Topic 2 PIONEERING IDEAS IN MANAGEMENT

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Topic 2PIONEERING IDEAS IN MANAGEMENT

• Chapter 2

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The Role of Theory and History in Management

• Why theory?
• A theory is a conceptual framework for
  organising knowledge and providing a blueprint
  for action.

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The Role of Theory and History in Management

• Why history?
• Understanding history can provide a sense of
  heritage and help avoid the mistakes of others.
• Social factors
• Political factors
• Economic factors

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History of Management

• Classical management approaches
• Behavioural management approaches
• Quantitative approaches
• Contemporary approaches

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Pre-classical contributors to management theory

• Robert Owen (1771-1858) - concern for working
  conditions
• Charles Babbage (1792-1871) efficiency, profit
  sharing, harmony

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Classical Management

• 1. Scientific Management
• The use of the scientific method to define the
  one best way for a job to be done.
• 2. Administrative Management
• General theories of what managers do and what
  constitutes good management practice.

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Scientific Management

• Fredrick W. Taylor Father of Scientific
  Management.
• Develop a science for each element of the job
• Systematic selection and training of workers
• Supervision
• Support workers by helping them perform the work
  as required.

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Scientific Management

• Science of work?
• Aim - to increase productivity of workers.
• How?
• Increase efficiency
• How?
• Time and motion studies
• Observations, stop watch recordings, flaws
  identified such as, the kind of equipment.

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Scientific Management

• The economic man?
• What the workmen want from their employers
  beyond anything else is high wages, (Taylor,
  1911, p22 in Shop Management)
• Incentives- wages linked with production

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Scientific Management

• Other prominent theorists
• Frank and Lillian Gilbreth- time and motion
  pioneers
• Henry Gantt - Gantt chart and incentive systems

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General Administrative Theorists

• Henri Fayol
• Universal management process
• Max Weber
• Ideal bureaucracy

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ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
Organising
Planning
Commanding
Henri Fayol
Co-ordinating
Controlling
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Fayols 14 Principles
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BUREAUCRATIC MANAGEMENT

• Max Weber (1864- 1920) German sociologist
• Analysed organisation design and conceived the
  notion of the ideal bureaucracy as a rational
  set of guidelines
• Developed a theory of authority structures and
  described organisational activity based on
  authority relations

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BUREAUCRATIC MANAGEMENT
Advancement on merit
Hierarchy of positions
Specialisation of labour
Max Weber
Formal rules and procedures
Impersonality of processes
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Classical Management

• Universalist approach
• Efficiency
• Focus on formal structure
• Standardisation
• Control
• Rationalism
• Separation of conceptualisation of work from
  execution of work
• Impersonal
• Mechanistic model
• Inflexible

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Behavioural approach

• Study of management that focuses on human
  behaviour
• Emphasises individual attitudes and group
  processes.

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Early exponents

• Hugo Munsterburg (1863-1916) - selection and
  motivation in management, creating optimal
  psychological conditions, behaviour shaping
• Mary Parker Follett - adult education,
  leadership, importance of group functioning

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Behavioural approach

• Elton Mayo - Hawthorne studies 1927-32
• Human relations movement -Maslow, McGregor (X/Y)
  - emphasised a concern for workers
• Organisational behaviour

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Hawthorne studies

• Series of experiments at Hawthorne plant of
  Western Electric Company

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Hawthorne studies

• Findings suggested that psychological factors
  and social interaction influence productivity.
• Drew attention towards group dynamics

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Human Relations Movement

• Human relations movement grew from Hawthorne
  studies.
• Proposed that workers respond primarily to the
  social context of work, including social
  conditioning, group norms, and interpersonal
  dynamics.

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Human Relations Movement

• Assumed that the managers concern for workers
  would lead to increased worker satisfaction and
  improved performance.
• An effort to make managers more sensitive to
  employees needs
• Key influencers
• Abraham Maslow
• Douglas McGregor

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Maslows hierarchy of needs
Self-actualisation
Esteem
Social
Safety
Physiological
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McGregors Theory X and Theory Y
Theory Y
Theory X
Natural
Avoid work
Self-direction
Control
Seek responsibility
Avoid responsibility
Good decisions
Security
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Behavioural science theorists

• Scientific study of human behaviour in
  organisations
• Examples
• Fred Fiedler - Leadership
• Victor Vroom - Leadership
• Frederick Herzberg - Motivation
• Richard Hackman - Job design

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Behavioural Management Approach

• Provides insights into individual, interpersonal
  and group processes encourages managers to take
  such factors into account
• Suffers from a simplicity of formulation,
  difficulty in prediction of human behaviour

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Quantitative Management

• Management science - mathematical and statistical
  methods and modelling to predict needs or to
  design systems
• Operations management - applied management
  science, e.g. using linear programming for
  production and inventory control, scheduling and
  planning

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Quantitative Management

• Assists in decision making, and in understanding
  complex organisational processes
• Is not able to fully explain or predict
  behaviour of people in organisations often uses
  simplistic mathematical models with unfounded
  assumptions

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Contemporary Theories

• Systems Theory
• - Inputs, transformation, outputs, feedback.
• - Open closed systems

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Systems Perspective

• Synergy
• Subsystems are more successful working together
  in a cooperative and coordinated fashion than
  working alone.
• The whole system (subsystems working together as
  one system) is more productive and efficient than
  the sum of its parts.

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Systems Perspective

• Entropy
• A normal process in which an organisational
  system declines due to failure to adjust to
  changes in its environment
• Entropy can be avoided and the organisation
  re-energised through organisational change and
  renewal.

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Contemporary Theories

• Contingency Theory
• Each organisation is unique
• There is no one universal right way for all
  occasions
• Managerial decisions are contingent upon the
  current organisational environment

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Contemporary Theories

• Theory Z
• The best of Japanese and American practice
• Total quality approaches
• W Edwards Deming

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Summary

• Knowing history and theory can minimise chances
  of repeating errors
• Different perspectives offer the opportunity to
  understand present trends.
• Challenges will always exist.

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Food for thought

• What can be learnt from classical management? Do
  you see it in action today?