History of Management

Miffy HuangOct/04/2012Essay“The history of management”IntroductionDuring last 3 weeks, I have got lots of knowledge from Management class, which are the definition of management and the history of management. Until now, these perspectives are also beneficial to operate an organization. So I would like to give an overview of the definition of management, and then I will take some details and influence on historical perspectives of management.ManagementWhat is management?As you know, management is the process of achieving organizational objectives, within a changing environment, by balancing efficiency, effectiveness and equity, obtaining the most from limited resources, and working with and through other people. With the development of society, the status of management becomes more and more important than before, and an outstanding manager can sharply increase their company’s output and benefits by using a number of excellent methods of management.The history of managementReviewing the progress of management, there are five main perspectives which contain classical perspective, human relations perspective, management science perspective, systems perspective and contingency perspective. Next, I would like to talk to the first two opinions.1. Classical perspectiveTo begin with, at the end of the nineteenth century in America, the classical perspective was raised, and separated it into three subcategories which named scientific management, bureaucracy and management principles.1)Frederick TaylorFrederick Taylor is the father of scientific management, and he is the most famous person in the history of management. As a mechanical engineer, he appalled at the inefficiency of workers and cared about how to earn more money for workers and how to make more profit for managers, so he did a famous experiment whose nam e is “pig iron experiment”.Started, through observing and taking notes, he found the optional way to work, and standardize operation and tools, and then selected the right people for the job and trained them to do it precisely in the best way. During their work, workers were paid an incentive wage; moreover, they hada good relationship between managers and workers, so they could cooperate totheir mutual benefit rather than in continual conflict. By putting the right person inthe job with the correct tools and equipment, by having the worker to follow his instruction exactly, and by motivating the worker with a significantly higher daily wage, the conclusion was Taylor obtained the level of productivity he thought possible.Influences of Taylorism both have bright and dark sides. On the one hand, his theory was adopted by many companies, and inspired others to study and develop his methods; moreover, it was a frame of reference for various current concepts.On the other hand, numerous critics from both historical and contemporary have pointed out that Taylor’s theories tend to “dehumanize”the workers rather than cared for workers.2)The GilbrethsAfter hearing Taylor speak at a professional meeting, Frank Gilbreth started to study scientific management along with his wife Lillian, and they studied work arrangements to eliminate wasteful hand and body motion and also devised a classification scheme to label 17 basic hand motions.Their “Time + Motion Studies” fit into Taylors philosophies about scientific management, and some of their methods are used today, such as videotape, to enhance productivity.3)Henry L. GanttComparing to Taylor, Henry L. Gantt who sought to increase worker efficiency through scientific investigation extended Taylor’s original i deas and added a few of his own. His biggest contribution was a graphic bar chart, which as a scheduling device for planning and controlling work. Following this chart, if workers completed their jobs in less time than the allowed standard, they will earna bonus; therefore, inspired with workers made them more efficiently work.4)Max WeberMax Weber’s contribution stands for bureaucracy theory which means characterized by division of labor, a clearly defined hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships. He emphasized that organization should be run as machines, and he believed that there is a rational-legal organization which would be both more efficient and more adaptable to change than any other.The features of Weber’s ideal bureaucratic structure are the division of labour, organization of positions into a hierarchy, people assigned to positions based on qualifications, decisions and actions are recorded in writing, separation of management from ownership and all subject to rules and procedures, which indicated that “machine” will be well.His theory became the design prototype for many of today’s large organization;however, it still has many of the evils of today’s bureaucracies come from their deviating from those ideal principles.5)Henri FayolHenri Fayol is one of the representative individuals of management principles.Comparing to Taylor, Fayol was a practitioner rather than a scientist, and he paid more attention to activities of all managers, in other words, management layer, than management at the shop level, and his theory was based on personal experience rather than the scientific method. He explained three themes that are abilities require of managers, general principles of management (include 14 principles) and elements of management. He considered six abilities of managers —forecast, plan, organize, command, coordinate and control—which can make you to be an excellent manager.Henri Fayol focused on the personal duties of management; besides, his work was more directed that personal effort and team dynamics were part of an “ideal”organization.6)Mary Parker FollettFollett investigated questions of power and responsibility, but also recognized the needs, abilities and aspirations of employees; consequently, her attribution was a part of the classical perspective, yet it also a bridge to later ideas.2. Human relations perspectivesBecause the rising influence of Trade Unions on numerous countries,development of