Psychological control and its levels. Psychology of management
Rice. 1. Roles performed and categories of managers
Management psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the psychological patterns of management activity.
Management is a set of system of coordinated activities aimed at achieving significant goals of the organization.
Main control functions: planning, organization, motivation, control.
The purpose of management psychology- analysis of psychological conditions and characteristics of management activities in order to increase the efficiency and quality of work in the management system.
Object of management psychology- is a community of people united in one or another social organization.
Subject of management psychology- development of psychological aspects of human activity, group and organization as a whole.
In the role subjects of management acts as a set of officials hierarchically united in different groups.
A manager is a subject who performs management functions.
Management psychology is associated with the following branches of psychology: general, social, engineering, economic, as well as ergonomics, philosophy, sociology of organizations, etc.
General psychology- a branch of psychology that theoretically and experimentally studies the patterns of the emergence and functioning of mental reflection in the activities of humans and animals. Sometimes general psychology is understood as the study of mental processes (cognitive, emotional, volitional), mental properties (abilities, character, temperament) and mental states in a normal adult (stress, affect).
Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the patterns of behavior and activity of people determined by their inclusion in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of the groups themselves (according to G.M. Andreeva).
Engineering psychology (from the French ingenieur - engineer, specialist in the field of technology) is a science that studies the processes and means of interaction between man and machine.
Economic psychology representing interdisciplinary knowledge about man and human relationships that develop in the process of economic activity, uses theoretical principles and methods of various branches of psychology and economic disciplines, as well as sociology, biology, anthropology, philosophy, studying aspects of economic behavior, ranging from the economic activity of the individual to economic policies of countries. Economic psychology differs from the economic sciences in that the subject of its research is not economic processes themselves, but primarily the people participating in them.
Ergonomics (from the Greek ergon - work and nomos - law) is the science of adapting job responsibilities, workplaces, equipment and computer programs for the safest and most effective work of a worker, based on the physical and mental characteristics of the human body.
A broader definition of ergonomics, adopted in 2010 by the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), is: “The scientific discipline that studies the interaction of humans and other elements of the system, and the scope of application of the theory, principles, data and methods of this science to promote well-being human and optimizing overall system performance."
Philosophy (gr. philio - love, sophia - wisdom) - a system of ideas, views on the world and the place of man in it; the science of the most general laws of development of nature, society and thinking.
Sociology of organizations- a branch of sociology that studies social patterns and mechanisms of functioning and development of organizations as complex multi-purpose systems of social relations.
Management is an ancient field of human activity, as it has existed since people live and work in communities; its origins lie in the works of philosophers. But until the beginning of the 20th century, management was not considered an independent field of scientific research with its own methodological apparatus.
Frederick Winslow Taylor(1856-1915) was born into the family of a lawyer. He was educated in France and Germany, then at the F. Exter Academy in New Hampshire. In 1874 he graduated from Harvard Law College. In 1878, at the peak of the economic depression, he received a job as a laborer at the Midval steel mill.
From 1882 to 1883 he worked as head of mechanical workshops. At the same time, he received a technical education (degree of mechanical engineer, Stevens Institute of Technology, 1883). In 1884, Taylor became chief engineer, the same year he first used a system of differential pay for labor productivity.
From 1890 to 1893, Taylor was the general manager of the Manufacturing Investment Company in Philadelphia and owned paper presses in Maine and Wisconsin, where he founded his own management consulting business, the first in management history.
In 1906 he became president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and in 1911 he founded the Society for the Promotion of Scientific Management.
Since 1895, Taylor began his world-famous research on the scientific organization of labor. He patented about a hundred of his inventions and rationalizations.
With the advent of the book "Management" or "Factory Management" (1911) the basic principles of management work:
1. The management takes upon itself the development of a scientific foundation, replacing the old traditional and crudely practical methods, for each individual action in all the different varieties of labor used in the enterprise.
2. The management makes a careful selection of workers on the basis of scientifically established characteristics, and then trains, educates and develops each individually, while in the past the worker himself chose his specialty and trained as well as he could.
3. The management carries out cordial cooperation with the workers in the direction of achieving compliance of all individual branches of production with the scientific principles that were previously developed by it.
4. An almost equal distribution of labor and responsibility is established between the enterprise administration and workers. Management takes upon itself all those branches of labor for which it is better equipped than the workers, whereas in the past almost the entire labor and most of the responsibilities were entrusted to the workers.
This combination of worker initiative, coupled with new types of functions carried out by the management of the enterprise, is what makes the scientific organization so significantly superior in productivity to all older systems.
Henri Fayol (1841-1925) - French mining engineer, manager of a mining and metallurgical company, management theorist and practitioner, founder of the administrative (classical) school of management.
In the book “General and Industrial Management”, published in the 20s, he proposed the following system of management principles:
1. Division of labor- delegating individual operations to employees and, as a result, increasing labor productivity, due to the fact that personnel have the opportunity to concentrate their attention.
2. Authority and Responsibility- the right to give orders must be balanced with responsibility for their consequences.
3. Discipline - the need to comply with the rules established within the organization. To maintain discipline, it is necessary to have leaders at all levels who are capable of applying adequate sanctions to those who violate order.
4. Unity of command - each employee reports to only one manager and receives orders only from him.
5. Unity of action- a group of workers should work only according to a single plan aimed at achieving one goal.
6. Subordination of interests- the interests of an employee or group of employees should not be placed above the interests of the organization.
7. Remuneration - the presence of fair methods of stimulating employees.
8. Centralization is the natural order in an organization that has a control center. The degree of centralization depends on each specific case.
9. Hierarchy - an organizational hierarchy that should not be violated, but which, to the extent possible, must be reduced to avoid harm.
10. Order - the workplace for each employee, as well as each employee at his own workplace.
11. Justice - respect and fairness of the administration towards subordinates, a combination of kindness and justice.
12. Staff stability- staff turnover weakens the organization and is a consequence of poor management.
13. Initiative - providing employees with the opportunity to demonstrate personal initiative.
14. Corporate spirit- cohesion of workers, unity of strength.
Thanks to A. Fayol, a new branch of science arose - “management psychology.”
In the 30s management theorists actively turn to the motivational factors of human labor activity.
George Elton Mayo(1880-1949) - Australian-American researcher of problems of organizational behavior and management in industrial organizations, one of the founders of the American doctrine of “human relations”.
He led a number of research projects and experiments, including the Hawthorne one. He founded the movement “for the development of human relations” and is one of the founders of the school of human relations, from the standpoint of which an industrial organization is viewed as a social organism, and the people working in it are members of this social system, bearers of motivational, personal, individual psychological qualities .
E. Mayo's contribution to the theory and practice of management:
1. Increased attention to human social needs.
2. Refusal of over-specialization of labor.
3. Refusal of the need for hierarchy of power within the organization.
4. Recognition of the role of informal relationships between people within enterprises.
5. Development of methods for studying formal and informal groups within organizations.
American scientist Chester Irving Barnard(1886-1961) in 30-40 years. gave a definition of the organization and the requirements for it.
An organization is a structure within which certain activities are carried out to achieve specific significant goals.
Requirements for the organization:
The presence of two or more people who consider themselves members of this group;
The presence of at least one goal as an end state or result, which is accepted as common to all members of this group;
The existence of group members who consciously and intentionally work together to achieve a goal that is meaningful to them all.
He also highlighted the functions of managers:
The Art of Decision Making;
Setting goals based on foreseeing the future;
A clear understanding of the communications system, including the organization chart and the structure of management personnel;
Creating organizational morale.
Barnard paid great attention to the analysis of the interaction between formal and informal structures within the organization.
He considered motivation to be one of the main factors in production, and that the essence of the relationship between a person and an organization lies in cooperation.
Formulated the principles of communication within the organization (mainly regarding formal relations).
Classified a person as a strategic factor of the organization.
American scientist Douglas McGregor(1906-1964) published the book “The Human Side of Enterprise” in 1960.
D. McGregor identified means of monitoring the behavior of people in an organization:
1) transition from physical violence to reliance on formal authority;
2) transition from formal power to leadership.
D. McGregor called leadership a social attitude that has several variables:
Characteristics of a leader;
The positions and needs of his followers;
Characteristics of the organization (such as purpose, structure, nature of tasks to be performed);
Social, economic and political environment.
D. McGregor argued that there are two types of personnel management, the first of which is based on “Theory X”, and the second on “Theory Y”. This is discussed in more detail in § 2.3.
Representatives of the “human relations” school believed that a truly democratic organization requires close interaction between individuals and groups.
The following methodological approaches are distinguished: systemic, situational, process.
By using systematic approach the organization is considered as a single whole with all its most complex connections and relationships, as well as the coordination of the activities of all its subsystems.
The systems approach requires the use of the principle of feedback between parts and the whole; the whole and the environment (i.e. the environment), as well as between the parts and the environment. This principle is a manifestation of the dialectic of interdependence between various properties.
The smooth functioning of an organization is influenced by many factors, the most important of which are psychological and socio-psychological phenomena.
System is a unity consisting of interdependent parts, each of which brings something specific to the unique characteristics of the whole. Organizations are considered open systems because they interact dynamically with the external environment.
In relation to management problems in a systems approach, the most important is to perform the following actions:
a) identification of the research object;
b) determining the hierarchy of system goals and its reflection in the goals of subsystems;
c) a description of the influence of each of the subsystems on the system in which they operate and the reverse influence of the system on the objects of the subsystem;
d) identifying possible ways to improve the activities of the subsystems being studied.
Using situational approach managers proceed from the fact that a specific situation is the basis for the application of possible management methods. At the same time, the most effective method is considered to be the one that best suits the given management situation.
The situational approach is the concept that the optimal solution is a function of environmental factors in the organization itself (internal variables) and in the environment (external variables). This approach concentrates the main provisions of well-known management schools by combining certain techniques.
Process approach is based on the concept that management is a continuous chain of management functions carried out as a result of performing interconnected actions.
There are several classifications of management levels.
In the direction of influence.
Horizontal division of labor- involves the interaction of subjects equal in hierarchical power. It may not appear in small organizations when managers are assigned to various divisions of the organization. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that horizontally divided work must be coordinated.
