Reflecting upon Management Systems: Content analysis and synthesis

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss/reflect on son well-known quality, strategy and excellence frameworks or models in order to understand the development of the management systems from the classical theory to now. In addition we try to understand the problems or limitation which such kind of models still may have, and in that sense, we proposed a possible macro elements and characteristics of an integral Management System. The studies examine some leading quality, strategy, excellence frameworks or models and discuss/identify their strengths as well as weakness. The chosen models and frameworks are Taylor’s principles (1911), Fayol’s operations (1914), System theory-frameworks (1969), Peter’s and Waterman’s eight excellence attributes (1982), the EFQM European Excellence model (1992), list of best practices (1998), the ISO 9000 norms (2000), Toyota’s 4P model, and Kaplan and Norton’s Management System (2008). Generally, quality, strategy and excellence models and frameworks are inspired by the classical management theory and/or Japanese practices and they recognize the importance to manage any organization using a Management System, which can be integrated by a hard and soft dimensions. Any dimension it is integrated by some elements and some characteristics. Therefore, as a result we attempt to make a first possible description of an integral Management System. On the other hand, our findings indicate that there are tendencies to interpret these models from positivistic view and ignore the soft dimension of the Management System (human aspect), when organization try to implement the model in their struggle to achieve quality and/or excellence, and when they try to translate the strategy in an effective process operation. An integral and holistic Management System can reduce these negative tendencies. The paper aspires to be of interest as much to researchers as to professionals in the manufacturing and service industry, whether they have middle management responsibilities, or are general managers, and also to all those employees whose work is related to some positions of authority (managing people and resources), with the object of understanding the Management System as an integral and holistic view that any organization uses to develop its strategy and translate into operational action and monitor and improve the effectiveness of both.