Contingency Approach in Nigeria Management System

Abstract

Contingency approach also known as situational approach, is a concept in management stating that there is no universally applicable set of management principles (rules) by which to manage organizations. Organizations are individually different face different situations (contingency variables), and require different ways of managing. Contingency approach remains less common than change management approaches. The contingency approach management is a view that the organization recognizes and responds to situation variable as they arise. The contingency approach, which can be seen as an extension of the systems approach, highlights possible means of differentiating among alternative forms of organization structures and systems of management. There is no optimum state. For example, the structure of the organization and its success are dependent, that is contingent upon, the nature as tasks with which it is designed to deal and the nature of environmental influences.The most appropriate structure and system of management is therefore dependent upon the contingencies of the situation for each particular organization. The contingency approach implies the organizations should provide insights into the situational and contextual factor which influence management decisions. This approach emphasized the fact that what managers do in practice depends on a given set of circumstances - the situation. Contingency management is akin to situational management and the two terms are often used synonymously. Some scholars distinguished between the two on the basis that, while situational management merely implies that what managers do depends on a given situation, contingency management implies an active interrelationship between the variables in a situation and the managerial solution devised. Thus, under a contingency approach, managers might look at an assembly line situation and conclude that a highly structured organization pattern would best fit and interact with it.