Vertical division of labor- involves the interaction of subjects of vertical subordination: manager - subordinate, enterprise - higher organization.
According to the function performed by the head in the organization(highlighted by Talcott Parsons (1902-1979)).
On institutional level- are mainly engaged in developing long-term (long-term) plans, formulating goals, adapting the organization to various kinds of changes, managing the relationship between the organization and the external environment, as well as the society in which this organization exists and operates.
On managerial level- are engaged in management and coordination within the organization, they coordinate various forms of activity and efforts of various divisions of the organization.
On technical level- are engaged in the daily operations and activities necessary to ensure efficient operation without disruption in the production of products or services.
Senior managers are the persons responsible for making the most important organizational decisions as a whole or for the main part of the organization.
Even in the largest organizations, there are only a few senior executives. Typical senior executive positions in business are Chairman of the Board, President, Vice President of a corporation, Treasurer of a corporation, etc.
Middle management managers subordinate to senior managers, coordinating and monitoring the work of lower-level managers. A middle manager often heads a large division or department in an organization. The nature of his work is determined to a greater extent by the content of the work of the unit than of the organization as a whole. They prepare information for decisions made by senior managers and transfer these decisions, usually after transforming them in a technologically convenient form, in the form of specific tasks to lower-level line managers.
Lower management managers exercise control over the implementation of production tasks. Managers at this level are often responsible for the direct use of resources allocated to them, such as raw materials and equipment. Typical positions at this level: foreman, shift foreman, department head, head of the management department at a business school. Most of the managers in general are lower-level managers.
Roles are most clearly manifested in the joint work of individuals organized in groups, and the authority, respect and recognition of a given individual depend on how responsibilities are performed.
The manager performs many roles that correspond to his real position, i.e. status, in the organization.
Highest level of management.
Choosing the main direction of the organization’s activities, taking into account external and internal factors of work. Setting strategic goals, organizing strategic planning, forecasting the company's performance for a certain period of time. Anticipating future company performance results. Responsibility for all tasks and decisions taken in the organization. Full knowledge of problems, means of solving them, competitors and market conditions. Realization of power and authority in accordance with existing status and roles.
Middle level of management.
Knowledge of complete information about the tasks of this level. Management of small (working) groups. Responsibility for the activities of these groups. Exercising leadership functions. Management of group-dynamic processes. Responsible behavior for group cohesion, group unity, group motivation, acceptance of organizational goals by all group members, formation of value-oriented unity. Motivating individual employees as well as the entire group. Participate in all management functions. Fighting conflicts.
Grassroots level of management.
Operational management of production operations. Direct contact with each member of the working group. Implementing individual motivation for each employee. Constant communication with group members. Organization of performers' activities. Monitoring the completion of tasks. Resolution of business and interpersonal conflicts. Solving current management problems. Provide feedback to staff.
The effectiveness of management activities directly interacts with three parameters:
1) a sense of likelihood of success;
2) the motive of behavior as a personal factor;
3) the consequences of success or failure in solving management situations.
Managers, like subordinates who have positive motivation to work, want to receive satisfaction from work.
1. The concept of management psychology and the content of its main directions
management psychology is a branch of psychological science that combines the achievements of various sciences in the field of studying the psychological aspects of the management process and aimed at optimizing this process. When defining management psychology as a science, social management is most often meant. Management as social management represents a special case of management, the essence of which is the guidance of people in implementing the plans of the organization. An organization is a form of association of people whose activities are consciously coordinated to achieve a common goal and streamline joint actions. The subject of control is the person (organization) from whom control actions come, the object of control is the person (organization) to whom these actions are directed. A system is understood as an objective unity of interconnected elements (objects, phenomena, knowledge), combined into one whole to achieve a specific goal. Thus, social management is a continuous process of influence of a leader (subject of management) on an organized group of people or someone from this group (object of management) to coordinate their joint activities to achieve the best results.
Psychological patterns of management activities
As you know, management is carried out through the interaction of people, so a manager in his activities must take into account the laws that determine the dynamics of mental processes, interpersonal relationships, and group behavior. The main patterns include:.5. Law of self-preservation. Its meaning is that the leading motive for the behavior of a subject of management activity is the preservation of his personal social status, personal viability, and self-esteem. The nature and direction of behavior patterns in the management process are directly related to taking into account or ignoring this circumstance.6. Law of compensation. With a high level of incentives for a given job or high environmental demands on a person, the lack of any abilities for successful specific activities is compensated by other abilities or skills. For example, if your memory is poorly developed, you can use notebooks, voice recorders, and weekly journals.
The concept of personality and its structure
Personality is the main link in the humanities, including psychological sciences. In management psychology, the need to take into account the personal (human) factor is of particular importance. In this regard, it is natural to study mental phenomena and conduct psychological research from the standpoint of the principle of a personal approach.2. The problem of personality has played and continues to play an increasingly important role in the political life of society as a whole, every state and even organization. This is what explains the discrepancies in the approaches of various scientific schools to the question of the role of the individual in history, and the wide-ranging discussion about individual freedom and the protection of his rights. 3. In management psychology, the concept of “personality” is of particular importance..2. The concept of “personality” The concept of “personality” came to psychology from the theater, where personality is a mask that an actor put on before entering the arena or stage. This concept has transformed over time. So, in the Russian language in the 18th century. it meant a caustic comment addressed to someone; it had a common, negative, even abusive meaning. Despite close attention to the problem of personality, to this day an adequate theory of personality has not yet been created. Thus, back in 1937, G. Allport counted 50 definitions of personality, drawn from philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, sociology and psychology. Our understanding of personality comes down to the definition: “Personality is an individual endowed with consciousness and self-awareness and possessing a number of properties acquired in the process of communicating with other people, and representing a unique structure that changes as a result of active adaptation to the environment.”
Psychological schools of personality study
The theory of I.P. Pavlov should be known to high school graduates. I. P. Pavlov (1849 - 1936) - Russian physiologist, creator of the doctrine of higher nervous activity. He is credited with discovering the role of conditioned reflexes. Thanks to conditioned reflexes, the body adapts to changing conditions of existence by acquiring new forms of behavior that differ from innate unconditioned reflexes. Pavlov's students comprehensively studied the dynamics of the formation and changes of conditioned reflexes, the processes of excitation, inhibition, etc. Defining the qualitative difference between the higher nervous activity of humans and animals, Pavlov put forward the doctrine of two signal systems - sensory and speech. With the help of the word as a “signal of signals,” the brain reflects reality in a general way, as a result of which the nature of behavior regulation radically changes. Important for understanding personality are Pavlov’s teachings about the types of higher nervous activity, about the “dynamic stereotype” as a stable complex of reactions to a stimulus, etc. American psychologist John B. Watson (1878 - 1958) applied the concept of a conditioned reflex to the theory of learning, arguing that All human behavior can be described in two terms - stimulus and response. A stimulus is a change in the external environment, and a reaction is the body's response to a stimulus. B.F. Skinner (b. 1904) significantly expanded the classical theory of conditioned reflexes, highlighting from their diversity “operant” reactions that are produced spontaneously by the body (for example, the crawling of a child as he masters the world). These reactions can be strengthened or weakened through punishment or reward. These provisions are already more than a psychoanalytic theory; they are applicable in management and are accepted by managers as a weapon of influence on subordinates. Factors such as salary, a person’s desire to maintain his place, status, etc., can be controlled by the manager.
Personality types and their characteristics
Classifications according to personality type in psychology are very heterogeneous and numerous. Meanwhile, the boundary between personality types for any classification can be very blurry. Certain character traits, mentality and type of behavior correspond to a certain psychological personality type. In every person one can find almost all existing characteristics attributed to one or another personality type, however, we can talk about the existence of more or less established criteria in psychology for identifying personality types. Introvert as a personality type Individuals whose behavior is dominated by the characteristics characteristic of this personality type are immersed in their inner world and, if people of this personality type have to be distracted from their “I” and interact with the external world, they experience difficulties with such a shift focusing attention. Extrovert as a personality type An extroverted individual easily makes contact. The extroverted personality type is characterized by expansiveness and the desire for active social interaction with other individuals. Entering into social contact is not difficult for this type of personality and is an important condition for psychological comfort.
Managing informal groups
An informal group arises spontaneously on the basis of likes and dislikes, similar interests, friendship, mutual assistance, etc. that appear between people. Informal groups can form both within formal groups (based on a common professional orientation) and act as isolated communities outside of a common professional orientation (based on common interests - sports, games, friendships). There are no insurmountable boundaries between official and informal groups, because they can transform into each other (unofficial relationships between lovers are formalized into marriage, and the family is the official unit of society).
Directions of psychological influence on personality. Techniques and methods of influence are divided into 2 groups: direct, or immediate, and indirect, or mediated. Direct, or immediate, methods of influence include persuasion, suggestion, infection, imitation. Persuasion is an intellectual psychological influence based on the transmission of logically structured information and the goal of its voluntary acceptance as an incentive for the activity of facts in the form of a living story in order to persuade the interlocutor to certain conclusions. Suggestion is a method of psychological influence of a predominantly emotional-volitional nature, based on the individual’s uncritical perception and acceptance of a targeted flow of information that does not require proof or logic and contains ready-made conclusions (“healing”). Infection is understood as a method of psychological influence based on the unconscious, involuntary exposure of an individual to certain emotional states transmitted from the outside (panic, subbotnik). Imitation is a method of psychological influence based both on the acceptance of external traits of another person’s behavior or mass mental states, and on the individual’s reproduction of traits and patterns of demonstrated behavior and activity (vocational school master, hero of a novel, teacher). Indirect, or indirect, methods of influence: orienting situation, change or preservation of role elements, use of symbols - rituals, stimulation. Stimulation involves the use of activities that encourage an individual to improve quality that is perceived negatively. So, a leader in regulating the social behavior and activities of a subordinate must treat him not only as an object of leadership, but as an individual, an interaction partner; constantly focus on the best features and dignity of the people he leads, use a variety of management methods, as well as the capabilities of the team. With this attitude of a leader towards a subordinate, his individual psychological properties are identified, manifested and developed - character, orientation, abilities
Personal potential and self-esteem
Personal potential appears as an integral characteristic of the level of personal maturity, and the main phenomenon of personal maturity and the form of manifestation of personal potential is precisely the phenomenon of personality self-determination, that is, the implementation of activities in relative freedom from the given conditions of this activity - both external and internal conditions, under which biological, in particular bodily, prerequisites are understood, as well as needs, character and other stable psychological structures. Personal potential reflects the extent to which a person overcomes given circumstances, and ultimately, the person overcomes himself. I will refer to the general anthropological model of E. Fromm (1995), which seems to me a very accurate and complete image of a person. Fromm states the fundamental duality of man. On the one hand, man has emerged from the natural world and is drawn along the path of least resistance outlined by nature. This is the path of returning to the bosom of Mother Nature, the path of merging with the clan, clan, and so on, the path of renouncing independence, from one’s own decision-making, ultimately from consciousness, and escaping from freedom. But since a person cannot return to this womb, he is expelled from paradise, he must look for his own, now human, path, in which no one can help him; he must walk along the edge and create foundations for his life, since he is deprived of the foundations that all other living beings have. As a matter of fact, the extent to which a person self-determines in relation to this dichotomy also finds its manifestation in personality, personal potential. In essence, personal potential reflects the extent to which a given individual descended from a monkey, because one of the biggest illusions is to believe that we have already descended from a monkey. Each person continues to solve this problem throughout his life, and the result of the diversity of responses to this evolutionary challenge is a very large range of individual variations in the degree of humanity. Unfortunately, this image is not as metaphorical as it seems at first glance.
