How to Mismanage Organisations: A Lawyer’s Perspective

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to promote and to enhance sound management practices in organisations. Methodology/Technique: In particular, this paper identifies four interrelated management practices which, in my experience, constitute ‘mismanagement': (i) the appointment of managers to their level of incompetence (the Peter Principle), which in turn may lead to occupational stress and low staff morale, (ii) the appointment of employees who are deemed to be less ‘intelligent' than, or ‘inferior' to, the appointers, (iii) the centralisation of resources, services and decision-making by relevant organisations, arguably to improve efficiency and to achieve cost effectiveness, and (iv) constant restructuring of organisations and associated change management. Findings: This paper focuses on actions or practices by senior management which may potentially result in the mismanagement of their organisations. Novelty: It is not unusual for employees to allege that the organisations for which they work are mismanaged. Even if these allegations are unsupported, the fact that they are raised regularly justifies an examination of how organisations may be mismanaged. Type of Paper: Conceptual