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An Aspect of Management Philosophy in the United States and Latin AmericaAuthor(s): Eugene C. McCann

Source: The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Jun., 1964), pp. 149-152Published by: Academy of ManagementStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/255023.

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Vlanagement

n

erspective

n

s p e c t

o anagemnt

hi losophy

i n

t h e

U T n i t e d t a t e s a n d

L a t i n m e r ic a

EUGENE

C. McCANN

Louisiana State

University

The question of

whether

management

is

more

philosophy,

art,

science

or

some

combination is

frequently

regarded as

little

more

than useless

academic

debate. The

position

taken,

however,

has

considerable

bearing

for

research,

edueation and

practice

in

the field.

The

implications

and

consequences

of that

starting position can be profound in approaching management in diverse cul-

tural

settings.

In

these

days

of aroused interest

in

Latin American

exehanges

involving programs of business and

public

administration,

one

of the

relatively

neglected

points is the

contrast between

North Americans and

Latin

Americans

in

appraising

scientific

components

in

management.

Management:

Art

and/or

Science

If

management

contains no

guides,

laws, principles, or

any of the other

elements of

a

science,

then

it

must be

an

art. If it

is truly

an

art,

then

every-

thing which

has

ever

been written about

management

is

of little

or

no

use. All

those who profess to teach management are either estupidos or frauds. Whether

art

can

be

codified and

taught

is

not

a

settled

matter.

Art is

skillful

performance

which comes from

within a

person

and

which can be learned

only

through prac-

tice

and

experience. Expression

of

an

art

is

an individual

matter. What

can

be

taught, however,

is

science-truths, principles,

laws.

This

aspect

of

a

manage-

ment

philosophy,

therefore,

must

satisfy

the

question

of

whether

management

is an art, a

science,

or a

combination.

For the most

part, U.

S.

business

practitioners

and

business

academicians

agree

that

management

is

partly

a science and

partly

an

art.

Businessmen

and

scholars have not always held this position. For instance, in the United States,

before about

1880, management

was

considered

solely

an

art.

A

"Imanager"Iwas born or was

made so

in

the hot

crucible of

experience. He thus

relied

upon

intuitive guidance

when

faced

with a

decision....

SGin a sense he

learned

nothing from

previous

generations and could

pass nothing on to

succeeding

generations

as

far

as

managerial

skills

were concerned.

Frederick

W. Taylor, Henri

Fayol,

Henry Gantt,

Frank and Lillian

Gilbreth

and

others,

however,

were not

convinced.

They

felt that

somewhere in

manage-

ment there is

logic, that

management

embodies basic

principles and

relationships

which can

be

set

down,

codified,

a-nd

communicated.

The

search for

management

principles carried on since the turn of the century has uncovered many. Admit-

tedly,

certain

areas

of

management,

for

the

moment,

must

remain

in the

realm of

I

MichaelJ.

Jueius and William

E.

Schlender,

Elements

of Managerial Action

(Homewood,

Illinois:

Riehard D.

Irwin,

Inc., 1960),

p. 20.

149

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150

Academy

of

Management

June

art.

Nevertheless, modern

U.

S.

businessmen

and others

who

are concerned

with

group

coordination

believe that

management

does

contain a science.

Management

generally

is

considered

an

art

in

Latin America.

Several

indica-

tions tend to

support this statement.

Only rarely

does

one

encounter

a book

or an article

which deals

with

management

in Latin

America

from

a Latin

American

viewpoint.

Furthermore,

only rarely is

management taught

in

Latin

American

colleges

and universities.

The

major

emphasis

is

on

the

liberal

arts.

Another

indication

which

lends

support

to

the

notion

that

management

is

considered

an

art

in

Latin

America is the

sparing

use of

seientific method

in

Latin

American

business

operations. Since

Frederick

Taylor popularized

the

use of scientific method

as

an

aid to

managerial

decision

making,

it has

become

basic

to U. S.

management

philosophy. Though

the

scientific

method

has been

stated many times in many ways, Ralph C. Davis explains it probably as well as

any.

"The

term

'scientific method'

may

refer to

any orderly

method

that

seeks

to

apply

the

logic

of

effective

thinking

to

the solution

of

some

type

of

problem.

"2

In

our

culture, the

utilization of this

approach is

widespread and

not

limited

to business

management.