Psychological properties of personality
Psychology studies not only individual mental processes and those peculiar combinations of them that are observed in complex human activity, but also the mental properties that characterize each human personality: its interests and inclinations, its abilities, its temperament and character. It is impossible to find two people who are completely identical in their mental properties. Each person differs from other people in a number of features, the totality of which forms his individuality. When we talk about the mental properties of a personality, we mean its essential, more or less stable, permanent features. Every person happens to forget something; but “forgetfulness” is not a characteristic feature of every person. Every person has experienced an irritable mood at some point, but “irritability” is characteristic only of some people. The mental properties of a person are not something that a person receives ready-made and remains unchanged until the end of his days. The mental properties of a person - his abilities, his character, his interests and inclinations - are developed and formed in the course of life. These features are more or less stable, but not immutable. There are no completely unchangeable properties in the human personality. While a person lives, he develops and, therefore, changes in one way or another.
Motivation as a factor in personality management
In order to involve a person in solving a particular problem, one must be able to find the motivation that would prompt him to action. And only with appropriate motivation can people be inspired to solve complex and extremely complex problems. The motivational approach has long been developed in foreign and domestic psychology. Motivation as a psychological phenomenon is interpreted in different ways. In one case - as a set of factors that determine behavior. In another - as a set of motives. In the third - as an impulse that causes the activity of the body and determines its direction. And so on. For unambiguous perception of the concept of “motivation” in this text, we will consider motivation as a dynamic process of motive formation (as the basis for an action). Quite often, psychologists in their theoretical works try to consider separately external (extrinsic) and internal (intrinsic) motivation. But in practice, a person cannot help but depend in his decisions and actions on the influence of his environment. That is, internal motivation is influenced by external factors. Speaking about external motivation, it is necessary to take into account that circumstances, conditions, situations acquire significance for motivation only when they become significant for a person, to satisfy a need or desire. Therefore, external factors must be transformed into internal ones in the process of motivation.
Personality as a subject of management, management and leadership
In enterprises, firms, institutions, organizations or teams, as a rule, there is a clear division of management relations: some - manage, lead; others are subordinate to management. The subject of management is most often the team leader, but it can also be a committee. Sometimes an ordinary member of the team, who is an informal leader in it, also becomes the subject of management. Recently, the idea of participative management has been increasingly accepted, i.e. such management of the affairs of an organization, a company, when all members of the organization participate in the development and adoption of the most important decisions. In management science, psychologists distinguish between management and leadership. Leadership is always associated with power; it is a phenomenon derived from official relations. The manager, as a rule, is appointed from the outside, by higher authorities, receiving from them authority powers, including the right to apply positive and negative sanctions. The leader emerges spontaneously. Any informal leader has personal attraction, which manifests itself in different forms. There are three types of leaders: leader, leader (in the narrow sense of the word) and situational leader. The leader is the most authoritative member of the group, possessing the gift of suggestion and persuasion. He influences other members of the group with words, gestures, and glances. A leader is much less authoritative than a leader; along with suggestion and persuasion, he often has to encourage action by personal example (do as I do!). A situational leader has personal qualities that are significant only in a very specific situation. There are leaders in any team, and they deserve special attention, because... They are the ones who influence the moral and psychological climate in the team and can become a source of conflict, but they are the ones who make up the reserve for the promotion of personnel. Despite the obvious differences between management and leadership, they have a lot in common. The following three common features are distinguished: - the manager and leader play the role of coordinators, organizers of members of the social group; - the manager and the leader exercise social influence in the team, but by different means; -the manager and the leader use subordination relationships, although in the first case they are clearly regulated, in the second they are not provided for in advance. There are at least three concepts of the origin of the personal qualities of a leader and manager. According to the first, a person is born with the makings of a leader, he is prescribed to lead people. According to the second, the “trait theory,” the individual himself acquires the necessary set of leadership qualities - high intelligence, extensive knowledge, common sense, initiative, etc. Proponents of this theory believe that it is enough to identify
Manager as managerial leader
A manager is a person who directs and coordinates the activities of performers, who must obey him and, within the limits defined by their authority, fulfill all his requirements. The manager himself can take on the functions of a performer only in order to understand the specifics of the problem. A manager can successfully manage performers only if they submit to his authority. Power is the ability of some people to subjugate others to their will, influencing them. The latter is understood as an emotional or rational influence that changes behavior in the direction desired by the organization, encourages more efficient work, and prevents the occurrence of conflicts.
Psychological techniques for achieving the favor of subordinates
Managerial communication is communication between a manager and officials in order to implement the management function (changing the activities of subordinates in a certain direction, maintaining it in a given direction, or forming it in a new direction). There are three main functions of management communication: issuing administrative information, receiving information back (feedback) and issuing evaluative information (evaluating the performance of a task by subordinates). Management psychology, which studies the behavior of people in the process of social production, is important from the point of view of working with personnel. Psychological management methods play a very important role in working with personnel, since they are aimed at a specific individual worker or employee and, as a rule, are strictly personalized and individual. Their main feature is the appeal to the inner world of a person, his personality, intellect, feelings, images and behavior in order to direct the internal potential of a person to solve specific problems of the enterprise.
psychology management personality self-esteem
One of the features of managerial work is the presence of difficulties in assessing its effectiveness, i.e. achieving the required results with minimal costs. Leadership does not always bring immediate results. Changes caused by management are most often long-term, prolonged in nature (formation of the socio-psychological climate of the work collective), while assessing partial changes is difficult due to the lack of criteria and is hardly advisable. The true criterion for evaluating a manager’s performance is the final result of the work of the entire team, in which the results of the work of both the manager and the performers are organically combined. The results of labor from an economic point of view are manifested as enterprise profit, quality and quantity of products, productivity, efficiency (cost), product innovation, efficiency (according to D. Scott Sink). To increase the effectiveness of management, it is necessary to implement a number of measures in the production and organizational spheres. So, in the production sector, these measures are: the release of products that are in demand, the use of modern technologies. In each organization, it must be determined how many subordinates the manager can manage. The rules of effective leadership, proven by practical experience abroad and in our country, include the following: transfer (delegation) to the relevant structures of authority and responsibility for the results of the power used; planning the main areas of work with people; unwavering desire to achieve the goal; clarity and clarity of orders given; the relationship between the capabilities of the performers and the complexity of the tasks; creating a business-like and friendly atmosphere in the organization; rewards for best performance and exclusion of punitive measures; transparency and openness in work; strict control over the mental and physical condition of employees; material and moral support for employees when necessary; regular conversations between managers and subordinates. Compliance with these rules is the key to increasing management effectiveness.
14. Structure of personal qualities of a leader
Socio-political qualities characterize the degree of political maturity of the leader, understanding and acceptance of the fundamentals of state foreign and domestic policy, ideological principles, active implementation of the ideas of the formation of Belarusian statehood, the transition to market relations.. Moral and ethical qualities are determined by the need for the leader to recognize and fulfill certain moral rules, compliance with generally accepted sociocultural norms regulating the leader’s behavior in the process of performing activities and communicating with subordinates. Socio-psychological qualities ensure: - effective reception and processing of information flows, optimal information interaction both in the subordination and coordination components of this interaction, i.e. e. success of the communicative function in management; - perception, understanding of the communication partner, building relationships with colleagues and subordinates, thereby realizing the perceptual function of communication; - distribution of responsibilities, delegation of powers, organization of joint activities of employees, creation of a team (team), i.e. implementation of interactive communication function. Professional and managerial (business) qualities are personality traits that are manifested and improved (formed) in the course of management activities and largely ensure and determine its success. The intellectual qualities of a manager determine his ability to find the optimal way to solve practical problems in the process of emerging problematic management situations, adaptability to new living conditions, flexibility in behavior, and use of the necessary information in the right volume and at the right time. Self-confidence is firmness, the absence of hesitation, doubt when making decisions and their implementation.. Creativity is a property that is an indicator of the development of a person’s creative abilities and is manifested in his ability to find non-standard, original, original solutions, and create unusual products of activity. Organizational insight is the “feeling” of a leader, manifested as attention to the subtleties of relationships, the ability to put oneself in the place of another, to understand him. Self-love is a sense of self-esteem combined with a jealous attitude towards the opinions of others about oneself. Tolerance of uncertainty is a leader’s resistance to the influence of uncertainty in the external and internal environment.
