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Effective Executive Journal

Management Fads and the Agile Executive

Article Details

Pub. Date	: March 2022
Product Name	: Effective Executive
Product Type	: Coaching and Mentoring
Product Code	: EECM02032022
Author Name	:Michael Walton
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Management
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 06

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Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which the 'Agile' project management methodology can be considered as a 'management fad'. Whilst this methodology has several characteristics reflective of a management fad, the intensity and rigor of the approach offers more durable and far-reaching implications than could be expected from that of a 'passing fad'. The potential for facilitating profound organizational change is significant, with implications both for executive behavior and the evolution of an organization's operational structure. The mindset expected from an 'Agile Executive' in particular places puts a strong emphasis on cross-functional, open-minded and collaborative working. Such behavioral expectations, combined with an ethical responsibility for identifying and resolving project-management as well as workplace issues, place considerable demands on the professionalism and experience of agile executives. The strong customer-centric focus emphasizes innovation, urgency, transparency, integrity, and commitment to excellence, which sets it apart from many other business-wide initiatives and 'management fads' of recent decades.

Introduction

The pressure on organizational leaders to succeed continues unabated either from shareholders, money markets, competitor activity, or consumers as well as from external regulatory authorities. Within the public sector, providing services that offer good Value for Money (VFM) remains a constant cry. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is yet another course of pressure to add to the collective chorus pressurizing leaders to do more, do better, and work in ethically acceptable ways when deploying the resources under their control. More generally, concerns with protecting and promoting employee wellbeing represents yet another core responsibility for business leaders to meet. One of the consequences of such collective demands to succeed is a willingness-perhaps a susceptibility even-for business leaders to grasp wholeheartedly, and with both hands, any promising new approaches to organizational leadership and business management which purport to offer enhanced business 'success' in a socially responsible and acceptable manner. Perhaps in response to such pressures, business leaders can fall prey to the slick