The American School of Management

To date, the management, there are three main national schools. It is known to all of you Japanese, European and American schools. The last of them, and I would like to consider in their work.

The American model of governance infancy at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries, when the United States experienced an economic boom. Abundant natural resources have attracted leading minds of the time, the level of technological development in sharp contrast with the current at the time the system of industrial relations. Classic capitalism shifted into its highest, the monopoly stage. It was during this period evolved objective preconditions for the emergence of "scientific management" in the United States and of its leader - Frederick Winslow Taylor.

It is no coincidence that the center of the development of the theory and practice of management in the early XX century, moved from England to America. The activities of the founders of "scientific management" reflects the characteristic tendencies of the classical era of capitalism - the free market economy, individual entrepreneurship, the dominance of small and medium enterprises. The organization of labor and management in a "local economy" did not require the systematic application of science, and science itself has not been the dominant social institution, the main productive force of the industry. Such was the state of affairs in England era Arkwright, Smith, Bolton and Owen. [1, pp. 76-78] Thus, we can conclude that it was the English, or rather Anglo-Saxon model is the basis of the American School of Management.

The situation was different in the late XIX - early XX century in the U.S. that the technical level of production were among the world leaders. A few facts help to understand why America was the birthplace of modern management. Even in the beginning of the XX century, the U.S. was virtually the only country where a man could overcome the difficulties associated with its origin, nationality, demonstrating personal competence. The main factor in the development of management science there was no medium, and small and large businesses - large and extra-large corporations, such as the Midvale Steel and Bethlehem Steel, in each of which employed several thousand people. In America, Peter Drucker wrote, "large corporations are in a minority, but a minority that sets the typical structure of society, people's behavior, their way of life. Big business is the basis of any industrially developed society. It finances and also brings to life the great science. Even the trade unions and the government administration is nothing more than a social response to the phenomenon of big business. [1, pp. 76-78] It is non-interference of the state allowed the entrepreneurs who achieved success in the early days of his business, to become monopolists.

Noting the differences in the development of the industry in continental Europe and North America, some experts point out that the Americans began with the mechanization of the whole complex of operations, while the Europeans were inclined to mechanize certain tasks, such as weaving or spinning. As a result, while England were more advanced machines in the USA - assembly lines and conveyors.

In England, the technical ideas developed in the frame of academic science. That is to say, on the basis of the state, and then, over time, the practice reached. Americans borrowed ready-made best technical ideas of Europeans and immediately put them into specific technical model. North Americans approach was more flexible and swift, the introduction of technology in less enmeshed bureaucratic networks. Centers of technological progress in Europe often served as government agencies and universities in the United States - the enterprise. Leading firms have well-equipped laboratories engaged in the practical implementation of technical achievements. These are the historical preconditions of the American School of Management.

In the American School of Management accepted that the success of the company depends primarily on internal factors. Particular attention is paid to the rational organization of production, the continued growth of labor productivity, efficient use of resources. While external factors are secondary.

Rationalization of production is expressed in a high degree of specialization of individual employees and the structural units of the company and a rigid demarcation between their duties. The benefits of specialization lies in the fact that it reduces the amount of training employees, improve professional skills at every specialized workplace, separated from the production targets those who do not require skilled labor and can be performed by unskilled workers who receive lower wages, and increases capabilities of specialized equipment.

Solutions often taken individually, the same level of responsibility is the management pyramid on one or two levels higher than the level of managers with formal authority. This means that management is responsible for the actions of their subordinates.

The American company operates in a social atmosphere that preaches equality. Accordingly, the workers here are more portable, easy to change jobs in search of personal gain. It should be noted that the spirit of "sacrifice" (altruism) is rare among Americans, even in the action to the benefit of society, in fact readily detectable personal gain. Often, the firm encourages competition between employees (one of the ways to promote), which is why Americans - pronounced individualists and sometimes it is very difficult to work in a team.

For the American model of management is characterized by a hierarchical management model.

