Management in 21st Century

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Topic: – Discuss the ideal cultural type created by management in the graduate labour market using Thrift’s notion of ‘fast subject’ and his analytical approach.

Abstract

The following research paper is a discussion on the ideal cultural type created by managers for the graduate labour market using Nigel thrifts’ notion of ‘fast subject’. We attempt to draw out the ideal culture created by managers in practice and relate to theory. In this research, we take another approach instead of just theoretically debating. We have asked a human resource consultant.  To give insight to this very culture type that we’re trying to identify.  

We discuss ethics and its importance in recruiting graduate labour. we then explore the organisational working in terms of its culture and how organisations in practice bring about this culture type. We then analyse job adverts used by various managers.

In the final section, we provide a conclusion to our findings.

The world outside our institutions is highly complex and competitive. Where one cannot achieve success by remaining stagnant. As john Steinbeck puts it in the ‘grapes of Wrath’, “the bank- the monster has to have profits all the time. It can’t wait it’ll die. When the monster stops growing, it dies. It can’t stay one size’.

This very infinite acquiring is leading to depletion of earth’s resources.

 We move into ethics as mean to set a ground for the betterment of our future generations. Hence, managers should disseminate its moral ethics so that future graduates realise that our planet has limited resources.

Ethics are based of moral affirmations of right and wrong. An ethical crisis occurs when an employ of an organisation goes against the ethics of that organisation.

We have tried to dissect the topic from an industry (practical) point with the use of thrifts notion of ‘fast subject’.

Before we begin our discussion, we must make clear what that notion dictates.

From our understanding, Thrift concept entails that management in this new economy is highly competitive and dynamic due to which managers are constantly on their toes as they are in a permanent state of emergency, bound by time as a result must be fast in tackling problems and also the performance measures that come with it. For example; the financial measures, quality checks and so on. It emphasises on the human subject being a knowledge worker. ‘thrifts ‘fast subject ‘emphasises on the need for innovation by harnessing and fostering creative human subjects. Thrift in his paper states ‘to govern human beings is not to crush their capacity to act, but to acknowledge it and to utilize it for one’s own potential’. This notions conceptualises the need for creating spaces that foster and develop effective systems through which human subjects can effectively deal with fast times. The notion proposed three spaces sight, cite and site.

Managers should create an environment which focuses on the need for adaptation and value the need for community building. ( thrift ) , business becomes where it’s at  , not just by work but popular culture.” Such an environment can created with through specialised training that involve team building, training that develop creative individuals (serious play ) , digital storytelling , creating innovative groups and brainstorming etc.

Organisations have realised that for them to stay competitive they cannot be blindsided by the fast-changing environment. So therefore, they’re also adapting themselves to be highly agile, quick in decision making and execution and at the same time to be open to excepting varied and different point for view. The basic understanding that it’s a fight for survival. The future ideal is work then must be agile flexible, open to feedback, adapt to change and be willing to change or adapt himself to cope with this ‘permanent state of emergency’. Before the manager recruits, he must bring into light the organisational values and goals based on which his entire recruit process should rely on. In retrospect on our own understanding ,  the work cultures in organizations are a direct function of the visions that the founders or the organization have. When it comes to the work styles of the graduates in the organization, the vision boils down to work culture, that further translates to the productivity of individuals. Based on discussions with executives and managers from the industry, it can be derived that the best way to have a healthy work culture in an organization is to stop the process of the translation of vision to work culture, and further to productivity goals for teams and individuals. Rather, there should be seepage of the vision from the top down to the individual graduate level to some extent. The best organizational culture in team is developed as a derivative of the vision they have. If the vision is the driving factor for the work culture, there will be a self-induced motivation for high efficiency rather than a culture created to emulate perpetual emergency like situation in the team.

Expectations should be clear. Clear goals should be defined. Performance parameters, review mechanisms. People should be rewarded based on their merit.

Recent trend shows that a good work culture is not one where a manager can pass on individual task lists to graduates, but is one where the manager can make the graduate generate their own task plans and deliverables.

We finally come in to the recruitment process where the managers shares what the organisation expect of them and what the organisation will offer. from thrift’s perspective, an ideal worker is one who attempts to seek self-actualisation through means of work.

The ideal human subject is viewed to be talented , creative , dynamic, and full of potential.

‘Culture fit is the glue that holds an organization together. That’s why it’s a key trait to look for when recruiting. The result of poor culture fit due to turnover can cost an organization between 50-60% of the person’s annual salary, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) (Harvard Business Review, 2017 )”

 Managers search for creative individuals with work ethics with respect to their organisation.

 (Costea, Amiridis and Crump, 2012)  managers review the ethos of a future candidate under which underlies the principle of potentiality.

Managers create a culture where work is viewed as a mean to attain self-actualisation.

Through the use of job adverts managers find a ground to disseminate their ethics and expectations. Each organisation looks for a different set of character they look to recruit. There are three core themes that managers use to recruit. Firstly potential. Second being performance and third perfection.