Management as a Science

In my work as Business Improvement Manager I get exposed to a lot of theories of management. Many theories proclaim to provide final solutions to the complexity of managing contemporary corporations. Some theories are deceivingly simple, others are very complex, requiring specialist training.

One thing the theories have in common is that they come and go in rapid succession. None of these theories are based on a solid scientific foundation, supported by the fact that there are many theories and models covering the same aspect, using widely differing theoretical foundations.

I have written an essay about strategic management as part of my arts degree. In this essay I have argued that luck and intuition are equally important to improving business performance as rational formal planning.

Many systems of strategic management assume that business performance can be positively influenced if only an organisation plans everything in sufficient detail. Reality is, however, totally unpredictable. David Hume has shown quite convincingly that our assumption that the future will resemble the past is not based on reason. Strategic management is therefore feigning rationality.