Craftsmanship vs Modern Management

In this post, we will discuss about the differences about the Craftsmanship and Modern Management:

1. Distribution of Work: In craftsmanship, a single man manages everything whereas in modern management distribution of work-load is one of the major characteristic. In craftsmanship there is only 1 'tower' whereas in modern management there are many (refer to previous post)
2. In craftsmanship the person running the business should be the jack of all trades, whereas in Modern Management each person must have dexterity. The dexterity comes from the repetitive kind of job performed by each person of a modern organization. 
3. Craftsmanship generally provides high satisfaction to the person involved in it, whereas modern management generally leads to alienation because the person is only involved in a very small part of the whole production and distribution line.
4. In craftsmanship worker is the central figure of the business, whereas in modern management  the top positions in the hierarchy is not occupied by the worker.
5. In modern management, interdependency is quite evident as each process is connected to the other process which in turn is connected to some other. In craftsmanship all processes are united by the very person who runs the business.
6. In craftsmanship, skill is very important and so generally skill set is very high but in modern management, people involved are 'deskilled' because as they are involved in elemental form of work where generating or showing skill is very difficult.
7. In craftsmanship, there are no fixed process of business, whereas in modern management practices a structured way of processes are laid out beforehand.
8. In craftsmanship, no managers are required rather artists are more suitable, whereas modern management system is based on managers.

3Es in Management

1. Effectiveness
2. Excellence
3. Efficiency

Excellence = Effectiveness X Efficiency

More out of less for more is excellence.

Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X and Theory Y are theories of human motivation given by Douglas McGregor

 

Theory X suggests that Manager thinks

• that employees are lazy by nature and avoids work
• has no ambition and follow rather than lead
• never worries about organizational goal but their own
• managers have to use threat of punishment in order to make them work

Theory Y suggests that Manager thinks

• that employees are not lazy and like to work
• has their own ambition and aspiration
• they understand the organizational goal
• managers have to just guide the employees to work

Fig. 2.1. Snapshot of our Green-board

As shown in the figure there can be two types of worker:

1. Good Worker
2. Bad Worker

Also, there can be two types of managers:

1. Hopeful manager with positive attitude
2. Hopeless manager with negative attitude

From the above, four situation can arise:

1. Bad worker working under positive manager
2. Bad worker working under negative manager
3. Good worker working under positive manager
4. Good worker working under negative manager

Let us analyse the situation one by one,

Situation 1: This situation has a decent scope of improvement, a good/positive manager can strive this situation towards the situation 3.
eg. A manager comes from a good company to work for another company where there is Industrial Union problem.
Situation 2: This is the worst situation and from here the situation can't improve.
eg. The manager doesn't like his job and wants to leave it and there are various worker unions in the company which regularly calls for strike
Situation 3: This is the ideal situation, all the other situation should strive to this situation.
eg. All the big production and manufacturing companies which is running profitably for last many decades.
Situation 4: This situation will degrade to situation 2 in due time.
eg. A manager who is transferred from some other department and he is not happy with it, but the workers are all experienced and happy with their jobs.

It is evident that the Theory X leads to depressing work environment and Theory Y leads to more stimulating environment for development of the organization as a whole. In today's world where Theory Y is more pertinent the mid level management is loosing its purpose. Also, with technology advancement it is very easy for the top management to be in touch with the low level management, which is leading us to believe that mid level management has become a thing of the past.

Any business must be oriented towards following heads:

• Objective
• Performance
• Result

The top management sets the objective and the low level management perform to give results.

Craftsmanship - an introduction
It can generally be described as a one man management where he/she is responsible for all the jobs related to the business.
eg. A guy vending clay toys on a thela - He is responsible for the finance (money), procurement of raw material (clay), production of toys and sales of those toys.

This generally requires great skill and is meant for the profit of single individual.


Activities in the class:

Activity 1: One person was required fro this activity and choice was done through bidding, whoever bids the highest would be given the place on the dais for tower building.
Job: To build tallest single block thick tower.
Highest bid:  Rs. 500
He built a tower 16 blocks high, much higher than our expectation of 7,8 or even 10

Activity 2: A group of 8 people volunteered
Job: To build tallest single block thick tower with a blind-folded builder.
1 person was assisting him closely and 6 watching from a distance and commenting now and then. They made a tower 8 blocks high. The builder complained of too many directions and commands.

L"EARNING"

Prof. Mandi in the class



 I have seen the word "learning" a number of times, but Prof. Mandi pointed out the earning that is  there in learning. His motto - "Aaj ki roti aaj hi kamaana" - is quite motivating. In his first class he connected with the whole class and I felt for the first time, that  classes can be fun.

He stressed on the practice of sharing the knowledge by extensive blogging and envisioned a world where the management colleges may not be necessary. Whenever anyone wants to know about a topic he can simply browse the net.

In the class we calculated the average cost of our study to be around Rs. 2500/day. Prof. Mandi asked us to reduce the cost by earning while learning.

We listened to the Pink Floyd's "Another brick in the wall" track and He asked us not to become another brick in the wall and do something useful with your life and be different from others. http://youtu.be/SJGsI8wsNZU

I experienced a unique experience in his class, where we don't attend the class we live it.

Prof. Mandi with Ankit Gehlot (reciting a poetry)