Formula management: in search of magic solutions.

Abstract

Formula management is the unjustified reliance on a set of rules or prescribed behaviors--a management formula, fad, or "flavor-of-the-month"--as the answer to an organization's needs. It is the manifestation of a tendency to believe that the essence of management can be proceduralized, that the art of management can be replaced with an expanding science of management. This tendency has been repeatedly demonstrated in the application of concepts such as management by objectives (MBO) and the variants of total quality management (TQM). All of management's "formulas" have their place; however, none of them provide all of management's needed answers. To view any of the specifically delineated "kinds of management"--all of which are highly susceptible to misapplication and resistance to change both blatant and subtle--as a cure-all is fully as inappropriate as denying their value out of hand. Formula or not, organizational results will continue to depend on the practice of the art, as well as the science, of management.