Effective management and styles: an Indian study

Abstract

Management style is defined to be the distinctive way the management of an organization carries out its various functions, in this exploratory study, ten archetypal styles of top management are described, operationally defined, and measured vis-?-vis a sample of 90 Indian corporate organizations. The ten styles are the conservative, entrepreneurial, professional, bureaucratic, organic, authoritarian, participative, intuitive, familial, and altruistic. The data on the relationship between these ten styles and ten indicators of perceived organizational effectiveness are presented and discussed. The participative, professional, and altruistic management styles had the most correlations with the indicators of effectiveness. Implications for management excellence are drawn.