Today I have been...

Reading the special issue of Academy of Management Learning and Education 2005, vol 4 no 2, where there are 7 reviews of Henry Mintzberg's criticism and views on (North American) MBA education in his book Managers not MBAs.

Why?

Activity 1.1, B830 Issues and Approaches - part 1, Integrating Practice, Learning and Theory.

So What?

Mintzberg's view is that (at the time of writing) the majority of MBA students were too young to do an MBA course. His view was they should have engaged some management experience first, and in his response to the reviews he asks three questions:-

• Does the MBA class consist of practicing managers? Managers cannot be created in a classroom, trying to do so just creates hubris.
• Do these managers stay on the job while studying? Ripping them out of their jobs to study full-time foregoes the opportunity to develop them in the context of their practice.
• If these managers are on the job, does the program(me) focus on them learning from their own experience? Not just other people's experience, as in cases and theory, but their own experience. The former are fine but limited; the latter is key. And not just at coffee breaks and mealtimes, but centrally, concertedly, in the classroom - for example half its time devoted to managers sharing experiences among themselves, on their agendas.

To date, it has been interesting to try and relate my management studies to my own professional life. The OU MBA is set up in such a way to encourage this, and although some modules are more theory-based than others, the OU "way" is certainly similar to that described above.

The main thing I have noticed is my MBA studies have given me almost a different "lens" to view my work with. The models and frameworks and techniques taught have become part of a toolset, and I certainly feel better able to interact with senior staff within the organisation at their level.

I have also hugely valued the networking that doing this study has enabled. I have met some others who have studied the same qualifications and modules within my workplace and outside it, and have enjoyed working with others from a cross-section of industries at study groups, tutorials and residential schools.

The IMPM approach as described by Mintzberg seems to be trying to address his concerns. The main attraction is the notion of it being practice-based. There is a difference about training someone to talk about good practice and training them to practice good practice.





How will I use it?

I hope the remainder of my study will help develop the three styles of management in me - calculating, heroic and engaging - and particularly engaging.

Metaphors for problem solving

Three generic metaphors describe three problem solving/improvement methods - a "learning cycle", a "journey", a "search". See also B822 - problem solving as cultivation, search etc.

Best known learning cycle is "PDCA" - plan-do-check-act. This is similar to Kolb's learning cycle and often called the Deming wheel or the Shewart cycle. Diagram b1 p41

Oakland and Marosszeky call this the DRIVE modle for continuous improvement - Define, Review, Investigate, Verify, Execute.

The cycle delivers continuous improvement. It is a cycle because it does not end.

The journey metaphor allows you to think of PS&I as a way to move from where you are now to where you want to be. As with any journey differing routes are often possible, and each will have its advantages and disadvantages. See figure 1.5 p44

Stage 1 - where are you now
Stage 2 - where would you like to get to and what is stopping you
Stage 3 - how do you know when you have arrived
Stage 4 - how could you get there
Stage 5 - how can you tell the outcomes
Stage 6 - what are the outcomes
Stage 7 - choose the best route
Stage 8 - OK, go ahead.

Stage 3 is where you establish how to measure performance, so you need to make sure you state what those measures are, what the targets are, what the timescales are and what are the acceptable deviations from those targets (think SMART objectives). All objectives identified during stage 2 need to be included.

For example, three measures that could be use to manage the performance of a purchasing department include money saved, purchase order processing time, and customer satisfaction (accuracy) (time, cost, quality).

For stage 7 - the 5W+H can be useful - what, why, where, when, how, who?

Problem solving as search is similar to the journey metaphor - see B1 Page 46.

Approaches to problem solving and improvement

Reminder: Problem solving and improvement are best done using 'systematic rational thought supported by relevant information' (Gruenig and Kuehn, 2005, p8)

How do you make sure you are doing this?? Use an approach or method.

This forces the user to ensure that bits that might conveniently be omitted are confronted and examined. It also provides a way for someone looking to verify the results to ensure that the problem was tackled in a sensible way, allowing confidence in the solution.

Approaches can be reductionist (designed to solve science problems - see also Portal and Portal 2) or holistic.

Reductionist approaches, according to waddington 1977 require
1. devising alternative hypotheses
2. devising a crucial experiment .... [to] exclude one or more of the hypotheses
3. carry out the experiment...and recycle the procedure making sybhypotheses or sequential hypotheses to define the possibilities that remain

^^^ the "method of strong inference"

A holistic approach considers the reactions between components to be just as important as the components themselves.

Block 1 p38 table 1.2 shows a comparison between holistic and reductionist approaches.


An alternative discriminator is to consider whether approaches are heuristic or analytic. Heuristics are rules of thumb, strategies, tricks, simplifications etc. A way to limit search for solutions in large problem spaces. A useful heuristic "offers solutions which are good enough most of the time". Examples are means-end analysis and planning.

Analytic problem solving uses techniques to conduct rigorous analysis. There may be limitations as to when they can be applied.

Solutions based on analytic techniques can be assessed by criteria in four areas
1. content (what will be the outcome)
2. level (a kind of performance indicator)
3. how long the solution will be valid for
4. its scope

Diagram 1.2 p40 block 1

Pick two out of three: cheap, fast or effective. You can't have all - related to time/quality/cost.