Seven Management Cultures in Real Life

Question and Answers:

a) Which is/are your favorite theories? What are their major advantages or benefits? Why is that?

Majid’s favorite management culture is structuralist. He said that a structuralist approach ensures quality in services offered by their enterprise. Being in consulting business it is very important to embrace best practices and industry standards. Due to Structuralist approach all his employees had a clear understanding of their roles, they had in-depth knowledge of their domain of expertise and were forced to follow the best practices, as laid down by the standards and procedures of Satyam, Inc.

b) Could you give me some examples of your favorite structuralist theory in action?

Majid answered that Satyam consulting services itself is a living proof of structuralist theory in action. Satyam is divided into multiple functional units. Each functional unit offers a different domain of consulting services, such as his functional unit is Information Management and offers services in the area of Data warehousing, Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management and Data mining. All functional units control the standards and best practices through strict procedures and processes. He also said that since Satyam was in consulting business it was very important that they hire people who are best in their areas of expertise and have well defined roles. Therefore, they had a detailed selection process and had a setup of account managers, engagements managers to monitor the performance of the consultants and ensure client satisfaction.

c) What skills and abilities are key for structuralist theory? Why is that?

Majid answered that people who are organized in nature, who like policies and procedures, understand the importance of hierarchy and control, and who are highly skilled in their job function will perform very well in structuralist environment.

d) What obstacles are there to you being your favorite type of manager?

According to Majid, controls and procedures constrain out of the box thinking. They make a consulting firm less flexible to change and provide custom solutions to their clients in less cost or within aggressive deadlines. Implementing a solid hierarchy, standards, procedures, and controls adds cost & time to every project. At times when creative thinking is required for a unique problem, they procedures don’t allow thinking beyond the scope of the project, or beyond the area of expertise.

e) How has your approach changed? Why is that?

Majid answered that couple of years ago he was a Solutions Architect in Satyam Computers Ltd. As an architect he believed in creative thinking, and out of the box solutions. He believed a good architect is one who provides intelligent solutions to their client, at times by stepping out of scope from the task and issues assigned. In his new role, as a Program Manager he needs to ensure quality of solutions provided to the clients, the completion of all tasks and services as documented in the contract, and charges to the client are within the defined range mentioned in the contract. As a result, based on his job role he now believes in the structuralist approach.

f) Do you prefer the structural approach to decision making just because of your current job role?

Majid’s response to this question was a No. He said with every job experience you learn more about how businesses should be managed and decisions should be made. There are advantages and disadvantages to every approach but one has to determine what provides maximum benefit to the enterprise. After being in his current role he has realized that a structuralist approach has more advantages then disadvantages.

g) Crime by minors is not unknown in your town, some of which is reported in your town’s newspaper. Many towns in Illinois have instituted an 11:00 pm - 7:00 am curfew on minors (under 18). There was an editorial in your town’s newspaper recently, proposing that your town do the same. Your town would have to pass an ordinance to have a curfew in your town. The Police Chief is preparing comments about the curfew for the local town government.

What should the Police Chief do? Why is that?

Majid’s response was that before imposing any curfew there should be a study about, why minors commit crime, what instigates these actions and the thoughts to commit a crime. He said a curfew can help in achieving short-term goal but will not help in changing the minds of the minors who commit to crime. It is the root cause that needs to be identified and be eliminated by some creative actions. He thought minor crimes