Management fad
{{Short description|Pejorative term for organizational practice}}
Management fad is a term used to characterize a change in philosophy or operations implemented by a business or institution. It amounts to a fad in the management culture of an institution.
The term is subjective and tends to be used in a pejorative sense, as it implies that such a change is being implemented (often by management on its employees, with little or no input from them) solely because it is (at the time) "popular" within managerial circles, and not necessarily due to any real need for organizational change. The term further implies that once the underlying philosophy is no longer "popular", it will be replaced by the newest "popular" idea, in the same manner and for the same reason as the previous idea.
Alternatively, the pejorative use of the term expresses a cynical belief that the organization desires change that would be resisted by the rank and file if presented directly, so it is dressed up in a dramatic change of management style, to remain in place only as long as it serves the underlying agenda.
Several authors have argued that new management ideas should be subject to greater critical analysis, and for the need for greater conceptual awareness of new ideas by managers.Christensen, Clayton M. and Michael E. Raynor, "Why Hard-Nosed Executives Should Care About Management Theory," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 81, No. 9, Sept. 2003, pp. 66-74. Authors Leonard J. Ponzi and Michael Koenig believe that a key determinant of whether any management idea is a "management fad" is the number and timing of published articles on the idea. In their research,[http://informationr.net/ir/8-1/paper145.html Ponzi, Leonard J. and Michael Koenig, "Knowledge Management: Another Management Fad?," Information Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, Oct. 2002, paper no. 145.] Ponzi and Koenig argue that once an idea has been discussed for around 3–5 years, if after this time the number of articles on the idea in a given year decreases significantly (similar to the right-hand side of a bell curve), then the idea is most likely a "management fad".
Common characteristics
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2018}}
Management fads are often characterized by the following:
- New jargon for existing business processes.
- External consultants who specialize in the implementation of the fad.
- A certification or appraisal process performed by an external agency for a fee.
- Amending the job titles of existing employees to include references to the fad.
- Claims of a measurable business improvement via measurement of a metric (e.g. key performance indicator) that is defined by the fad itself.
- An internal sponsoring department or individual that gains influence due to the fad's implementation.
- Big words and complex phrases (puffery).
Origins
Consultants and even academics have developed new management ideas. Journalists may popularize new concepts.
{{cite book
| editor1-last = Clegg
| editor1-first = Stewart
| editor1-link = Stewart Clegg
| editor2-last = Bailey
| editor2-first = James Russell
| editor2-link = James R. Bailey
| title = International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Uac5DQAAQBAJ
| series = Sage eReference
| year = 2008
| volume = 1
| location = Los Angeles
| publisher = SAGE
| publication-date = 2008
| isbn = 9781412915151
| access-date = 12 August 2021
| quote = Business journalists [...] participate in the creation of management fads and fashions, and provide platforms or sounding boards for the teachings [...].
}}
Like other fashions, trends in management thought may grow, decline, and recur. Judy Wajcman sees the human relations movement of the 1930s as a precursor of the later fashion of "transformational management".
{{cite book
| last1 = Wajcman
| first1 = Judy
| author-link1 = Judy Wajcman
| title = Managing Like a Man: Women and Men in Corporate Management
| date = 3 May 2013
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pCwf_MP4_f4C
| publisher = John Wiley & Sons
| publication-date = 2013
| page = 1915
| isbn = 9780745668963
| access-date = 12 August 2021
| quote = [...] participatory involvement was seen as the key characteristic of management during the Human Relations movement of the 1930s and 1940s. Even so, this precursor of the current fashion for 'transformational management' was entirely identified as a male leadership style.
}}
Examples
The following management theories and practices appeared on a 2004 list of management fashions and fads compiled by Adrian Furnham,Furnham, Adrian, Management and Myths: Challenging Business Fads, Fallacies and Fashions, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, U.K., 2004, p. 17. who arranged them in rough chronological order by their date of appearance, 1950s to 1990s:
- Management by objectives
- Matrix management
- Theory Z
- One-minute management
- Management by wandering around
- Total quality management
- Business process reengineering
- Delayering
- Empowerment
- 360-degree feedback
Other theories and practices which observers have tagged as fads include:
- Six Sigma[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-8-stupidest-management-fads-of-all-time/ The 8 Stupidest Management Fads of All Time], CBS Money
- Knowledge management{{Cite web |url=http://informationr.net/ir/8-1/paper144.html |title=Wilson, T.D., "The Nonsense of 'Knowledge Management'," Information Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, Oct. 2002, paper no. 144. |access-date=2020-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226152909/http://www.informationr.net/ir/8-1/paper144.html |archive-date=2017-12-26 |url-status=dead }}
- DevOps
{{cite book
| last1 = Kneuper
| first1 = Ralf
| chapter = Selected Current Trends in Software Processes
| title = Software Processes and Life Cycle Models: An Introduction to Modelling, Using and Managing Agile, Plan-Driven and Hybrid Processes
| date = 24 August 2018
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bsFqDwAAQBAJ
| location = Switzerland
| publisher = Springer
| publication-date = 2018
| page = 322
| isbn = 9783319988450
| access-date = 12 August 2021
| quote = While there are some that would want to use DevOps for all types of products, applications, and organisations, others see DevOps as the latest fad that may work for small start-ups but not for any 'real' work.
