Organizational Management Theory

The evolution of Organizational/Management Theory has evolved over 110 years to an extremely complex science. The beginning of the modern organization theory began during the middle of the nineteenth century with the rise of the factory system, where efficiency and mass production became the focus of productivity. Management theory on the other hand was slow to evolve over this time. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s, the classical school of management emerged in an effort to develop an overlapping and comprehensive management theory with the emphasis on increasing the effectiveness of management in organizations.

One main classical theorist that focused on providing tools for managers is Max Weber. Weber is also heavily associated with bureaucratic management. The characteristics of Weber’s Bureaucratic Organizations include a well defined hierarchy where all of the positions in a bureaucracy are structured in a way that allows the individuals holding higher positions have control over those individuals in lower positions. This also includes a division of labor and specialization, rules and regulations, Impersonal relationships between managers and employees, competence and keeping a record of all activities.

Another theorist, Frederick Taylor, who is considered to be the father of scientific management focused his research on increasing the productivity of workers with a clearly defined way of accomplishing each individual work operation. Taylor’s basic assumptions were that humans are inherently lazy and will not work to maximum capacity unless forced. As well as employees are not intelligent enough to understand management so therefore, managers need to control the work process. Taylor had four princ...

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...the necessity for a highly educated workforce is essential. Management is no longer chosen by default, but are instead professionally trained in given management practices. The world is becoming smaller every day with advancements in technology and how organizations handle business and this is one of the reasons why we are continually seeing shifts in the evolution.

As I work closer to a career in management I can see the shift and focus of the field moving even further towards collaboration and diversified group work. I look forward to a day where the hierarchy of organizations is a thing of the past and employees work next to their hands-on managers. I believe that the classical school of science and the contemporary methods of management will continue to evolve through trial and error; finding out which aspects of the methods work best in certain environments.