27-11-2012, 12:03 PM
Historical Background of Management
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Ancient Management
Egypt (pyramids) and China (Great Wall)
Venetians (floating warship assembly lines)
• Adam Smith
Published “The Wealth of Nations” in 1776
Advocated the division of labor (job specialization) to
increase the productivity of workers
• Industrial Revolution
Substituted machine power for human labor
Created large organizations in need of management
Scientific Management
• Fredrick Winslow Taylor
The “father” of scientific management
Published Principles of Scientific Management (1911)
The theory of scientific management
2–4
– Using scientific methods to define the “one best way” for a
job to be done:
• Putting the right person on the job with the correct tools
and equipment.
• Having a standardized method of doing the job.
• Providing an economic incentive to the worker.
Taylor’s Five Principles of Management
1. Develop a science for each element of an individual’s work,
which will replace the old rule-of-thumb method.
2. Scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the
worker.
3. Heartily cooperate with the workers so as to ensure that all
work is done in accordance with the principles of the science
2–5
Exhibit 2.2
that has been developed.
4. Divide work and responsibility almost equally between
management and workers.
5. Management takes over all work for which it is better fitted
than the workers.
• Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
Focused on increasing worker productivity through
the reduction of wasted motion
Developed the microchronometer to time worker
motions and optimize performance
2–6
• How Do Today’s Managers Use Scientific
Management?
Use time and motion studies to increase productivity
Hire the best qualified employees
Design incentive systems based on output
General Administrative Theorists
• Henri Fayol
Believed that the practice of management was distinct
from other organizational functions
Developed fourteen principles of management that
applied to all organizational situations
2–7
• Max Weber
Developed a theory of authority based on an ideal
type of organization (bureaucracy)
Emphasized rationality, predictability, impersonality,
technical competence, and authoritarianism
The Hawthorne Studies
• A series of productivity experiments conducted
at Western Electric from 1927 to 1932.
• Experimental findings
Productivity unexpectedly increased under imposed
adverse working conditions.
2–12
The effect of incentive plans was less than expected.
• Research conclusion
Social norms, group standards and attitudes more
strongly influence individual output and work behavior
than do monetary incentives.
The Contingency Approach
• Contingency Approach Defined
Also sometimes called the situational approach.
There is no one universally applicable set of
management principles (rules) by which to manage
organizations.
2–17
Organizations are individually different, face different
situations (contingency variables), and require
different ways of managing.