The Management Windshield: An Effective Metaphor for Management and Leadership

There are a lot of situations which arise in daily leadership and management where leadership and management theories, methodologies, methods and tools go too far both physically and cognitively. Management and executive support systems or decision support systems can also be very inconvenient because they are really systems that, when started, must be continuously updated with new information and knowledge. They are also very complex systems with many different sub-processes needed to understand them in detail. Using these systems is not at all handy in daily management, especially when managers meet people to discuss. Managers cannot be expected to remember all the basic theories, they do not have time to go and find the books and tools needed in a certain situation. They have neither the time nor the possibilities to gather all the necessary instructions on how to behave or how to lead people in their different occupational work roles.  What should they do? How should they lead? In this research we have used a range of literature to find the basic rules to be covered in different business situations. We have also used a strong metaphor, windshield, to guide our research work in finding the proper tools for leadership and management purposes. We have used fuzzy logic to find out the current style of leadership in each research case and also what parameters are normally used by the test subjects. This research has been carried out with students who already have work experience and who understand both leadership and management roles. These students have verified and validated the first demonstrators which were created in our Evolute Research Center in Pori.

Professor Vanharanta, 1949, began his professional career in 1973 as Technical Assistant at the Turku office of the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry. 1975 – 1992 he worked for Finnish international engineering companies, i.e. Jaakko Pöyry, Rintekno and Ekono as process engineer, section manager and leading consultant. His doctoral thesis was approved 1995. In 1995-1996 he was professor in Business Economics in the University of Joensuu. In 1996-1998 he served as Purchasing and Supply Management professor in the Lappeenranta University of Technology. Since 1998 he has been professor in Industrial Management and Engineering in Tampere University of Technology at Pori. The research interests are: Human Resource Management, Knowledge Management, Strategic Management, Financial Analysis, E-Business and Decision Support Systems.