THE PLACE OF HUMAN CONTESTABILITY IN POSITIVE MANAGEMENT

Abstract

The present paper purports at analysing the place of human contestability in the field of positive management. The rationale for this paper is five-fold. First is to bestow a theoretical scaffolding of the phenomenon of ‘human contestability’ so that it can be meaningfully conceptualised and coherently understood. The scientific foundations of human contestability are explored wherein an innate human instinct ‘to compete and win’ encourages the expansion of human potential and its ultimate utilisation so that individuals, overtly or covertly, compete against each other in positive and constructive manner for gains and rewards in a highly competitive environment at work and in life. The second motivation is to emphasize that the many-sided human contestability approach is comprehensive in comparison to the traditional human-centred approaches such as human resource development, human capital, human development, capability approach, system of profound knowledge, knowledge management, and system of profound consciousness. The third motivation is to bequeath and construct the theoretical-analytical schema of multidimensionality of human contestability. The fourth motivation is to develop a conceptual model of multifarious relationships among different interconnected critical dimensions of human contestability namely bio-psycho-socioeconomic system, body capital, cognitive capital, emotional capital and resource capital. All these critical human contestability factors jointly and simultaneously contribute to the enhancement or curtailment of human contestability. The last motivation is to evaluate the place of human contestability approach in the science of positive management. The idea of human contestability is new in management science. The power of positive management, to a greater extent, is determined by the level of human contestability in an organisation. The growing rich management insights pinpoint that the applicability of human contestability principles at workplaces are good for positive management environment as well as for the satisfaction, optimism, wellbeing, engagement and happiness of employees and management. Putting an emphasis on human contestability in organisations is thus reinforcing the view that individuals are the ultimate source of value and value generation depends less on tangible resources, but rather on intangible ones, particularly body capital, cognitive intelligence, emotional wellbeing and resource capital. This paper explores the mechanisms for linking human contestability with positive management and hence creating physical attributes and abilities, creative minds, passionate hearts, and individual empowerment.