Isi Makalah Modern Management Theory

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Modern Management Theory
MODERN MANAGEMENT THEORIES AND PRACTICES:

A CRITICAL OVERVIEW
Introduction
Managing is one of the most important human activities.
From the time human beings began forming social organizations
to accomplish aims and objectives they could not accomplish as
individuals,
managing
has
been
essential
to
ensure
the
coordination of individual efforts. As society continuously relied

on group effort, and as many organized groups have become
large, the task of managers has been increasing in importance
and complexity. Henceforth, managerial theory has become
crucial in the way managers manage complex organizations.
The central thesis of this paper is that although some
managers in different parts of the world could have achieved
managerial success without having basic theoretical knowledge
in management, it has to be unequivocally emphasized that
those managers who have mixed management theory in their
day-to-day practice, have had better chances of managing their
organizations more efficiently and effectively to achieve both
individual and organizational objectives. Therefore, managers of
contemporary organizations ought to appreciate the important
role they play in their respective organizations if they are to
achieve set goals. Secondly, there is need to promote excellence
Doctoral Program Economic Faculty Mulawarman University |
By: Siswati Andaswari
7
among all persons in organizations, especially among managers

themselves.
To address these concerns, the paper will proceed along the
following spectrum: management will be defined for purposes of
conceptual clarity; management objectives, functions, goals, and
essentiality, will be highlighted; the importance of managerial
skills and the organizational hierarchy will be sketched; the
importance of women in the organizational hierarchy will be
emphasized; reasons for studying management theory will be
enumerated; the different management theories, the core of the
paper,
will
be
discussed
at
length;
the
significance
of
management as a practice will be contextualized; and the way

forward in form of a conclusion will be offered.
Definition of Management
Management is the art, or science, of achieving goals
through people. Since managers also supervise, management
can be interpreted to mean literally looking over i.e., making
sure people do what they are supposed to do. Managers are,
therefore, expected to ensure greater productivity or, using the
current jargon, continuous improvement.
More broadly, management is the process of designing and
maintaining an
environment in which individuals, working

7
together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims (Koontz

and Weihrich 1990, p. 4). In its expanded form, this basic
definition means several things. First, as managers, people carry
out the managerial functions of planning, organizing, staffing,
leading, and controlling. Second, management applies to any
kind of organization. Third, management applies to managers at
all organizational levels. Fourth, the aim of all managers is the
same to create surplus. Finally, managing is concerned with
productivity this implies effectiveness and efficiency.
Thus,
management
refers
to
the
development
of
bureaucracy that derives its importance from the need for

strategic planning, co-ordination, directing and controlling of
large
and
complex
decision-making
process.
Essentially,
therefore, management entails the acquisition of managerial

competence, and effectiveness in the following key areas:
problem solving, administration, human resource management,
and organizational leadership.
First and foremost, management is about solving problems
that keep emerging all the time in the course of an organization
struggling to achieve its goals and objectives. Problem solving
should be accompanied by problem identification, analysis and
the implementation of remedies to managerial problems. Second,
administration involves following laid down procedures (although
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procedures or rules should not be seen as ends in themselves)

for the execution, control, communication, delegation and crisis
management. Third, human resource management should be
based on strategic integration of human resource, assessment of
workers, and exchange of ideas between shareholders and
workers. Finally, organizational leadership should be developed
along
lines
of
interpersonal
relationship,
teamwork,
self-
motivation to perform, emotional strength and maturity to handle

situations, personal integrity, and general management skills.
Management
Objectives,
Functions,
Essentiality Management Objectives
Goals,
and
There are basically three management objectives. One

objective is ensuring organizational goals and targets are met
with least cost and minimum waste. The second objective is
looking after health and welfare, and safety of staff. The third
objective is protecting the machinery and resources of the
organization, including the human resources.
Management Functions
To understand management, it is imperative that we break it
down
into
five
managerial
functions,
namely;
planning,
organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Planning involves

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selecting missions and objectives and the actions to achieve

them. It requires decision-making i.e., choosing future courses
of action from among alternatives. Plans range from overall
purposes and objectives to the most detailed actions to be taken.
No real plan exists until a decision a commitment of human and
material resources has been made. In other words, before a
decision is made, all that exists is planning study, analysis, or a
proposal; there is no real plan.
People working together in groups to achieve some goal
must have roles to play. Generally, these roles have to be defined
and structured by someone who wants to make sure that people
contribute in a specific way to group effort. Organizing, therefore,
is that part of management that involves establishing an
intentional structure of roles for people to fill in an organization.
Intentional in that all tasks necessary to accomplish goals are
assigned and assigned to people who can do them best. Indeed,
the purpose of an organizational structure is to help in creating
an environment for human performance. However, designing an
organizational structure is not an easy managerial task because
many problems
are encountered in making structures fit
situations, including both defining the kind of jobs that must be

done and finding the people to do them.

