معرفت

The concept of Islamic management

by: Professor Misbah-e Yazdi

What is the part of Islam in development of the art of managing? What is meant by management when characterized by Islam? It can be said briefly that human affairs are not whatsoever seperated form values. Hence, the theories concerning management as well as the procedures and tactics of execution are affected by the dominant value system of a society. Naturally, the Islamic value system which enjoys its own particular principiality and independence and are based upon particular out-look, ontology and anthropology, exercises its effect on different aspects of management. Moreover, it adds special colour to the theories and also plays an important role in adopting the executive techniques. Above all, it brings about the domination of high values of Islam in the system of management and execusion of a country.

Islamic management can be viewed as having another sense when the words and conduct of leaders or rulers of Islam concerning the issues on management are taken into consideration. Muslim administrators' ways of conducting the society deserve significant consideration as a historical fact.

However, what is turned out to be true is the first religious sense which has its roots in the theoretical and doctrinal foundations as well as in Islamic values.

Cultural or transcultural management

by: Mohammad Mahdi Naderi

There is no doubt that the laws concerning sciences as physics, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy and the like, termed as experimental sciences, are not restricted to a particular time, place, individual, society or culture in the sense that these laws are related to a given country as Iran or to the Orient and that they can not be applied to France or to the Western culture. In other words, experimental laws, in nature, transcend any place or time or culture. Not any scholars up to the present time have had doubts that the laws of physics can not be altered from a culture to another.

As for humanities, however, there have been many debates as to whether time and place and culture play a part in these branches of knowledge or not.

Having supposed that humanities like experimental sciences transcend culture, some people seek to take advantage of this view for any society. In this article an attempt is made to set forth strongly the question whether management is to be considered as cultural or as something beyond culture, furnishing some evidence from certain authorities and scholars on management.

The process of establishment and development of organizational culture perspective in organization theory

by: Mohammad Taqi Noroozi

Organizational culture perspective is one of the newest and most controversial one in the field of organization theory. The first comprehensive works about this perspective which are based on theories appeared in 1984 and 1985. Organizational culture perspective rejects system theories and »modern «structuralists' assumptions. It holds that many organizational decisions and behaviours are influenced by patterns of basic assumptions which are held by members of organization.

The chief schools which have given birth to the organizational culture perspective are as the following:

1) Classical organization theory
2) The classical philosophers
3) Neo-classical organization theory
4) «Modern» structural organization theory
5) The power and politics perspective.

The writer illuminates in brief the above-mentioned subjects.

A step towards constitutionalizing conscienceness at work in organizations

By: Mohsen Manteqi Sa`adati

This article seeks to show how to attain practical ways of establishing conscienceness at work. At first »conscienceness« is defined as an internal tendency toward and ideal. Accordingly, conscienceness is said to have two functions : 1) awareness or perception of right or wrong within the individual 2) to bestow praise or blam on somebody.

The writer goes on to express the origins of conscienceness and its features, making a distinction between »conscienceness at work «and »exploitation of man's labour«.

Conscienceness is finally defined as »a set internal state« which persuades (motivates) man to do his own duty precisely and eagerly. Measuring indexes of conscienceness at work are as the following : having a feeling of useful action, getting pleasures from action, and being in little need of external controls.

A pluralistic theory

by: Morgan and Buril

Trans. by: Mohammad Mahdi Naderi

Current views on management consider an organization as comprised of a set of people attempting in perfect harmony and unity to fulfil some common purposes. These views consider conflict in organizations as something transient and accidental that, in case of its existence, immediate measures should be taken to dispense with it. This article aims to offer a picture of an organization as a monistic view on the theory of organization.

In more recent views on management, however, the concept of power and conflict has been focused on. These views put more emphasis on individual's or group's interests in organization than on common interests or purposes. According to these theories, the nature of organizations basically rests upon conflict which is regarded essential (not accidental) on which the survival of an organization depends. On the basis of this view, an organization is a scene of conflict among authorities and powers, each of whom attempts to fulfil his personal or group's purposes. The writer presents these views as a pluralistic view in organization theory.

Epistemology of religious beliefs

by: Mohammad Hussein Zadeh Yazdi

This part of the article expresses in brief the Islamic thinkers'view, especially foundationalism. Islamic thinkers, typically, maintain that all human knowledge rests upon the self-evident, certain and real principles. Accordingly, one can attain certitude. Furthermore, through certain proofs (arguments), one can have a means to defend his own religious beliefs, including the existence of God, the Exalted. It seems that attainment of certitude is not possible without accepting self-evident principles, and that religious beliefs can not be justified, either.

"After Virtue"

by: Professor MacIntyle

Trans. by: Hamid Shahriari

»After Virtue« is composed of nineteen chapters out of which nine chapters have been expounded so far. We have seen in the last chapter that Professor MacIntyre holds that Aristotle's theory of morality has received confirmation in Greek, Jewish, Christian and Islamic culture and, form the philosophical point of view, is the strongest moral theory up to the present time.

Thinkers of the Enlightment and those who followed rejected teleology and considered rules to have priority. But, for Aristotle, virtues are of prior importance and he verifies the rules in accordance with virtues.

According to MacIntyre, to study Aristotle's thought one should take it as a tradition which has had its root in the earlier philosophers' trend of thought, and Aristotle's part was that he constituted a link between the past and the future, attempting to influence the coming thoughts. Therefore, although Aristotle occupies a pivotal place in this tradition, he actually occupies only a minor part of it.

The writer insists upon the study of historical facts in formulating moral contemplations. For him, treatment of moral contemplations without taking into consideration their historical course, is not only fruitless but misleading.