MANAGEMENT AND MANAGERS
The dark reign of orthodox management and managers
Since the middle of the 19th century a new power elite has been increasingly dominating and ruling our organisations, economies and societies – managers. Managers are powerful because of their formal roles and positions; the resources, information and authority linked to their positions; and their subordinates that re-produce managers’ power by following their orders. And managers have an interest in being powerful and to dominate because this is their responsibility that comes with the job; they ought to make decisions, to get things done and people going. Managers’ power and interests are justified and protected by a comprehensive and differentiated ideology – management or managerialism that portray managers’ roles and functions as good and necessary.
The dominance of managers and (the ideology of) management are comprehensively and thoroughly institutionalised, present and embedded in organisations’ environments, in organisational structures and processes, in the functional, (socio-) psychological, and sociological aspects of managers’ and employees’ views, decisions, attitudes and actions.
In my research I revealed that managers dominate because their personal and institutionalised power, their individual and group interests, and the ideology of management fit together and jointly create a comprehensive and multi-dimensional system of social dominance. Within an organisational context, the system is based on: a) roles and responsibilities, positions and privileges of managers / superiors, b) the functioning and obedience of their employees / subordinates, c) hierarchical and unjust organisational structures and processes, and d) isomorph relationships with socio-economic trends and powerful stakeholders within the environment. These four areas simultaneously constitute not only the managerial organisation but also the foundation and framework for managerial dominance.
But in and via my research I also showed that there is a lot wrong, fundamentally wrong, with this kind of orthodox management and the social – even societal – dominance of managers. Management and managers – like the church and priests or the monarchy and aristocrats before them – are part and parcel of a hierarchical system and defend that very system that makes them powerful and protects them.
‘Officially’, managers and leaders perform tasks and functions routinely, demonstrate professional conduct of office, and serve the whole or greater good unselfishly and enthusiastically. According to the traditional understanding of ‘the’ manager, leader, or ‘doer,’ they must demonstrate attitudes such as determination, toughness, and even ruthlessness. They must do so because they need to ‘get the job done’. Their management style, thus, is anything but professional: close supervision of their subordinates, distrust and suspicion, cold and impersonal interactions, severe and public criticism of others’ character and behaviour, condescending and patronizing behaviour, emotional outbursts, coercion, and boastful behaviour; they suggest an individual who emphasizes authority and status differences, is rigid and inflexible, makes arbitrary decisions, takes credit for the efforts of others and blames them for mistakes, fails to consult with others or keep them informed, discourages informal interaction among subordinates, obstructs their development, and deters initiative and dissent.
The fundamental problem of such orthodox management and managers is that this is not just individual organisational misbehaviour of (some) managers but vicious systemic and institutionalised design that creates and maintains:
- Hierarchical superior-/subordinate relationships;
- Unjust – and unjustifiable – group-based privileges and prerogatives, allocation of opportunities and resources, economic and social inequalities;
- Systematic oppression, exploitation and poor treatment of subordinates and (other) vulnerable groups;
- Mismanagement and/or (other) unethical behaviour in and of many organisations, the economy or societal institutions.
Democratic management and democratically elected representatives
In stark contrast to orthodox management and managers, I have developed the notions and concepts of democratic managementand democratically elected representatives / managers – especially also in and for private and public-sector organisations.
Democratic management is a comprehensive and detailed concept that comprises self-management, representative management, and participative management:
- Self-management: It is the fundamental idea of self-management that work and work-related issues are managed (i.e. planned, organised, led, and controlled) by the people and that people also manage themselves. Accordingly, all members of the democratic organisation have a fairly broad scope and opportunities to make decisions and to organise and manage their own work, the conditions of their work, and organisational affairs by themselves individually and/or via self-managing groups, networks, and institutions that are organised and function according to democratic principles and standards.
- Representative management: In larger democratic organisations there are formally established organisational institutions of governance and management (boards, committees, councils, or assemblies) as well as individual management positions with the task of managing organisational affairs and/or delivering management functions that go beyond individuals’ or groups of people’s wills and capacities to self-manage. Institutions and positions of representative management are democratic institutions and positions, i.e. they are constituted, are based on, operate, are staffed, and are managed according to democratic principles. This means in particular: a) Election or appointment of representatives: All representatives serving in any kind of management position are elected or appointed democratically, and elections and appointments of representatives are free, fair, transparent, democratic, and competitive; b) Conduct of office: All democratically elected or appointed representatives (are obliged to) execute the will of those whom they represent and carry out their responsibilities within clearly defined boundaries. Additionally, they have no line management responsibilities but instead have ‘service responsibilities’; and c) Control of representatives: All democratically elected or appointed representatives are supervised, controlled, held accountable, reconfirmed, or replaced by those whom they represent (the electorate) and/or by institutions formally provided with the task of overseeing the conduct of office of representatives.
- Participative management: All individual members of the (democratic) organisation have equal rights and opportunities to participate in and collaborate with self-managing groups and organisational institutions of representative management, in particular with regard to the management of the organisation and organisational affairs, formal decision-making processes at all levels of the organisation (constitutional, strategic, and operational), and decisions that are either relevant to the whole organisation or affect members directly.
With the concepts of self-management, representative management and participative management thoroughly in place, democratic management makes sure that ‘the people’ / all members of an organisation – and not a minority of unelected members of the power elite – govern and manage the system.
Books, journal and working papers published:
Journal and working papers: