An Introduction to Management Studies. Thomas Bieger

      Figure 1-18: Forms of Corporate Ties

      Source: based on Thommen et al. (2017, p. 35)

      Chapter 1: Key Points

      – [49] Integrative management is necessary to deal with complex management tasks.

      – Classical management theory assumes that business studies should provide insights that support management and managers.

      – The trend toward more scientific approaches in business studies led to a differentiation into functional subdisciplines (e.g., human resources and marketing), and to specialization according to management functions.

      – Efforts to overcome the resulting “silos” brought forth various approaches, including systems-oriented management concepts.

      – A systems approach helps to understand management as the reflective design of value creation systems in organizations, which in turn can be understood as socio-technical systems providing services to third parties.

      – In its ongoing development, the St. Gallen Management Model (SGMM) provides a mental map, i.e., a model, for classifying and dealing with management tasks.

      – Thinking in terms of systems makes it easier to grasp the developmental dynamics of organization-environment interactions.

      – Thinking in terms of processes makes it easier to understand complex operations such as projects or service provision.

      – Different types of organizations present different management challenges.