What is Management Development? Methods

  • Post last modified:23 March 2023
  • Reading time:24 mins read
  • Post category:Human Resource
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What is Management Development?

Management development process consists of assessing the company’s strategic needs appraising the managers’ current performance and developing the managers.

Management development is the process by which managers learn and improve their management skills.

In organisational development (OD), management effectiveness plays a dominant role in organisational success. So, the investment made in management development leads to direct economic benefit to the organisation.

Management development is concepts in which organizations help employees develop their personal and organizational skills.


Introduction to Management Development

Over the years management and leadership have been used both as synonyms. Management Development aims at improving managerial performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes, or increasing skills.

According to Dessler (2012) Generally management development process consists of assessing the company’s strategic needs, appraising the managers’ current performance, and developing the managers.

Carnnel (2003) identified following competencies needs to be developed in an effective managers:

  • Decision making: This includes intuition, gathering and utilizing information, understanding conflicting views.

  • Coalition Building: Getting support and resources to implement views and decisions.

  • Achieving actions: Managing opposition, motivating and providing support and self – esteem.

  • Maintaining momentum and effort: Involves team building, sharing information and ensuring ownership of ideas, providing feedback and motivation.

Burgoyance (1998, p41) sees six levels of maturity of an organization’s provisions of management development.

  1. No systematic management development.
  2. Isolated tactical management development
  3. Integrated and coordinated structural and development tactics.
  4. Management development implements corporate policy.
  5. Management development input to corporate policy formation.
  6. Strategic development of the management of the corporate policy.

Methods of Management Development

Management development methods can be broadly classified into:

  1. On-the-Job Training and Development
  2. Off-the-Job Training and Development

On-the-Job Training and Development

Managerial On-The-Job Training methods include:

Job Rotation

Job Rotation: moving management trainees from department to department on the job. This method helps in broadening their understanding of all parts of the business.

Coaching

The coaching method aims at developing skills at work by working directly with a senior manager or with the person he/she is to replace, and the latter is responsible for coaching the trainee.
These days external Management Development coaches are also engaged for the purpose of management development.

Action Learning

Action Learning: programs give managers and others released time to work full time on projects to analyze and solve problems in departments other than their own.

Off-the-Job Training and Development

Case Study Method

Case Study Method presents a trainee with a written description of some organizational problem.

Management Games

Management Games computerized management games are used in different fields like marketing, supply chain, finance etc.

Outside Seminars

Participants or trainees are benefited by attending seminars offered by many companies and universities.

University

Related Programs provide executive education and continuing education programs in leadership, supervision, and the like.

Role-Playing

Role-Playing is aimed at creating a realistic situation and then having the trainee enact the roles of specific persons in that situation. This method is more used for training for situations related to employee or customer interaction.

Behavior Modeling

This method involves showing the trainee the correct way to do something, letting him/her practice the correct way, and giving feedback on his/her performance.

Behaviour modelling is one of the most widely-used interventions, both for teaching supervisory type skills and particularly for behavioural computer skills training.

Corporate Universities

In-house development centres of relatively large organizations provide numerous training programs to expose prospective managers to realistic exercises to develop improved management skills.


Reference

  • Andrzej Huczynski, (1982) “Management Development Methods”, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 1 Iss : 1, pp.10 – 21

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