}}
{{cite book
| editor1-last = Bratton
| editor1-first = John
| title = Organizational Leadership
| date = 10 February 2020
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Pkm3DwAAQBAJ
| publisher = SAGE
| publication-date = 2020
| isbn = 9781529715460
| access-date = 12 August 2021
| quote = Arguably, it was a mistake for the public sector to try to ape the transformational leadership fad that dominated some private companies.
}}
- Agile software developmentAgile software development#Criticism
- Enterprise architecture frameworks
- "thriving on chaos"
{{cite book
| last1 = Furnham
| first1 = Adrian
| author-link1 = Adrian Furnham
| chapter = Early adopters
| title = The Engaging Manager: The Joy of Management and Being Managed
| date = 29 October 2012
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=E7k1cFAx2joC
| publisher = Springer
| publication-date = 2012
| page = 70
| isbn = 9781137273864
| access-date = 2016-09-17
| quote = The catchphrases alone are enough to bring flooding into the memory some of the numerous time-and-money-wasting initiatives that went nowhere. Remember 'empowerment,' now replaced by 'engagement'? Remember 'thriving on chaos' and 'upside-down organizations'? [...] The change-ophile, wannabe consultant or desperate manager often embrace every new fad around.
}}
- Open-plan offices {{cite web | last=James | first=Geoffrey | title=It's Official: Open-Plan Offices Are Now the Dumbest Management Fad of All Time | website=Inc.com | date=2018-07-16 | url=https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/its-official-open-plan-offices-are-now-dumbest-management-fad-of-all-time.html | access-date=2019-04-10}}
- Stack ranking, where employees are encouraged to rat each other out in order to secure their own advancement and budget
- Consensus management{{cite web | last=James | first=Geoffrey | title=World's Worst Management Fads | website=Inc.com | date=2013-05-10 | url=https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/worlds-worst-management-fads.html | access-date=2019-04-10}}
- Best practice
- anti-authoritarian management
{{cite journal
|year = 1990
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PwgvAQAAIAAJ
|journal = Leadership
|volume = 9
|issue = 1–5
|page = 97
|access-date = 14 February 2025
|quote = Kali and her offshoots pervade Eastern thought. Her ethos is increasingly reflected in recent Western Kali and her fads and fashionable anti-authoritarian managerial philosophies.
}}
- The Tao of Leadership
{{cite book
| last1 = Cole
| first1 = Mark
| last2 = Higgins
| first2 = John
| title = Leadership Unravelled: The Faulty Thinking Behind Modern Management
| date = 15 August 2021
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Pwo1EAAAQBAJ
| publisher = Routledge
| publication-date = 2021
| isbn = 9781000406849
| access-date = 12 August 2021
| quote = [...] yet another management fad in the style of the Tao of Leadership [...]
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Crainer, Stuart and Des Dearlove, “Whatever Happened to Yesterday's Bright Ideas?,” Across the Board, Vol. 43, No. 3, May/June 2006, pp. 34–40.
- Malone, Michael S., “A Way Too Short History of Fads,” Forbes, Vol. 159, No. 7, April 7, 1997 (ASAP supplement).
- Paul, Annie Murphy, “I Feel Your Pain,” Forbes, Vol. 174, No. 13, Dec. 27, 2004, p. 38.
- Strang, David and Michael W. Macy, "In Search of Excellence: Fads, Success Stories, and Adaptive Emulation," American Journal of Sociology, July 2001, Vol. 107, No. 1, pp. 147–182.
- {{cite book|author=Ken Hakuta|author-link=Ken Hakuta|title=How to Create Your Own Fad and Make a Million Dollars|year=1988|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|isbn=978-0-688-07601-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/howtocreateyouro0000haku}}
- {{cite book|author=David V. Collins|title=Management Fads and Buzzwords: Critical-Practical Perspectives|year=2000|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-20640-2}}
For a critique of the practice of branding new management ideas as fads, see
- Collins, David, "The Branding of Management Knowledge: Rethinking Management 'Fads’," Journal of Organizational Change Management, 2003, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 186-204.
- Collins, David, "The Fad Motif in Management Scholarship," Employee Relations, Vol. 23, No. 1, Feb. 2001, pp. 26–37.
For a listicle see:
- [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-8-stupidest-management-fads-of-all-time/ The 8 Stupidest Management Fads of All Time], CBS Money
{{Management}}