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Title Analysis of Blake & Mouton's Managerial Grid and Its Application to the Management Styles of the Heads of Federal Government Educational Institutions

Author(s) Rafaqat Islam

Abstract This study is divided into two parts. Part I undertakes an analysis of Blake & Mouton's Grid managerial styles which they formulated in the context of search for managerial excellence in the United States after World War II. The study highlights this context and documents influence of other social psychologists and scholars of related social science disciplines on Blake & Mouton who themselves belonged to the discipline of Social Psychology. Benefiting from emerging ideas about managerial styles, such as democratic style, authoritarian style, etc, the two authors came up with a clever device of depicting styles on a 9 x 9 grid with 81 cells. A manager's concern for production and people could be measured on horizontal and vertical axes on a scale of 9 points, the 9 presenting maximum concern. A manager's maximum concern for production and minimum concern for people could be termed as 9,1 style. Similarly, maximum concern for both production and people could be described as 9,9 managerial style. Blake & Mouton posited certain elements of style, e.g decision making, conflict resolving, humour/emotion, strength of conviction which in their view, could be measured on some scale. The authors used a scale of zero to five. Managers could carry out self-assessment of their styles. They could also learn to refine on the knowledge of their own styles through candid critique from peers. Blake & Mouton have emphasized that accumulated social science knowledge furnishes reliable basis to carryout self-assessment of managerial style and to choose the best style. Through analysis of various styles on social science principles, and documentation of their own observations during their consultancy work, they were convinced that on the basis of 9,9 style, development training could be undertaken to promote organizational excellence. In part-II of the study, Blake & Mouton's method of self-assessment of managerial styles has been applied in the case of educational managers working under the Directorate of Federal Government Educational Institutions (FGEIs) in Pakistan, giving background information on such institutions and the organizational setup in which the educational managers work. Questionnaires were sent to 52 heads of institutions and 104 subordinates of these heads. The response rate was 87%. Each questionnaire contained 36 items, 18 to measure concern for production and 18 to measure concern for people. The data was prepared by working out responses to questionnaire items on a six-point scale ranging from `never' to 'always' carrying value from zero (minimum) to 5 (maximum). Analysis of data, when figures were rounded for purpose of locating heads of institutions on the grid, showed the style to be predominantly a 7,8 style. This is not an authentic Blake & Mouton's Grid style. Such discrepancy has been analysed in terms of self deception, the idea that without full knowledge of Grid style through a Grid Seminar, manager's answers to questionnaire for determining grid styles are misplaced. It is then concluded that real value of Blake & Mouton's Grid styles analysis lies in the whole process of organization development which will involve not only self-assessment of managerial style but also a whole range of six phases beginning with self-assessment and ending with consolidation of organization development measures.

Type Thesis/Dissertation MS

Faculty Management Sciences

Department Management Sciences

Language English

Publication Date 2006-01-01

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