Situational approach: concept, essence, application

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

It's good when there is an instruction on how to act in a given situation. Here a person made a mistake, and he was immediately presented with a plan of action - it’s convenient, and there’s no need to think. Only in the modern world, this does not always work, the variability of human "jambs" is inexhaustible, therefore there has never been and never will be universal advice on the correct behavior. The same applies to business development. Each firm, like a person, is individual in its own way, so it is not surprising that standard management theories have sunk into oblivion, making room for a situational approach.

Brief Introduction

The situational approach has made a great contribution to the theory of management. The central point here is the situation - a certain set of circumstances that affect the activities of the organization. Using this approach, managers can understand what techniques to use to achieve the goal in a given situation.

Just like the systems approach, the situational approach is a way of thinking about organizational problems and their solutions,not a set of rules and guidelines. This approach tries to tie together specific techniques with their respective situations in order to achieve the company's goals in the most effective way.

In general, this is how this technique in management activity can be described: some situation develops in the company, the manager analyzes it, applies methods to eliminate problems and makes the work of the staff more efficient.

Start

By the beginning of the 60s of the last century, quite a lot of scientific management schools were formed. Each of them in its own way demonstrated the process of differentiation in the field of scientific research on management problems. Perhaps this is what led scientists to try to unite schools and trends based on the same concepts. At that time, scientists were trying to stop the rush of scientific research, which turned management theory into a real jungle.

In 1964, at a meeting of the American Academy of Management, a resolution was adopted to create a "Unified Theory of Management", which could explain all the phenomena that a manager may encounter in managerial practice. And to reconcile different and sometimes conflicting concepts, creating a basis for applying practical advice.

The unified, so-called unifying theory turned out to be a new situational theory of management. Its author was Professor R. Mockler (St. John's University, New York). Let the author say that it is stupid to consider the junglemodern management theory, while ignoring the situational approach, he did not recognize it as something fundamentally new.

First mentions

The situational approach to management was mentioned back in 1954 by P. Drucker in the book “Management Practice”, where he formed the main features of this theory. Together with the scientist and his school colleagues, other theorists also defended the need to analyze situations for decision making. Mockler believed that the attempt to consider situational theory as a unifying concept is an exclusively new trend in management. True, the scientist argued that the situational approach was formed not because the scientific community decided to create a single management theory, but rather because of the need to reorient theoretical developments into practice.

Studying actual conditions

Mauclair tried to explain the reasons for this attitude to management theory as follows. The situations in which a manager has to act are so diverse that existing theories cannot satisfy practical needs. It is good to have established principles of government, but it is not enough in life. That is why, no matter how much you develop various theories, managers will not be 100% provided with practical guidance for action. It is much better to develop conditional, situational principles that can be used when necessary.

The development of a new situational approach began to focus on the study of the real conditions in which theor another company. Based on these situations, specific and unique organizational structures should be developed. The situational approach to management encouraged managers to build theoretical models of the organization, where external factors were characterized by a set of contextual, interconnected variables

Problem solving

Proponents of the situational approach theory said that management should solve three problems:

1. Create a model of the situation.
2. Model functional relations of links.
3. Based on the received data, make and reproduce management decisions.

Push to development

The situational approach to management was considered in most detail in the work "Organization and Environment" by P. Lawrence and J. Lorsch. The starting point of their theory was that a priori there is no single way to organize, because at different stages of development of enterprises it is necessary to introduce different organizational structures that meet the real needs of companies.

This approach has prompted other professionals to develop specific organizational structures. It is worth noting that the situational approach to management has influenced all schools of management. Thus, the work “Theory of Leadership Effectiveness” by F. Fiedler appeared. The scientist tried to determine the types and situations of group behavior and propose the style of government that would be most suitable.

Similar studies were used by W. White. He wanted to identify the types of employee behavior and whathow they will be affected by different methods of leadership. Such and similar studies suggest that the situational approach has begun to gain popularity. This meant that the scientific community had moved away from the desire to form universal principles of managerial activity.

The essence of the situational approach

The following can be said about this theory: it has its own "inputs" and "outputs" and actively adapts to a very changeable external and internal environment. Based on this, the main causes of what is happening in the organization must be sought outside of it - where it actually functions. In this approach, the concept of a problem situation has become key. It is worth noting that the theory in no way disputes other management principles, but argues that in order to successfully achieve goals, the organization must apply techniques not only of a general nature.

Any managerial decision should vary depending on the situation, because the main art of leadership should be the ability to choose the right techniques to cope with problem situations.

Basics

The situational approach in the organization is based on four main provisions, and all of them relate to the work of the leader. After all, the fate of the company depends on him:

1. Every manager should know effective means of professional management. He must understand the management process, the behavior of the individual and the group, have analytical skills, know the methods of planning and control.
2. Headis obliged to foresee the consequences of using a particular management method. Determine the strengths and weaknesses of the applied concept and give a comparative description of the situation.
3. The correct interpretation of the situation will help the manager to identify the most important factors.
4. The leader must coordinate the selected management techniques with certain conditions in order to ensure the greatest efficiency in achieving the goal.

For those who don't understand

Despite the fact that the situational approach, unlike other management theories, clearly shows that there is no better way to manage in principle, there were scientists who did not quite understand this. They continued to insist on the need to rely on science. But if you briefly describe the actions of a manager, it becomes clear that it is the situational approach that is applicable in management, and not scientific dogmas with their indestructible ways.

Evidence of Odiorne

Take, for example, the research of one scientist who argued that a priori there can be no science of management, because leadership is an art that defies rules and cannot be deciphered.

Professor of the University of Michigan J. Odiorne said that it is impossible to bring management activities to certain patterns, norms and rules. Existing theories very simplistically consider the variety of situations that a manager has to face. Odiorne's empiricism boils down to unique and unrepeatable experiencesleaders. To achieve this experience, one must not only explore the current situation, but also learn to survive.

Situational restrictions

Also, Odiorne noted that most of the circumstances surrounding a manager defy absolutely no analysis, so he named 5 reasons why it is impossible to create a management science:

1. The manager is in a state of constant situationality, that is, not having time to get out of one situation, he must immediately enter another. As soon as a person has managed to make a decision, he finds that the number of difficulties has multiplied. Only by resorting to the help of past experience, the leader can prepare himself for new changes.
2. Luck is of the utmost importance for a manager. Too bad most theories discount her.
3. Competition and conflicts. Basically, the scientist focuses on the eternal conflict over the distribution of resources. There will never be winners and losers in it, and all managerial theories will only help buy time in this dispute.
4. Guilt. It is inherent in any manager and, since it never leaves him, it influences behavior and decision-making.
5. The death of a manager was Odiorne's strongest argument against the possibility of a scientific management theory.

Man is inherently complex, and the conditions in which he constantly has to act will never become so simple that they can be considered in the context of mathematicalformulas. As for the situational theory, it must be existentialist, since its starting point is a person - an unstable and ambiguous substance. This is the essence of applying the situational approach: only a person, his accumulated experience and ability to analyze will help in management activities.