Edward Tsang 2009.07.31
I use university activities to highlight the risk of managing for management's sake, and forgetting the core activities of an organization.
Disclaimer: This is a general analysis; it is not based on any universities that I am familiar with.
Core activities
Teaching and research are the main functions of a university. Time spent on lecture preparation, delivery, meeting students and providing them with feedback contribute to teaching. Time spent on reading, thinking, writing and publishing articles, exchanging ideas with other researchers contribute to research.Supporting activities
There are necessary supporting activities in a university, such as accounting, staffing, maintenance, computer services and fund raising. All the above activities need coordination. This is where management comes in. The management needs information to monitor all the above activities. So collecting information is an activity that supports activities that support the core activities, namely teaching and research.Supporting activities that support activities that support core activities
"Management is an art. It is also a science." I was taught. However, if badly done, it can also be a pain. It can be very damaging to productivity. For example, a management could introduce a lot of compulsory activities that support activities that support activities that support core activities. If badly managed, these supporting activites may not support the core activities. This happens even when all parties have the best intention. It happens more when power corrupts. For example read:[End]
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