Work, Management, And The Business Of Living

Moneim El-Meligi

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9789812790675
• eBook ISBN: 9789814452199
• Topic: Ciencias biológicas
• Subtopic: Ciencias en general

In the modern economic paradigm characterized by a multitude of business management theories aimed at maximizing profits, there is a danger of formalizing management techniques to the extent of dehumanizing individuals or reducing them to humanoids. This book deals with familiar concepts in the management literature, but always in light of the model of the human person. It sheds light on organizing processes in individuals, small groups, and organizations and other large social systems by covering empirical research on three central topics — modes of influence, intrapersonal communication, and change — through which the social context is constantly shifting.

Concepts from other fields are also introduced by the author into the field of management, such as philosophy, biology, sociology, semantics, and mythology, to name a few. As a protest against behaviorism, materialism, objectivism, determinism, elitism, and many other “-ism's” that degrade the human person, this book provides food for thought to students of management and organizational behavior, psychologists and sociologists, as well as political scientists and leaders of business and nonbusiness institutions.

Contents:

• History of Ideas:
  • You Cannot Not Manage
  • First Encounter with Managers
  • Psychologist in Business School!
  • From Academia to Wall Street
  • Singapore Adopts the Seminar
  • Learning is a Two-Way Process
• The Human Person:
  • Don't Think, Just Look!
  • Model Parameters
  • Synthesis
  • Practical Implications
• Membership and Role Acquisition:
  • A State of Belonging
  • Membership: A Historical Process
  • Role Acquisition
• Leading and Managing:
  • Leader/Manager Controversy
  • Review of Case Studies
  • Leadership, Fellowship and Follower-Ship
  • Central Thesis: Mechanisms of Influence
  • A Journey with a Donkey
• Social Structures:
  • The Human Person as a Universe
  • Dyadic Structures
  • Triadic Structures
  • Small Groups
• Work, Play and Leisure:
  • Semantic Introduction
  • Work versus Labor
  • Play
  • Leisure
  • Aristotle's View
  • Energy Management
  • Final Conclusion
• Philosophical Foundations in Quotes:
  • References
  • Appendix
  • Index

Readership: Managers, psychologists, political scientists, sociologists, graduate students and researchers in social science.

INTRODUCTION

HISTORY OF IDEAS

YOU CANNOT NOT MANAGE

I find it hard to start this introduction without referring to my life experience. Nothing in this book has been planned in advance. I did not set out guided by an outline nor by a plan of reading and researching. Rather, everything came in the course of living. In essence, this book is a record of an epoch in my professional career. It is impossible to identify a specific point in time where the book came into existence. How could I? After all, life is an incessant flow of time over which we have no control. It is therefore left to me to choose when my account could begin. I see myself as a clinical psychologist at the Neuro- Psychiatric Institute in Princeton, the university town in the State of New Jersey. The institute was a state mental health organization, not part of Princeton University. My job at the Institute involved three distinct but related responsibilities:

a. provide diagnostic reports on mental patients to psychiatrists. My reports were based on interviews I conduct and psychological tests I administer;

b. conduct psychotherapy sessions for various types of patients; and

c. research.

I think I was happy doing what I was required to do. I learnt later from management literature that my happiness was called work motivation, or more specifically, job satisfaction. At the same time I was serving as Adjunct Professor in the psychology department of Rutgers University where I taught psychology courses. Teaching at Rutgers added a feature of variety to my professional activities. Furthermore, it provided continuity of my primary academic career.

One day I received a directive from management to attend a course in management provided by the State of New Jersey. I went to my boss to inform him that I would not attend. I explained why I intend to decline the invitation, “I am not a manager. I am a psychologist.” My boss pointed out that attendance is mandatory for any state official who assumes supervisory responsibilities irrespective of the official’s specialized expertise. I thought then that management was a profession in its own right, a highly developed specialty confined to people in charge of business or government institutions. That was the first time I realized that while being primarily a psychologist I was also a supervisor.

