Command-and-control management is categorised by systems thinkers as the dominant method of management in the Western world. Key influences are said to include Alfred P. Sloan,

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

, James McKinsey of the eponymous accounting firm, and

Frederick Winslow Taylor Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 – March 21, 1915) was an American mechanical engineer. He was widely known for his methods to improve industrial efficiency. He was one of the first management consulting, management consultants. In 190 ...

. A well-known modern exponent is Michael Barber, himself a partner in McKinsey & Company. It is characterised by some systems thinkers according to the following attributes: Perspective: Top-down and hierarchical
Design: Organisations divided into (ostensibly) independent functional silos. A practice propagated by Alfred Sloan and James McKinsey
Decision-making: Separated from work. A separation spearheaded by Frederick Winslow Taylor
Measures: Arbitrary targets analysed by binary comparison
Ethos: Control of staff
Change: Plans delivered by PRINCE2 methodology
Motivation: Control-by-seduction (carrot) and control-by-fear (stick)
Attitude to suppliers and customers: Contractual. Key critics of the command-and-control management ethos and techniques include members of the systems-thinking community and associated thinkers, including

W. Edwards Deming William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American business theorist, composer, economist, industrial engineer, management consultant, statistician, and writer. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later ...

John Seddon John Seddon is a United Kingdom, British occupational psychologist and author specializing in organizational change within the service industry. He is the founder and managing director of Vanguard, a Consulting firm, consultancy firm establishe ...

Kōnosuke Matsushita was a Japanese industrialist who founded Panasonic Corporation, Panasonic, the largest Japanese consumer electronics company. Matsushita is referred to as the "God of Management" in Japan. Childhood Kōnosuke Matsushita was born on 27 Novemb ...

Taiichi Ohno was a Japanese people, Japanese industrial engineering, industrial engineer and businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, which inspired Lean Manufacturing in the U.S. He devised the Muda (Japanese term)#Toyo ...

, Russell L. Ackoff,

Donella Meadows Donella Hager "Dana" Meadows (March 13, 1941 – February 20, 2001) was an American environmental scientist, educator, and writer. She is best known as lead author of the books '' The Limits to Growth'' and '' Thinking In Systems: A Primer''. ...

, Alfie Kohn, and the outspoken Vanguard Method practitioner John Little. In the 21st century John Seddon in particular has been deeply critical of successive UK governments' propagation of command-and-control thinking in the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

, local authorities, and other public services. Organisations credited with having moved away from the command-and-control paradigm to a systems-thinking philosophy include Harley Davidson and

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

, in addition to many Japanese companies, such as

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

, and

Panasonic is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...

References

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See also

References