Theory M and O EvolutionTheory Evolution

For educational purposes

1. Evolution of O and M Theory

2. Classical/Traditional Theory Scientific Management Administrative Management Bureaucratic Model B. Human Relations School C. The Modern View: Systems and Contigency Concepts

3. The Scientific Management Given initial impetus under the driving force of Frederick Taylor in the latter part of the 19 th and early part of the 20 th centuries. Taylor’s views were strongly influenced by the Protestant ethic of the time. Taylor emphasized the value of hard work, economic rationality and the view that each person had a role to play in society.

4. Taylor did not develop a broad, general theory of management. He was pragmatically oriented with an empirical, engineering and mechanistic emphasis that focused primarily on increasing worker efficiency. In his earlier writings, Taylor referred to his ideas as “task management.” It was in 1910 that the term “scientific management” was coined by Louis Brandeis in a statement before the Interstate Commerce Commission.

5. The primary emphasis of scientific management was on planning, standardizing and improving human effort at the operative level in order to maximize output with minimum input. Early in Taylor’s career, he became interested in improving work efficiency and methods and in ascertaining scientifically the one best method of doing each task.

6. By this means increases in productivity could be achieved and both employer and employee would benefit. By maximizing the productive efficiency of each worker, scientific management would also maximize the earnings of workers and employers. Hence, all conflict between capital and labor would be resolved by the findings of science.

7. Taylor thought that work could be analyzed scientifically and that it was management’s responsibility to provide the specific guidelines for worker performance. This led to the one best method of doing the task, standardization of this method (usually through time and motion studies), selection of workers best suited to performing the specific tasks and training them in the most efficient method for performing the work.

8. Viewed the worker as an adjunct to the machine. The assumption was that workers would be motivated by greater economic rewards which would come from the increasing productivity. Maybe summarized as: “Science, not rule of thumb. Harmony, not discord. Cooperation, not individualism. Maximum output, in place

9. of restricted output. The development of man to his greatest efficiency and prosperity.” Role of Management: A. Develop a science for each element of a person’s work, to replace the old rule of thumb method. B. Scientifically select and then train, and develop the workers, unlike in the past when they chose their own work and trained themselves as best as they could.

10. C. Cooperate with the workers to ensure that all the work would be done in accordance with scientific principles. D. Divide responsibility between management and workers. Management takes over all the functions for which they are better fitted than the workers.

11. Other scientific management theorists: Henry Gantt, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth , Harrington Emerson, Horace Hathaway and Sanford Thompson. Criticisms to scientific management: - many employers regarded this method as an unwarranted interference with many managerial prerogatives

12. - workers resisted time study procedures and standardization of every aspect of their performance - workers felt they were being treated like machines and were required to operate according to mechanistic rather than humanistic principles - workers resisted the incentive systems which required that they continuously perform at a

13. high level - workers objected to the distribution of “savings” that had resulted from the adoption of scientific management because an overwhelming proportion seemed to go to the company rather than to themselves - unions provided the greatest resistance. Taylor did not believe that unions were necessary and that he thought effective cooperation between

14. employer and employees could exist without them. Taylor suggested that unions were only necessary when management did not do its job effectively, that is, by adopting the principles of scientific management. Union leaders saw Taylor’s scientific management as a challenge to their role and to the growth of the union movement.

15. Administrative Management A body of knowledge developed during the first half of the 20 th century with primary emphasis on establishing broad administrative principles applicable to higher organizational levels. Emphasis was on the development of macro concepts. Focuses on formal organizational structure and the delineation of the basic processes of

16. general management Henri Fayol , a French industrialist was one of the earliest exponents of the theory of management. Fayol defined administration in terms of five elements: planning, organization, command, coordination and control. These have become foundations for considering the basic processes or functions of management.

17. Emphasized that the managerial processes and the principles that he developed were applicable not only to business but to governmental, military, religious and other organizations. Developed a comprehensive list of principles to provide guidelines for the manager: - Division of work

18. - Authority and responsibility - Discipline - Unity of command - Unity of direction - Subordination of individual interests to general interests - Remuneration of Personnel

19. - Centralization - Scalar chain - Order - Equity - Stability of tenure - Initiative - Esprit de corps

20. Fayol recognized that the principles were neither absolute nor rigid. Other administrative management writers: Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick , James Mooney and Alan C. Reiley , Mary Parker Follet .

21. Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick In 1937, they edited Papers on the Science of Administration . In the aforementioned papers and other writings, they popularized such principles as: Fitting people in the organizational structure Recognizing one top executive as the source of authority Adhering to unity of command

22. 4. Using special and general staffs 5. Departmentalizing by purpose, process, persons and place 6. Delegating and utilizing the exception principle 7. Making responsibility commensurate with authority 8. Considering appropriate spans of control

23. Mary Parker Follet Brought to her writings and speeches a vast knowledge of governmental and business administration Emphasized the psychological and sociological aspects of management Viewed management as a social process and the organization as a social system Link between the classical administrative management theorists and the behavioral scientists

24. James Mooney and Alan Reiley Ideas were developed around four major principles: The coordination principle which provided for a unity of action in the pursuit of a common objective. The scalar principle which emphasized the hierarchical organizational form and authority.

25. 3. The functional principle which organized tasks into departmental units. 4. The staff principle which recognized the role of line management in the exercise of authority but provided a staff to give advice and information.

26. Bureaucratic Model Associated with Max Weber The term bureaucracy as developed by Weber and his followers is not used in the popularized, emotionally charged sense of red tape and inefficiency. The term bureaucracy refers to certain characteristics of organizational design. Weber viewed bureaucracy as the most efficient model that which could be used most

27. effectively for complex organizations – business, government, military, for example – arising out of the needs of modern society The view of rational-legal authority was basic to Weber’s concept of bureaucracy. It is the right to exercise authority based on position. Rational-legal authority is based on position within the organization and when it evolves into an organized administrative staff, it takes the form of a bureaucratic structure.

28. Within this structure each member of the administrative staff occupies a position with a specific delineation of power, compensation is in the form of a fixed salary, the various positions are organized in a hierarchy of authority, fitness for office is determined by technical competence and the organization is governed by rules and regulations.

29. Weber suggest that the bureaucratic form is the most efficient instrument of large scale administration that has ever been developed in the modern world. Hall suggests that the degree of bureaucratization can be determined by measuring the following dimensions: 1. a division of labor based on functional

30. specialization 2. a well-defined hierarchy of authority 3. a system of rules covering the rights and duties of positional incumbents 4. a system of procedures for dealing with work situations 5. an impersonality in interpersonal relations

31. 6. a system of promotion and selection for employment based on technical competence

32. Merton, Selznick, Gouldner and others have critically evaluated the bureaucratic form and have suggested that while it may describe an ideal type in terms of formal relationships, it does not take into account consequences dysfunctional to organizational effectiveness. Their studies indicate that the bureaucratic organization is influenced by behavioral factors that Weber did not consider.

33. Merton says that one consequence of bureaucratic structuring on the behavior of organizational participants is disruption in goal achievement. He suggests that the bureaucratic form affects its members’ personalities and encourages rigid adherence to rules and regulations for their own sake, which may displace the primary goals of the organization.

34. The modern view is to utilize the Weberian bureaucratic model as a point of departure but also to recognize the limitations and dysfunctional consequences of this highly structured approach. The prevailing view suggests that (1) the bureaucratic form is most appropriate for routine organizational activities where productivity is the major objective and that

35. (2) This form is not appropriate for the highly flexible organization that faces many non routine activities in which creativity and innovations are important. Reference: Kast and Rosenzweig, Organization and Management. Please check also references listed in the syllabus.