Integrated management

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Integrated Management is a process for developing a business model that encompasses not only the financial priorities of an enterprise but includes measurements for an enterprise's environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. The applications of Integrated Management are limitless, as any organization – public, private and non-profit alike – can leverage the process of integrating ESG data into their annual reports, functional roles and decision, and though this integration find new opportunities for improvement, expansion and value creation. [1]

Contents

Definitions

There are many definitions for integrated management that you'll find below, but the common theme is a holistic, cross-functional management approach that brings to light the connectivity between humans, the economy and the environment. There is a growing trend towards the integrated approach that is being put into practice in organizations around the world. This trend is also growing in business schools and management training programs as a way to ensure that the next generation of managers is equipped to capitalize on the opportunities that are revealed through an integrated approach. This approach promotes creative thinking in students and provides them with the opportunity to learn how to leverage ESG data to optimize performance in any industry.

Sustainability is an essential benchmark for organizational decision-making and can be integrated into all functional areas of an organization, applied to traditional decision-making tools and levered as new a new assessment tool for decision-making. An Integrated Enterprise (IntEnt) is one that incorporates decision-making tools such as Return on Integration (ROInt), Integrated Rate of Return (IntRR) and Integrated Future Value (IntFV) into the organizational decision-making process. [2]

Integrated management definitions

Integrated management is a socially defined concept that is interpreted and understood in a variety of ways. It is however widely accepted as recognizing “nonlinear processes and connectivity between problems” [3] in a managerial context. Integrated management has been defined as encompassing the “effective direction of every aspect of an organization so that the needs and expectations of all stakeholders are equitably satisfied by the best use of all resources”. [4] Characteristics of integrated management are consensus-based decision-making, search for optimal efficiency and the co-existence of both uniformity and diversity [5] within systems. This type of management is holistic and cross-disciplinary in its approach to balancing potential gains and losses.

“Integrated management faces the tensions of different perspectives on value to formulate and implement strategies that transcend rather than accept trade-offs. It implies ensuring coherence among the various business functions as well as harmony between the organization, society, and the natural environment.” [6]

“Integrated management not only combines the efforts of individuals and groups in ways that achieve unity, but also unifies these efforts into a larger coherent whole.” [7]

Integrated Management “is the process of including Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance in close coordination between business processes, functions, groups, organizations, and systems,” [8] which leads to value creation that cannot be attained through a traditional business model.

Integrated management in organizations

Management can be an individual, as well as a collective activity, and is generally viewed as an organizational phenomenon. [7] Integrated management promotes equilibrium between different interconnected spheres: the organization, society and the environment. [7]

Integrated management uses new and existing managerial concepts and tools, while putting emphasis on the systemic processes, stakeholder culture, real-world leadership and emotional intelligence [5] at play within an organization. In contemporary organizations, this approach to management is valued as a strategy to reconciling complex cross-functional challenges . Integrated practices, as opposed to unilateral, specialized practices, are proven to foster open-mindedness and flexibility in individuals and communities. Integrated management promotes a flattening of traditional organizational silos while encouraging a context-sensitive approach to understanding individuals, systems and organizations.

An enterprise that prioritizes and acts upon the principles of Integrated Management can be referred to as an Integrated Enterprise (IntEnt). Leaders in an Integrated Enterprise (IntEnt), “operationalize dynamic goals, e.g., the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to understand the systems in which they operate; define success based on sustainability principles; guide decision-making with strategic valuation of environmental and social guidelines; adhere to a timeline of actions that moves the enterprise toward a sustainable society; and supporting processes for planning with decision analysis tools and management techniques to monitor and guide change management.” [8]

Integrated management in education

The global challenges people face as a society and as managers are interrelated. Social, economic and environmental issues do not exist in a vacuum, nor are they affixed to one discipline or sector. As societies evolve and become more complex, organizations and management education will need to adapt and offer new modes of learning and managerial knowledge. Hence, the importance of integrated management education – one that tackles issues from a holistic, interdisciplinary perspective – in contemporary institutions cannot be underestimated. [6]

“Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, studies criticized the lack of functionally integrated curricula in higher education, particularly in business and management programs. During the same period, it became increasingly clear that business activity had become dangerously disembedded from the social and ecological systems on which it depend, and linked causally to a series of major societal problems – from global climate change and widespread ecological degradation to childhood obesity and financial instability, among others. As a result, whether one considers the relations between different functional specialties inside an organization or the relations between the organization and different external stakeholders, the requirement for managers who can articulate and reconcile issues from multiple perspectives continues to grow.” [6]