Understanding leadership methods and styles
In the process of performing managerial functions, the manager uses a variety of management methods. Management method is a set of management techniques used by the manager to perform his functions. Such methods can be orders, persuasion, encouragement, punishment, material and moral incentives. Management style is a certain orderly application of methods, mediated by the personal qualities of the leader, i.e. management style is a subjective and personal implementation of a particular method or a combination of them. Often method and style act as adjacent concepts. This is due to the fact that both the method and the management style pursue the same goal, namely, uniting people into a capable group when they perform joint activities. In this regard, both method and style act as the manager’s tools for the organization to achieve the ultimate goal of its activity. Method and style are in close interaction and mutual influence. This is manifested in the fact that the leadership method determines and subordinates the leadership style; Each of the established methods is suited to a very specific leadership style; the leadership method is put into practice in a variety of styles; the method is more flexible, changeable and sensitive to new needs in the field of management than style; The leadership style influences the method if the latter has become stagnant. At the same time, there are some qualitative differences in management methods and styles that characterize their uniqueness. If a leadership method is a way of uniting, uniting people into a capable group in accordance with the objective conditions of activity, then a leadership style is a stable set of personal, subjective and psychological characteristics of a leader, through which one or another method of leadership is carried out. In other words, the method is the content side of management activity, and the style is the form of its implementation. The method and style can be compared to the notes and manner of performing a musical work: the notes are the same for everyone, but each performer interprets the work in his own way. Since the effectiveness of subordinates is largely determined by the personality of the leader, the concept of “leadership (management) style” is more often used in management psychology, i.e. the method is, as it were, included in the leadership style, equivalent, identical to it.
Leadership style that takes into account human relations and achievements
Based on the predominance of individual or group methods of influencing the content of activity, authoritarian, democratic and liberal leadership styles are distinguished (according to K. Levin). The authoritarian (autocratic) style is characterized by high centralization of leadership and the dominance of unity of command. The manager demands that all matters be reported to him and makes decisions alone or cancels them. Don't listen to the team's opinion. The predominant management methods are orders, punishments, remarks, reprimands, and deprivation of various benefits. Control is tough, strict, detailed, depriving subordinates of initiative. The interests of the business are placed above the interests of people, harshness and rudeness prevail in communication. This style is most effective in well-ordered (structured) situations. Democratic (collegial) style is characterized by the distribution of powers, initiative and responsibility between the leader and subordinates. The leader of the democratic style always finds out the team’s opinion on important production issues. Communication with subordinates takes place in the form of wishes, recommendations, advice, rewards for high-quality operational work, in a friendly and polite manner. The leader stimulates a favorable psychological climate in the team and defends the interests of subordinates. This style is most effective in semi-structured situations and is focused on interpersonal relationships and solving creative problems. The liberal (anarchic) style is characterized by the lack of active participation of the leader in managing the team. Such a leader “goes with the flow,” waits or requires instructions from above, or falls under the influence of the team. He prefers not to take risks, “keep his head down,” avoids resolving urgent conflicts, and strives to reduce his personal responsibility. He lets his work take its course and rarely controls it. This leadership style is preferable in creative teams where employees are independent and creative.
Psychological management methods
Psychological methods, which represent a set of specific ways of influencing personal relationships and connections that arise in work groups, as well as the social processes occurring in them. They are based on the use of moral incentives to work, influencing the individual using psychological techniques in order to transform an administrative task into a conscious duty, an internal human need. The main goal of using these methods is to form a positive socio-psychological climate in the team, thanks to which problems will be largely resolved. nutritional, organizational and economic tasks.
Psychological indicators of collective efficiency
A team is a small contact group characterized by common goals, the presence of joint socially beneficial activities, a high level of organization, cohesion, and psychological compatibility. The team is characterized by the following characteristics: 1. The socially significant goal facing the group is recognized and accepted by all group members, who invest the maximum of their abilities in its achievement and thereby ensure optimal performance.2. The presence of the most valuable interpersonal relationships between employees: trust, mutual assistance, mutual understanding, cohesion, ensuring a positive psychological climate, high performance and stability of the group.3. Management of the group by a leader-manager. A. N. Lutoshkin called a group with such characteristics a “burning torch.”
The concept of organization as an object of management
Social group as a psychological characteristic of an organization
Organization is a type of social system characterized by a multi-level structure, the ability to develop, and openness. The organization has social, functional, socio-demographic, professional and qualification structures. The social structure in an organization can be represented by such categories as workers (skilled and unskilled), management personnel (managers, specialists and technical performers). The functional structure is usually represented by employees of predominantly managerial labor (basic, auxiliary, maintenance) and workers primarily of mental labor ( administrative and managerial personnel, accounting and office workers, production and technical personnel). In the socio-demographic structure, groups are distinguished by gender, age, nationality, etc. In the professional qualification structure, the following groups of workers are distinguished: highly qualified, qualified, semi-skilled, unqualified, trainees, with secondary specialized education, with higher education. Normal, effective organization of work, management of joint activities, and its coordination are determined by the communicative structure, i.e. a network of channels or paths through which information is exchanged (informal, formal channels, vertical communication with a downward flow, upward communication flow, horizontal communication, etc.). The bearer of the characteristic of an organization is a group of people (2 or more people), whose activities are consciously coordinated to achieve a common goal.
Mechanism of group dynamics
There are several approaches to describing the psychological characteristics of interaction between group subjects. One of these models was proposed by American psychologists M. Woodcock and D. Francis. Their idea of the main stages of group development boils down to the following. The first stage of group development is “grinding in.” At this stage, group members look closely at each other. The degree of personal interest in working in this group is determined. Personal feelings and experiences are masked or hidden. There is practically no sincere and interested discussion of goals and methods of work. Group members are not interested in their colleagues and hardly listen to each other. Creative and inspiring teamwork is virtually non-existent. The second stage - according to the authors' terminology - “close combat”. This is a period of struggle and revolution. A period when the leader's contribution is assessed, when clans and factions are formed, and disagreements are expressed more openly. At this stage, personal relationships become increasingly important. The strengths and weaknesses of individual group members become increasingly clear. Sometimes there is a power struggle for leadership. The group begins to discuss ways to reach agreement and strives to establish effective relationships. The third stage is “experimentation”. At this stage, group members become aware of their potential, which generally increases. The problem of effective use of the group’s abilities and resources is becoming increasingly urgent. There is an interest in how we can work better. Working methods are being reviewed. There is a desire to experiment. Measures are being taken to truly improve the efficiency of the group. The fourth stage is “efficiency”. The group gains experience in successfully solving problems and using resources. Employees feel a sense of pride that they belong to the “winning team.” Problems that arise are explored realistically and solved creatively. Management functions can be smoothly delegated to one or another group member, depending on the specific task. The fifth stage is “maturity”. At this stage, the group functions as a collective, united around real common goals that are well understood by everyone, into which individual goals are converged (reduced). There are strong connections between group members.
22. Typical restrictions preventing the effective functioning of the team
Basic restrictions that prevent effective quantity: 1. unsuitability of the hand, giftedness of the hand (organizational abilities) is 10 times less common than musical abilities. But the quality of hands is trained. 2. unqualified employees. We need such workers and such a composition of them, cat. can work fruitfully together in one team. 3. unclear goals: when there is no common vision of the goal, then separate. team members cannot contribute.4.Abnormal microclimate, people are united by common goals and emotions.5.unsatisfactory work results.6.ineffective methods for preparing decisions.7.closedness and confrontation. When there is no freedom of judgment in a community, an unhealthy climate arises in it. Members of the team must have the opportunity to express their opinions without fear of retaliation, ridicule, etc. 8. low creative abilities of the team. Effective number of people can generate creative ideas and generate them. 9. unconstructive relationships with other numbers.
How to improve group effectiveness
Because these groups are an intentionally created component of the formal organization, much of what we teach about organizational management applies to them as well. Like the entire organization, groups require planning, organization, motivation, and control to function effectively. In view of this, in this section we will focus our attention on only one aspect of the functioning of a small group, which, in the opinion of many leaders, is the most difficult, namely, increasing the effectiveness of meetings where problems are solved and decisions are made. Depending on the characteristics of the group and the way it is led, a meeting can be an exercise in futility or an extremely effective tool where talent, experience and the ability to generate new ideas come together. Before we present some specific guidelines on how to make a meeting effective, let us first look at the general factors that influence group effectiveness.
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Psychological theories of management in Japan
Psychological theories of management in Russia
Psychological theories of management
Psychological theories of management in Europe
Traditional;
affective;
Value-rational;
Goal-rational, which became, according to Weber, dominant in the capitalist enterprise.
The fundamental difference between the first and second types of capitalist is the moral and ethical attitude towards work. Work in Protestantism acquired religious significance, became the meaning of life, a moral goal. Work is a person’s calling, a way to benefit other people. Historically, two types of capitalist existed simultaneously, but for the establishment of modern creative capitalism it was necessary for a rational type of man with a new ethics and organization of labor to become dominant in society. Thus, a new rational type of behavior and new social structures were gradually formed - systems of management, education, science. Weber described these new structures in his theories of bureaucracy. He argued that bureaucracy is the inevitable and most effective type of rational management organization. An employee is more inclined to obey rational rules than simply the orders and commands of a superior. Weber called the administrative apparatus, which carried out the rational organization of labor, “bureaucracy.”
Weber's ideas about the rationalization of labor actions and the bureaucratization of enterprises served as the basis for the development of management principles and the creation of a school of “scientific management”.
Fundamental to management were the works of Henri Fayol (1841-1925), a French engineer, scientist and entrepreneur, founder schools of administration. For 20 years he was the managing director of a giant mining and metals company. Thanks to his works “General Industrial Administration” and “Fundamentals of Management”, he gained a reputation as the most prominent figure in the European direction of scientific management. Fayol is considered the author of the first and fairly complete theory of management.
Fayol viewed management as a process consisting of several interrelated functions: planning, organization, motivation and control. He argued that a company must have an action plan that is based on:
On the company's resources (capital, knowledge, raw materials, sales network, reputation, etc.)
Taking into account the composition and significance of work in progress.
On future trends depending on technical, financial, commercial and other conditions.
Ensuring that the plan is carefully developed and strictly implemented.
monitoring that the personnel and material components of the enterprise correspond to the goals, resources and needs of the company.
Fayol formulated ^ 14 principles of management , which are still recognized by experts today:
Discipline, i.e. obedience and respect for agreements reached between the company and its employees. Discipline also involves fairly applied sanctions.
Remuneration of staff, including fair wages.
justice: a combination of kindness and justice.