Scientific method meshes

nicely

with

cultural

attitudes

that

encourage an analytieal

approach to all

types

of

decision-making

activities.

As a

result, scientific method

is

the

most

used

of

any of the

"tools" of U. S.

management.

The

lack

of

utilization of

such

a

concept

undoubtedly

hampers Latin

American

decision-makers.

Why

they

make

little

or

no use of

it warrants discussion.

Causes for

Ignoring

Scientific Method

The effective utilization of

scientific

method

requires

patient,

careful,

orderly

thinking

and

the

ability

to see

reality

objectively.

The

Latin

American,

however,

tends to be

impatient,

impulsive,

emotional,

and

to

disregard

objectivity.3

Basing action

on

emotion

is

accepted,

expected,

and

desired

among

Latin

Americans

because

giving

immediate

expression

to

one's

feelings is

accepted,

expected

and

desired.

Latin

Americans are

men of

passion.

In

writing about the

Spanish

influence

on

Latin

America and

specifically

on

using

emotion and

intui-

tion as the basis for determining action, William Schurz noted: "So he may not

do

things

according

to reason

or

logic or

cold

calculation, for

his

mind

is not

orderly

or

systematic,

but

according

to

the

light

of

intuition

and the

urge of

strong

feeling.

He

may

even

do

something

for

no

good reason

at

all,

but. only

by

the

prompting

of

caprice."4

Latin Americans are not

so interested in

results

as

are Anglo

Americans.5

Action

is

important

to

a

Latin

American

but

not

from

a

results

standpoint. The

utility

of results

is

relatively unimportant. Since he is

a

man

of

passion, action

becomes

more

important

than

results

because it

allows

the free

expression of

'Ralph Currier Davis, Industrial Organization and Management (third edition; New York:

Harper &

Brothers,

1957),

p.

61.

'Harry

Stark, Modern Latin America

(Coral

Gables, Florida:

University of

Miami

Press,

1957),

p. 70.

'William

Lytle

Schurz,

This

New

World

(New

York:

E.

P.

Dutton

&

Co., Inc.,

1954), p.

82.

'John

Fayerweather,

The

Executive

Overseas

(Syracuse:

Syracuse

University

Press,

1959),

p.

63.


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1964 An

Aspect of

Management

Philosophy

in the

United States and

Latin

America

151

inner

feelings.

This is

the

important

element-spontaneous

expression.

In

fact,

passion

opposes

logic. Logical

action

requires

that

expressioii

be

subordinated

to

the will;

logical action reflects

a deliberate

speed

and

a

predetermined

direc-

tion. Passion reflects spontaneity of action at whatever speed and direction the

emotion of

the

moment

generates.6

Decision

Making-Latin

American

Style

The

Latin

American

relies

heavily upon

intuition,

the

passion

of the

intellect,

to

point out

the solutions to

problems.

Thought

proceeds

in

a

series

of

direct

revelations

or

perceptions

of "truths"

concerning

the

object

being

contemplated.

These

perceptions

are

independent of

any

demonstrated

reasoning

process

and,

therefore,

neither verifiable

nor

repeatable.

The

tendency

is

toward

action

which

appears

improvised

(and

often

is).

This

characteristic

frequently

leads Latin

Americans to act without planning, at least without conscious planning. Sal-

vador de

Madariaga touches this notion

using

the

Spanish

as

examples:

Intuition

also

excludes

any

possibility

of

establishing

a

method beforehand.

And in fact,

method is far from

being

a

typical feature of

Spanish

thought.

A

method, we

have

said,

is

a road for the

mind.

It

is difficult to

imagine

how a road

towards

knowledge

could

be

traced

by people who

find themselves in

knowledge

before

they set

foot on

the

road....

Spanish

thought

has

a

method of

its own which

is

eertainly

not

the

road-schedule....7

While

emotion,

as a

basis

for

action,

may

often

lead

to unsound

decisions,

improvisations, and

ineffective

results,

attempts have

been made to

justify

it-

to

explain

logically

the use of

emotion

as

a

basis for action.

Those

who

attempt

to justify it argue that man has been a

reasoning being

for,

at

most,

a

few

thousand

years.

Before

that,

man

survived

by

following

his

instincts

and im-

pulses. "The

Latin

could

therefore

advance

good

support

for

the

assertion

that

those

impulses

that

have survived

the

great

sieve

of

evolution

must

be those

best suited to

man's

survival and

continued

development.

