Principles of Management

Module 2: History of Management

Module Learning Outcomes

Describe the work of major contributors to the field of management

2.1: Describe the contributions of Frederick W. Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and Henry Gantt to the field of
scientific management
2.2: Describe the contributions of Max Weber and Henri Fayol to the field of bureaucratic management
2.3: Describe the contributions of Mary Parker Follett and Elton Mayo (Hawthorne studies) to the field of humanis
tic management
2.4: Describe current developments in management practices
Scientific Management
Learning Outcomes: Scientific Management

2.1: Describe the contributions of Frederick W. Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and Henry
Gantt to the field of scientific management
2.1.1: Explain the concept of scientific management
2.1.2: Summarize the work of Frederick W. Taylor
2.1.3: Summarize the work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
2.1.4: Summarize the work of Henry Gantt
Basics of Scientific Management

• Frederick Winslow Taylor

• Known as the father of management
• Examined ways to run a business efficiently and productively

• Revolutionary ideas
• Emphasized employee training
• Implemented standardized practices to improve productivity

• His method is seen as scientific management

• Borrowed techniques from botanists and chemists
• Employed scientific techniques such as analysis, observation, synthesis, rationality, and logic
Frederick W. Taylor

• Was a mechanical engineer

• Interested in the type of work done in factories and mechanical shops
• In 1909, he published the Principles of Scientific Management

• Believed the work system could be improved

• Searched for employees incentives
• Everyone should get “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” (no more,
no less)
• Employees must meet goals
• Productivity would increase if jobs were simplified
• Jobs should be broken down by job component and timed to check
efficiency
Frederick W. Taylor Theories

• Concerned about worker output more than worker

satisfaction/motivation
• Introduced idea of systematic training and selection- encouraged
owners to interact with worker
• Created a “First-class worker” concept
• detailed what worker should be able to accomplish
• Digital Taylorism is maximizing efficiency
• Updated version used by FedEx and Amazon
Scientific Management Core Principles

• Look at each task to determine “best way”

to perform job
• Hire right workers for each job and train to
work at maximum efficiency
• Monitor worker performance and provide
instruction and training
• Divide work between management and
labor so workers can be more efficient
Classical School of Management

• The Gilbreths focused on worker welfare and motivation.

• They believed that by reducing the amount of motions associated with a particular task, they
could also increase the worker’s well-being.
• Their research, along with Taylor’s, provided many important principles later incorporated
into quality assurance and quality control programs begun in the 1920s and 1930s.
• Eventually, their work led to the science of ergonomics and industrial psychology.
Benefits of Gantt’s Project Management:

The Gantt chart has multiple benefits for project management:

• aids in the breakdown of tasks into specific elements

• allows for the monitoring of projected timelines
• identifies which tasks are dependent upon a prior task or element
• identifies which tasks are which are independent and can be completed at any time
Class Discussion: Maximizing Efficiency

Taylor suggested that productivity would increase if jobs were optimized and simplified. He
also proposed matching a worker to a particular job that suited the person’s skill level and then
training the worker to do that job in a specific way.

If Digital Taylorism focuses on maximizing efficiency, then how does that influence the work of
a modern day employee? What are some examples of this theory that you know from
experience?
Bureaucratic Management
Learning Outcomes: Bureaucratic Management

2.2: Describe the contributions of Max Weber and Henri Fayol to the field of bureaucratic
management
2.2.1: Explain the concept of bureaucratic management
2.2.2: Summarize the work of Max Weber
2.2.3: Summarize the work of Henri Fayol
Understanding Bureaucratic Management

• Looks at how government

departments and large
businesses operate
• Examines how to manage more
effectively
• Influential theorists
• Max Weber
• Henry Fayol
Max Weber and Bureaucratic Theory

• Born in Germany during time when industrialization was transforming

most aspects of society and government
• Interested in industrial capitalism
• Industry is privately controlled and operated for profit
• Visited United States to study U.S. economy (1904)
• Authority wasn’t function of experience but of social status
• Based on rational authority- most authority given to most competent
• Thought bureaucratic theory would result in highest level of efficiency
—however negative aspects
• Excessive procedures, boredom, unresponsiveness
Characteristics of Bureaucracy

Identified six characteristics of bureaucracy

1. Hierarchical Management
2. Division of Labor
3. Formal Selection Process
4. Career Orientation
5. Formal Rules and Regulations
6. Impersonality
Henri Fayol and Administrative Theory

• Born in Turkey 1841

• Experimented with different management structures
• Incorporated some of Weber’s ideas in his theories
• Concerned instead with how workers were managed and
how they contributed
• Created the 5 duties of management
Five Duties of Management

• Foresight: create plan of action for future

• Organization: provide resources to implement plan
• Command: select and lead best workers through clear orders
• Coordinate: make sure diverse efforts fit together through communication
• Control: verify whether things are going according to plan and correct as needed
Set of Management Theories and Practices

• Fayol thought management principles needed to be flexible and adaptable and that they
would be expanded through experience and experimentation.