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Staffing involves filling, and keeping filled, the positions in

the organization structure. This is done by identifying work-force
requirements; inventorying the people available; and recruiting,
selecting, placing, promoting, appraising, planning the careers of,
compensating,
and
training
or
otherwise
developing
both
candidates and current jobholders to accomplish their tasks

effectively and efficiently.
Leading is the influencing of people so that they will
contribute to organization and group goals; it has to do
predominantly with the interpersonal aspect of managing. Most
important problems to managers arise from people their
desires and attitudes, their behavior as individuals and in groups.
Hence, effective managers need to be effective leaders. Leading
involves motivation, leadership styles and approaches and
communication. Controlling, for example, budget for expense, is
the measuring and correcting of activities of subordinates to
ensure that events conform to plans. It measures performance
against goals and plans, shows where negative deviations exist,
and, by putting in motion actions to correct deviations, helps
ensure
accomplishment
of
plans. Although
planning
must
precede controlling, plans are not self-achieving. Plans guide

managers in the use of resources to accomplish specific goals;
then activities are checked to determine whether they conform to
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the plans. Compelling events to conform to plans means locating

the persons who are responsible for results that differ from
planned action and then taking the necessary steps to improve
performance.
Thus,
controlling
what
people
do
controls
organizational outcomes.
Finally, coordination is the essence of manager-ship for
achieving
harmony
among
individual
efforts
toward
the
accomplishment of group goals. Each of the managerial functions

discussed earlier on is an exercise contributing to coordination.
Because individuals often interpret similar interests in different
ways, and their efforts toward mutual goals do not automatically
mesh with the efforts of others, it, thus, becomes the central task
of the manager to reconcile differences in approach, timing,
effort, or interest, and to harmonize individual goals to contribute
to organizational goals.
Although these management functions concern the internal
environment for performance within an organization, managers
must operate in the external environment of an organization as
well. Clearly, managers cannot perform their tasks well unless
they have an understanding of, and are responsive to, the many
elements of the external environment economic, technological,
social, political, and ethical factors that affect their areas of
operation.
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Goals of All Managers

First and foremost, the logical and publicly desirable aim of
all managers in all kinds of organizations, whether business or
non-business, should be a surplus.
Thus, managers must
establish an environment in which people can accomplish group

goals with the least amount of time, money, materials, and
personal dissatisfaction or in which they can achieve as much as
possible of a desired goal with available resources. In a nonbusiness enterprise such as units of a business (such as an
accounting department) that are not responsible for total
business profits, managers still have goals and should strive to
accomplish
them
with
the
minimum
of
resources
or
to
accomplish as much as possible with available resources. A

manager who achieves such an aim is said to be a strategic
manager.
The second goal or aim of all managers is that they must be
productive.
recognize
Indeed,
the
government,
urgent
need
for
and
the
productivity
private
sector
improvement.
Productivity improvement is about effectively performing the

basic managerial and non-managerial activities. Simply defined,
productivity is about the output-input ratio within a time period
with due consideration for equality.
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Lastly, productivity implies effectiveness and efficiency in

individual and organizational performance. Effectiveness is the
achievement of objectives. Efficiency is the achievement of the
ends with the least amount of resources. Managers cannot know
whether they are productive unless they first know their goals
and those of the organization.
The: Essentiality of Management in Any Organization