"8

The proponents

of this

theory claim

that the

urgings

of man's

heart might

spring

from

the sifted

and

stored

up

wisdom

of

all

that man

has

learned

throughout

time.

By

comparison, recorded

knowledge must

appear

rather

insignificant.

As

one

philosopher

put it:

It is not wisdom to be only wise

And

on

the inward

vision

close the

eyes

But it

is

wisdom

to

believe the

heart.9

In

discussing

thought

in

the

man of

passion,

de

Madariaga

explains that

he

contemplates

and

waits

in

apparent

passivity

for

the

object of

the

contemplation

to

reveal

itself.

"He

lets the

continuous

stream of

life

pass

through

him,

until

chance, a

happy

coincidence,

a

secret

sympathy, will

suddenly

illumine it

with

a new

light."10

The

Latin

American

is

apathetic

about

circumstances until

such time

as

a

flash of

perception

or

intuition

moves

him.

Until

he

experiences

Salvador de

Madariaga,

Englishmen,

Frenchmen,

Spaniards

(London:

Oxford

University

Press,

1931), p. 42.

7

ibid.,

p.

78.

8

Stark,

op.

cit.,

p. 63.

9

From a

poem,

"0

World,

Thou

Choosest

Not,

"

by

George

Santayana

and

quoted

in

Stark,

op.

cit., p.

63.

"

Madariaga,

op

cit., p.

74.


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152 Academy of

Management

June

inspiration, and because cold logic and results-oriented action

have little appeal,

he tends to

do

things

in

the manner

which involves the

least

risk and

effort.

If

he faces a situation

requiring

action about

which

he

has no

intense

feelings,

the

manner which involves the least risk and effort is to conform to some existing

pattern.

"If he follows

the rules there will be no

complaints,

he will not

have

to make a mental effort,

and

the situation will be taken

care

of.'"1

But how

did this characteristic

become

ingrained in the

psychological make-up

of the

Latin

American

?

The Old World's Bequest

The

great emphasis

on

science

and

utilization of

scientific method resulted

from the scientific

revolution which

swept Europe

in

the

1500's. This

revolution

was,

in

large

measure,

a

result of

the Renaissance and

the

Reformation.

Before

this time, Europeans patterned their lives and thoughts according to the dogma

prescribed by

authorities.

These authorities were

Church

officials, political

offi-

cials

(frequently

the

same),

or

monarchs. For

hundreds

of

years, people

were

told

what

to do

and

how

to think about

practically every aspect

of

their

lives.

They were

accustomed to

authoritarian

leadership, expected

it, and, perhaps,

even

demanded it.

The Renaissance and

the

Reformation

represented change.

Man

was

expected

to

think

independently

and to

reach

his

own

conclusions

about

worldly

and

religious

matters.

The Renaissance

eventually spread

into

Spain,

but the

Spanish scholars

directed their efforts not to revolt but to attempts at purification and maintenance

of the

Church.

The

Reformation,

however, never

reached

Spain.

Thus, the atti-

tude

of

independent, analytical thinking

was

not

emphasized

and

never

became

an

important part

of the

approach

to

decision

making

and

problem

solution.

This characteristic

became part of the New World's legacy.

Summary

The

aspect

of

management philosophy

considered

in

this

article

has

been

North

American versus

Latin American

inclusion of

scientifie

thinking

in

approaching management.

In the U. S., management is considered to contain scientific components.

In Latin

America,

management generally

is

considered

solely

an

art.

The very

heart

of the

U.

S.

approach

to

business

management,

scientifie

method,

is

ignored

and

denied

in

Latin

America because

of

cultural and

personality characteristics

which

lead

persons

to

rely

on intuition

as a

basis

for

decision

making.

Because

Latin

Americans

are

not

strongly results-oriented, management by

objectives

is not

so common

in

Latin America as it

is

in

the

United

States.

Rather,

Latin

Americans

regard

action

not

in

terms of

how

it

aids

in

achieving desired

goals,

but

as an

end

in

itself.

These

characteristics-regarding management

as an

art,

viewing action as an

expression

of

inner

feelings

rather than a

calculated

means to an

end,

and ignor-

ing

scientific

method as

a

decision-making tool-pose challenges that must be

recognized

in

working

out

useful

exchanges among

Americans interested in

better

management.

:u

Fayerweather,

op.

cit., p.

64.


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