Management culture: From theory to practice

Management culture is a concept of modern science, recently interested in research and application in management organization activities. Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh - Deputy Head of the Faculty of Management Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities - discussed this concept in academic research, from which there are considerations in management practice to find appropriate ways of application.

* Management culture or management behavior

-Dear Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, many scientific concepts "associated" with the two words culture appeared. Was the concept of management culture also born in that trend?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: That is also true. The concept of culture itself is very broad, with many different approaches, so from the approach related to which fields, people often associate that term with the terms and concepts of that field. Although management and organization activities have existed since the beginning of human life, modern management science only appeared in the early 20th century, and especially the concept of management culture was not studied much later. In the 70s of the 20th century, when the world energy crisis broke out, leading to the bankruptcy and failure of a series of companies, the world recognized the power of management culture through the typical case of Japanese business companies. The Japanese, with their tradition of valuing affection and close connections between individuals in a group, all for a common goal, overcame the difficulties at that time to be able to develop strongly. Since then, management culture has become a widely researched subject. This concept has appeared with increasing frequency and until now, all famous companies and enterprises in the world have been able to grow strong thanks to the fact that they have built a good management culture for their company. In the book "The Way of Management", Professor Le Hong Loi (China) divided the development stages in human history into 3 stages: The stage of political human when society began to have the appearance of the state, political power was the criterion to determine the role of individuals; The stage of economic human when capitalist society was born and economic interests were considered the decisive factor in all issues; The stage of cultural human was from the 70s of the 20th century onwards when people realized that economics was not the deciding factor in all issues, it turned out that people also needed cultural values, spiritual values ​​to have a good life. Especially, in the late 20th century and early 21st century, cultural factors have become increasingly important in the context of globalization and deep integration between countries and communities.So what is the most “succinct” definition of management culture?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: This is also a difficult thing because there are hundreds of different definitions of culture and management, so the concept of management culture also has hundreds of approaches. Some people pay attention to the aspect of behavioral culture, others refer to material and spiritual values. Before the concept of management culture, people talked a lot about business culture associated with enterprises and training business people. But management culture has a broader connotation. In my National University-level research topic in 2008, I gave the definition: "management culture is a system of meanings, values, and dominant beliefs with different symbols, agreed upon by the subjects participating in the management process, having a wide range of influence on the way all members of the organization act, in order to achieve the set management goals".If we "escape" from the academic definition, what is the simple understanding of management culture, Professor?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: Should be understood as a way of behaving. Management culture is how to behave in the management process, expressed externally through material and immaterial values. -How important is the role of management culture in the organization and management of an agency or enterprise today?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: Management culture plays a very important role in the operation of a unit, expressed in the following functions. First, the orientation function. It is similar to the culture of a family, each individual born and raised tends to approach and aim for the values ​​and cultural standards of his or her family, which are shaped in family tradition. It helps us always act in accordance with existing standards. Second, the adjustment function. Here, it is understood in two meanings: adjusting individuals whose behavior is "deviating from the standard" compared to existing values, and also changing and adjusting existing values ​​that are no longer relevant. Third, the inspection and evaluation function. Fourth, the motivation and cohesion function. Thanks to the traditional values ​​of the organization, the rituals, the beliefs, the consensus in the way of working, and the harmonious management style will help individuals be excited, believe in success, and voluntarily contribute their efforts to the common work.So what basic manifestations of management culture can we clearly observe in current agencies and organizations?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: The manifestations of management culture in agencies are divided into two types: material and immaterial manifestations. Material manifestations can be clearly seen in the way of dressing, communicating, the way of arranging the office, the architecture of buildings, logos, signs, and propaganda publications of the unit. Immaterial manifestations are the operating philosophies, slogans and action principles, values, traditions, beliefs, product quality standards, legends or myths about individuals or groups that are built... The values ​​of a company's management culture can be clearly seen in the normal operating life of that company when we have the opportunity to come into contact. It is this that makes the difference between this organization and that organization. Applying management culture to the management practice of one's unit requires creativity, intention and high awareness, along with patience.