Finally, I attended the course. I spent three days feeling bored throughout. I was bored simply because much of what was said touched upon what I was actually doing, though without much thinking. For example, there was reference to leadership which I was actually exercising over a number of staff psychologists. Leadership could also extend to my role as a professor in relation to students. There was reference to appraisal of employees, exactly what I have been doing with my staff at the institute, or with my students at the university. There was reference to budgeting, purchasing supplies, hiring and disciplining, attending and chairing committees, all of which constituted essential aspects of my job. It seems odd in retrospect that prior to attending the course none of these managerial tasks had entered my mind. I must have been performing them mechanically without much awareness. The most significant outcome of attending the course was the realization that I have been a manager all along. What a revelation!

I was reminded of a character in the French play, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, one of the masterpieces of Molière. In this play, Molière portrays the character of Monsieur Jourdain, a ridiculous snob aspiring to become a cultured citizen of quality like the nobility of his time. Monsieur Jourdain hired a teacher to help him achieve such social status. In one of the lessons, the teacher taught him that language could be either prose or verse. “What is prose?” asked Monsieur Jourdain. “Prose is what you are speaking right now,” replied the teacher. Monsieur Jourdain was thrilled to discover that he had been able to speak prose even before he received any teaching. Unable to contain his excitement, Jourdain rushed to his wife boasting, “You ignorant woman, I am able to speak prose!” Fortunately, I kept to myself the discovery that I have been a manager; thus, I escaped the ridicule that Jourdain had received from his wife.

The specialized title of psychologist tended to eclipse the managerial tasks all of which were necessary to fulfill my role as a psychologist. Henceforth, I had to confront these tasks right on. It is true that what I learnt had a negligible effect on my subsequent performance as a psychologist. However, as such tasks come to one’s attention, one tends to be deliberate in effecting them.

FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH MANAGERS

Soon after this brief course, I was invited to participate in a management development program to be offered by Rutgers University for AT&T managers. The program was named Rutgers Advancement Management Development Program or RAMP. It was a new venture championed jointly by the Extension Division of the university and the Graduate School of Business Administration. AT&T was then a monopoly, a colossal corporation. In fact it was the second largest employer in the USA, second only to the federal government. Initially, I thought, it would be preposterous to teach these powerful and experienced managers what they have been doing for years. The professor in charge of RAMP was an expert in Industrial Psychology. Besides, he was familiar with my work both at my institute and in his department of psychology. Somehow, he was confident that my experience as psychologist was relevant. To temper my anxiety, he gave me a few management textbooks.

After a glance at the content of one of the books, I realized that even absorbing the content of the book would not qualify me to teach such a group of experienced managers. After all, teaching requires more than conveying information that has been stored in the teacher’s memory. It is the experience that matters — being aware of the implications of what you teach and having engaged in numerous dialogues with various people and with yourself about the subject matter.

I thought of my first encounter with management as a profession in the New Jersey seminar. An idea sprang in my mind — just as I had realized earlier that my role as psychologist had a managerial component, there was bound to be a psychological dimension to the role of a manager. Maybe I could show the AT&T managers how psychological awareness would do justice to their experience, thus enhancing their leadership role. I felt confident about this solution to my dilemma. Finally, I went to my colleague to return his books and to convey my acceptance of the assignment. I felt that I had a decent entry to a new situation; rather than wandering in the dark alleys of business, heretofore a world alien to me, I would instead bring the audience into the world I was familiar with. But how would I do that?

To answer this question I have to take the reader back to what I have done in my field in the N euro- Psychiatric Institute. My main contribution was drawing attention to the primacy of changes of perception in mental disorder, particularly in schizophrenia. I mean perception of objects, appearance of people, time and space. I pointed out that such are the early symptoms in the evolvement of mental illness. And it is such changes that easily escape the attention of psychiatry. Usually patients seek psychiatric help after the breakout of major symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and flagrantly bizarre behavior.

My research further argues that thinking disorders (reasoning) and bizarre behavior can be satisfactorily explained in terms of the changes that occurred in the patient’s perception of the world. I could conclude that the tragedy of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, lies in dramatic change and stability of the patient’s world view. Furthermore changes in the world view bring about fluctuations of mood and serious disruption in interpersonal relationship. In other words, the patient’s state resembles that of an exile.

