Essay on Management Theory

Some experts argue that people are the most important element of a successful organisation. Others argue that non-people issues such as information, technology and structure are the keys to success. Which do you think is most important?

There are various factors contributing to an organisations success, such as motivated employees, sound strategy, efficient product and processes and so on. Every organisation wants to be competitive and successful in its current environment. Therefore, organisations strive to retain their best employees to remain competitive in the market (Dobre, 2013). For organisational effectiveness, the first and foremost thing that management does is to create a positive and strong relationship with its employees. From the work of Dobre (2013), it is clear that motivated employees are the most concerned aspect of organisational success, while all other non-person issues are secondary to the organisation's success. In the following essay, the argument on the importance of human element and non-human elements for an organisation's success will be made. 

The human element has been the centre of argument in management sciences. At many stances, organisation management argues on the elements essential for organisation success, often argue on the importance of human resource issues and non-people issue in an organisation (Cole, 2018). According to Cole (2018), organisations must make greater use of human resources in this business pursuit. Cole (2018) argued that human resource is one of the most valuable resources of any organisation, without which the business cannot exist. Moreover, organisations must make use of technology to enable people instead of replacing people. In this manner, an organisation can pace with innovation and creativity to compete with the market. Elton Mayo’s “behavioural theory of management” best discussed the importance of employee motivation in achieving organisation’s goals. According to this theory, employees work more efficiently when they are provided with ample resources. In previous business settings, the organisations used to rely solely on human elements than technology. However, in the contemporary business world, introduction of technology has increased the chances of human replacement with IT. In this way, several organisations have changed their practices in managing its human resource. 

 According to Ashworth (2016), the human element is still the most important element for organisational success. There are various past literature and articles that support human element as an essential to organisational success such as (Dobre, 2013; Desko, n.d.), while a number of critics back non-people issues important for the organisations’ success. In the organisational context, the human element is considered as the most important resource that works towards goal attainment, and connect with the customers, while on the other hand, non-people issue technology and structure requires support from human resource (Ferres, 2015).

Patel (2017) argued that for an organisation’s success, building culture is important. However, to follow the organisational culture, the human element is necessary. When an organisation works under the umbrella of its culture and policies, human element within organisation features that culture and policies in everyday practices leading to organisations’ success. Without human resource, an organisation can never be functional.  Latour (2012) in his book “We have never been modern” discussed that contemporary management has come up with the different non-human aspects to ensure organisational success, but it has also underestimated the influence of human resource in organisation’s goal achievement and competitiveness. 

In the other article, Stockley (n.d.) highlighted that people are still the most important asset for a company. Stockley (n.d.) argued that organisations with high employee turnover panic for the riot in operations, but the managers hardly investigate the reasons. However, high employee turnover is damaging to organisations’ functioning. Therefore, organisations, management and HR spend a lot of resources and time in recruiting, selecting and training the employees so that organisation remain competitive and it can function smoothly. 

Kerr (2017) emphasised on the fact that the human resource of an organisation determines the success or failure of the business. He further argued that the human resource of a company gets in touch (directly or indirectly) with the customers, it becomes worthy and valuable for the company. Kerr (2017) concluded that an organisation needs to be attentive on deploying all its internal resources such as people, process and technology, to assure the chances of success and sustainability. 

In another online article, (Desko, n.d.) emphasised on the soft skills that are required by the organisations to deal with the clients, and process smartly. Soft skills such as communication skills, listening skills, interpersonal skills, adaptability skills and positive attitude that are important for business sustainability, can only be found in the human resources (employees). Therefore, the people (employees) in an organisation can be said to have more power in an organisation than any other factors. According to Desko (n,d), organisations must focus on building an effective workforce in order to secure organisations’ success. 

In contrast to effective people management for an organisation’s success, MacKechnie (2019) highlighted the importance of information technology in the contemporary business world. According to MacKechnie (2019), information technology has become an integral part of organisation strategy and planning. MacKechnie (2019) argued that with the perks of technology, communication and coordination among employees have fastened. Organisations use technology, information and structure to integrate organisations’ crucial functions like production, sales and marketing etc. It supports organisation in effective planning and management which was ineffective with the human element then. 

Markgraf (2019) debated that information technology is crucial for a business to gain thoroughgoing benefits from the organisation's information system. Whatever data is stored in an organisation’s information system must be processed in order to plan strategies and support decision making. Without information technology and proper organisation structure, people can be less effective in keeping competitiveness and alignment with the market. Organisations need to focus on activities like marketing and service providing, for which it is important for management to have access to the latest technology, and information system. 

Ward and Peppard (2016) focused on the importance of cloud computing as the most primitive component of information technology. According to Ward and Peppard (2016), contemporary organisations are highly relied on cloud computing for data management and overall. From their reading, it is evident that information, technology and structure have more power and influence on an organisation’s success than any other factors. Ramey (2014) also found contributing to the importance of IT development in an organisation success. Ramey (2014) highlighted the advantages that an organisation can avail while focusing more on its information technology development. He pointed out a few impacts of IT in an organisation such as transparency flow of information, decision support, workgroup support, data management and communication etc.

In early research carried out by Porter and Millar (1985) discussed how information can help an organisation in achieving competitive advantage. With reference to this research, it is studied that the information offers organisation to achieve competitive advantage in three ways. Information helps organisations in changing the industry structure while changing the rules of competition. Secondly, it helps the organisation in creating a competitive advantage by providing new ways to compete in the market. Lastly, it allows organisations to spawn full-fledged new business out of its operations. The information system can offer organisation to achieve competitive advantage by lowering the costs, changing strategy and scope, and enhancing differentiation (Laudon and Laudon, 2016).

Consistent with the findings of prior studies, Bezweek and Egbu (2010) researched the impact of IT in facilitating collaboration and communication in organisations. In their research, it was concluded that IT has a significant impact on organisational structure, management and communication processes. It supports organisations in decreasing the layers of control across the departments. 

From the above argument, it is apparent that human resource and information technology, irrespective of each other, are important for organisation success. According to Carter (2017), technology is far behind and nothing without the human element. Contemporarily, IT has been seeping into the HR department in various fascinating ways, but it still cannot replace the human element so far (Carter, 2017). 

An example of Walmart used by Carter (2017) demonstrates the effectiveness of combining the human element and technology. From the example of Walmart, it was studied that Walmart created the ‘test and learn’ team in its in-store research. In this research, Walmart encouraged employees to forge immediate communication with other employees by reducing communication barriers. By doing so, Walmart combined technology with the human resource in order to increase efficiency. From another example of Coca Cola, New Zealand, it was studied that Coca Cola combined its internal HR department with the technical department, in order to improve relationships and increase efficiency in operations.

In conclusion to this argument, it is crucial to notice that developing a custom-fit strategy in an organisation could be time taking, but can significantly support the organisation to achieve its competitive advantage and corporate goals. Every organisation is different from each other. Therefore, management must focus on how it can potentially combine the human element with IT and structures to remain competitive in the market. However, in my opinion, considering the human element is more crucial in organisation success. It is because people are the ones whose attitude can make or break any organisation. According to the theory of Elton Mayo, if employees in an organisation are motivated and devoted towards achieving goals, the business can operate smoothly (Mekencheck, n.d.). Thereof, keeping the human element motivated and satisfied is equally important to allocate information technology, and information system in the organisation.