• Guiding principles:
• Scalar chain: unbroken chain of command extends from top to bottom
• Unity of command: employees receive orders from only one superior
• Unity of direction: activities that are similar should be the responsibility of one person
• Division of work: workers specialize in a few tasks to become more proficient
Class Discussion: Fayol and Weber

In small groups, discuss the two most significant contributions to management practice and
theory created by Fayol and Weber? What are the characteristics of each?

How are these contributions still at work today in management theory?

Humanistic Management
Learning Outcomes: Humanistic Management

2.3: Describe the contributions of Mary Parker Follett and Elton Mayo (Hawthorne studies) to
the field of humanistic management
2.3.1: Explain the concept of humanistic management
2.3.2: Summarize the work of Mary Parker Follett
2.3.3: Explain the significance of Elton Mayo's work (Hawthorne studies)
Basics of Humanistic Management

• Places emphasis on interpersonal

relationships
• Highlights concerns about lower standards
of workmanship and lower wages
• Labor unions began addressing growing
fear of the workers
• the US government called Frederick Taylor to
testify about aims of his proposals
Mary Parker Follett

• Considered to be the ”Mother of Modern Management”

• Developed concepts applied to business and management

• created a better understanding of lateral processes
• noted the Importance of informal processes within organizations
• applied principles of noncoercive power sharing she called integration
• examined empowerment and facilitation instead of control
• promoted conflict resolution in group based on constructive
consultation
Follett: “Mother of Modern Management”

• Follett devoted her life’s work to the idea that social cooperation is better than individual
competition.
• In her 1924 book Creative Experience, Follett wrote:
“Labor and [management] can never be reconciled as long as labor persists in thinking that there is a
[management] point of view and [management] thinks there is a labor point of view. These are imaginary
wholes which must be broken up before [management] and labor can cooperate.”
Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne Experiments

• Completed a series of studies designed to isolate factors in

workplace that affected productivity
• If positive change was implemented, productivity increased
• If negative change was implemented, productivity still increased
• Employed nondirective interview method
• Benefits- feeling of group cohesion, friendlier attitude of
researchers, attention brought to individuals
• Published findings in “The Human Problems of an
Industrialized Civilization” in 1933
Current Developments in Management Practices
Learning Outcomes: Current Developments in Management
Practices
2.4: Describe current developments in management practices
2.4.1: Explain the concept of operations management
2.4.2: Explain the concept of systems management
2.4.3: Explain the concept of information management
2.4.4: Explain the concept of contingency management
Introduction to Current Developments in Management
Practices
• Many argue classical practices and theories are no longer valid
• Most of what we do requires us to interact with large-scale institutions
• Government agencies, banks, health-care providers, insurance companies, etc.
Forces Shaping Management and Current Developments
Forces Shaping Management and Current Developments
(cont.)
• Pace of Change Rate of progress x2 every decade
• Technology. Primary factor driving change
• Globalization. Increasing ease of flow between countries
• Diversity. Tremendous resource to organizations- different perceptions, experiences, and
strengths
• Social Expectations. Would provide goods and services society required
Current Developments in Management

• Becoming more specific with formation of disciplines

• Also becoming more general
• managers are given a toolbox, not step-by-step procedure

• Operations Management. Concerned with physical processes involved

• Initial product design to incorporate features
• Manage supply chain
• Work with marketing and sales

• Information Management. Depends on accuracy to make decisions

• Concerned with collection, preservation, storage, etc. of information
Systems Approach to Management

• Gets feedback from from the market in two ways

• Receives revenue
• Receives information on how well organization is doing: direct
information from surveys
• Focuses on whole production process; usually split by
specialties within company
• Companies are open to environmental influence
• Political instability, economic conditions, consumer tastes, etc
• Must be able to detect change and respond effectively
Contingency Management

• Not specific function—general approach

• Every situation recognized as unique;
managers must adapt to match situation
• Might include industry in which company
operates
Class Activity: Amazon and Management

• Why learn about the history of management?

• Principles developed during Industrial Revolution are still practiced today
• Relatable concepts to modern experiences
• Helps with the studies of successful businesses today
• Let’s take a minute to review Amazon, as an example of modern day cutting- edge business
practices. Amazon Prime Air: Automated Drone Delivery System
• Do you see any similarities between managing a modern technology company like Amazon
and managing the large industrial steel companies that dominated U.S. industry in the late
1800s and into the turn of the twentieth century?
• Which of the classical management theories are the most relevant today? Which are the most
non-relevant?
Present: Amazon and Management
Class Activity: Google and Management

• Why learn about the history of management?

• Principles developed during Industrial Revolution are still practiced today
• Relatable concepts to modern experiences
• Helps with the studies of successful businesses today
• Review the article about Google by the International Journal of Corporate Social
Responsibility which discusses the Harvard Business Review case study “Project Oxygen”.
• Which of the management theories discussed in this module are the most relevant today in a
organization like Google?
Present: Google and Management
Quick Review

• Explain the concept of scientific management

• Summarize the work of Frederick W. Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and Henry Gantt
• Explain the concept of bureaucratic management
• Summarize the work of Max Weber and Henri Fayol
• Explain the concept of humanistic management
• Summarize the work of Mary Parker Follett and Elton Mayo
• Explain the concepts of operations, systems, information, and contingency managements