Style of Management and Leadership: a Report from Manfred Davidmann

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Style of Management and Leadership: a Report from Manfred Davidmann

21st January, 2007

Participation, meaning by this "participation in decision-making," was first coined, and defined, by Manfred Davidmann when he published his analysis and recommendations about the style of management, in 1981. He defined, described and illustrated his scale of "style of management and government" from "fully participative" at one end of the scale, to "fully authoritarian" at the other end.

Manfred Davidmann's concept of participative government and management, of participation in decision-making, has become a household word, in daily use when referring to government and management styles, worldwide. His concepts are applied all the way from village government and community projects to national policies and elections, and are applied by cooperatives, companies and global corporations alike.

What Manfred Davidmann has done in his work on the general management of enterprises and communities is to lay the foundation for, and develop, what truly can be called "management science."

A management science which is objective sees things as they are. Manfred Davidmann vividly asks us "to see things as they are" and shows us how to do this. What he puts before us enables us to move into whatever direction we wish to take. But, as he used to say in his lectures, "at least we will be fully aware of the consequences of what we are doing."

Clearly defined and described in this report is the whole scale of style of management and organizing, from fully authoritarian to fully participative. It applies to community organizations, commercial enterprises, political parties, and whole countries. The social assumptions underlying each of the styles are given, as are problems they create, the symptoms by which they can be recognized, and the ways people work together or against each other within them.

There are clear definitions of authority and of responsibility, and how they are applied in companies under different styles of management. Also discussed are the extent to which authority is balanced between top and bottom, participation in decision-making and the corresponding style of management.

Style of management is shown to depend on the size of the enterprise and related to company effectiveness and results. The different problems faced by small and large companies are outlined as well as how to overcome problems of size, how to improve the effectiveness of management, and the need for teamwork.

Smaller companies are more effective than larger ones, and the effectiveness of larger companies can be increased by about 25 percent by training. An illustration shows how style of management was improved by appropriate management training in a large organization.

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