out is teaching managers (and management students) much more humanities. Did we indeed make management education a toolkit-education? Did we suggest our students that there exist quick solutions to problems that can easily be analysed? More than anything else, I think we need a more systemic understanding of management, and for sure, that is not easy to teach.

Comments

[bhattathiri]

Excellent. In this modern world the art of Management has become a part and parcel of everyday life, be it at home, in the office or factory and in Government. In all organizations, where a group of human beings assemble for a common purpose irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, management principles come into play through the management of resources, finance and planning, priorities, policies and practice. Management is a systematic way of carrying out activities in any field of human effort. Management need to focus more on leadership skills, e.g., establishing vision and goals, communicating the vision and goals, and guiding others to accomplish them. It also assert that leadership must be more facilitative, participative and empowering in how visions and goals are established and carried out. Some people assert that this really isn't a change in the management functions, rather it's re-emphasizing certain aspects of management.
Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their weaknesses irrelevant, says the Management Guru Peter Drucker. It creates harmony in working together - equilibrium in thoughts and actions, goals and achievements, plans and performance, products and markets. It resolves situations of scarcity, be they in the physical, technical or human fields, through maximum utilization with the minimum available processes to achieve the goal. Lack of management causes disorder, confusion, wastage, delay, destruction and even depression. Managing men, money and materials in the best possible way, according to circumstances and environment, is the most important and essential factor for a successful management.

[Heiko Spitzeck]

If you are interested in how Humanism and Business can go together have a look at a new release from Cambridge University Press:

http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521898935

The editors are planning a further book on Humanistic Management Education. Feel free to get in touch!