Corporate spirit, i.e. staff harmony and unity.
Subordination and personal interests are common. The interests of the individual employee or group should not prevail over the interests of the company.
Division of labor, i.e. specialization. HER goal is to do more work and better quality work with the same effort.
Authority and responsibility. Authority is the right to give orders, and responsibility is its opposite.
Unity of command. An employee should receive orders from only one person - his immediate superior.
Unity of directions. Each group operating within the same goal must be united by a single plan and have one leader.
Centralization. It is about the right proportion between centralization and decentralization. This is the problem of identifying a measure that will produce the best possible results.
Scalar chain. This is a series of people in leadership positions, ranging from the person occupying the highest position to the lowest level manager.
Order. There is a place for everything and everything in its place.
Job stability for staff. High staff turnover reduces the effectiveness of the organization.
Initiative. Means developing a plan and ensuring its successful implementation. This gives the organization strength and energy.
Fayol synthesized the ideas of unity of command and functional administration, which formed the basis of modern organization theory. The 14 principles he proposed contained elements of “human resource” management (“personnel management”, as they say today), which subsequently became widespread in America.
Psychological theories of management in the USA
^ School of Scientific Management " The research conducted by the American engineer and manager Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) gave rise to a social movement that later became known as “scientific management” or “scientific management school.” Taylor formulated the principles of assessing and rationalizing labor costs and production management. By studying labor operations, Taylor found and justified ways to improve. Using the analysis of labor movements and their timing, he developed unique catalogs of operations that constitute the most rational procedures for completing tasks, as well as norms for spending time on a specific task. At the same time, for the first time, the possibilities of statistical analysis were used to determine time standards. In accordance with the idea of the social division of labor, Taylor assigned the planning function to the manager, and the employee was assigned the execution function. For the scientific organization of production, Taylor introduces three principles:
principle of functional differentiation, which consists of grouping tasks to form individual jobs. Workers were given written instructions (task instructions), which were a detailed statement of specific production tasks and how to carry them out.
principle of specialization, which substantiates the idea that the work of each person should be limited, if possible, to the performance of one leading function.
The principle of material interest.
The main significance of Taylor's work is that he was the first to solve the problem of manifold increase in production not by expanding production itself, but by improving the stimulation of labor and increasing its intensity. According to Taylor, high wages and low production costs are the basis of good management. One of his merits is to justify the identification of planning as an independent management function. Focusing on the individual qualities of people, Taylor studied issues of professional selection and training in relevant professions, taking into account human capabilities when organizing jobs. Taylor introduced the concept " human factor”, which subsequently received wide circulation and a deeper psychological interpretation in the works of his followers.
Taylor's ideas were consistently developed in the works of American researchers-spouses Frank (1868-1924) and Lillian (1878-1972) Gilbert. F Gilbert was the first in the United States to organize systematic training of instructors in scientific organization of labor (SLO). He was the initiator of the first “anti-fatigue” committee organized in America. Gilbert developed the concept of choosing the right profession. He emphasized that the most important thing in life is a person at his workplace. In his opinion, the meaning of NOT is for everyone to do the activity that best suits their physical and mental abilities. Everyone should experience the joy of work, which in itself is the basis for the success of NOT. Gilbert paid special attention to a person's attitude to work. He was an active advocate of involving psychologists in solving industrial problems, including ensuring the necessary cooperation of entrepreneurs and employees.
Unlike Taylor, Gilbert had a more clearly expressed orientation towards human factor. His wife Lillian Gilbert became the first woman in America to qualify as a doctor of psychology. It was the psychological side of NOT that interested her most. Lilian continued her husband’s work, actively involving psychological science and its capabilities in the interpretation of scientific results. She wrote the first ever book, “The Psychology of Business Management.” In her opinion, scientific management also included the moral development of workers, which was ensured by cultivating a sense of responsibility for themselves and others, a sense of professional pride, the ability to self-control, and a sense of justice. The success of management was associated with the human psyche.
The well-known organizer and rationalizer of industry, engineer Harrington Emerson (1835-1931), raised the issue of scientific management in a broader aspect than did Taylor and Gilbert, whose work dealt mainly with organizing the workplace and increasing the efficiency of the individual worker. Emerson was interested in issues of the holistic organization of an enterprise, the efficiency of functioning of individual industrial sectors, and public administration. He developed a system for increasing productivity, which he called " expediency system", and not the scientific organization of labor. He outlined this system in the book “12 Principles of Productivity,” which brought him worldwide fame. All principles, according to the author, follow one ultimate goal - the elimination of losses. One of them concerns control as the most important management function. He managed to formulate criteria for the effective implementation of control: it must be accurate, sufficient, continuous and fast. Speaking about discipline as one of the basic principles of productivity, he emphasized that strict adherence to this principle already leads to major results in the organization's activities. The principle of remuneration is not limited to just a monetary bonus. Monetary reward is one of the countless manifestations of the reward principle. For people to work well, they must have ideals. Work should be enjoyable and always pursue certain goals and specific deadlines, performed without unnecessary effort and in optimal ways.
The ideas expressed by scientists within the framework of the school of “scientific management” led to the creation of an ideological concept called “ managerial revolution" According to this concept, a new class of hired workers - managers - is increasingly displacing the old elite - capitalist owners and plays a vital role in the development of modern society. At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists E. Bernstein and K. Schmidt put forward the theory that the capitalist class was gradually losing control over production. Control and power are transferred to administrators, managers who, although they do not own property, determine the strategy and tactics for the further development of the industry.
In 1953, the American sociologist Pitirim Aleksandrovich Sorokin (a native of Russia) announced the transformation of the capitalist class into a managerial one. The revolution of managers was called the “silent revolution” (D. Bell), which led to a change in the structure of society, in which property rights and formal control over production were separated and the Marxist theory of classes lost its value. However, in the 1960s the “management boom” ended, giving way to the theory of the “scientific and technological revolution”
School "human relations"
In the 40s, the school of “human relations” was formed as an alternative to management focused on the final result. Without denying everything useful created by their predecessors, supporters of this trend tried to fill their methods with humane content.
The origins of the school of “human relations” were the outstanding German-American psychologist Hugo Munsterberg (1863-1916), who was one of the founders of psychotechnics. He contributed to the development of problems of professional suitability, vocational training, work fatigue, injuries, advertising in trade, etc. He has priority in the clear formulation of two problems of professional suitability:
Psychological analysis of the profession and identification of professionally important qualities;
Psychodiagnostics, i.e. establishing the degree of expression of the required professionally important qualities in the applicant using appropriate tests.
collecting information from enterprise managers;
observation of the work of psychologists (the scientist especially emphasized their role)
experimental research, including a special study of the characteristics of the activities of successful and unsuccessful employees (“polar group method”).
analysis of group influence on behavior
motivation and values of the individual
means of communication and methods of transmitting information to workers in the process of work, the specifics of their speech
Man is a social creature and needs to work in a group. The behavior of workers, lower and higher level managers can be raised and predicted based on the analysis of group relationships. A group exists if people communicate with each other in the process of achieving a goal. Without a sense of common purpose and common interest as a bond, groups do not exist.
All group members adhere to group norms in their behavior. Workers are much more likely to act or make decisions as members of a group than as individuals. Group norms are ideas formed in the minds of group members. They determine exactly what workers must do and what is expected of them under given circumstances. Ideas are norms if they are supported by group sanctions. The norms are stable, obedience to them is required in the name of the group (for example, “don’t let the guys down”).
A worker's output is determined more by group norms than by his physical capabilities. The authority of group norms is supported by means of moral influence. For example, those who worked too hard were given derisive nicknames: "Speed Miracle" or "Rocket". Anyone whose output was below the group standard was called a “piper.” The group thus had ways of influencing the individual.
Manufacturing managers must focus primarily on people rather than products. A rigid hierarchy of subordination and bureaucratic organization are not compatible with the nature of man, who gravitates towards freedom.
The school of “human relations” enriched the theory and practice of management, drawing attention to the highest social needs of man, while simultaneously calling for the removal of the negative effects of labor specialization and the rejection of the rigid structuring of power. Sociometry and survey are introduced as the main methods for studying organizational relationships in enterprises.
The famous American specialist Douglas McGregor (1906-11964), a specialist in the school of “human relations”, developed two theoretical concepts of management, denoting them with the symbols X and Y. The author himself believes that these theories express completely different views on human nature: theory X in essence is a mechanistic point of view, according to which a person appears as a factor of production devoid of any individuality, the theory of U considers a person in an organic relationship with his external environment, which he influences and is influenced by.
The average person does not like to work and tries to avoid work as much as possible.
management needs to resort to threats or punishment in order to force the majority of workers to perform their duties.
an ordinary worker, as a rule, is passive and prefers to be managed: he is not inclined to take risks and take responsibility, because He places personal safety above all else.
Tight and direct management of the organization.
Centralization of official legal powers.
minimal participation of workers in the decision-making process.
In modern conditions, management problems at various levels from the micro level (microgroup) to the macro (universal, global) level are becoming increasingly relevant. On the one hand, management activity is one of the oldest types of human social activity and appears from the moment he realizes himself as a social being. Tribal leaders can rightfully be considered the first managers in primitive society. On the other hand, the scientific approach to management activity, considering it as a specific professional activity, was formed at the beginning of the 20th century and is associated with the names of Frederick Winslow Taylor and Henri Fayol.
F.U. in his works “Factory Management” and “Principles of Scientific Management” formulated the basic principles of managerial work. A. Fayol in the 20s of the 20th century published the book “Fundamentals of Management,” in which he sets out the basic principles of management. A. Fayol is considered the founder of the new scientific branch of management, and his book has become a classic in management theory. Thanks to A. Fayol, management began to be considered a specific type of management activity.
The term “management psychology” was also introduced into scientific circulation in the 20s of the 20th century. This is due to the sharp increase in the role of the subjective factor in management activities and its impact on efficiency.
It is necessary to determine the content of the basic concepts of management activity, and, accordingly, the main categories of management psychology as a science.