I went back to my lecture notes of the early sixties and found the following paragraph:

It is impossible to understand people without exploring their experiential worlds. Instead of looking into people searching for motives, complexes, etc., we [must] try to place ourselves in their place and view the world from their viewpoint. Thus, the psychologist’s role becomes similar to that of an anthropologist who tries to map out the world of a culture that is alien to him. Typically, the anthropologist must rely on a native as a guide or interpreter. Similarly, the psychologist has no alternative but to establish an authentic dialogue with the individual [patient]. Only through the [other] individual can we explore his world. We [psychologists] have the conceptual framework which determines what we look for, how to bring order to the apparent chaos and how to make sense of what appears to be strange, bizarre, or senseless.

Psychologist as anthropologist! A flash of insight so compelling that it determined my subsequent approach as a psychologist. A psychologist, I thought, does not impose his world view on any patient. Rather, the psychologist should establish a dialogue with the patient, a dialogue geared towards the discovery of the patient’s world. At the same time, the psychologist explains to the patient the influence of perception on thinking, feelings, and interpersonal relations. I called the dialogue a process or shared perception. A simple and self evident truth, shared perception is the key to being together.

Naturally the AT&T managers I was about to encounter were healthy and well-functioning individuals. The way they perceive the world is significantly different from that of the patients I dealt with. Still, healthy individuals develop different world views but these views are essentially constant. Furthermore healthy individuals are able, more or less, to make sense out of the different views of one another. They are also able to correct others’ misperception and build relationships based on a modicum of shared perception. I decided then that shared perception would afford me a decent entry into my encounter with the audience at RAMP. So much of my knowledge could flow from this core concept that I would then feel at home with the audience.

I still vividly recall my first encounter. While being introduced, I thought that I would start by explaining my position and where I came from. I prefaced my speech by an admission, “I know nothing about management, but I think I know something about people. I come to you from a mental hospital dealing with mental patients.” I told them that one lesson I learnt was “You cannot know what goes on in the mind and heart of the other person unless that person lets you in.” It hit me that what I learnt about the patient applies more strongly in interaction with the healthy individuals you meet at work and elsewhere. However, healthy individuals have the means to conceal their thoughts and feelings, whereas patients reveal them in symptoms which they may or may not be aware of. I borrowed an analogy from late Humphry Osmond, a British psychiatrist I worked with at the time. Most of what goes on in the life of the other individual, notes Osmond, is invisible to us. It is as if the concrete person we see and deal with inhabits an invisible bubble. In your encounter with any person, what you actually witness is a single individual. But in reality that individual is the center of a universe inaccessible to your senses.

Therefore, it would be prudent to bear in mind that an individual you encounter is but a pivot of a complex network of relationships as real as what you actually see, a historical entity with past and future, actualities and possibilities. I remember quoting Karl Jaspers, “The truth begins when two people meet.” Understanding requires a map, mapping the world in which you live and the world in which the other person lives. The parameters of the map are identical but the content is different. I went on elaborating the parameters of a world view — the physical world which includes objects, nature, animals and one’s own body in as much as the body is a physical entity occupying space along with other physical objects. In addition, there are self image and the image we form of other people around us. In a nutshell this was the core of my message to AT&T managers. Fortunately, the ideas I presented gave rise to rich exchange and animated discussion throughout the two days allocated to me.

At the conclusion of my second day, I received a standing ovation from seminar participants. What a surprise! I start out with the admission of my ignorance of management, yet I end by getting a dramatic show of approval from such a seasoned group of managers. Naturally I welcomed the ovation as being a generous reward. But the meaning of the ovation deserves a moment of reflection. What I offered must have satisfied a basic need beyond what the mangers had expected to get from a management seminar. I had talked about what is essentially human, not just professional or work-related. The managers gained insights that clarified issues in their life. And clarity of mind is always associated with a euphoric reaction. And it is the euphoric reaction, I thought, which prompted the standing ovation. Subsequently, the managers wrote in the required feedback, “Keep El-Meligi on the job.” So I continued to participate in the program for about three years. It so happened that the Graduate School of Business was co-sponsor of the program. Apparently reports about my performance were sent regularly to the school of business. While in the institute one day, I received an offer of professorship.

PSYCHOLOGIST IN BUSINESS SCHOOL!