Managers are charged with the responsibility of taking
actions that will make it possible for individuals to make their
best contributions to group objectives. Thus, management
applies to small and large organizations, to profit and not forprofit enterprises, to manufacturing as well as service industries.
However, a given situation may differ considerably among
various levels in an organization or various types of enterprises.
The scope of authority held may vary and the types of problems
dealt with may be considerably different. All managers obtain
results by establishing an environment for effective group
endeavor.
In addition, all managers carry out managerial functions.
However, the time spent for each function may differ. Thus, toplevel managers spend more time on planning and organizing
than do lower-level managers. Leading, on the other hand, takes
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a great deal of time for first line supervisors. The difference in

the amount of time spent on controlling varies only slightly for
managers at various levels.
The manager is, therefore, the dynamic, life-giving element
in every business. Without the leadership of the manager,
resources of production remain mere resources and never
become production. In a competitive economy, the quality and
performance of the managers determine the success of a
business; indeed, they determine its survival.
Furthermore, today, we no longer talk of capital and
labor, but we talk of management and labor. While the
responsibilities of capital and the rights of capital have
disappeared from our vocabulary, today we hear of the
responsibilities
of
management
or
prerogatives
of
management. Thus, the emergence of management as an

essential, a distinct and a leading institution is a pivotal event in
social history. Management is likely to remain a basic and
dominant institution as long as human civilization itself survives.
Management, which is the organ of society specifically
charged with making resources productive, that is, with the
responsibility for organized economic advance, reflects the basic
spirit of the modern age. In fact, because management is
indispensable, this explains why it grew so fast and with so little
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opposition. Hence, the developed and developing worlds have an

immense stake in the competence, skill and responsibility of
management.
Managerial Skills and the Organizational Hierarchy

Mangers require four main kinds of skills, namely: technical,
human, conceptual and design. What do each of these skills
mean? Technical skill is knowledge of and proficiency in activities
involving methods, processes, and procedures. Thus, it involves
working with tools and specific techniques. Human skill is the
ability to work with people; it is cooperative effort; it is
teamwork; it is the creation of an environment in which people
feel secure and free to express their opinions.
Conceptual skill is the ability to serve the big picture. It is
also about recognizing significant elements in a situation, and to
understand the relationships among the elements. Design skill is
the ability to solve problems in ways that will benefit the
enterprise. To be effective, particularly at upper organizational
levels, managers must be able to do more than see a problem. In
addition, they must have the skill of a good design engineer in
working out a practical solution to a problem.
Managers must also have that valuable skill of being able to
design a workable solution to the problem in the light of the
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realities they face. It has, however, got to be mentioned that the

relative importance of these skills may differ at various levels in
the organization hierarchy. For purposes of elaboration, technical
skills are of greatest importance at the supervisory level and less
at the middle-management level, human skills in the frequent
interactions with subordinates at all levels, conceptual skills not
critical for lower-level supervisors but gain in importance at the
middle management level. At the top management level,
conceptual and design abilities and human skills are especially
valuable, but there is relatively little need for technical abilities.
The assumption, especially in large companies, that chief
executives can utilize the technical abilities of their subordinates.
In smaller firms, however, technical experience may still be quite
important.
Women in the Organizational Hierarchy

In recent times, women have made significant progress in
obtaining responsible positions in organizations. Among the
reasons
for
employment
this
development
practices,
are
changing
laws
societal
governing
attitudes
fair
toward
women in the workplace, and the desire of companies to project

a favorable image by placing qualified women in managerial
positions.
However,
in
some
organizations,
women
have

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difficulties in making it to the top. Besides historical reasons,

discrimination has been one of the main reasons why women do
not make it to the top.
Why Study Management Theory?

Theories are perspectives with which people make sense of
their world experiences (Stoner et. al. 1995, pp. 31-2). Theory is
a systematic grouping of interdependent concepts (mental
images of anything formed by generalization from particulars)
and principles (are generalizations or hypotheses that are tested
for accuracy and appear to be true to reflect or explain reality)
that give a framework to, or tie together, a significant area of
knowledge. Scattered data are not information unless the
observer
has
knowledge
of
the
theory
that
will
explain
relationships. Theory is in its lowest form a classification, a set

of pigeon holes, a filing cabinet in which fact can accumulate.
Nothing is more lost than a loose fact(Homans 1958, p. 5).
However,
the
variety
of
approaches
to
management
analysis, the welter of research, and the number of differing

