Management Practices in Finland (2008)

Management Practices in Finland (Johtamisopit Suomessa, 2008) by Helen Seeck doesn't seemingly have much to do with media. However, spotting it on the reading list for my open university courses, I decided to have a look at it because I'm keen to focus on what will be useful to me  in practical working life.

Management Practices in Finland includes thorough coverage on five management paradigms ranging from the historical days of Taylorism and the scientific management  practices to the current day discourse on innovation. In between, there are the alternative views from the humanistic and cultural schools of thought as well as a point of view of the structural analysis approach.

The basic idea behind all of these paradigms is how to best manage an organization as a result of their research into whatever any of them happen to emphasize. The scientific management paid attention to the work tasks and the processes conducting the work was tied to, being clearly a product of its time (mass production). The humanistic school naturally saw well functioning human relations as a key to success, where as the cultural strand emphasized organizational cultures. What's more of today's world are the last two of Seeck's management paradigms; the structural analysis meaning constant evaluation and renewal of the organizational structure and the need for continuous innovation to compete on the market. 

So, so far nothing new. Obviously all of these paradigms have something to offer and all of them are in existence in any given organization and/or company. I would go as far as saying that Seeck's book verges on being boring. Whilst certainly academically convincing, it just functions as a good source for references if you're looking for names and research in any of these topic areas. What's missing, in my opinion, are the real life examples of organizations which have either successfully or unsuccessfully applied these paradigms and the research into what kind of results they have yielded with placing emphasis on specific matters, say human relations exclusively. 

That said, I did enjoy (skip) reading Management Practices in Finland, probably because I haven't read that much management related material before. It provides a thorough overview of the different management trends over the recent decades and in the final chapter on innovation, finally a pragmatic approach is adopted, when Seeck outlines some practical guidance for achieving an innovative working environment that her own research has produced.