Page 18 - DCOM102_DMGT101_PRINCIPLES_AND_PRACTICES_OF_MANAGEMENT

Principles and Practices of Management

Notes That’s the argument made by Rakesh Khurana, a Harvard Business School professor, in his
book, From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American Business
Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession. Khurana, who made
a name for himself with his 2004 book, Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational
Quest for Charismatic CEOs, is a star at HBS, and builds a fascinating argument for why
business school education is in need of reform. For an interesting discussion between him
and Yale School of Management Dean Joel M. Podolny, click here.
I had the opportunity to hear Khurana speak about his book on Monday at a luncheon at
the Princeton Club. Khurana defines a profession as one in which its practitioners have to
master a certain body of knowledge, in which that knowledge is used to help others, and
in which there’s a governance system that’s both ethical and self-policing in nature. None
of those really describe management: Anyone can become a manager, whether or not they
have an MBA; it’s not really done to aid a client; and there is no self-policing body making
sure ethical standards are met. Khurana argues that while the founders of today’s elite
business schools tried to legitimize business education by calling it a profession (no self-
respecting elite institution at the time wanted to have anything to do with something so
tied to making money), today, it’s become anything but.
Khurana believes we’re at an “inflection point of what the role of business should be,” and
as pressures build to create corporations more attuned to benefiting society, we also need
to educate future managers to do the same. He suggests that business schools could have
some way of proving their students have mastered the curriculum (a board exam for
MBAs?) and that there should be some “evergreen” aspect to the MBA (continuing education
requirements, for instance). He adds that in “Rakesh’s normative world,” there might
even be an equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath for business students. He even has a
suggestion for the first sentence: “First, I will not lie.”
Question
What do you think? Should management be more of a profession?

Source: Business Week

1.7 Who is a Manager?

A Manager is the person responsible for planning and directing the work of a group of
individuals, monitoring their work, and taking corrective action when necessary. For many
people, this is their first step into a management career.
Managers may direct workers directly or they may direct several supervisors who direct the
workers. They are the individuals charged with examining the workflow, coordinating efforts,
meeting goals and providing leadership. Thus a manager must be familiar with the work of all
the groups he/she supervises, but need not be the best in any or all of the areas. It is more
important for a manager to know how to manage the workers than to know how to do their
work well.
A manager’s title reflects what he/she is responsible for.

Examples: 1. An Accounting Manager supervises the Accounting function.
2. The Production Manager developed a staffing plan for the factory.
3. The Manager of Design Engineering supervises engineers and support
staff engaged in design of a product or service.

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