Principle Of Management Course: My Experiences

Principle of Management Course: My Experiences

I believe that the Principles of Management course provided me with invaluable information which will help in furthering both my professional as well as personal life. I believe that learning is a process by which an individual undergoes certain changes. Also, during the learning process, many of the beliefs which a person holds are challenged. I underwent various changes during this course. This paper will explain those changes. Furthermore, I will detail the concepts, ideas and situations which had the greatest impact on me.

Before taking this course, my definition of the concept of management would have been strictly based on power relationships within an organization, how to use power to achieve your goals and how to manipulate people. Although this definition might seem totalitarian, my background in Political Science supported my initial misconceptions of management. I am a political science major and the questions most often asked in political science courses deal with power within a structure and how this power is used, abused and expressed by those in control. Therefore, I came into the Principles of Management course with the notion that I was going to be learning about power. This notion was challenged as I learned that there are three different perspectives that are used to analyze an organization.

There are three different perspectives used to view organizational behavior and processes: Strategic-Design, Political and Cultural. Initially, I was looking at the organization and the process of management from the political perspective. This perspective deals with the use of power and influence throughout the organization. However, I also had to learn about the strategic- design perspective, which dealt with the differentiation, efficiency, strategy, coordination and integration of various tasks within the organization. I also had to learn about the cultural perspective which focused on the way in which people assigned meanings to their respective work experiences. I was beginning to understand that management and the organization are not just an arena for power relations. Instead, a variety of factors compose management. Management deals with the tasks, structure, culture and decision-making processes within an organization. In order to be an effective manager one has t...

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...mpare the past management environment and the future business environment is:

"The old environment was like sailing. The new environment is like a kayak race." The calm, secure conditions of sailing best reflect the old business and management environments. However, the new environment is best represented by the chaos and instability of a kayak race. "At any time your canoe can capsize and leave you to drown," said CEO Michael Cooper of METCECH Incorporated. This is further emphasized by the increased competition present in the marketplace.

The high levels of competition are making it so that only the companies which are most in tune with their customer's needs and are most efficient survive.

In conclusion, after identifying and integrating the first and second phases of learning, I was able to work towards transforming myself. The transformation process does not end when I hand this paper in or with the end of the course. Rather, the transformation process is a constant struggle between myself and what I have learned. If I choose to apply the lessons which I have learned, then I will win that struggle. However, if I ignore the lessons then I lose the struggle.