Management is a social phenomenon “where art, science, and craft meet”. [9] Keeping this in mind, management education is expected to reflect human creativity, complexity and multidimensionality. Integrated management in education differs from conventional functional management education, as it is characterized by the incorporation of: teamwork and team-building exercises; [10] real-time processes (such as simulations and role-playing); [11] team-teaching and guest speakers; [12] multidisciplinary case studies; [13] service learning projects; [14] fieldwork and experiential learning; [15] as well as international and online collaborations. [16]

Furthermore, according to research from the Odette School of Business, a holistic, integrated approach to management theory improves business students’ critical thinking and reduces their materialistic and individualistic tendencies. [17]

Integrated Management in the MBA Curriculum

As the impacts of environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges are a growing concern for organizations of all sizes, an integrated approach to management is becoming increasingly important for meeting the traditional economic goals of a business while minimizing the negative impacts that the business operations have on society and the environment. Thus, organizations are seeking new talent that is well versed in the benefits of integrated management, long-term planning and change management. Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, USA offers an 11-month MBA Sustainable Business Practices that is guided by the principles of Integrated Management and integrates sustainability considerations into all required courses. MBA Sustainable Business Practices students are not simply learning how to integrate sustainability to minimize the negative impacts of business operations, they are learning how to capitalize on the opportunities for value creation that are made evident by taking an integrated management approach.

MBA Sustainable Business Practices students are assigned to teams throughout each of the three semesters and work on consulting engagements with corporate, public and non-profit partners. To date, Duquesne MBA Sustainable Business Practices students have worked on over 200 projects with clients over the last 8 years, and no two of these projects have been the same. Students leverage the process of integrated management to provide evidence-based solutions founded in the principles of strategic sustainable development and gain experience in finding and presenting the business case for sustainability. This model is one aspect of what has made Duquesne University's MBA Sustainable Business Practices a consistently top ranked MBA program by the Aspen Institute and Corporate Knights.

Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management

The Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management (MDIIM) was established in 2008 by a donation from Marcel Desautels, [18] a Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist. The MDIIM is one of the eight on-campus research centers housed in the Desautels Faculty of Management which is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University. The faculty offers a range of undergraduate and graduate-level business programs including the Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Administration, and Doctor of Philosophy in management degrees.

The MDIIM aims to develop an integrated approach to management education – one that breaks down disciplinary barriers, embraces multiple perspectives, and encourages holistic, context-sensitive thinking about organizations. The MDIIM focuses on five thematic priorities. Two derive from activities which constitute integrated management: “Innovation” and “Robust Metrics and Risk Management.” The other three derive from values too often juxtaposed and assumed to be in conflict with economic value: “Health”, “Social Well-Being”, and “Sustainability”.

“The MDIIM has several goals, which are to:

Reflecting upon the similarities and differences between uses of the adjectives ‘integrated’ and ‘integrative’ to describe various management phenomena is useful when thinking about integration. At the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking [19] defines integrative thinking as the “ability to constructively face the tensions of opposing models, and instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generating a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new model that contains elements of both models, but is superior to each.”

