Is management really generic?

Abstract

Four classes of organizations can be identified along the continuum between classical private profit-making firms and strictly governmental agencies: private for-profit, private non-profit, private quasi-public, and public. These four organization prototypes have different management functions because they receive their support from different subsectors of the society. Dependence on different individuals, groups, and organizations in the external environment creates different values, incentives, and constraints for management. The resulting differences in how the basic managerial processes are implemented may be more significant than the generic theory of management had acknowledged.