As time passes businesses learn from failure and achievement. Have you ever found yourself, pondering how do businesses remain relevant, lucrative and profitable? For centuries business men and women alike, have introduced new theories and principles to remain competitive and drastically increase the understanding of organizational and human behavior. In this essay, I plan to discuss a few ways business men and women have changed the way we conduct business through their management theories.Scientific TheoryFredrick Winslow Taylor’s scientific theory of management was established in the early 20How Have We Evolved in the Management Field 5th century and is the most known and recognized management theory. In 1911 Taylor set this theory at the time it was called the time and motion study.
The purpose of Taylor’s theory was to raise the level of production in the industrial field it would also give a solution to the rising industrialists’ conflict. This approach was purely based on proper planning, effective administration and improving the human element of production. He believed that the system of management would have to benefit both the managers and employees. The theory of scientific management came at the perfect time, when industrialization was taking its proper form, and some countries wanted to take advantage of other people for personal gain (Mahmood, Basharat, & Bashir 2012). The theory of scientific management was mainly adopted by the public sector of management. Team members would use working hours to do personal activities and other unnecessary things. This theory had many principles the one that stuck the most was the senior leadership of the organization must foster an environment where managers plan and supervise the work and the workers actually conduct the work.
Some workers saw this as an insult and dehumanizing when supervisors would stand around watching the workers work but, I find this counterproductive. Supervisors or mangers are supposed to be the subject matter expert and the expertise of supervisors or mangers are needed to assist workers conducting day to day operations.The theory of scientific management applies to small and public organizations because it focuses on the individuals’ performance instead of entire group efforts, focusing on specialization and repetitive jobs can create a workplace that does not foster creativity. It does not consider human How Have We Evolved in the Management Field 6error but rather monetary benefits (Myrick, 2012).Administrative TheoryFayolism also known as the administrative theory of management was founded by Henri Fayol a French management theorist in his book “General and Industrial Management” published in French in 1916 then in English in 1949. The theory was established during a time of radical industrialization and also during a revolution in the business world.
Fayolism stressed the degree of importance and the proper practice of forecasting and planning. The six management functions of the theory were planning, forecasting, coordinating, monitoring and commanding. He also proposed management principles which were: division of labor, authority, unity of command and direction, individual interests and remuneration, centralization among others. The disadvantage of all this was the command and control of the higher authority. The administration should move both vertically and horizontally with the feedback go in the reverse way (Mahmood, Basharat, & Bashir 2012). Fayol has been regarded to many times as the father of modern operation management theory which is fundamental and part of modern day management concepts. Fayol believed that managerial practices were key to predictability and efficiency in organizations.
The theory views communication as a necessary ingredient to the success of management and these practices still live today.Theory of Social and Economic OrganizationMaximilian Karl Emil Weber (Max Weber) was a German Sociologist who produced the theory How Have We Evolved in the Management Field 7we know today as the Theory of Social and Economic Organization. His main intellectual concern was the understanding of the processes of rationalization, secularization and the rise of capitalism and modernity. The theory focused on organizational structure in which Max Weber expressed deeply the need for organizations to divide into manageable and controllable divisions. He wanted organizations to focus on the division of labor by identifying regular task and duties of a particular bureaucratic system, chains of command and hiring personnel with certified qualifications. His main principles were: specialized roles, recruitment based on merit, uniform principles of placement, promotion, and transfer in an administrative system, careerism with systematic salary structure, hierarchy, responsibility and accountability, strict rules of discipline and control, supremacy of abstract rules, impersonal authority and political neutrality.
Weber was strongly influenced by German idealism and neo Kantianism, he assumed that the changes were the changes in civilization were going to be instant and to achieve a technical outcome exploiting humanistic content would be detrimental. As western civilization grasp hold to the theory more countries became entrenched in creating the same technocratic thinking pattern. Max Weber claimed that workers were obliged to do as they were told by their managers with only the existing organizational rules. Strict guidelines deter innovativeness and employees become stagnate in a system which leads to resistance to changes. Human Relations Management TheoryElton Mayo was an Australian born psychologist, industrial researcher and organizational theorist. Mayo challenged the views of Taylor that the use of science would command productivity by employing tight human control.
Mayo put emphasis on self-interest and positive response as How Have We Evolved in the Management Field 8associated to pressure form the administration. The Hawthorne Experiment was tested in 1924 by Mayo because the growing number of works who were unsatisfied in plants throughout the Chicago area in the early twenties. Elton Mayo and his assistant Fritz Roethlisberger, conducted research by changing working conditions. They experimented with work lighting, duration of breaks and working hours. A group of women were either exposed to more or less light.
No matter whether more or less lighting it had a positive effect on their performances. The same stood true for the duration of rest periods and the break periods whether shorter or longer increased the amount of productivity. The theory focuses on the importance of how human relationships affect workers in a psychological and social way. Workers who felt like their voices are heard experience a feeling of greater personal freedom which left workers pleased and was believed to have led to higher job performances. Mayo believed that personal attention was very important and stimulated the group to work harder and give their all to their organizations. The theory provides management with a wide array look at management practices and how managers view and interpret things.
The theory directives for managers to identify the various departments of an organization and come up with satisfactory rules and regulations. Limitations of the theory are it can be unsuccessful to distinguish harmony and functional harmony is not always there.How Have We Evolved in the Management Field 9