humanism, command or motivation, and studies that challenged assumptions of scientific management, human relations perspectives gradually became the view which was accepted by managers and workers. It is consisted of the human relations movement and behavioral science theorists, and they concerned the motivation and behavior of the organization.1)Hawthorne StudiesThe most notable contribution to this perspective came out of the Hawthorne Studies which the key player was Elton Mayo, and the place was Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company. There were three studies which included the relay assembly test room, the interview programme and the bank wiring observation room, which had brought out different conclusions.The first experiment was the relay assembly test room in different illumination levels on worker productivity. This experiment showed no clear connection between productivity and the amount of illumination, but researchers began to wonder what kind of changes would influence output. Then they changed other conditions such as redesign of jobs, changes in the lengths of the workday and workweek, the introduction of rest periods, and individual versus group wage plans; as a result, through these ways, Mayo found that those changed conditions had no effect on output; however, with improving the way of supervision and guidance, the attitude of workers changed and output enhanced sharply.The second study was interview programme which Mayo found having friends is more important than pressure in work, and he recognized the power of the group.Everyone’s efficiency not only depend s on themselves, but also their colleagues.The third study was the bank wiring observation room. It was weird because he found that workers won’t work hander anymore, for they formed their own informal subgroups and had their own leader; moreover, they set group norms and output standards. Tho se incentive plans had less effect on workers’ output than did group pressure and acceptance and the concomitant security; in contrast, social norms or standards of the group were the fundamental determinants of individual work behavior.The Hawthorne studies went a long way in changing the prevalent view of the time that people were no different from machines. There were new concepts of “group dynamics”, “teamwork” and organizational “social systems” all stem from Mayo’s work; accordingly, for decades, Hawthorne Studies provided the rational for human relations within the organization; furthermore, the legacy of Hawthorne Studies is still with us today. However, it has not been without critics. From a historical standpoint, it is of little importance whether the studies were academically sound or their conclusion justified.2)Abraham MaslowHuman relations perspectives believe that a satisfied worker is believed to be aproductive worker. Only satisfied worker’s demands can they work more efficiently. Abraham Maslow created a hierarchy of five needs which from bottom to top are biological needs, security needs, love and relationship needs, self-esteem needs and self-actualization. In terms of these motivations, every need in each level to be satisfied is based on which below it has been satisfied.Until now, the needs hierarchy has never been omitted by managers.3)Douglas McGregorDouglas McGregor is well-known for his Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X means a kind of negative view of people, which assumes that people inherently dislike work and will avoid it, and must be coerced or controlled to do work to achieve objectives, and they prefer to be directed. Theory Y offers a positive view which people view work as being as natural as play and rest, and they will exercise self-direction and self-control towards achieving objectives they are committed to, and they learn to accept and seek responsibility. In theory Y, McGregor was talking both a pragmatic and a moral position.4)Frederick HerzbergFrederick Herzberg found five motivator factors and six hygiene factors. The motivator factors, which contented achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility and advancement, are not necessary to a job but are not unimportant, because if we get these factors it can increase our satisfaction. The hygiene factors,which include supervision, company policy, working conditions, salary, peer relationship and security, are significant and necessary for a job; therefore, whatever these factors we lose, we’ll lose our satisfaction.5)John AdamsEquity Theory was made by John Adams. It said that an employee compares his or her jobs inputs-outcomes ratio with that of referents, and if the employee perceives inequity, so he or she will act to correct the inequity. During their work, lower productivity and reduce quality are hard to check out by the employer, but relatively, increased absenteeism and voluntary resignation are obvious. Thinking about their cost, employer should pay more attention to the basic (low) work to prevent the brain drain; for the reason that the little more payment to the basic worker can save cost than the cost for involving a new person.There are many other theories which contribute to human relations perspectives, such as The Three Needs Theory by David McClelland and Expectancy Theory by Victor Vroom. After World War II and continuing today, human relations perspectives help us to understand various issues which are employee motivation, personality differences, the design of jobs and organizations and so forth. These people and their theories have an essential status in the history of management.ConclusionOn one occasion, I heard that a mediocre manager tells, a good manager explainsand a great manager inspires; hence, to be a great manager must arm with a series of scientific management theories to get along with workers rather than cram pressure into their brain or consider a worker to be a machine. From above perspectives, we know that many of them are a frame of reference for current concepts. When we use them, we should think about our unique situation and utilize them flexible.。