Farmer and Rickman Model of Comparative Management:

Professors Richard N. Farmer and Barry M. Rich-man were the two pioneers  in  comparative  management.  They  emphasized  that environments external to the firm do affect management practices. They were the first to identify the critical elements in the management process and to evaluate their operation in firms in different cultures. They also described the environmental factors they considered to have a significant impact on the management process and managerial excellence. These factors, viewed as constraints, are classified as :

(a) educational variables

(b) sociopath-cultural and ethical variables

 (c) legal and political variables

 (d) economic variables.

How these environmental factors abbreviated as Ed. Sc, Lp and Ec in table may influence the managerial functions abbreviate as P1. Or. St. Le. Co and enterprise functions abbreviated as En. Pr. Ma. Fi, is illustrated by the arrows in table

 It thus appears that enterprises may. for a time, succeed entirely through non managerial factors but excellence in management will ultimately make the difference between continued success and decline.