* Differentiate or die!

-It can be seen that management culture is accompanied by the whole system of spiritual and cultural values ​​of an entire society and a historical period. From your practical research, if you can make the most general comparisons, can you point out the differences between modern management culture values ​​and previous management principles and practices?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: If we compare the two development stages, from 1975 to 1986 - the stage called before renovation - and from 1986 to the present - the stage after renovation, we can see: The most important difference is that we have identified strategic development directions, creating major changes in core values ​​in management philosophy. From that change, changes are expressed through external actions. The administrative management mentality, the individual living dependent on the collective, on the State's subsidies - a fundamental characteristic of a long subsidy period - no longer exists. That management thinking does not promote the creativity and initiative of individuals, stunting their capacity and enthusiasm. Up to now, the management philosophy of the market economy period has prevailed, the individual has been properly assessed in his position, freely creative and developing. The economic person is promoted. All economic sectors are respected and treated equally. The State has a legal framework to create conditions for individuals and groups to develop and contribute their efforts to benefit themselves and the community. That creates widespread democracy and promotes social development. That is an inevitable development in a globally integrated world, a “flat” world. -So, according to Associate Professor, what is the core issue of a business in its efforts to build its own management culture values?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: Just one sentence: "Differentiate or die!". The important point in building core values ​​for a business is to create a difference from other businesses. That also requires continuous innovation. For a business, management culture is expressed from the culture of behavior between people within the company, extending to the culture of behavior with customers and society, in which the culture of product quality plays an extremely important role. If you consider customers as God, you will find a way to take care of customers to make them most satisfied, creating products with the best quality. In the book series Vietnamese and World Business Ethics, when studying 25 legendary businessmen in the world, it shows that although there are many differences, they all have a common main idea: "Business is serving society", that is, they set the goal of serving society above the goal of profit. They have created a difference between themselves and other competitors. That is also a manifestation of a very positive management culture and loyalty to that cultural value, they have succeeded in the market. On the contrary, businesses that consider customers as objects to be deceived, they make poor quality products, deceive customers to gain profit. Of course, such businesses cannot have a long-term position in the hearts of customers. -In organizational and management activities, human resource management plays an extremely important role in the development of an agency or organization. According to Associate Professor, what are the basic difficulties in human resource management today?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: In general, human resource management is very complicated, compared to organizational management, work management... On the other hand, all activities of a unit are related to people, so if managed well, it will bring high efficiency to that unit. In my opinion, good human resource management is to motivate and fully exploit their potential, make them voluntarily participate in performing assigned tasks enthusiastically, thereby creating the desired work efficiency. Currently, human resource management faces the following challenges and difficulties: First, current social relations are very complicated, each individual takes on many roles and positions with different intertwined relationships, with different value systems and standards. Managers need to respect those differences. Second, the strong development of science and technology today changes people and human relations, and human activities. In order not to become outdated, managers must constantly strive to find new ways of managing people to adapt to new conditions. Third, people develop to a high level of culture, have broad knowledge, multi-dimensional information, and constantly innovate,... making people "wiser", so being a manager also requires being extremely "wise". Fourth, the context of globalization and integration also brings great challenges to human resource management, in the process of reaching international standards and deepening national cultural identity.So from research on modern management science, what advice do scientists have for businesses and organizations in building a system of cultural values ​​for management and organization in their agencies in the current integration period?-Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh: I only have one piece of advice for companies and businesses: be loyal to the management culture values ​​that you have built and developed. Loyalty does not mean being conservative, stubbornly holding on to values ​​that are no longer relevant. You must always innovate and add new, positive cultural elements to strengthen the values ​​you already have. The success of many companies, businesses and organizations cannot ignore the extremely important role of management culture. A unit with a strong, positive management culture will help them grow, on the contrary, a weak management culture will hinder development.