Systems of Management

Professor Rensis Likert of Michigan University studied the patterns and styles of managers and leaders for three decades. He suggests four styles of management, which are the following:

Exploitative-authoritative management:

- Managers are highly autocratic, showing little trust in subordinates.

- The prime drivers are motivating people through fear and punishment.

-     Managers engage in downward communication and limit decision making to the top.

Benevolent-authoritative management:

- The manager has condescending confidence and trust in subordinates

(master-servant relationship).

- Management uses rewards and upward communication is censored or restricted.

- The subordinates do not feel free to discuss things about the job with their superior. Teamwork or communication is minimal and motivation is based on a system of rewards.

Consultative management:

- Managers  have substantial but not complete confidence  and trust in subordinates.

-     Use rewards for motivation with occasional punishment and some participation, usually try to make use of subordinates' ideas and opinions.

- Communication flow is both up and down.

- Broad policy and general decisions are made at the top while allowing specific decisions to be made at lower levels and act consultatively in other ways.

Participative management:

- Managers have trust and confidence in subordinates.

- Responsibility is spread widely through the organizational hierarchy.

- Some amount of discussion about job-related issues take place between the superior and subordinates.

Likert concluded that managers who applied the participative management approach to their operations had the greatest success as leaders.