In the traditional model of hierarchical organization, first of all, there is a separation process of making strategic business decisions and operational decisions. The first concerns the business decisions of the company, which determine the main directions of its operation. After the last generation company makes operational decisions to adapt their activities to various contingencies (equipment failure, marriage, etc.) and to change the situation on the market. The basic principle of such a hierarchical coordination is characterized by the following two features:

1) Each functional unit has at most one direct superior and is not connected with other units (hence, any coordination of the two disparate units through a common direct superior).

2) Only one unit (the central section) is the head of any other unit.

It is assumed that the only viable alternative to the market mechanism in terms of effectiveness is the company as a hierarchical organization.

The duration of labor contracts may be several years in accordance with the normal duration of collective agreements used in the United States. Work on the contract is controlled by the union. It should also be noted that in contrast to the Japanese school, the unions are created in the industry, not the company. The amount of remuneration is determined by the category of the working workplace, in the calculation of wages rarely taken into account length of service of the employee.

In the American School of Management, management training can be done through the organization of lectures, discussions in small groups, analysis of specific business situations, reading, literature, business games, role-based training. Variants of these methods are annually organized courses and seminars on issues of governance. Another method, which is used more and more often, is the official rotation. Moving the head of the grass-roots level from department to department for a period of one month to one year, the organization introduces a new leader with many aspects of business. As a result, the young manager knows the problems of the various departments, clarifies the need for coordination, informal organization and the relationship between the objectives of the various units. Such knowledge is vital to the successful operation at the higher levels.

An important principle, which provides the leading position of U.S. firms in the global economy - a comprehensive quality control (the concept of "doing right the first time"). In accordance with this concept, quality is ensured by including responsibility for quality in every job description or a description of the work of the production worker. [2, pp. 360-377]

The main disadvantages of this school are:

1) Reduction of flexibility in changing work assignments, reduced sense of job satisfaction, the growth of fatigue from the monotony, the growth of absenteeism as a result of over-specialization of labor.

2) The loss of efficiency of hierarchical organization in industries where large range of products and the manufacturing process involves many steps.

3) The desire of U.S. managers receive immediate benefits, solve the question of "fast."

4) A large number of management levels (up to 11-12 in the American auto industry, compared with 5.6 in Japan), and as a consequence, the growth of bureaucracy and transaction costs.

However, despite its shortcomings the American School of Management at the moment is most popular and recognized. It was built on the principles of his work large companies such as General Motors, General Electric, Emerson, Caterpillar and many others. In fact, it is a universal management model. In the words of Peter Drucker - known representative of the American school of management - "management - is specific and defines the structure of each and every organization." The peculiarity of the American school is also a significant theoretical foundation of control processes.

The most well-known to all of us company, applying the principles of the American model of management - it is certainly a McDonald's. Therefore, I propose to consider the example of the company indicated above features of the American school.

1) A rigid hierarchical structure: each employee has only one supervisor.

2) clear written job descriptions, ranging from how to wash the floor and finishing order of cooking hamburgers.

3) Quality control of the operations on the site: the concept of "doing right the first time."

4) Strictly payment of hourly wages, penalties for delay and reprimanded for coming to work before the stipulated deadline (the authorities will have to pay you more money) - the concept of "just in time".

5) The desire to create a level playing field for workers: eating in a common room, the same salary for the same job level.

6) The prospect of career advancement in the company.

7) Promotion of competition and informant within the same group (there is a special box where you want to drop a note of all the violations of which you've just noticed).

8) The liability of superiors for the acts of his subordinates.

    References

1) AI Kravchenko, history management. - M: Academic Prospect, 2003.

2) A. Bolshakov, Modern Management. - St. Petersburg: Piter, 2002.

3) Michael Meskon, Principles of Management. - M: Business, 1999.

4) Peter F. Drucker, Management Challenges in the XXI century. - M: Williams, 2003.

5) John Sheldrake, Theory of Management of Taylorism to japanization. - St. Petersburg: Piter, 2001.