The Chemistry of Effective Management

Abstract

Different schools of management have emphasized particular orientations as being indispensable for high organizational performance. The data from the study of a sample of Canadian organizations suggest that this is only partially true. Synergic combinations of these orientations were more powerful predictors of organizational performance than individual orientations, and, indeed, wrong combinations of even such acclaimed orientations as scientific or technocratic management, risk-taking, and participative decision-making seemed to result in low organizational performance. The author feels that there is no need to impose one uniquely good management style on all organizations; rather, the style can be fashioned around the most deeply ingrained current orientation of its management, even when it is coercive or bureaucratic or anti-scientific, by nurturing orientations that have a positive synergy with the deeply ingrained orientation. The paper also discusses implications for organizational development and management education and training.