Management- from English verb “to manager - to manage. Therefore, management is often identified with management in general. But, in our opinion, the category “management” is a broader concept. If we consider F.U. to be the founders of management as a management theory. Taylor and A. Fayol, then management pays more attention to the consideration of management problems in the economic sphere, in the sphere of production. But there is a sphere of culture, politics, military affairs, etc., which also require the implementation of management activities. The problems of management psychology will be discussed in more detail in the third question.
The problems of state and military management were considered long before the founders of management in the works of the ancient Greek philosophers Plato, Aristotle, Democritus, and the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius. It is enough to give an example of N. Machiavelli’s work “The Prince,” which examines, among other things, the socio-psychological aspects of power as one of the forms of management activity.
From a management perspective, management is the process of designing and innovating social organizations, motivating people to act to achieve the organization's goals. In management theory, management is largely studied from the point of view of a specific situation that arises in management practice, that is, as the art of management.
Economists tend to interpret management as a way to obtain economic results at the lowest production costs.
Legal scholars view management as state legal regulation through laws and administrative influence.
Political science understands management as the influence on society by the state through political methods, etc.
There are other positions and approaches that reflect diverse attitudes to management. Often, instead of the category management, the following concepts are used: regulation, leadership, administration, management, organization, etc.
Leadership is viewed more as an administrative activity aimed at coordinating people to jointly achieve certain goals.
At first glance, these concepts can be identified, which is what is done in most cases. But we would separate these concepts. Management and leadership are inherent in any social system. But their relationship depends on the relationship between democratic and administrative principles. If administrative principles predominate in a social system, then leadership is more inherent in it, if democratic principles - management.
The management process is actually inherent in all organized systems: biological, technical, social, etc.
Management psychology as a science emphasizes the consideration of social management.
A specific feature of social management is that it, in turn, is a rather complex systemic social phenomenon and its main components are either individuals as members of various social organizations, or groups of people.
If any of these signs are missing, the system begins to malfunction and ultimately collapses. In turn, their presence allows us to study the system, and knowledge and consideration of laws and sanctioning patterns allows us to increase its efficiency.
Management psychology should be considered as a special applied interdisciplinary science that examines the general psychological aspects of social management in all spheres of human life.
Any branch of scientific knowledge becomes an independent science only when it is clearly defined with an object, the subject of research, the main directions, and forms its own categorical apparatus. Let's look at these basic elements.
When defining the object of management psychology as a science, two main points of view emerged.
In our opinion, the second point of view is more optimal, considering the interaction in the system: “person - person” and the corresponding subsystems, where the main element is the person or the structures created by him.
Psychology of management is a branch of psychological science that combines the achievements of various sciences in the field of studying the psychological aspects of the management process and is aimed at optimizing and increasing the efficiency of this process. But it is quite difficult to perceive (see: Urbanovich A.A. Psychology of Management. - Minsk: Harvest, 2001).
The emergence and development of management psychology as a science was due to a number of objective and subjective factors. Among which we should highlight:
- management practice needs;
- development of psychological science;
- development and complication of the structure of social organization.
The increasing role of the human factor in the theory and practice of management.
Without claiming the ultimate truth, we believe that management psychology as a science should be understood as an interdisciplinary branch of psychological knowledge that studies the mental characteristics and patterns of influence of management subjects on objects in order to optimize this progress.
Since social management is the subject of study of many sciences, management psychology is closely interconnected with such branches of scientific knowledge as sociology, general psychology, social psychology, political science, philosophy, jurisprudence, cultural studies, pedagogy, cybernetics, synergetics, ergonomics and economics from the point of view of their management capabilities.
In its formation and development, management psychology as a science went through a number of stages.
Giving a brief description of the first stage, we can figuratively say that the first brilliant manager was the Great Creator, who created our world in three days, which we have been trying to remake for about six thousand years, unfortunately, not always in the best way.
As soon as man realized himself as a social being, the need for practice, science and the art of management arose.
The laws and methods of managing production and society have been known to mankind since ancient times. Documents from the Sumerian civilization, which existed more than 5 thousand years ago, indicate that ancient managers made extensive use of such management elements as inventory, recording facts, organizational reporting and control. The grandiose structures of Ancient Egypt were made possible thanks to the organizational talents of the ancient builders.
During archaeological excavations in the city of Susa, many clay tablets were found on which the code of laws of the king of Babylon Hammurabi, who lived about 4 thousand years ago, was written. The Code clearly established responsibility for the assigned work, determined the level of the minimum wage and the need for documentary reporting.
The development of new technologies and management methods in ancient times took place in various ways and techniques:
- by exchanging or borrowing ideas;
- using force;
- through trade.
Marco Polo, for example, brought from China the idea of using paper money to replace gold and silver coins; The principles of the banking system came to Europe via trade routes.
A significant contribution to the development of the science of managing society “was made by the thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome. The Athenian philosopher Socrates was considered an unsurpassed master of the art of dialogue (one of the methods of the art of management is named after him). Another Athenian thinker-historian, a contemporary of Socrates, Xenophon, defined managing people as a special kind of art. Socrates' student Plato introduced the concept of specialization. In 325 BC, Alexander the Great created a body for collegial planning and command of troops - a headquarters.
Ancient Greece presented us with two systems of management methods: the democratic Athenian and the totalitarian Spartan. Elements of these systems are still found today.
Within this stage, three management revolutions are distinguished:
- the first is associated with the emergence of the power of priests and the emergence of writing as a result of business communication;
- the second is associated with the name of the Babylonian king Hammurabi and represents examples of a secular aristocratic management style;
- the third dates back to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II and represents a combination of state planned methods of regulation with production activities.
At the second stage, collectivism inherent in social relations, in its primitive, crude, often forced form, is replaced by individualism. This gave impetus to the development of the idea of humanism, the doctrines of natural law and social contract, and the idea of early liberalism.
J. Locke T. Hobbes profess bourgeois freedoms, private forms of life, equality of starting opportunities for people, the priority of individual rights in relation to society, which has a significant impact on the development of management science. In their opinion, the basis of social management should be a social contract, the observance of which should be monitored by the state.
At the third stage, a significant contribution to the development of management science was made by Zh.Zh. Pucco, Voltaire, D. Diderot, E. Kant.
The fourth stage in the development of management science is associated with the fourth revolution in the field of management, caused by the emergence of capitalism and the beginning of industrial progress of European civilization. Significant contributions to the development of the theory of economic and public administration are made by A. Smith, D. Ricardo C. Babbijou.
A. Smith substantiated the idea of the ability of a market system to self-regulate and the reasonableness of minimal impact of the state on the economy. Subsequently, this provision was used by one of the authors of the “German economic miracle” of the 20th century, Ludwig Erhard.
C. Babbijou developed a project for an “analytical engine”, with the help of which management decisions were already made more quickly.
The fifth stage of development is associated with such names of management classics as F.U. Taylor and A. Fayolle, M. Weber, F. and L. Gilbert, G. Ford. The emergence of scientific theories of management was due to the rapid development of new technologies and unprecedented scales of production. These factors raised the question of the formation of scientific management methods with all urgency. What was required was not abstract theory, but scientific research aimed at solving specific problems and developing practical recommendations.
F. Taylor led the scientific management movement, developed the methodological basis for rationing labor, standardized work operations, and introduced into practice scientific approaches to the selection, placement and stimulation of workers.
A. Fayol is the founder of the administrative school of management. He developed issues related to the role and function of management. A. Fayol identified 5 main management functions and identified psychological factors for increasing labor productivity. Formulated 14 principles of management.
Thanks to A. Fayol, management began to be recognized as an independent and specific professional activity, and management psychology became an independent branch of scientific knowledge.
The peculiarity of this stage is that it is during this period that the first serious steps are taken to combine the efforts of managerial, sociological and psychological approaches. Personalized relationships in management are being replaced by the concept of “economic man.”
The weak link of the supporters of the classical school was the idea that there is only one way to achieve production efficiency. Therefore, their goal was to find this method.
The sixth stage of development is associated with the names of E. Mayo, A. Maslow, C. Barnard, D. McGregor. “Economic man” is being replaced by “social man.” The founders of this school are E. Mayo and C. Barnard. In particular, E. Mayo discovered that a group of workers is a social system that functions in accordance with certain patterns. By acting in a certain way on the pu system, you can significantly improve labor results.
Charles Barnard became one of the first theorists of organizational activity, defining the essence of intra-organizational interaction as cooperation.
A great contribution to the development of the school of human relations was made by A. Maslow, who developed the hierarchical theory of needs, and D. McGregor, who developed the theory of employee characteristics, theory “X” and theory “Y”.
Later, the quantitative school emerged, concerned with the use of mathematics and computers in social management.
The seventh stage is characterized by the fact that, starting from the 60s. The psychological approach completely covered the entire field of social management. Management problems receive serious development in the works of famous American, English, German researchers G. Mintz, P. Drucker, G. Simon, S. Argyris, T. Peters, R. Waterman, N. Siegert, L. Lang, K. O"Dell, M. Woodcock, D. Francis and others.
Representatives of the systems approach consider the subject, object of management, and the management process itself as a systemic phenomenon. The organization is viewed as an open system.
The situational approach does not deny the systemic approach, but emphasizes taking into account specific situational factors that arise in the process of management activities. The effectiveness of management is determined by the flexibility of the management system, its ability to adapt to a specific situation.
Empirical (pragmatic) approach - its essence lies in the study and dissemination of specific management experience, using appropriate techniques.
The quantitative approach is associated with the use in management of knowledge of mathematics, statistics, cybernetics, achievements of science and technology, and the introduction of computer technologies. The quantitative approach is reflected in a number of management concepts.
The main functions of management psychology should also be highlighted:
- Cognitive - studying the basic psychological characteristics of management as a specific sphere of professional activity, determining its role and significance in the development of organizations and groups.
- Evaluative - identifying the compliance or non-compliance of the management system with the main trends of society, social expectations, needs and interests of employees.
- Predictive - aimed at identifying the most likely and desirable changes in management activities within the near or more distant future, i.e. to determine possible trajectories of management development and its forecasting.
- Educational (training). Its essence lies in the dissemination of management knowledge through the system of educational institutions, various institutes and centers for advanced training, retraining and retraining of personnel. Acquiring knowledge, skills and abilities for the practical implementation of management activities.
