Time Management in Organizations: A Review of Dissertation

Time Management in Organizations: A Review of Literature

Time management as a process and research construct have numerous dimensions that makes it dynamic and, from the researcher's perspective, susceptible to being measured incorrectly when tested for cause-and-effect study types. In this review of related literature on time management, focus would be on how this process and construct is implemented at the organizational level. Application of time management in organizations would be a more dynamic and challenging study of interest, since the time management construct, by itself dynamic, is also integrated into a more dynamic and culturally diverse environment, which are characteristics of organizations (specifically, business organizations).

Discussions in this literature review will have the following structure, which are all relevant dimensions to exploring, describing and analyzing time management as applied in organizations: (i) usefulness of time management in organizations, (ii) causes that result to project delays resulting from ineffective time management in organizations, (iii) effects of effective/ineffective time management in organizations, and (iv) actionable plans known to have improved time management in organizations.

a. Usefulness of Time Management in Organizations

Time management is a critical element in organizations because value in money and effort, which are time-dependent, are anchored in every activities and tasks that contribute to the organization's success, profitability, and effectiveness. This usefulness from a 'macro standpoint' is essential to establish, because even though time management is considered important in organizations, it is usually taken for granted because it is integrated in the daily activities of members/employees in the organization. Taking for granted the usefulness of time management in organizations, however, could lead to complacency and stagnation of learning among its members, inevitably resulting to inefficiency and poor employee/member satisfaction.

Further into the study of time management -- that is, assuming a 'micro' perspective to this construct, Fleming and Koppelman (1998) recognized that time management acts as an "early warning signal" to management, wherein unmet deadlines of activities, projects and programs become indicators of ineffective organizational management and operations (19). Blackstone (2009) seconded this line of argument, positing that time management actually "troubleshoots" specific 'ailments' in the organization.In his study of time management and quality of delivery in organizations, he identified the following factors that signify ineffective time management in an organization: lack of leadership, low user (member/employee) involvement, poor competencies and skills, poor stakeholder management, lack of top management support, and poor requirements definition (7030). Incidentally, in uncovering these 'signals' of ineffective time management, these also become factors or causes by which time is poorly managed in the organization. The following section thoroughly discusses these causes of ineffective time management in organizations.

b. Causes of Ineffective Time Management in Organizations

The major cause of ineffective time management in organizations is usually the inability of managers and teams to fully operationalize and 'deconstruct' their programs, projects and activities into tasks. Tasks are more actionable, time-driven, and assign a person or team responsible for its completion, which makes task assignment a responsible way of handling critical role functions and time management. Ding (2008), in his study of project management in organizations, determined that teams must be process-oriented in order to ensure that delivery of a project will be on time. For the author, a process-oriented team incites "collaborative decision-making," which in turn results to "teamwork pedagogy," and inevitably, effective time management (459-461).

Treyer even went further in his discussion of time management, identifying effective time management as a result of an action-oriented or "strategic change implementation"-oriented organization (354). What sets this concept of 'strategic change implementation from other causes of effective time management is the role that "foresight" plays in it (360). At the management level, having the ability to foresee project or program outcomes is no longer enough; what is required instead is an actionable plan that will help implement and realize the manager's foresight about the directions his/her business will take in the coming years.

Indeed, supporting Ding and Treyer's findings in their studies, Vakkayil (2010) confirmed that deconstruction results to effective time management in organizations. Managers, according to Vakkayil, must know the different levels….....