motivational analysis of organizations

Successful Managers and Effective Managers
Luthans, Hodgetts, and Rosenkrantz (1988) used a slightly modified version of Kotter’s
model to study more than 700 managers over a four-year period. The researchers found
that their subjects performed four comprehensive categories of activities that expand on
those identified in Kotter’s work:
1. Routine communication: Paperwork, e-mail, memos, reports, letters, telephone
calls, faxes, etc.
2. Traditional management tasks: Planning, leading, organizing, controlling, and
staffing. This area incorporates most traditional training programs (based on the
old PLOCS model) offered to new managers.
3. Networking: Interacting with outsiders, socializing, politicking, hall chats,
chance meetings, etc. This area incorporates the nontraditional, political skills
described by McCormack.
4. Human resource management: Motivating, reinforcing, disciplining, managing
conflict, staffing, training, developing, empowering, involving others, etc. This
area incorporates many of the “soft” skills found in newer models of
management.
Luthans et al. found that, overall, real managers devote approximately 29 percent of
their time to routine communication, 32 percent of their time to traditional management,
19 percent to networking, and 20 percent to human resource management. In addition,
guided by the relative importance the managers attached to these four activities, the
researchers identified three distinct types of managers: successful managers, effective
managers, and successful and effective managers.
Successful managers are defined as those individuals who receive more rapid
promotions, as compared to others in their organizations. They devote 28 percent of
their time to routine communication (about the same as the overall average), 13 percent
to traditional management (19 percent less than the overall average), 48 percent to
networking (29 percent more than the overall average), and 11 percent to human
resource management (9 percent less than the overall average).
Effective managers are defined as those individuals whose employees excel in
quantity and quality of production and display superior levels of satisfaction and
commitment toward the organization. These managers devote 44 percent of their time to
routine communication (15 percent more than the overall average and 16 percent more
than their “successful” counterparts), 19 percent of their time to traditional management
(13 percent less than the overall average and 6 percent more than their “successful”
counterparts), 11 percent of their time to networking (8 percent less than the overall
average and 37 percent less than their “successful” counterparts), and 26 percent of their
time to human resource management (6 percent more than the overall average and 15
percent more than their “successful” counterparts).
Successful and effective managers’ percentages are almost identical to the overall
averages. They devote 30 percent of their time to routine communication (1 percent
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The Pfeiffer Library Volume 19, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer