Integrated Management Concept

Last updated

The Integrated Management Concept, or IMC is an approach to structure management challenges by applying a "system-theoretical perspective that sees organisations as complex systems consisting of sub-systems, interrelations, and functions". [1] The most characteristic aspect of the IMC is its distinction between three particular management dimensions: normative, strategic, and operational management, which are held together by different integration mechanisms. [2] [3] The normative management dimension determines the general aim of the organization, the strategic dimension directs the plans, basic structures, systems, and the problem-solving behaviour of the staff for achieving it, and the operative level translates the normative missions and strategic programs into day-to-day organizational processes.

Contents

The IMC was developed by Knut Bleicher and his colleagues originally as an element of the St. Gallen Management Model, introduced in the 1970s by Hans Ulrich and Walter Krieg at the Swiss University of St. Gallen. [4] [5] [6] Thereafter, the IMC has been revised several times (e.g. with respect to its application within SMEs sectors [7] [8] ) and further developed by research institutions [9] and management scholars, such as Johannes Rüegg-Stürm. [10] [11]

Dimensions of management

Normative management

The normative management dimension deals with principles, norms, and strategies which are aimed to ensure the surviving capabilities of a company through the preservation of its identity. Bleicher states that “because of its constitutive role, normative management functions as the basis for all activities of management”. [2] Through vision, mission, and purpose statements, normative management codifies the norms, principles, and strategies that fulfill the company's general aim. [1]

Strategic management

Strategic management focuses on achieving a company's competitive advantage. It utilizes the organizational experience in relation to its technologies, social structures, and processes against competitors in the market. While normative management functions as a foundation for activities, it is the task of strategic management to provide orientation for these activities. [2]

Operational management

The operational management dimension is characterized by the processes and tasks that apply on practice the realization of organizational norms and strategies. It aims at optimizing process efficiency and effective social cooperation to enhance performance, both within the organisation and with external stakeholders. Thus, the operational management level facilitates the development of processes, products, and services.

Integration mechanisms

The IMC identifies three integration mechanisms [2] that span the management dimensions and ensure the alignment between them. These integration mechanisms are defined as meta-integration, vertical integration, and horizontal integration. Meta-integration is based on the management and business philosophy which defines the company's consideration of and relation to its stakeholders’ values. Vertical integration is achieved throughout the three management dimensions by means of structures, activities, and behavior. Structures describe the translation of corporate governance into effective management and efficient processes. Activities refer to the development and application of corporate policies, strategic programmes, and operational tasks (e.g. marketing activities like acquiring customers or performing customer service). Behavior relates to defining roles that ensure that the company's culture and normative values are put into practice. Horizontal integration is about aligning the structures, activities, and behavior throughout the distinct management dimensions.

Application

The IMC has been adapted in various contexts, such as foresight frameworks [12] [13] or cybernetic theories for organisational intelligence. [14] More recently, it has also been used as a foundation for an Integrated Business Model Framework [15] by Oliver D. Doleski that identifies normative, strategic, and operational business model elements. Breuer & Lüdeke-Freund [1] adopted the basic distinction between management levels and integration mechanisms to develop a framework for values-based innovation management stressing the impact of normative orientations for research, design and management of corporate innovation. The IMC is closely related to systems approaches such as Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Model [16] due to its systemic and cybernetic character.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data warehouse</span> Centralized storage of knowledge

In computing, a data warehouse, also known as an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), is a system used for reporting and data analysis and is considered a core component of business intelligence. Data warehouses are central repositories of integrated data from one or more disparate sources. They store current and historical data in one single place that are used for creating reports. This is beneficial for companies as it enables them to interrogate and draw insights from their data and make decisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decision support system</span> Information systems supporting business or organizational decision-making activities

A decision support system (DSS) is an information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations and planning levels of an organization and help people make decisions about problems that may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance—i.e., unstructured and semi-structured decision problems. Decision support systems can be either fully computerized or human-powered, or a combination of both.

Personal knowledge management (PKM) is a process of collecting information that a person uses to gather, classify, store, search, retrieve and share knowledge in their daily activities and the way in which these processes support work activities. It is a response to the idea that knowledge workers need to be responsible for their own growth and learning. It is a bottom-up approach to knowledge management (KM).

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a business function concerned with the structures and behaviours of a business, especially business roles and processes that create and use business data. The international definition according to the Federation of Enterprise Architecture Professional Organizations is "a well-defined practice for conducting enterprise analysis, design, planning, and implementation, using a comprehensive approach at all times, for the successful development and execution of strategy. Enterprise architecture applies architecture principles and practices to guide organizations through the business, information, process, and technology changes necessary to execute their strategies. These practices utilize the various aspects of an enterprise to identify, motivate, and achieve these changes."

A technology roadmap is a flexible planning schedule to support strategic and long-range planning, by matching short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions. It is a plan that applies to a new product or process and may include using technology forecasting or technology scouting to identify suitable emerging technologies. It is a known technique to help manage the fuzzy front-end of innovation. It is also expected that roadmapping techniques may help companies to survive in turbulent environments and help them to plan in a more holistic way to include non-financial goals and drive towards a more sustainable development. Here roadmaps can be combined with other corporate foresight methods to facilitate systemic change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Defense Architecture Framework</span> Enterprise architecture framework

The Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) is an architecture framework for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) that provides visualization infrastructure for specific stakeholders concerns through viewpoints organized by various views. These views are artifacts for visualizing, understanding, and assimilating the broad scope and complexities of an architecture description through tabular, structural, behavioral, ontological, pictorial, temporal, graphical, probabilistic, or alternative conceptual means. The current release is DoDAF 2.02.

Public value describes the value that an organization or activity contributes to society. The term was originally coined by Harvard professor Mark H. Moore who saw it as the equivalent of shareholder value in public management. Public value is supposed to provide managers with a notion of how entrepreneurial activity can contribute to the common good. Nowadays, public value is no longer limited to the public sector, but is used by all types of organization, including non-governmental organizations and private sector firms. Therefore, the public value researcher Timo Meynhardt from the University of St. Gallen and HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management uses the term to generally raise the question about organizations' contribution to the common good. He believes that current management concepts, such as shareholder value, stakeholder value, customer value, sustainability or corporate social responsibility, should legitimize themselves in regard to their impact on the common good. In his (social-)psychological-based concept, public value emerges for individuals from the experiences made in social structures and relationships. Hence, it can be seen as a prerequisite and a resource for successful living.

Strategic thinking is a mental or thinking process applied by an individual in the context of achieving a goal or set of goals. As a cognitive activity, it produces thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Performance measurement</span> Process of collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding performance

Performance measurement is the process of collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group, organization, system or component.

Governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) is the term covering an organization's approach across these three practices: governance, risk management, and compliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enterprise modelling</span>

Enterprise modelling is the abstract representation, description and definition of the structure, processes, information and resources of an identifiable business, government body, or other large organization.

Capability management is a high-level management function, with particular application in the context of defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sales and operations planning</span> Integrated business management process

Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is an integrated business management process through which the executive/leadership team continually achieves focus, alignment, and synchronization among all organization functions. The S&OP process includes an updated forecast that leads to a sales plan, production plan, inventory plan, customer lead time (backlog) plan, new product development plan, strategic initiative plan, and resulting financial plan. Plan frequency and planning horizon depend on the specifics of the context. Short product life cycles and high demand volatility require a tighter S&OP than steadily consumed products. Done well, the S&OP process also enables effective supply chain management.

Virtual design and construction (VDC) is the management of integrated multi-disciplinary performance models of design–construction projects, including the product (facilities), work processes, and organization of the design – construction – operation team to support explicit and public business objectives. This is usually achieved creating a digital twin of the project, in where to manage the information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainability accounting</span> A term of financial accounting

Sustainability accounting originated in the 1970s and is considered a subcategory of financial accounting that focuses on the disclosure of non-financial information about a firm's performance to external stakeholders, such as capital holders, creditors, and other authorities. Sustainability accounting represents the activities that have a direct impact on society, environment, and economic performance of an organisation. Sustainability accounting in managerial accounting contrasts with financial accounting in that managerial accounting is used for internal decision making and the creation of new policies that will have an effect on the organisation's performance at economic, ecological, and social level. Sustainability accounting is often used to generate value creation within an organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treasury Enterprise Architecture Framework</span>

Treasury Enterprise Architecture Framework (TEAF) was an enterprise architecture framework for treasury, based on the Zachman Framework. It was developed by the US Department of the Treasury and published in July 2000. May 2012 this framework has been subsumed by evolving Federal Enterprise Architecture Policy as documented in "The Common Approach to Federal Enterprise Architecture".

Corporate foresight has been conceptualised by strategic foresight practitioners and academics working and/or studying corporations as a set of practices, a set of capabilities and an ability of a firm. It enables firms to detect discontinuous change early, interpret its consequences for the firm, and inform future courses of action to ensure the long-term survival and success of the company.

Forest informatics is the combined science of forestry and informatics, with a special emphasis on collection, management, and processing of data, information and knowledge, and the incorporation of informatic concepts and theories specific to enrich forest management and forest science; it has a similar relationship to library science and information science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Problem structuring methods</span>

Problem structuring methods (PSMs) are a group of techniques used to model or to map the nature or structure of a situation or state of affairs that some people want to change. PSMs are usually used by a group of people in collaboration to create a consensus about, or at least to facilitate negotiations about, what needs to change. Some widely adopted PSMs include

Values-based innovation is a theoretical concept and managerial approach that “understands and applies individual, organisational, societal, and global values, and corresponding normative orientations as a basis for innovation”. It demonstrates the potential of values to integrate diverse stakeholders into innovation processes, to direct collaborative efforts, and to generate innovations with a positive impact on societal challenges. It elaborates upon the interrelations between innovation management, an established management practice and field of research, and values-based management, which is generally dealt with in business ethics and focuses on the ethical concerns related to corporate management.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Breuer, Henning; Lüdeke-Freund, Florian (2017), "Values-based innovation", Values-Based Innovation Management, Macmillan Education UK, pp. 54–85, doi:10.1057/978-1-137-51662-6_3 (inactive 2024-05-03), ISBN   9781137516619, archived from the original on 2020-07-22, retrieved 2019-02-07{{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of May 2024 (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bleicher, Knut (October 1994). "Integrative management in a time of transformation". Long Range Planning. 27 (5): 136–144. doi:10.1016/0024-6301(94)90234-8. ISSN   0024-6301.
  3. ↑ Bleicher, Knut (1993), "Dynamisch-integriertes Management", Strukturwandel in Management und Organisation, Gabler Verlag, pp. 29–53, doi:10.1007/978-3-322-87171-8_2, ISBN   9783322871725
  4. ↑ Knut., Bleicher (1994). Normatives Management : Politik, Verfassung und Philosophie des Unternehmens. Frankfurt/Main: Campus. ISBN   3593350696. OCLC   32892008.
  5. ↑ Knut., Bleicher (2005). Management im Wandel. Künzelsau: Swiridoff. ISBN   3899290526. OCLC   181442248.
  6. ↑ Ulrich, H.; Krieg, W. (1974). St. Galler Management-Modell (3rd ed.). Bern: Haupt.
  7. ↑ Buła, P.; Fudaliński, J.; Gorzelany-Dziadkowiec, M. (2013). "The Concept of Integrated Management within small and medium-sized enterprises sectors". Management Science in Transition Period in South Africa and Poland: 313–343.
  8. ↑ Gorzelany-Dziadkowiec, M. (2013). "Integrated management in small enterprises" (PDF). Review of General Management. 17: 19–48.
  9. ↑ J., Belak; Duh, M. (September 2004). "MER model of integral management: concept and basic features" (PDF). In Proceedings of Budapest Tech International Jubilee Conference on Science in Engineering, Economics and Education. 4: 257–271.
  10. ↑ Rüegg-Stürm, Johannes (2005). The New St. Gallen Management Model (PDF). doi:10.1057/9780230505162. ISBN   978-1-349-51852-4.
  11. ↑ Rüegg-Stürm, J. & Grand, S. (2014) Das St. Galler Management-Modell. 4. Generation – Einführung [Introduction to the fourth generation St. Gallen Management Model]. Bern: Haupt.
  12. ↑ Alsan, Alper; Atilla Oner, M. (April 2003). "An integrated view of foresight: integrated foresight management model". Foresight. 5 (2): 33–45. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.509.3840 . doi:10.1108/14636680310476258. ISSN   1463-6689.
  13. ↑ Saritas, Ozcan; Oner, M.Atilla (January 2004). "Systemic analysis of UK foresight results" (PDF). Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 71 (1–2): 27–65. doi:10.1016/s0040-1625(03)00067-2. ISSN   0040-1625.[ dead link ]
  14. ↑ Schwaninger, Markus (March 2001). "Intelligent organizations: an integrative framework" (PDF). Systems Research and Behavioral Science. 18 (2): 137–158. doi:10.1002/sres.408. ISSN   1092-7026.
  15. ↑ Doleski, Oliver D. (2015), "Conceptual Framework and Understanding Business Models", Integrated Business Model, essentials, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, pp. 3–6, doi:10.1007/978-3-658-09698-4_2, ISBN   9783658096977
  16. ↑ Beer, Stafford (January 1984). "The Viable System Model: Its Provenance, Development, Methodology and Pathology". Journal of the Operational Research Society. 35 (1): 7–25. doi: 10.1057/jors.1984.2 . ISSN   0160-5682. S2CID   2830103.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.