Researchers suggest that Premier League clubs (English football) who have long-term managers are more successful than those who change their managers on a frequent basis
As a consequence of the rewards for
success and the penalties for failure in the English premier league there is immense pressure on managers to succeed, with poor results typically resulting in a scapegoating reaction by sacking the manager. Scapegoating theory holds that changing managers will not affect performance and is simply a ritual to apportion blame.
The
researchers suggest that ‘Vicious circle theory’ posits that changing managers can lead to a decline in performance, because change disrupts well-established processes and brings instabilities and tensions which can have a detrimental effect on results.
Key findings indicate ‘illusion effects’, where the illusion of a short-term reprieve — when results typically improve following an appointment of a new manager — makes managers and owners believe that things are improving at the club (which sounds like similar to what is commonly know as the
Hawthorne effect) . However, underlying weaknesses and strategic problems, which have not typically been addressed, dictate that performance typically drops to previous standards until problems have been resolved.
The studies suggest that the ‘scapegoating approach’ of sacking managers early and replacing them in the hope of improved performance is a fallacy, claiming that manager change may take longer than one year to effect strategic change.
Managers should therefore be given time to improve the club, team and address underlying weaknesses, before any decision to sack them is made. Decisions to sack a manager should be based on their ability to correct weaknesses and thus improve long-term performance, rather than analysing the ratio of wins against results.
Clearly this research could point a way
forward for the business world. It strikes me that this is the footballing equivalent of the halo effect often afforded to new members of staff. In such circumstances the new start can do no wrong and can seemingly gain support, and often funding, for
their "revolutionary" ideas. 6 months later the halo is passed on to the latest new start.
Source: Don't sack the manager - The University of Nottingham and Loughborough University
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/McarthursRant/~3/pmC4dVSWsk0/dont-sack-manager.html
Posted
7 Sep 2009 5:21 PM
by
McArthur's Rant - Human Resources, Organisations and HR 2.0
| Report Abuse