1. If you were Claude Greenwood, how would you respond to Fred Denny's statement?

2. What would you suggest to be done to make management more scientific?

CLaas KIA Help Content and Learning as a Service luction to Management and Evolution of Management 1.2 Evolution of Management Thought ght Page 21 of Case Study "The trouble with management as a field of study and practice", Fred Denny, a space physicist, said to his laboratory head, Claude Greenwood, "is that it has no scientific base". I feel I know what I am doing when I design a guidance system for a missile because I have the space, propulsion, and other sciences available to tell me what to do. But, when you ask me I am doing a good job as a supervisor of my engineering and technical team, there is nothing, no science of management, to guide me. In my reading of the books on management, I get the idea that managers must operate on a closed-system basis, that the best things managers can do are to be friendly, consult with their subordinates on every little thing, and develop strict rules and procedures so that no subordinate can make a mistake. As I think about it, Claude, I cannot see much science in management. And I wonder what good management books, articles, and management development courses are ever going to do any of us. Do we have to wait for centuries when a science of management, as an exact science like physics, is developed?" Claude Greenwood, having been exposed to a number of management development seminars that had emphasized the usefulness and importance of management knowledge, was taken aback by Fred's outburst. But he was impressed that what his subordinate has said did make a lot of sense. He was, however, at a loss as to how to respond to Fred. Discussion Questions 1. If you were Claude Greenwood, how would you respond to Fred Denny's statement? 2. What would you suggest to be done to make management more scientific? COURSE MENU RESOURCES E-LINK Activate Windows