Executive or Management Development
Development refers to those learning opportunities designed to help employees grow. Development is not primarily skills-oriented. Instead, it provides general knowledge and attitudes which will be helpful to employees in higher positions. Efforts towards development often depend on personal drive and ambition. Development activities, such as those supplied by management development programmes, are generally voluntary.
Executive or Management Development consists of all activities by which executives earn to improve their behavior and performance. It is designed to improve the effectiveness of managers in their present jobs and to prepare them for higher jobs in future.
Definitions
According to Flippo
Management development includes the process by which managers and executive acquire not only skills and competency in their present jobs but also capabilities for future managerial tasks of increasing difficulty and scope.
According to According to Chhabra, Ahuja and Jain
Management development is the process by which managers acquire not only skills and competencies in their present jobs but also capabilities for future managerial tasks of increasing difficulty and scope.
Features/Characteristics/Nature
i. Executive development is a planned and organised process of learning rather than a haphazard or trial and error approach.
ii. It is an ongoing or never ending exercise rather than a ‘oneshot’ affair. It continues throughout an executive’s entire professional career because there is no end to learning.
iii. Executive development is a long term process as managerial skills cannot be developed overnight.
iv. Executive development is guided self-development. An organization can provide opportunities for development of its present and potential managers. But image for learning has to come from the executive himself.
v. Executive development aims at preparing managers for better performance and helping them to realize their full potential.
Objectives
1. To improve the performance of managers at all levels in their present jobs.
2. To sustain good performance of managers throughout their careers by exploiting their full potential i.e. to prepare managers for higher jobs in future.
3. To increase the overall knowledge and conceptual and decision making skills of executives.
4. To ensure adequate reserve of capable well trained managers for future needs.
5. To replace elderly executives who have risen from the ranks by highly competent and academically qualified professionals.
6. To provide opportunities to executives to fulfill their career aspirations.
Principles
ix. Top management should accept responsibility for executive development. A senior executive should be made incharge of initiating and implementing the company’s executive development programmes.
x. Every manager must accept direct responsibility for developing the executives under his control on the job.
xi. Executive development programmes must be geared to the needs of the company and the individual.
xii. Executive development begins with the selection of the right man for executive positions. Therefore, really good persons should be fed into executive development programmes at eh entry levels.
xiii. A definite strategy spelling out the objectives, coverage and type of executive development programmes should be formulated.
xiv. A realistic time schedule for the development of executive personnel should be prepared keeping in view the present and future needs of the organization.
xv. In view of knowledge explosion and the consequent threat of executive obsolescence, development programmes should be available for every executive.
xvi. An organizational climate, conducive to executive development should be creates. In such climate managers at all level encourage and guide the development of subordinate executives. Opportunities are provided to test and experiment with new concepts and practices. A feeling of self confidence, genuine faith in development and willingness to accept change are essential elements of proper organizational climate.
xvii. Learner’s participation is essential for development and spoon-feeding seldom brings significant or long-lasting growth.
xviii. Feedback should be made available to the learner so that he can take steps to improve himself. There is always opportunity for improvement due to gap between actual performance and capacity.
Importance of Executive Development
Executive development is necessary for the following reasons:
1. The size and complexity of organization, both business and non-business are increasing. Managers need to be developed to handle the problem s of giant and complex organisations in the face of increasing competition.
2. The rapid rate of technological and social change in society requires training of managers so that they are able to cope with these changes. Automation, cut throat competition. Growth of new markets, enlarged labour participation in management, growing public and government interest in business activities are the major problems that have to be handled.
3. Business and industrial leaders are increasingly recognizing their social and public responsibilities. They require a much broader outlook to discharge these new responsibilities. Executive development is required to broader the outlook of managers.
4. Labour management relations are becoming increasingly complex. Executives require new and better skills in union negotiations, collective bargaining grievance redressal etc. workers are better educated and more aware. More competent managers are needed tomanage the modern workforce.
5. There is a noticeable shift form owner-manager to professionally managed enterprises, even in family business houses. Executive development programmes are required to train and develop professional managers.
6. Executives need education and training to understand and adjust to changes in socico-economic forces. Changes in public policy, concepts of social justice, industrial democracy, ecology ( pollution) ekistics ( human settlements), ergonomics ( working environment), cultural anthropology ( problems of fitting machines to men) are the main socio-economic changes. Without management development programmes, executives may become obsolete. Executive personnel will not be able to survive in future unless they keep pace with modern management education, research, principles and practices.
7. Management of public utilities, state enterprises and civic bodies is being professionalized in order to improve operational efficiency. Similarly, agriculture, rural development and public administration require professional executives.
No organization can be successful in the long run without a planned approach to the development of its managerial persons. In the words of Peter Drucker, “an institution that cannot produce its own managers will die. From an overall point of view, the ability of an institution to produce managers is more important than its ability to produce goods efficiently and cheaply.”
