Managerialism
Encyclopedia
Managerialism is the belief that organisations have more similarities than differences, and thus the performance of all organisations can be optimised by the application of generic management
skills and theory. To a practitioner of managerialism, there is little difference in the skills required to run a college, an advertising agency or an oil rig. Experience and skills pertinent to an organisation's core business are considered secondary.
The term can be used disparagingly to describe organisations perceived to have a preponderance or excess of managerial techniques, solutions, rules and personnel, especially if these seem to run counter to the common sense of observers. It is said that the MBA
degree is intended to provide generic skills to a new class of managers not wedded to a particular industry or professional sector.
The term can also be used pejoratively as in the definition of a management caste. Robert R. Locke defines it accordingly as "What occurs when a special group, called management, ensconces itself systemically in an organization and deprives owners and employees of their decision-making power (including the distribution of emolument), and justifies that takeover on the grounds of the managing group's education and exclusive possession of the codified bodies of knowledge and know-how necessary to the efficient running of the organization." This view is further considered in the forthcoming book (as of September 2011) "Confronting Managerialism: How The Business Elite and Their Schools Threw Our Lives Out of Balance" by Locke and J.-C. Spender, and "The Collapse of the American Management Mystique" (Oxford, OUP).
Compare:
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
skills and theory. To a practitioner of managerialism, there is little difference in the skills required to run a college, an advertising agency or an oil rig. Experience and skills pertinent to an organisation's core business are considered secondary.
The term can be used disparagingly to describe organisations perceived to have a preponderance or excess of managerial techniques, solutions, rules and personnel, especially if these seem to run counter to the common sense of observers. It is said that the MBA
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
degree is intended to provide generic skills to a new class of managers not wedded to a particular industry or professional sector.
The term can also be used pejoratively as in the definition of a management caste. Robert R. Locke defines it accordingly as "What occurs when a special group, called management, ensconces itself systemically in an organization and deprives owners and employees of their decision-making power (including the distribution of emolument), and justifies that takeover on the grounds of the managing group's education and exclusive possession of the codified bodies of knowledge and know-how necessary to the efficient running of the organization." This view is further considered in the forthcoming book (as of September 2011) "Confronting Managerialism: How The Business Elite and Their Schools Threw Our Lives Out of Balance" by Locke and J.-C. Spender, and "The Collapse of the American Management Mystique" (Oxford, OUP).
Compare:
- New Public ManagementNew Public ManagementNew public management is a management philosophy used by governments since the 1980s to modernise the public sector. New public management is a broad and very complex term used to describe the wave of public sector reforms throughout the world since the 1980s...
- Technocracy (bureaucratic)Technocracy (bureaucratic)Technocracy is a form of government where technical experts are in control of decision making in their respective fields. Economists, engineers, scientists, health professionals, and those who have knowledge, expertise or skills would compose the governing body...