Учебно-методическое пособие по развитию навыков профессионального общения. В двух частях. Ч.1: Management. Руденко Т.П - 25 стр.

ers. But along the spectrum of pay and power, many managers face two               “Profit Patterns” reminds us that some companies have clobbered
contradictory demands.                                                      others in head-to-head competition. In 1989, both Apple Computerand
       First, they're supposed to get results – to maximize profits, im-    Microsoft had stock-market capitalizations (the value of all their shares)
prove test scores or whatever. Everyone must “perform” these days and       of about $4 billion. By 1998. Apple was still worth about $4 billion,
be “accountable” (which means being fired, demoted or chewed out if         while Microsoft had zoomed to $220 billion. But Microsoft benefited as
the desired results aren't forthcoming).                                    much from the blunders of rivals as from its own efforts. IBM let Mi-
       Second, they've got to motivate or manipulate their workers.         crosoft keep the licensing rights for the original PC operating software.
Gone is the era when machines determined how most work was done.            Big mistake. And Apple didn't license coproduction of its computers;
Jobs today are looser. They require initiative or allow leeway. If work-    this stymied sales and software development.
ers do poorly, the organization suffers. So managers have to command               Companies should spot how’the strstegic landscape is changing’,
and coddle. They're supposed to be sensitive to workers' problems and       says the book. This is a bit abstract. Microsoft's real lesson is simpler:
“feelings.” They should be nice and not nasty. Petty tyrants are disap-     pray for dumb competitors. If IBM and Apple had been smarter, Bill
proved.                                                                     Gates might be a nobody.
       The manager mediates between the hard demands of the stock                  In “The Dance of Change,” we discover that companies often fail
market and the soft demands of workers. On paper, there is no tension,      at organized efforts of self-improvement. By one study, 70 percent of
Workers will be committed and creative if they are respected and con-       “re-engineering” campaigns founder. Another study estimated that two
sulted. Good ideas will bubble up from below. Managers will be re-          thirds of “total quality management” programs do likewise. These fail-
warded for their openness and understanding. But in real life, conflicts    ures implicate the capacity of middle managers. Are they guiding
abound. Galvanizing consensus is often time-consuming. Sometimes it's       change or simply being swept along? “Our core premise,” write the
undesirable because some ideas are better than others. And getting          authors, “is that the source of these problems cannot be remedied by
people to obey without alienating them is hard if they: (a) disagree        more expert advice, better consultants or more committed managers.”
with you; (b) hate you; (c) are incompetent, or (d) spend the day surfing   What then follows is – 573 pages of musings from experts, consultants
the Net.                                                                    and managers.
       Little wonder, then, that no group in America is more advised               The enduring popularity of self-help books like these. I suspect,
and analyzed than managers. I know this, because I receive a steady         reflects a widespread insecurity among many managers as a class. (But
flow of review copies of management books. Just who reads these             I also suspect that the best managers disdain these books. They trust
books has always puzzled me: if you manage something important,             their own instincts and knowledge.) The common craving is control; the
when would you have time? But someone must read them (or at least           common fear is chaos. But the latter is rising while the former is falling.
buy them), because the publishers keep pouring them out. Of course,         Someone must have an answer. In one way or another, all these man-
the publishing industry has a well-deserved reputation for being dimwit-    agement books hold out the chimera of control. The fact that they don't
ted. But it can't be that dimwitted.                                        deliver may not diminish their appeal: if you're confused, it's reassuring
       Here, for example, are two recent arrivals – “Profit Patterns: 30    to know that everyone else is, too.
Ways to Anticipate and Profit From Strategic Forces Reshaping Your                 Perhaps managers couJd once succeed-or at least survive – on
Business” and “The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining            status and technical competence. There was a chain of command. Au-
Momentum in Learning Organizations.” As management books go.                thority was respected or feared. Machines regulated production jobs.
these seem to be more informative than most. But exactly how will they      This era has ended. The almost-universal task of managers today, in our
make it easier for managers to manage?                                      culture, is to serve twin masters, each of whom has grown more de-

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