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Background studies about management theories
The theories in the field of management
Contribution of management theories to modern practice
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However, it is needless to say that management cannot be fully explained using simple words as management is a complicated concept; it has various definitions given by different theorists.
On the first place, why does management exist? Management exist mainly because of the exist of business i.e. usually refer to an ‘organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers, involved different directors’ (Successful business management, 1986, p.26), as well as employees and different production stages.
Why are there various definitions when they all have similar functions? This is because “internal management skills may be very satisfactory for one business sector, but inappropriate for another. (Successful business management, 1986, p.17) As a result, many theorists gave their views, as an organizational function, and as a subject of academic research and study.
When management is mentioned, it is difficult to ignore the view of Frederick Taylor, as he is being viewed as ‘the father of scientific management’ and he was ‘an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency.’(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Winslow_Taylor).
Frederick Taylor’s view is refer to the scientific management, he focused on the relationship between workers and production systems. He also developed a theory of organizations which ‘altered the personalized autocracy which had only been tempered by varying degrees of benevolence, such as in the Quaker family businesses of Cadbury's and Clark's.’ (http://www.accel-team.com/scientific/scientific_02.html)
In 1881, Taylor turned his attention to shoveling coal. By experiment, he was able to ‘design shovels that would permit the worker to shovel for the whole day. ...
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...as actually not theoretical enough. In fact, there are many other types of managers, for example first-line manager, they might actually do things different from executive managers.
In fact, in my opinion, the theories of practitioners and academics can correct at the same time, as these theories are not two competing views, knowing that management can be viewed and explained in many ways. However, as mentioned above, it would be reasonable to say theories of practitioners like Fayol’s are more effective and efficient is the business world than the theories of academics, as managers ‘should do to be effective and efficient.’ (Pryor & Taneja, 2010, p. 497), the theories of practitioners for example Fayol’s are more all-around in general, and his principles are being viewed as ‘lighthouses to managerial action.’(The Evolution of Management Thought, Wren, 1994, p. 193)
In my essay we will take a look at Frederick Taylors principles of scientific management and his contribution to manufacturing and the influence he has had. We will use Ford as the organization as Fordism I closely linked to Taylorism and has been majorly influenced by it. The U.S. motor vehicle industry emerged at the end of the 19th century as a craft production system with a labor force that included skilled workers who had knowledge about mechanical design and the materials they were working with. After World War I, Henry Ford invented the mass production system (now known as Fordism). In his system, the product, the production process, and the tasks that each particular worker performed were standardized.
Through personal experience, Fayol distinguished what he thought to be the prime functions of being a manager. It is said that he was the first to illustrate the need for the education of management (Brodie, 1967, in Fells, 2000) and in relation to management; Fayol’s perspective was what managers should do. Through categorising business activities into six activities, technical; commercial; financial; security; accounting and management; Fayol’s work focused on the latter category, management (Fells, 2000, pg.345).
“Management is a process of planning, organisation, command, coordination, and control” (Morgan 2006, p.18). Rational organisation design is a bureaucratic method of management which emphasizes efficiency to achieve the end goal and the management of multiple companies have taken upon this system. Figures such as Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford have both shown and laid a path way for Rational Organisation which has become known as Taylorism and Fordism. The design has received criticism and both Taylor and Ford have been portrayed as villains with Taylor being called “enemy of the working man” (Morgan 2006, p.23) as the system dehumanised workers by taking all of the thought and skill from them and giving it to the managers this is because the tasks given were simple and repetitive. As staff needed little training they became an easily replaceable asset and thus more machine than human.
It is some benefits to the conventional theory which are the average man is by nature indolent, he lacks ambitions, he is by nature resistant to change. It is also two different approaches to management is hard
Comparisons that can be made include Fordism's mechanisation of mass production and Taylor's attempts at using employees as machines. Taylor designed this using his principles of management that included developing a science for each element of work and finding the quickest way the job could be done.
The term “workaholism” appeared in the beginning of the 20th century after Frederick Taylor integrated new organization of work system. Taylor, famous businessman was born in 1856 in Philadelphia, and was known as “father of scientific management”. His new theory of work management has been known as “Taylorism”. The term “Taylorism” is seldom used in a positive way. For a short description, according to JoAnn Greco, the journalist of “The Journal of Business Strategy”, “Taylorism” is “a sort of ruthless and quasi-Victorian efficiency that melds man with machine, often to man’s disadvantage.” According Taylor’s theory of work organization the worker is nothing but a tool for gaining profit. (Greco)
Over 50 years ago, English-speaking managers were directly introduced to Henry Fayol’s theory in management. His treatise, General and Industrial Management (1949), has had a great effect on managers and the practice of management around the world. However, 24 years after the English translation of Fayol, Henri Mintzberg in the Nature of Managerial Work (1973) developed another theory and stated that Fayol’s work was just “folklores”.
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?
The founding father of scientific management theory is Fredrick Winslow Taylor. He was an American mechanical engineer and an inventor. Modern management theorist Edward Deming credited Taylor for his contributions while Joseph Juran criticized his work for extracting more work from workers. However a careful reading of Taylor’s work will disclose that he placed workers interest as high as the employer’s in his studies. Before the principles of management are discussed it is very important to understand the causes which led Taylor to derive the four principles of management. The three causes are as follows:
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 concept of scientific management is based on the idea that work could be studied to increase efficiency, and specialization. Economist Adam Smith changed the way the world looked at the economy and organization. In his essay, “Of the Division of Labour,” Smith emphasizes the importance of specialization, and how division of labor leads to specialization. He states that this would allow a worker to be more productive and efficient (Shafritz, Ott, & Jang, 2011, p. 41-45). Frederick Taylor introduced the principles of scientific management, which stated that management is a science, workers should be scientifically selected and trained scientifically, and both management and workers should work together.
Taylor, who firstly brought up a new topic, Scientific Management, which is considered the strongest and only economical motive by both workman and entrepreneur in the early 20th centuries. It includes three parts: a)
I don?t believe that ether Chester Barnard?s nor Henri Fayol?s ways of managements are impractical for today?s business environment. They both fit in almost perfectly to almost any company in the United States and even the world.
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.
An argument could be made for one position over the other but based on my research and personal experience, I am of the opinion that it is the leader not the manager who is the most valuable asset of an organization. Managers, although effective in their own right, cannot buy your heart. In the end, when it becomes time to follow someone down a difficult, dark path into the unknown, I want to follow a leader.