Holism and Reductionism in Management

Good manager have to balance in managing paradoxes in management world: holism versus reductionism

Role of reductionism on Managers functions

In every organization managers have to perform certain functions. The main functions are planning, organizing, control, co-ordination and motivations. However, the way they do this task differ from one manager to the next in an organization. Every manager has a world view what is an organization and how it works. That is, they have a philosophy about organization and management..

Reductionism is a philosophy, which studies parts of a whole and they produce theories and concepts related to that part to explain and predict in all situations and if parts works then the whole will also work optimally. They produce universal theories in management in a given area of management.

In a managerial context, if the manager uses Scientific Management Theories, for example in motivational theories that people are motivated primarily by money alone in most situations, and assumes that if applied to motivation to all employees the whole organization employees can be motivated effectively, then he is using reductionist philosophy to make decisions how to motivate employees in all contexts and situations. He uses this theory as a law in physical sciences. In effect, reductionism reduces the world in to abstract theories and tries to explain and predict based these theories and avoids complexity. and context. Another, reductionist philosophy is the concept of division of labor and hierarchical organization structure to ensure efficient allocation of resources and productivity. If a manager uses to allocate tasks to employees based on this theory in all organizational context he uses reductionist philosophy as matter of the whole management and assumes it works for the whole organization if it is applied to all parts of the organization because if applied to parts it will produce the same results as an organization as a whole.

In reductionism, as discussed above it over simplifies management or how an organization works. In a sociological and political point of view an organization is a complex system which interacts within and outside the organization and evolve and change in mostly in an unpredictable manner. As well, as assumed in reductionism all organizational phenomenon cannot be measured in monetary terms alone.

If a manger is overly reliance on reductionist philosophy he has the potential to make in appropriate decisions in the context of an organization as whole because he do not consider interactions relationships and there fore may increase conflict and political activity or it may not motivate all employees to work to the goals of an organization as a whole.

In effect, the reductionist philosophy has some relevance in some organizational internal and external environments but not in all organizational contexts because organizations are complex by nature and the reductionist philosophy may adversely affect the organizational performance if measured in broader terms.

Role of Holism on Managers functions

In the contemporary world, an organization exists in a turbulent external environment, ever changing technological advancement, rapid social and cultural changes, diversity of the social world. If an organization do not adept and change in relation to its competitors and do not update their organizational knowledge as whole and avoids complexity, then it chances of survival and growth is severely limited or they may fail to exist.

The holistic philosophy is opposite to reductionism. This the main cause of the paradox between holism and reductionism. That, is they are mutually exclusive philosophies. In holistic philosophy, the whole is mostly more than the parts. That is, if the parts work it does not guarantee the organization works optimally as whole. For example, if two organization which are compatible in culture and operations may produce potential synergy and may be beneficial as a strategy to grow in the perspective of holism because parts are more than the whole. However not according to reductionism.

In a managers point of view, holistic philosophy makes the manger to see the organization as a system as whole and the interactions of its parts and its interactions with the complex outside environment. If a manager uses holistic philosophy as opposed to reductionist philosophy, then he will study the organization as whole and then study the parts or use alignments in terms of human resources, relationships, training, motivation, goal setting, capacity and innovative creativity building, benefits the organization not sub-optimizing the parts in the expense of the organization as whole. That is he will, consider his consequences of his decisions on the organization as whole and ensure that it contributes the efficiency, effectiveness, elegance, ethics, emancipation of disadvantages stakeholders of the organization as a whole.

For example, as opposed to reductionist philosophy if a manager uses holistic philosophy say in motivating employees he will use different motivating methods in different departments considering the complexity of motivating employees based on cultural backgrounds, non-monetary rewards, change of managerial style, participation in decision making if warranted and will not use one method in all situations and use different methods over time because people may change over time as well. In this sense, he considers complexity of situations and interactions so that his motivating methods do not produce any possible negative effects as an organization as whole. In effect, if any manger uses holistic philosophy he will think organizational issues very differently than using reductionist philosophy.

As discussed above a good manager must resolve which philosophy to be used depending on this managerial position and power, organizational size, complexity of operations, diversity within organization, cultural and profile of employees, political and social norms within organizations, organizational culture, the nature of external environment in terms of static or dynamic or unpredictable environments and other ethical and legal considerations the manager must be aware of.

In effect, good managers must evaluate the pros and cons in a creative manner given the organizational issue they face and study their impact of their decisions on the organization as whole, taking in to consideration of all the variables mentioned above. If they can apply these principles they can use appropriate philosophy to be good managers.