The Evolution of Management Thought
Management as a practice has an almost unlimited history. As a formal study,
management began in the 1700s as part of the Industrial Revolution.
A. The Classical Approach to Management
The classical approach to management encompasses scientific management and administrative management. The focus of scientific management was on the application of scientific methods to increase individual workers' productivity. Administrative management was concerned primarily with how organizations should be managed and structured. One of the key contributions of the classical school has been to study management from the framework of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Alfred D. Chandler J., the Harvard University business historian, was a key figure in promoting the importance of the classical approach to management. His famous thesis is that a firm's structure is determined or chosen by its structure; other wise the firm becomes inefficient.
B. The Behavioral Approach
The behavioral approach to management emphasizes improving management through the psychological makeup of people. The theme of the behavioral (or human resources) approach is to focus on understanding people. Three direct cornerstones of the human resources approach are the Hawthorne studies, Theory X and Theory Y, and Maslow's need hierarchy.
1. The Hawthorne Studies
Workers in the Hawthorne experiments reacted positively because management cared about them. The Hawthorne effect is the tendency of people to behave differently when they receive attention because they respond to the demands of the situation.
2. Theory X and Theory Y of Douglas McGregor -
Theory X is a set of traditional assumptions about people. Managers who hold these assumptions are pessimistic about workers' capabilities. They believe that workers dislike work, seek to avoid responsibility, are not ambitious, and must be supervised closely. Theory Y is an alternative, and optimistic set of assumptions
3. Maslow's need Hierarchy
(Demonstrated in the image on the right)
Maslow suggested that humans are motivated by efforts to satisfy a hierarchy of needs, ranging from basic needs to those for self-actualization, or reaching one's potential. The need hierarchy prompted managers to think about ways of satisfying a wide range of worker needs to keep them motivated.
C. Quantitative Approaches to Management
The quantitative approach to management is a group of methods to managerial
decision making that is based on the scientific method. Frequently used quantitative
tools and techniques of the quantitative approach include statistics, linear
programming, network analysis, decision trees, and computer simulations. Frederick
Taylor's work provided the foundation for the quantitative approach to management.
However, operations research stemming from World War II is the true beginning of
quantitative approaches to management.
D. The Systems Perspective
The systems perspective is a way of viewing problems more than a specific approach
to management. It is based on the concept that an organization is a system, or an entity
of interrelated parts. If you adjust one part of the system, other parts will be affected
automatically. From a systems viewpoint, the organization also interacts with the
outside world, transforming inputs (such as money and material) into outputs (such as
products and services). Two other systems concepts are important. Entropy is the
tendency of a system to run down and die if it does not receive fresh inputs from its
environment. Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
E. The Contingency Approach
The contingency approach of management emphasizes that there is no one best way to manage people or work. A method that leads to high productivity or morale in one situation may not achieve the same results in another. The contingency approach is derived from the study of leadership and organization structures. Common sense also contributes heavily to the contingency approach.
F. The Information Technology Era and Beyond
The information technology era began in the 1950s with data processing. By the late 1980s, the impact of information technology and the Internet began to influence how managers manage work and people. Two economists report that the impact of the Internet on business is similar to the impact of electricity at the beginning of the 20th century. An example of a leading-edge approach to management is evidence-based management whereby managers translate principles based on best evidence into management practices.
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