This paper analyzes five great management theorists: F. W. Taylor, Max Weber, Mary Parker Follett, and Douglas McGregor. Each theorist will be compared by four management functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling as detailed in the textbook: The Essentials of Contemporary Management-Sixth Edition from Gareth Jones and Jennifer M. George. We begin by discussing commerce prior the industrial revolution and then we define the key management functions, followed by an examination of each theorist, applying a template of analysis and critique.
A recently discovered leather daybook dating within the period of 1837-1857 accurately depicts the activities of a small crafts business prior to the arrival of the industrial revolution.
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Organizing is structuring the resources to achieve organizational goals. The textbook The Essentials of Contemporary Management-Sixth Edition focuses primarily on the human aspect of organizational resources. Leading is articulating a clear vision and energizing and enabling organizational members so they can understand the part they play in achieving organizational goals. Lastly, controlling is evaluating how well an organization is achieving its goals and taking action to maintain or improve performance.
Let’s begin by analyzing F. W. Taylor. Taylor’s scientific method can be summed up as a systematic study of relationships between people and tasks to increase efficiency (Jones and George 2015). There are four principles involved in this method: (1) Study the way workers perform their tasks, gather all the informal job knowledge that workers possess, and experiment with ways of improving the ways that tasks are performed. This step has the similar attributes of the organizing and controlling tasks discussed earlier in that the controlling task also involves evaluating the division of labor. (2) Codify the new methods of performing tasks into written rules and standard operating procedures. This step is very much about the organizing task. Although there are written rules, this aspect diverges from the leading
9; Koontz, O¡¯Donnell, Weihrich, 1982, p. 27). Organizing is the part of management that involves arranging and co-ordinating work to achieve organisational goals (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 9; Koontz, et al., 1982, p. 28). The manager must influence people so that they will work co-operatively and willingly to achieve these organisational goals, this is known as the leading function (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 10; Koontz, et al., 1982, p. 29). Finally a manager must always control and monitor a subordinate¡¯s work this is the controlling function (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 11; Koontz, et al., 1982, p. 29).
Scientific Management, or Taylorism, is a theory of management by F. W. Taylor that analysed how the highest economic efficiency, especially labour productivity, can be achieved, hence the greatest prosperity for both employers and employees. The four principles that he brought forward are the replacement of the ‘rule of thumb’ work method with a scientific way to study work, matching and training the most suitable person to do each particular job scientifically instead of leaving the workers to choose their own work and teach themselves, the provision of detailed instructions and standard operating procedures by the managers to workers to ensure “all of the work being done in accordance with the principles of the science” and the division of work between workers and managers, which managers are responsible for planning and supervising while workers are to complete the tasks they are assigned to.
Scientific Management is also known as Taylorism. Fredrick Winslow Taylor wanted to divide the work process into small, simple and separate steps (Division of Labor). Division of Labor meant every worker only had one or two steps, this was created to boost productivity. Taylor also believed in Hierarchy, he wanted a clear chain of command that separated the managers from workers. He did this so managers would design work process and enforced how the work was performed and employees would simply follow directions. Taylor wanted to select and train high performing workers or first-class employees and match them to a job that best suited them. Taylor believed the most productive workers should be paid more. Employees who could not meet the new higher standard were fired.
Planning includes the practice of identifying organizational objectives and determining the measures that will realize those objectives. Organizing is the method used to design and develop the structure that will be employed to accomplish the intended tasks, including the required personnel. Leading involves encouraging and guiding individuals to perform required tasks. Controlling is ensuring the desired outcomes are obtained and making modifications when important divergences from expectations transpire (Ardichvili et al., 2012; Yukl,
The twentieth century has brought in a number of management theories which have helped shaped our view of management in the present business environment. These emerging theories have enabled managers to appreciate new patterns of thinking, new ways of organising and new ways of managing organisations and people. Over the years these different theories have enabled the study
There are many Management Theorists who have devised ways in which a business can achieve success efficiently. The two management theorists that I am going to talk about are Fredrick Winslow Taylor and Max Weber, and I will also compare and contrast their contributions to the field of management. There are 4 main classical theories in management which are: 1. Scientific Management 2. Bureaucracy 3. Administrative Management 4. Human Relations. The two that I will be focusing on for this assignment are Scientific Management and Bureaucracy. Frederick Taylor (March 20th, 1856-March 21st, 1915) was an American Engineer. He sought to improve industrial efficiency in the workplace. The birth of Scientific Method is attributed to Taylor and his main
Taylorism is a scientific management system that was developed by Fredrick Taylor in the 1880s. Taylorism works in a method based on F. Taylor’s scientific study of accomplishing different tasks instead of empirical methods or methods inspired by past experience and knowledge. Taylorism also tends to scientifically train and help develop employees’ skills instead of letting them train themselves during their time in the workplace. Another principle of Taylorism is that it gives comprehensive and detailed guidelines and supervision for each worker to perform tasks. Furthermore, workload must be split equally among the workers, which also allows the manager to apply Taylorism in order to plan their work and perform actual tasks.
