Question

The Morning Star Company, a highly successful and growing $700 million California tomato-processing company, was founded on a philosophy of self-management. The company envisions "an organization of self-managing professionals who initiate communication and coordination of their activities with fellow colleagues, customers, suppliers, and fellow industry participants, absent directives from others." The core of the company’s management philosophy is freedom, which is seen as important to effective coordination. The company believes that freedom allows employees to be drawn to what they really like as opposed to having to do what they’re told, increasing both enthusiasm and performance. Extensive applicant screening for fit with the company’s philosophy and new hire training on self-management helps employees adapt to the autonomy and responsibility of working without a formal boss.

Answer 1

Morning Star Company's self-management philosophy emphasizes freedom and autonomy, contrasting with Fredrick Taylor's scientific management. Their approach encourages enhanced performance through passion for work and includes rigorous screening and training for cultural alignment.

Step-by-step explanation:

The philosophy of self-management at the Morning Star Company presents a significant departure from traditional organizational structures.

This approach goes against the grain of Fredrick Taylor's principles of scientific management, which advocated for a segmented, repetitive, and efficiency-focused system, rendering workers as nothing more than cogs in a machine.

Morning Star's focus on freedom and self-direction posits that employees will be naturally drawn to work they are passionate about, leading to enhanced performance and enthusiasm.

This method relies on careful screening and training to ensure alignment with the company's self-management culture.

Such a radical approach calls into question long-held beliefs about optimal work environments and management styles as critiqued in William H. Whyte's 'The Organization Man', and suggests an alternative path towards both personal and corporate success.