Command and control (management)

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Command-and-control management is categorised by systems thinkers as the dominant method of management in the Western world. Key influences are said to include Alfred P. Sloan, Henry Ford, James McKinsey of the eponymous accounting firm, and Frederick Winslow Taylor. A well-known modern exponent is Michael Barber, himself a partner in McKinsey & Company.

It is characterised by some systems thinkers according to the following attributes:

Perspective: Top-down and hierarchical

Design: Organisations divided into (ostensibly) independent functional silos. A practice propagated by Alfred Sloan and James McKinsey

Decision-making: Separated from work. A separation spearheaded by Frederick Winslow Taylor

Measures: Arbitrary targets analysed by binary comparison

Ethos: Control of staff

Change: Plans delivered by PRINCE2 methodology

Motivation: Control-by-seduction (carrot) and control-by-fear (stick)

Attitude to suppliers and customers: Contractual.

Key critics of the command-and-control management ethos and techniques include members of the systems-thinking community and associated thinkers, including W. Edwards Deming,Out of the Crisis, W. Edwards Deming, 1986 John Seddon,Freedom from Command and Control, John Seddon, 2003 Kōnosuke Matsushita,{{Cite web|url=https://vanguard-method.net/library/management-thinkers/konosuke-matsushita/|title = Konosuke Matsushita|date = 19 June 2015}} Taiichi Ohno, Russell L. Ackoff,Management f-Laws, Russell Ackoff, 2007 Donella Meadows,Thinking in Systems, Donella Meadows, 2008 Alfie Kohn,Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn, 1993 and the outspoken Vanguard Method practitioner John Little.{{Cite news |last=Little |first=John |date=2011-10-11 |title=All snouts to the trough down at outsourcing farm |url=https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2011/oct/11/snouts-in-the-trough-outsourcing-farm |access-date=2024-04-22 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} In the 21st century John Seddon in particular has been deeply critical of successive UK governments' propagation of command-and-control thinking in the NHS, local authorities, and other public services.

Organisations credited with having moved away from the command-and-control paradigm to a systems-thinking philosophy include Harley Davidson and Aviva, in addition to many Japanese companies, such as Toyota, Honda, and Panasonic.