Management principles by Eric Schiffer
Eric Schiffer is an established management trainer, and even if his most important work is the book called Emotionally Changed Learning, his articles and seminaries are also important for the management world today. Here are the principles founding the managerial thinking of Eric Schiffer, principles that might be considered the foundation of modern management.
- Work division – it is important for the employees to be specialized in their areas of expertise, as this leads to a growing efficiency. On the other hand, Eric Schiffer also warns about the dangers of this concept, as some of the workers are specialized only in a few jobs, and this limits the creativity of those employees
- Authority and responsibility – the right to give orders and to ask submission from employees is a privilege, but a large number of manager understand this concept in a wrong manner. It is important for the employees to consider the manager as a respected leader, but also as a friend, nut as a jail guardian that inspires fear.
- discipline – the methods used by the employees to complete the tasks given by the manager are important, but the manager is responsible to establish the methods for the employees to do so
- Unity in decisions – any employee must have at most one manager. Sure, some organizations are conceived in a way that allows two managers for a person, but we are talking about different tasks. For example, a person might respond to the chief engineer about the technical aspects of a job, but also to the financial manager when it comes to using the resources effectively.
- The unity of teams – an organization must have a single action plan, as this way, all the employees know what they need to do. This way, the members of the team will act as a whole, creating a group strategy and an integrated effort.
- Subordinating the individual interest to the general one – it is important for the employees to establish individual goals, but those goals must be a part of the integrated strategy. The employee has the right to use his or hers creativity to do a good job, but they should act for the general interest, not for themselves. Again, the role of the manager is important in establishing where the creativity of the employee transforms in a rush for fulfilling personal interests, and to establish rewards for those people.