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Sroufe, Robert (July 2017). "Integration and Organizational Change Towards Sustainability". Journal of Cleaner Production. 162: 315–329.
  2. ↑ Sroufe, Robert (2018). Integrated Management: How Sustainability Creates Value for Any Business. United Kingdom: Emerald Publishing Limited.
  3. ↑ Livia Bizikova, Darren Swanson and Dimple Roy (2011:3) “Evaluation of Integrated Management Initiatives”, International Institute for Sustainable Development
  4. ↑ Dalling (2007:3) “Integrated Management Definition”, Chartered Quality Institute Integrated Management Special Interest Group, Issue 2.1
  5. 1 2 Dalling (2007) “Integrated Management Definition”, Chartered Quality Institute Integrated Management Special Interest Group, Issue 2.1
  6. 1 2 3 4 "About the Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management (MDIIM)". Desautels Faculty of Management.
  7. 1 2 3 https://www.mcgill.ca/desautels/sites/mcgill.ca.desautels/files/articulating_int_mgmt.pdf
  8. 1 2 Sroufe, Robert (2018). Integrated Management: How Sustainability Creates Value for Any Business. United Kingdom: Emerald Publishing Limited. p. 4. ISBN   978-1-78714-562-7.
  9. ↑ Henry Mintzberg (2005) Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development
  10. ↑ David Closs and Theodore Stank (1999) “A Cross-Functional Curriculum for Supply Chain Education at Michigan State University”, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol.20, No.1; Navarro (2008): Peter Navarro (2008) “The MBA Core Curricula of Top-Ranked U.S. Business Schools: A Study in Failure?”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, pp. 108-123; Barth Strempek, Steward W. Husted and Peter Gray (2010) “Integrated Business Core Curricula (Undergraduate): What Have We Learned Over Twenty Years?” Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, Vol.14, Special Issue; Noel D. Campbell, Kirk C. Heriot and R. Zachary Finney (2006) “In Defense of Silos: An Argument Against The Integrative Undergraduate Business Curriculum”, Journal of Management Education; R de Villier (2010) “The incorporation of soft skills into accounting curricula: preparing accounting graduates for their unpredictable futures”, AUT University of Auckland, Meditari Accountancy Research Vol. 18, no.2, pp. 1-22
  11. ↑ David Closs and Theodore Stank (1999) “A Cross-Functional Curriculum for Supply Chain Education at Michigan State University”, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol.20, No.1; John Stephen, Diane H. Parent and Randy C. Brown (2002) “Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Balancing Functional and Integrative Knowledge Using Large-Scale Simulations in Capstone Business Strategy Classes”, Journal of Management Education, pp.166-186; Ariff Kachra and Karen Schnietz (2007) “The Capstone Strategy Course: What Might Real Integration Look Like?” Journal of Management Education, 32:476; Peter Navarro (2008) “The MBA Core Curricula of Top-Ranked U.S. Business Schools: A Study in Failure?”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, pp. 108-123.
  12. ↑ Diane Hamilton, Dan McFarland and Dilip Mirchandani (2000) “A Decision Model for Integration across the Business Curriculum in the 21st Century”, Journal of Management Education, 24:102; Ariff Kachra and Karen Schnietz (2007) “The Capstone Strategy Course: What Might Real Integration Look Like?” Journal of Management Education, 32:476; Virginia W. Frings, Joseph M. Prinzinger and Nancy W. Schneider (2000) “Linking Instruction: Principles of Management Accounting and Principles of Microeconomics”, University of Richmond and Lynchburg College; John W. Weber (2011) “Enhancing business education through integrated curriculum delivery”, Journal of Management Development, V.30, No.6
  13. ↑ Diane Hamilton, Dan McFarland and Dilip Mirchandani (2000) “A Decision Model for Integration across the Business Curriculum in the 21st Century”, Journal of Management Education, 24:102; Ariff Kachra and Karen Schnietz (2007) “The Capstone Strategy Course: What Might Real Integration Look Like?” Journal of Management Education, 32:476; Barth Strempek, Steward W. Husted and Peter Gray (2010) “Integrated Business Core Curricula (Undergraduate): What Have We Learned Over Twenty Years?” Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, Vol.14, Special Issue; John W. Weber (2011) “Enhancing business education through integrated curriculum delivery”, Journal of Management Development, Vol.30, No.6
  14. ↑ Diane Hamilton, Dan McFarland and Dilip Mirchandani (2000) “A Decision Model for Integration across the Business Curriculum in the 21st Century”, Journal of Management Education, 24:102; R de Villier (2010) “The incorporation of soft skills into accounting curricula: preparing accounting graduates for their unpredictable futures”, AUT University of Auckland, Meditari Accountancy Research Vol. 18, no.2, pp. 1-22; John W. Weber (2011) “Enhancing business education through integrated curriculum delivery”, Journal of Management Development, Vol.30, No.6; Larry K. Michaelsen, John Hobbs and Robin Stead “Experientially integrating the Undergraduate Curriculum”, University of Oklahoma
  15. ↑ “Field of dreams: Harvard Business School reinvents its MBA course”, The Economist, Business Education (December 3rd, 2011); Jonathan Gosling and Henry Mintzberg (2004) “The Education of Practicing Managers”, MIT Sloan Management Review, pp. 19-22
  16. ↑ Peter Navarro (2008) “The MBA Core Curricula of Top-Ranked U.S. Business Schools: A Study in Failure?”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, pp. 108-123; ; R de Villier (2010) “The incorporation of soft skills into accounting curricula: preparing accounting graduates for their unpredictable futures”, AUT University of Auckland, Meditari Accountancy Research Vol. 18, no.2, pp. 1-22
  17. ↑ "Business students less materialistic with 'multi-stream' teaching approach".
  18. ↑ https://www.mcgill.ca/desautels/about/landmarkgift
  19. ↑ Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking
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