The more lateral freedom an employee has the more room they have to excel rather than stick to a certain quota, as well as innovate and generally help improve the company in not only culture but productivity as well. This need for more specialized and skilled employees rather than more mindless cogs in a machine is what will move the industrial and business world to the next level from the one at which we stand now, a level that is based on century old and fast dissipating model of doing things. Taylor’s method rested on a few key things, with employees it was their intelligence that came into play, in no way is it possible to tell an educated man that he must do one thing a certain way all day long when there may be an easier or more efficient way to go about it and this is where there is the biggest split between old era scientific management and todays evolving model.
‘Taylorism’ or ‘Scientific Management’ has been a prevalent idea in business theory since Frederick Winslow Taylor produced his “Principles of Scientific Management’ in 1911. The book was written in response to then President Theodore Roosevelt’s challenge to the American people to introduce new methods to create greater efficiency in the American workplace. Taylor’s idea was to ‘secure maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with maximum prosperity for the employee’1. Meaning companies could not gain high levels of production without an initiative for the work force,
Taylor 's Theory was developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, it was mainly associated with Scientific Management. Taylor endeavoured to increase labour and productivity in the workplace through a thorough study of a worker 's role and design a more efficient and productive approach to their jobs, this procedure derived from the observation Taylor made of workers 'soldiering ', the term applied if a worker deliberately worked at less than maximum potential. Taylor 's studies would involve analysing and breaking down tasks, reorganising and then simplifying them (Van Delinder, 2005).
Managers organize by bringing together physical, human, and financial resources to achieve objectives. They identify activities to be accomplished, classify activities, assign activities to groups or individuals create responsibility and delegate authority. They coordinate the relationships of responsibility and authority. (Norman, Small business, 2014).
Scientific management theory was developed in the late 19th century by Fredric Winslow Taylor. At that time, the business environment was experiencing a revolution from agricultural to industrial dependency. As a result, a majority of the workers migrating from rural to industrial areas seeking employment opportunities were untrained and generally less effective. Taylor therefore sought to establish how an organization can enjoy maximum efficiency and productivity. He did this by scientifically studying the work flow process. Particularly, he was interested on how work was being conducted and the effect this had on individual productivity. He concluded that the level of efficiency and productivity between individual varied
Fredrick W. Taylor (1856 1915), pioneered the scientific management movement which studies a job carefully, breaking it into its smallest components, establish exact time and motion requirements for each task to be done, and then train workers to best complete these tasks in the same ways over and over again (Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn, 1998). These efforts are the forerunners of modern industrial engineering approaches to job design that focus on process efficiencies, the best methods and smooth workflows. Despite these efforts, there were critics that criticized Taylor 's assertion that there is no such thing as "skill" in making and moving things and for not asking the workers he studied on how they thought their jobs could be
Between 1770 and 1850, during the Industrial Revolution in England, huge changes occurred in society. In this time, huge Industrial growth occurred due to advancements in power, transport and communication. Inventions such as the steam engine allowed industries to expand and transport goods and materials with ease. Communication improved also due to the arrival of the telegraph, telephone and radio. This industrialisation continued at a rapid pace with the economy in the western world shifting from mainly agricultural to being involved with manufacturing goods and industrial markets. This change required more structured and coherent management methods to be created. It wasn’t until the early 1900s however that formal theories of management started to be formulated with the arrival of classical schools of management.
Early management theories adopted by such proponents as Henri Fayol, Mary Parker Follett and Max Weber are relevant in todays’ world. In this essay I am going to discuss about all three theorists and how their theories are still relevant for managers in the 21st century in meeting the challenges. In the classical approach to management there are three branches under it. They are, scientific management, administrative principles and bureaucratic organisation. Henry Fayol and Mary Parker Follett developed theories for administrative principles and Max Weber developed a theory for bureaucratic organisation (Schermerhorn et al. 2014, p.36). First we will be going through Henri Fayol and then Mary Parker Follett as they both made theories