Watch the videos* The Management of Human Assets
Watch the videos* The Management of Human Assets
Rensis Likert has conducted extensive research on a non-bureaucratic organization design referred to as System 4 (participative-democratic). System 4 is a type of organization stressing open, supportive leadership and group methods for decision making and goal setting. The opposite of System 4 is System 1 (exploitive-authoritative). It is a form of organization in which management makes most of the decisions, passes them down the line, and very little mutual trust exists between employees and managers.
The System 2 (benevolent-authoritative) and System 3 (consultative) organizations are less extreme on all the variables mentioned in the descriptions of System1 and System 4.
In order to determine whether or not an organization is System 4, Likert developed methods which enable members of an organization to rate it in terms of several variables he has found to be important. These variable include leadership styles that are characteristic of the company, the freedom (or lack of it) which subordinates feel about communicating with their superiors, and the degree of confidence and trust which subordinates feel that their superiors have in them. Organizations are rated numerically on a four-point scale that expresses the prevailing management system. This scale runs from System 1 - an arbitrary, coercive, highly authoritarian management style - through System 4 - which is based on teamwork, mutual confidence and trust, and a genuine respect for the individuals who comprise the organization. Systems 2 and 3 are intermediate stages.
System 4 builds steadily toward a flexible, responsible team that can achieve and maintain high profitability. Management and employees interact in a friendly environment characterized by mutual confidence and trust. In emergencies, System 4 can cut costs and improve productivity readily by cooperative concerted effort.
System 4 relies on three basic principles:
1. Apply fully the "principle of supportive relationships," which is basically a matter of dealing with people in ways that maintain or enhance their feelings of self-worth in terms of their needs, desires and values.
2. Build an organization of tightly knit, highly motivated work groups committed to achieving the objectives of the organization. These groups are linked together to form the overall organization by persons who hold overlapping memberships in two groups. The manager is a link between his or her unit and the next level in the hierarchy. The manager has an intragroup function as the group's leader while simultaneously holding membership in a management group. An intergroup function is to coordinate the efforts of the two groups, mediating between the demands of each, reducing conflict by improving communication. Likert refers to the coordinative activity as the linking pin function.
3. Set high goals for efficiency and productivity (for management and all employees) through a system of management that is geared to satisfy real human needs. Expect the goals to be met.
*Videos adapted (with permission) from Motivation and Productivity, A Gellerman Series, BNA Communications, Inc.
