AFFECTIONATE MANAGEMENT part 3

Colloquially, ‘Manage’ or “Managing’ assumed a different connotation. Managing normally come to mean that a person somehow manages to wriggle out of difficult situations or even hoodwinks the system in cases where one finds himself on the wrong side of the law. Most people think and act on the premise that managing is to stifle and suppress, by any means, dissent, discord, dispute, discomfort and difficulty.

The good old dictionary gives the meaning of “Manage” as having control of, operate effectively, deal tactfully and contrive. The word contrive means plan, make or do something resourcefully.Management has been defined by Peter Drucker as getting things done. Koontz and O’Donnel defined Management as creating an ambience for productive activity.

We define Affectionate Management as a sustainable performance with positive and pro-active initiatives, to maintain organizational health as a prerequisite to growth and development of the organization as well as the individuals who are’ the organization.Walter Doyle Staples, author of Think Like A Winner, exhorts, “Show affection” Radiate a sincere warmth for other people and they will do the same for you. Affection helps people fee good about themselves. A soft touch communicates a strong message – that you care.

The objective of Affectionate Management is to ensure that the ‘whole’ ( Organization ) alone does not get the benefit of growth and development at the expense of the ‘parts’ ( People of the Organization).The Eastern magic of Japan is based on only one premise : The only natural resource is the people. Treating people, not money, machines or material, as the natural resource is the key to affectionate management.

Kenichi Ohmae, Head of Makinsey’s Tokyo Office, asserts that in Japan, organization and people in the organization are synonymous.Tom Peters and Robert H.Watermen Jr. stated, “many of the best companies really do view themselves as an extended family. We found prevalent use of specific terms, family, extended family or family feeling at Wal-mart, Tandem, HP, Disney, Dane, Tupperwave, McDonalds, delta, IBM,TI, Leve Strauss, Blue Bell, Kodak and P & G…. companies like 3 m have become sort of a community center for employees, as opposed to just a place to work… They have become sort of mother institutions, but have maintained their spirit of entrepreneurship at the same time”.

The principles of Affectionate Management enunciated in the following chapters are the pathways to realize our definition of Management in the Twenty First Century. It may be noted that the word ‘MAN’ is used in these chapters to denote ‘human being’ is general. No gender bias is intended.