Posted by In the previous post, I introduced the “behavioral unit” as the basis for extracting a managerial activity that is recorded by a managerial tool and, at the same time, the managerial tool allows you to perform this activity. Let me remind you that one behavioral unit (“behavioral unit”) corresponds to one managerial tool. In other words – each managerial tool is used to perform only one managerial activity. But let’s go further in these considerations, because you’re probably wondering how all this relates to the functioning of the entire organization.
Namely, there is a close relationship between the behavioral unit and the process and resource approach in an organization. R. Cooper and S. Fox call the combination of these two approaches the instrumental action approach (in the original “instrumental action” – author’s note) [1]. In the literature you can find the view that processes in the organization can be indirectly identified by recording the social processes that take place in the organization as a community [2]. And this view I also share – by recording individuals of behavior (managerial activities) we can tell a lot about the functioning of any organization.
So what characteristics should a managerial tool have? There are several [3]:
- fulfilling the function of an instrument during the implementation of processes in the organization,
- dividing the process into small fragments (according to the concept of “unit of behavior”),
- the effect of using the tool is to create an object that is a consequence of the process or serves to document it in the form of information (this object in the accepted theory of facts is a thing, and the language of management science is a “resource” – author’s note),
- the possibility to make a record of the organization’s resources as a result of the processes taking place in it,
- the ability to analyze the information recorded in the management tool on the connection of processes and resources with each other,
- regulation of processes and resources from the point of view of optimal functioning of the organization,
- determining the effects of the implemented processes and the characteristics of the resources necessary to carry them out.
Managerial tools also meet assumptions such as [4]:
- it is possible to construct managerial tools used in many management techniques in many management areas,
- tools monitor the work of the manager and employees,
- tools provide automatic analysis of data on user behavior.
Examples of managerial tools with such features can be found on my platform TransistorsHead.com http://transistorshead.com/. If you want to see how they work and what they are used for, email me.
[1] R. Cooper, S. Fox: The ‘Texture’ Of Organizing. Journal of Management Studies 1990, Vol 27 (6), s. 581.
[2] J. Van Maanen, J.B. Sørensen, T.R. Mitchell: The Interplay between Theory and Method. Academy of Management Review 2007, Vol. 32 (4), s. 1145.
[3] M. Glykas: Effort Based Performance Measurement in Business Process Management. Knowledge and Process Management 2011, Vol. 18 (1), s. 11.
[4] O. Flak: Concept of Managerial Tools Based on The System of Organizational Terms. W: Innovation in Management and Production Engineering. Red. R. Knosala. Opole, Oficyna Wydawnicza Polskiego Towarzystwa Zarządzania Produkcją, 2013, s. 195