Classical Management Theory
Early Management Theories
Early Theories of Organizations emerged mainly for military and Catholic Church. The metaphor of the machine was dominant, where organizations are viewed as machines. Therefore, the organizational application was, since workers behave predictably (as machines do rarely deviate from the norm), management knows what to expect, and workers operating outside expectations are replaced.
Classical Management Theories
There are three well-established theories of classical management: Taylor?s Theory of Scientific Management, Fayol?s Administrative Theory, Weber?s Theory of Bureaucracy. Although these schools, or theories, developed historical sequence, later ideas have not replaced earlier ones. Instead, each new school has tended to complement or coexist with previous ones.
Taylor?s Theory of Scientific Management, U.S.A
Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) ?The Father of Scientific Management?.
Scientific Management theory arose from the need to increase productivity in the U.S.A. especially, where skilled labor was in short supply at the beginning of the twentieth century. The only way to expand productivity was to raise the efficiency of workers.
Taylor devised four principles for scientific management theory, which were:
1. The development of a true science of management,
2. The scientific selection and training of workers,
3. Proper remuneration for fast and high-quality work
4. Equal division of work and responsibility between worker and manager
Limitations of The Theory of Scientific Management:
Although it maximized efficiency and productivity but its main limitation was ignoring human aspects of employment. This is manifested in the following:
? Some workers and unions opposed this theory because they feared that working harder or faster would exhaust whatever work was available, causing layoffs.
? Objection to the "speed up" conditions that placed undue pressures on employees to perform at faster levels, some managers exploited both workers and customers.
? Reducing worker?s role to a rigid adherence to compulsory methods and procedures.
? The increased fragmentation of work due to its emphasis on divisional labor .
? Economically based approach to the motivation of employees .
? It put planning and control of workplace activities only in the hands of managers.
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...Late 1980's: renewed interest in organizational climate and groups
Late 1980's: rise of participatory management techniques known by such terms as
Total Quality Management (TQM), Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI).
1986: first ruling by U.S. Supreme Court on subject of sexual harassment
Late 1980's: work stress received increasing attention in I/O research, theory, and practice Balancing work and family lives received increasing attention.
References:
- Organisation and Management of Health Care, April 2002, Version 2.0 , Main Contributor: Katie Enock, Public Health Specialist, Harrow Primary Care Trust www.healthknowledge.org.uk
- Henri Rayol Industrial and General Administration, J.A.Caubrough, trans.(Geneva International Management Institute, 1930)
- http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/ryn/projects/inventors/taylor/taylor.html
- http://www.survey-software-solutions.com/walonick/organizational-theory.htm
- http://www.glass-time.com/gainsharing/Motivation.html
- http://www.mtsu.edu/~pmccarth/io_hist.htm
- http://home.eclions.net/mbobic/Version17.htm
- http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/fayol.html
- http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/DSS/Weber/WEBRPER.HTML
...e new technology, those same workers have a skill deficiency and can no longer work (Allick et al. 2000).
This was the tendency of employees to work at the slowest pace possible and the
The willingness of companies to swiftly lay off workers to cope with changing business environments.
The HR of the company was also facing issues, like there was no proper ways of training the young staff. There was a poor layout in managing and evaluating the performance of the employees in an appropriate manner. No proper system was developed for the motivation of the employees due to which it was making an impact over the productivity of the
This research has asked us to look into three different styles of management and find real life examples of companies or individuals who have or are currently using such styles of management. To begin we will take a look into the use of an autocratic style of management versus a participative. In this portion we will look into Leona Helmsley and her chain of hotels. Once this potion is completed, our next section will be looking into a centralized style of management versus a decentralized style. In this section of the research, we will be looking into Apple Inc and how they have built an empire with a centralized style of managing philosophy. Finally, in the final section of the research we will be taking a look at how Google has created an informal environment in which employees have direct access to executives and have the ability to share thoughts and ideas that are taken serious and to the heart.
The concept of production first and people second led to declining production and quality and an overall dissatisfaction among workers and near complete loss of organizational pride. The modern day example in healthcare is ‘fee for service’ whereby physicians have been criticized for pushing patients through their clinics at alarming rates so that they can be highly productive and maintain a lucrative business (Allard, Jelovac & Leger,
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Compare and contrast the management theories of Frederick Taylor, Henri Fayol, Elton Mayo and Douglas McGregor. In what sense(s) are these theories similar and/or compatible? In what sense(s) are these theories dissimilar and/or incompatible? How would a contingency theorist reconcile the points of dissimilarity and/or incompatibility between these approaches?
...tated that it had a significant impact on the work methods at Ford Motors. Taylor's presence made it possible to maximize workers efficiency and productivity in the manufacturing process at Ford Motors through introduction of novel working styles. Through application of the scientific management principles, production increased and massively benefited the company. However, despite the numerous advantages Taylor brought to the company, the success of Ford cannot solely be attributed to Taylor. This conclusion can be drawn due to the fact that although the management principles were applied, they weren’t followed to the core as various flaws were spotted while putting the principles to work. Dehumanization and worker dissatisfaction were the two main features that were observed during the production phases. Thus, the need to shift from pure Taylorism was experienced.
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There are several theories that examine an organization and it’s approach to managing work in an effort to develop efficiency and increase production. Two classical approaches to management are Taylor’s scientific management theory and Weber's bureaucratic management theory. Both men are considered pioneers of in the study of management.
The evolution of management though the decades can be divided into two major sections. One of the sections is the classical approach. Under the classical approach efficiency and productivity became a critical concern of the managers at the turn of the 20th century. One of the approaches from the classical time period were systematic management which placed more emphasis on internal operations because managers were concerned with meeting the growth in demand brought on by the Industrial revolution. As a result managers became more concerned with physical things than towards the people therefore systematic management failed to lead to production efficiency. This became apparent to an engineer named Frederick Taylor who was the father of Scientific Management. Scientific Management was identified by four principles for which management should develop the best way to do a job, determine the optimum work pace, train people to do the job properly, and reward successful performance by using an incentive pay system. Scientifi...