The control system is divided into two main subsystems: control and controlled, which must be considered as relatively independent subsystems with their own inherent characteristics. Each of them has a multi-level hierarchical structure, each of its links has its own directions of corresponding connections that form internal sources of self-regulation.
In addition to the object (“O”) and subject (“S”) of management, management interaction (relationships), goals, external and internal control connections, it includes management functions, which are understood as specific areas of activity. Control functions can generally be classified according to their general meanings.
Along with the functions, the principles of social management should be highlighted. They act as fundamental provisions of the management theory and are objective and universal in nature. A. Fayol was one of the first to formulate 14 basic principles of management.
Approaches to considering this issue are also very diverse. Let us dwell on one of them, in particular V.I. Knoringa.
In the United States, management personnel are divided into 18 ranks. From 1st to 8th - lower personnel (office workers, typists, stenographers), their supervisors occupy positions from 9th to 12th rank, middle managers (manager) - from 13th to 15th -th, and top managers are certified for positions of 16-18 ranks (executives) (see: Martynov S:D. Professionals in Management. L., 1991). In the West, a manager is not the first leader or entrepreneur; managers occupy certain positions as heads of certain organizational units. In the European-American understanding, the director (first manager) should be primarily engaged in strategic management, and he entrusts operational management to his deputies (see: Meskol M., Albert M., Khedouri F. Fundamentals of Management. M., 1994).
Thus, the main tasks of management and its component parts of the organization are solved by the management system. The end result of its functioning is the adoption and implementation of an effective management decision, which always seems to be an intellectual and psychological act of choosing one or more alternatives from a variety of possible options.
When characterizing social management, one of its main features and difficulties should be emphasized. In a social management system, the subject and object of management can change places, the subject can simultaneously act as an object, and the object as a subject of management.
Control- a special kind of human activity carried out within the framework of collective labor.
Any joint work requires management. This means that management is an obligatory element of any collective activity of people, not only in the sphere of production, but also in the non-productive sphere, covering education, training of specialists in science, healthcare, culture, etc.
Management synthesizes the organization of human activity and the management of this activity, which means that the entire complex of sciences that study man and his activities acquires a very significant role.
Since management includes, as an essential component, the management of people’s activities, its improvement involves relying on knowledge about a person, about the patterns of his activities and behavior, about opportunities and abilities, psychological differences between people, about their interaction in work groups.
In connection with the increasing role of human factors in various spheres of social life, the human problem is becoming one of the central ones in the entire system of modern science. Management psychology plays a special role in its development; studying man as a subject of labor, knowledge and communication, it inevitably becomes a connecting link between the social, natural and technical sciences.
One of the important reserves for increasing the efficiency of any work is human factors, i.e. factors determined by the physiological, psychological and socio-psychological properties of man – the main productive force of society.
In expedient activities, as a rule, reserves associated with human factors are formed and realized.
In the course of this activity, a person’s needs and abilities, his creative potential and professional skills, value orientations and social attitudes develop.
An essential point in improving management activities is its psychological analysis: identifying the requirements for perception and attention, memory and thinking, emotions and will (i.e., the so-called “mental sphere”) of a person determined by this activity and determining the most effective ways to form significant qualities.
In the process of people working together, a system of interpersonal relationships (psychological in nature) is formed: likes, dislikes, personal friendship, etc.
A system of mutual demands, a common mood, a common style of work, intellectual, moral and volitional unity are formed in the team, in other words, in the conditions of joint activity, what is commonly called a “psychological climate” develops.
Due to the fact that large interconnected teams of people participate in management processes, for management science the problem of the team appears in two aspects. On the one hand, the labor collective is the object of management. Therefore, the patterns of formation and development of a team, its structure and dynamics need to be known in order to find the most adequate means of influencing it in each specific case. On the other hand, management activity itself in the conditions of modern production is also collective, i.e. the team also acts as a subject of management.
An important task of management psychology is an in-depth study of the structure and mechanisms of management activities.
Structural and management activities include: analysis and assessment of management objects, problem situations, management decision-making, organization and implementation of the decision made. In the general structure of management activity, the role of “goal-setting”, motivational-attitude, emotional-volitional and other personal factors is great.
The central element of management activity is the solution of management problems. Management decisions are generally characterized by the following features:
- a complex relationship between a strategic, fairly stable decision and variable private decisions associated with changes in the operational situation
- hierarchical decision-making procedure with a certain degree of independence at each level
- conflictual, but, of course, non-antagonistic nature of the process of preparing a decision, reflecting the “struggle” of motives, alternatives, a combination of collective development and individual decision-making with a high level of responsibility, etc.
An important problem in leadership psychology is the analysis of the leader’s personality.
Obviously, a serious problem is identifying the professionally important qualities of a leader and the corresponding criteria.
Three levels of personality structure can be distinguished:
- psychophysiological, including mainly primary cognitive, information processes with their parameters
- actually psychological, including the characteristics of a person’s temperament and character, his intellectual sphere, emotional-volitional sphere, specific personal properties - professional, organizational, psychological and pedagogical
- the highest social level, including ideological, political and moral qualities of a leader
It is important for a leader to have an analytical-synthetic type of perception, the ability to observe facts and explain them without bias; sustained attention combined with the ability to switch attention from one problem to another, developed, especially operational, memory for events, facts, faces, names. One of the most important qualities is deep practical thinking. The practical mind of a leader should be characterized by: speed, determination, the ability to foresee and find new solutions. In the intense activity of a leader, especially in unusual situations, the role of emotional and volitional reserves is great.
The work of a leader is compared to the work of a conductor, who must know who, where and what violin he is conducting, where, how and what instrument he studied, where, who and why is out of tune, who, how and where needs to be transferred to correct dissonance, etc.
The main reasons that shape the psychological climate are: the personality of the leader, the competence of the performers and their compatibility when performing collective work. When these conditions are violated, conflicts arise. The causes of conflicts were experimentally established: in 45% of cases - due to the fault of the manager, in 33% - due to the psychological incompatibility of employees, in 15% - due to improper selection of personnel.
To ensure normal work, it is important to create a good mood. Goodwill, sensitivity, tact, mutual politeness are stimulants of a good mood. On the contrary, hostility, rudeness, and damage to the pride of subordinates - all this damages the nervous system and reduces the efficiency of the team.
By the management process we understand purposeful information interaction between a subject (manager) and an object (team) with the aim of transferring it from one state to another or maintaining a control object in a given state when exposed to various disturbances (both internal and external) by influencing subject to variable parameters of the control object.
Management process- a complex type of activity. And in this regard, it seems relevant to consider the mental mechanisms underlying it.
The control system design can be described as follows. There is some control object. A person sets a task (or other people set a task for him) to transfer an object from state a1 to state a2 (or, on the contrary, to maintain the object in the state, overcoming external disturbances). Based on the information at his disposal (including professional experience), a person forms a certain image of the given (future) state of the object (state a2). Perceiving information, a person evaluates the current state of the object (state a1), analyzes various ways of performing the task, makes a decision and performs a control action (or system of actions), transferring the control object from state a1 to state a2. Information about the changed state reaches the person, and he evaluates whether the problem has been solved by comparing the current state a1 with the given state a2, and depending on the result, performs new control actions: the control cycle is repeated.
We are interested in management actions as an information process. The input of this process is information about the current state of the object, the output is the expedient transformative impact of the subject of action on the object. The control process begins not with the fact that the object is in some current state, but with the fact that the subject begins, in order to achieve the goal, to accept information about the state of the object to be changed. Similarly, the action ends not with the fact that the object is transformed, but with the fact that the subject receives information about the result of the transformative influence he has exerted on the object.
What is the relationship between the “input” and “output” of an action, how is the transition from input information to output action accomplished? Obviously, the input information itself could not cause the output effect. It was the subject who transformed one thing into another, and the action itself consisted of this transformation.
The most important feature of the control process carried out by a person is the fact that the process of transforming input information about an object into a purposeful impact on the object occurs in the form of mental reflection. The result of the mental reflection of highly controlled systems is an image. It is the mental reflection, ideal images that are the sought-after “intermediate variable” that carries out the connection between a person’s external behavior and the flow of information coming to him from environmental objects.
From a psychological point of view, the issue of an “intermediate variable” is easily resolved by understanding the control process as a process of expedient transformation of an object based on the information available to the subject and the information coming to him from the object through the feedback channel. With this understanding, the psyche, the subjective image, organically fits into the information cycle occurring in the management process, as a central processing link.
The processing of information, which characterizes the management process from the psychological side, is carried out, according to our understanding, in processes of confrontation of various types of images. Some of the images act as material processed in the process of management, others - as means of processing this material. In this sense, it is convenient to call the former correlative (current), the latter – correlative (reference). Correlative images directly reflect the current states of the object. Correlating images act as a more or less stable information reserve organized specifically for the purposes of this type of management. Correlative information flow, on the one hand, correlative information reserve, on the other. These are the two information flows, the active interaction of which ensures this management process.
To solve the problems of management psychology, one should begin by understanding the ideas about the object and subject of management psychology. The object of management psychology is an organization, which is considered as a specialized social institution designed to fulfill certain socially significant goals and endow in this regard with labor, technical and energy resources, as well as rights and responsibilities that determine the functions of the organization and its place in society and organizational structures.
The organization acts as the main entity within which the role of management in regulating the joint activities of people is most clearly revealed. The structure of the organization, its place in the management system, its functional identity leaves a certain imprint on the activities of both the individual and the team, which form an integral part of the organization's resources.
The subject of management psychology is the diverse activities of the individual and the team aimed at realizing the goals of the organization. In accordance with externally set labor goals, the main type of activity in the organization is functional activity, i.e. actual professional work activity.
The subject of management psychology is not only professional activity, but a system of activities collectively aimed at achieving the goals of the organization, and a person as an actor appears in relations of interaction with various structural and functional links of the organization, designed to fulfill the labor and social goals set for it.
This approach to the activities of the individual and the team in the structure of the organization is extremely important, as it makes it possible to assess the impact of factors of different origin on the effectiveness of the organization.