What could I say? The offer was very gratifying as recognition of a job well-done. More importantly, I welcomed the offer for two reasons: first, it allowed me to return to academia, which I had always considered home. Secondly, it promised a fresh and exciting venture where I would enjoy the freedom to experiment. I leap forward now to the next scene: being interviewed by the dean of the Graduate School of Business in a spacious but unassuming office. On the wall behind the dean, I noted a painting of a player of American football. The painting was modern art with subtle colors and inspiring vigor and sweetness at the same time. The painting told something about the character of the dean.

The painting on the wall distracted me for a while, but in my eagerness to dispel any belief that I claim expertise in management, I wanted to make sure that the offer was not based on an erroneous belief in my competence in management. I hastened to tell the dean, “I never studied management, and I never worked in a business school. That is why we want you,” replied the dean instantly and emphatically. Then, I asked the dean, “What do I teach?” “Pick up any subject from the curriculum or design your own,” replied the dean. With these words, the clinical psychologist was ordained a Professor of Management in a School of Business Administration. Such anomaly could not happen except in America at least to my knowledge. Incidentally, ‘Business Administration’ was soon dropped from the school name. It became Graduate School of Management. I welcomed the change. It was a good omen as far as I was concerned, though the change had nothing to do with me. Subsequent to the meeting with the dean, I pondered, how could my lack of experience in management justify hiring me as full professor? I thought that the dean must have made up his mind long before we met. He must have based his decision on reports he had received about my performance in RAMP. I then dropped the subject until further notice.

Soon afterwards, a journalist appeared in the school to interview that strange specimen recently imported to a school of business! The journalist’s opening question was; “What is a clinical psychologist doing in a business school?” I quipped, “humanizing business.” I laughed at my own half-serious reply, but the journalist did not. She went on recording what I have just said. Pondering my reply later on, it seemed to make a great deal of sense. Yes, indeed, that is what I should be doing, humanizing management. My words reverberated in my mind. I did not imply that management was inhumane. Rather, I thought, it has grown into a specialized profession practiced by experts. That specialty seemed too remote from daily life of ordinary people at home or in the street. Maybe it is about time to liberate management from the confines of the board room of corporations.

Actually I had started my project in RAMP without conscious intention. In retrospect, what I did in RAMP seemed to be my first step in humanizing management. I thought that the first step toward this goal would be to teach MBA students that a professional manager should pay heed to common sense foundations of his/her science. After all, science as we know it today had its rudiments in the most primitive of human minds. Pre-scientific thinking is not always unscientific. Even the most sophisticated scientist in modern times inevitably resorts to common sense and intuition when faced with fresh challenging problems.

MEMBERSHIP BEGINS

Becoming a member is a unique and complex experience. The official appointment occurs on a legal document, but ushers in the process of inclusion into a new environment. I would like to give a brief account of the moment when I felt included as a member of the school. The opportunity was the annual faculty meeting marking the beginning of a new school term. The agenda of the meeting included, among other topics, electing members for the Appointment and Promotion Committee — the most powerful committee in the school. In his capacity as Chairman of the meeting, the dean asked for nominations. Few professors nominated themselves or others. The dean looked at me and asked directly, “Moneim, won’t you like to include your name?” Without any hesitation, I said, NO. After the meeting the chairman of my department took me on the side and said, Why did you turn down the dean’s request?” “Turn down?” I replied, “He was just asking me. I did not want to compete for a post I did not particularly want.” The chairman said emphatically, “Moneim, the dean was not asking you, he was telling you.” That was something I never thought of. I suddenly realized that a university, like any other institution is bound to be a political environment — asking is telling and you are supposed to know when asking means telling.

I thought that the issue ended there, but a few days thereafter, while inspecting the mail delivered at home, I found an official letter from the dean’s office. The letter was very brief and to the point. It reads:

“I would very much like to have you serve as the Dean’s appointment to the School’s Appointments and Promotions Committee for the 1975-1976 academic year. This is a very importan...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Title page1
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• Title page2
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER TWO
• CHAPTER THREE
• CHAPTER FOUR
• CHAPTER FIVE
• CHAPTER SIX
• Philosophical Foundations in Quotes
• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX
• INDEX