Activity can be considered as the leading form of social activity of the individual, a kind of subjective activity. The personality does not simply “play” the social role prepared for it, does not dispassionately implement an objectively given activity, but, as it were, modulates the latter, gives it its own “personal profile”, modifies it so much that two people implementing the same activity cannot work in exactly the same way, no matter how hard they strive for it. It is here that the psychological problems of activity are revealed, which differ from the cybernetic, sociological and any other approach.
Psychological science studies organization as a system of activities from a specific angle, figuratively speaking, as an integral living organism with its inherent emotions and feelings, intellect and will.
Such an approach to the question of the object and subject of management psychology allows us to formulate a number of promising directions designed to create scientific and psychological support for tasks, among which special importance is given to the improvement of organizational structures and management methods.
Management psychology, on the one hand, should direct its efforts to the study of organizational factors that activate the professional activities of people, and, on the other hand, explore those aspects of the “human factor” that have a significant impact on the functioning of the organization as a certain social institution.
In the variety of activities that form an organization as an integral system, it is possible to identify the elements of the system and the connections between them. The elements are individual activities, and the role of connections as structural components of the system is played by the methods of their coupling, i.e. specific socio-psychological conditions in which workers performing related tasks interact.
Individual activities as elements of an organization, according to the legal status of the individual, are divided into managerial and executive. The study of leadership activity in management psychology is a central focus.
Social practice is in dire need of scientifically based recommendations for improving the work of a manager, depending on the level in the management system, individual personality traits, socio-psychological characteristics of the work team, the nature and content of the organization’s social functions, etc.
Research on performance activities is no less relevant. Here, it seems promising to study the patterns of social regulation of people’s behavior, effective forms and methods of influencing human consciousness and behavior, ensuring proactive and conscientious implementation of the tasks facing the organization.
In management psychology, in contrast to general psychology and labor psychology, activity is studied primarily as a socio-psychological category. An organization as a system of activities functions effectively only if a clear coordination of the efforts of interacting workers is sufficiently reliably ensured. The overall effect of joint labor ultimately depends on how individual activities are “connected” with each other. It is important to direct research to uncover the patterns of coordination of activities.
Typical functions of management activities are the functions of information processing and decision making. This activity includes a number of unique aspects that are unique to management. The most characteristic point is that the activity of processing information and making decisions is carried out in the organization as an activity included in functional communication between members of the organization. By it we mean a type of communication subordinated to the goals of professional activity performed by subjects in conditions of interdependence.
In management activities, functional communication serves to transmit information from one member of the organization to another. This information is the starting point for information processing and decision making.
However, this does not exhaust the role of functional communication. Like any communication, it involves the interaction of participants and their mutual influence. In turn, mutual influence makes information flows mutually directed. This aspect of management activity is of greatest interest to psychology. The problem is that in order to optimally organize functional communication, it is necessary to establish psychological patterns that determine the influence of functional communication on information processing and decision-making in the organization. Information processing in an organization is carried out at hierarchical levels of the organization. At each level, selection and transformation of information occurs in accordance with the functions of this level and the next one.
Thus, information is simultaneously relayed and processed. If information flows from lower hierarchical levels, then its transformation occurs in the direction of data integration; when flowing from higher to lower levels, the transformation occurs in the direction of data differentiation. In this situation, the question of the level of integration and differentiation of management information, including information generated again as a solution, becomes relevant.
All this indicates the seriousness and significance of the problem of presenting information in the organization.
The subjective aspect is of great importance in the functioning of an organization. The influence of the subjective factor is manifested in all aspects and conditions of the organization’s activities that are associated with a person as a subject and object of management.
Until recently, management style was studied mainly in terms of relationships that develop in the manager-subordinate system. It should be noted that the influence of style in the manager-subordinate system was considered statically, i.e. as a non-developing system. The problems of style in the manager-team system have not been sufficiently studied. Meanwhile, of great interest is the problem of the development, under the influence of the management style, of relationships that are predominantly functional into collectivist relationships, in other words, the problem of enriching functional relationships with relationships characteristic of a developed team. The management style plays an important role here, since it shapes a certain way of life of the organization and thereby contributes to the development of interests and needs that are characteristic of a developed team.
Until now, we have emphasized the importance of those problems in the study of management style that are associated mainly with the implementation of the personal qualities of a manager, those that inevitably introduce originality into the performance of necessary functions. However, there must be another side to the study of style. Typically, the system of relations of the manager to the function of the organization, to the members of the organization is fixed in the form of an image of a certain behavior. This image is formed on the basis of the model of a leader that is set by the socio-economic system, and on the basis of experience gleaned from observations of the actual types of behavior of the organization's leaders. The image of a leader’s behavior that has developed in an organization requires a certain adaptation of his individual, personal qualities to this image, including when it comes to their manifestation in the management system. This approach to management style allows us to formulate another problem of management psychology, which can be called the problem of the personality of an authoritative leader. In studying the manager’s mode of activity, one should rely on two criteria related to the performance of two main functions of the organization: production efficiency and social efficiency. This approach allows, in our opinion, to overcome subjectivity in assessing a manager through various types of expert assessments. Often in this regard, errors arise that arise not from the assessment of activity, but from the assessment of behavior. Undoubtedly, the behavior of a leader is a very important means of realizing the goals of management activities, but mixing them in assessing the effectiveness of a leader leads to the fact that the compiled models of qualities come into conflict with reality.
At the same time, it cannot be denied that the leader’s behavior influences the formation of interpersonal relationships in the team, its overall socio-psychological climate and the rate at which the leader establishes himself as an authority in the organization. Research indicates that the discrepancy between a leader’s behavior and role expectations often stems from ignorance of how this or that behavioral act is reflected in the consciousness and activities of people, from ignorance of the basics of psychologically appropriate behavior, which should have a stimulating effect on both relationships and activities members of the organization. In this regard, the problem of the content of psychological education of managers becomes practically important.
The greatest importance for a manager is psychological knowledge designed to ensure comprehensive self-knowledge and development of the manager’s personality in order to increase his professional competence, knowledge of psychological patterns that influence the activities of the team and the individual and, finally, knowledge of methods for managing these patterns, which should be used in everyday work with the staff.
An important aspect of management style is the stimulation of work on the part of the manager.
A management style that combines material and moral incentives in dynamic balance is considered fair. Skillful use of material and moral incentives creates the necessary prerequisites for a comprehensive impact on labor activity. Currently, there is a need to solve the problem of more accurately targeting stimuli through their psychologization. In this case, the psychologization of incentives is understood as their correspondence to the interests, needs, and orientations of a particular group or individual. At the same time, psychologization is necessary in relation to both material and moral incentives.
When implementing control, it is necessary to strive for its optimization, and for this the requirements of optimal control must be met.
The first requirement is that the control mechanism must correspond to the capabilities of the subject and the complexity of the object; second, the presence of well-developed feedback; third, the presence of reserves that provide the possibility of correcting all management functions in order to achieve their optimal implementation in the course of the activity itself; fourth, the correct choice of evaluation criteria. Optimality criteria are always criteria for the final result, they are always related to goals; fifth – taking into account the characteristics of specific people.
When implementing management, it is necessary to search for contradictions, which is part of the analytical activity of the head of the organization, and work to resolve them is part of optimization. By resolving contradictions, the manager identifies points of development of the managed system.
Even the very formulation of the principles of management organization is built on a contradiction: centralization and decentralization, unity of command and collegiality, rights and responsibilities in management. From the interaction of two contradictory parties, optimal organizational management practice is born.
It is possible to optimize management in an organization under any, even the most unfavorable conditions. Of course, the optimum level under these conditions will not be high, but it will be the maximum possible.
At the methodological level, the optimization approach is characterized by three principles: systematicity, specificity and measures. Consistency provides for the development of all management functions in the work of a manager, their interaction and interrelation. The principle of specificity should encourage the manager to look for management options that are optimal for himself, his organization, its traditions, and the characteristics of the team, and not strive to lead the organization according to the principle “like everyone else, so am I.” The philosophical category “measure” allows only such quantitative changes in management characteristics that do not lead to a new (worse) quality, at which optimality is lost.
“Specific conditions” include: the social situation in the country, the nature of the region where the organization is located, the traditions of the people, the characteristics of the microenvironment, etc.
It is incorrect to equate the terms “ideal” and “optimal” regardless of the context. The first term presupposes the achievement of generally the highest results corresponding to the ultimate goal of theoretically possible development, the second does not mean the best in general, but the maximum possible in the current conditions of a certain organization, a specific leader, in a certain period of time.
The selected criteria should serve as the most important indicator of achieving goals. It must be borne in mind that a large number of criteria causes insurmountable difficulties in using them; therefore, we must strive to reduce the number of criteria by reducing them down to one.
Managerial resonance occurs only when the issue is close or close to all participants in the managed process. Thus, it is in the managerial resonance that the mechanism of democratization is hidden as a way to optimize management.
Management methods themselves cannot be optimal or suboptimal outside specific conditions.
Preparing an organization plan is, in essence, making the most important management decision. The plan must reflect the entire managed and control system of the organization; image, model of the organization itself, and, of course, every leader must strive to ensure that the plan is as optimal as possible, i.e. would allow us to recreate the image of the organization with the least number of omissions and in the shortest possible time.
Management that ignores or weakly takes into account the personal principle, the human factor, is the antithesis of optimization of perestroika, which should be based on the humanistic idea of turning all spheres of social life, including management, towards the person with his real problems.
The managerial thinking of the head of an organization acts as the intellectual basis of his management activities and is a set of mental processes (attention, perception, memory, imagination, abstract thinking), both conscious and intuitive, which ensure the perception of significant information and its processing into management decisions and actions.
In connection with the intensification of management activities and the introduction of automated control systems (ACS), the problem of selecting and placing managers is sharply increasing. We are talking about the psychological selection of persons capable of ensuring the greatest efficiency in performing tasks characteristic of a given type of activity; Not only specialists, but also managers of all ranks should be proficient in selection methods to one degree or another when assessing their subordinates, promoting them to a higher position, and when hiring new employees.
There is an urgent need for special training of managers, teaching them the principles of management, taking into account all modern psychological aspects of management activity.
As you can see, resolving a number of ongoing problems in the field of management psychology will allow us to approach improving the organization and management process from a scientific position.