views have resulted in much confusion as to what management
is, what management theory and science is, and how managerial
events should be analyzed. This is why some scholars have
called this situation the management theory jungle(Koontz
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1961, pp. 174-188; 1962, p. 24; 1980, pp. 175-187). Since that
time, the vegetation in this jungle has changed somewhat, new
approaches have developed, and older approaches have taken
some new meanings with some new words attached to them, but
the developments of management science and theory still have
the characteristics of a jungle.
There is a body of opinion that says that management
theory evolved during and after Second World War; it has only
been studied in-depth since then. The industrial revolution that
brought in mass production, specialization, seeing people as
critical resource, all intensified management as a critical area of
discourse.
Principles
in
management
are
fundamental
truths,
explaining relationships between two or more sets of variables,

usually an independent variable and a dependent variable.
Principles may be descriptive or predictive, and not prescriptive.
That is, they describe how one variable relates to another what
will happen when these variables interact. managers who apply
theory to managing must usually blend principles with realities.
Once managers know about theory, they will have the capacity
to forestall future problems that may occur in the enterprise.
At this point it is worth distinguishing management theory
from management techniques. Contrary to the theory we have
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discussed above, techniques are essentially ways of doing things;

methods of accomplishing a given result. In all fields of practice,
including management, they are important. Techniques normally
reflect theory and are a means of helping managers undertake
activities most effectively. In the field of management, then, the
role of theory is to provide a means of classifying significant and
pertinent management knowledge. For example, in the area of
designing an effective organization structure, there are several
principles that are interrelated and that have a predictive value
for managers.
The theory of management is grouped into the five functions
of management. In sum, there are basically three main reasons
why we have to study management theory. First, theories provide
a stable focus for understanding what we experience. A theory
provides criteria for what is relevant. Second, theories enable us
to communicate efficiently and thus move into more and more
complex relationships with other people. Third, theories make it
possible indeed, challenge us to keep learning about our
world. By definition, theories have boundaries.
Management Theories
Contemporary theories of management tend to account for
and help interpret the rapidly changing nature of todays
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organizational environments. This paper will deal with several

important management theories which are broadly classified as
follows: The Scientific Management School comprising the works
of Frederick W. Taylor and Lillian Gilbreths motion study, among
others; the Classical Organizational Theory School comprising the
works of Henri Fayols views on administration, and Max Webers
idealized
bureaucracy,
among
others;
Behavioral
School
comprising the work of Elton Mayo and his associates; the

Management Science School which I discuss at the end of this
section; and Recent Developments in Management Theory
comprising works such as Systems Approach, Situational or
Contingency theory, Chaos theory, and Team Building approach.
For lack of time and space, this discussion will provide a general
description of some of the scholars in each of these management
theories and the successes that they achieved.
Scientific Management School

The first management theory is what is popularly referred to
as Frederick Taylors Scientific Management. Frederick Taylor
started the era of modern management. In the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries, he was decrying the awkward,
inefficient, or ill-directed movements of men as national loss.
7
Taylor consistently sought to overthrow management by rule of

thumb and replace it with actual timed observations leading to
the one best practice. He also advocated the systematic
training of workers in the one best practice rather than
allowing them personal discretion in their tasks. He further
believed that the workload would be evenly shared between the
workers and management with management performing the
science and instruction and the workers performing the labor,
each group doing the work for which it was best suited.
Taylors strongest positive legacy was the concept of
breaking a complex task down into a number of subtasks, and
optimizing the performance of the subtasks; hence, his stopwatch measured time trials. However, many critics, both
historical and contemporary, have pointed out that Taylors
theories tend to dehumanize the workers. Nevertheless,
Taylors
postulations
social/historical
period
were
strongly
(1856-1917)
influenced
during
the
by
his
Industrial
Revolution; it was a period of autocratic management that saw

Taylor turning to science(hence, his principles of scientific
management) as a solution to the inefficiencies and injustices of
the period. It has to be stated that scientific management met
with significant success among which included: the science of
cutting metal, coal shovel design that he produced at Bethlehem
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Steel Works (reducing the workers needed to shovel from 500 to

140), worker incentive schemes, a piece rate system for shop
management, and organizational influences in the development
of the fields of industrial engineering, personnel, and quality
control.
It
has
to
be
acknowledged
that
from
an
economic
standpoint, Taylorism was an extreme success. Application of his

methods yielded significant improvements in productivity. For
example, improvements such as his shovel work at Bethlehem
Works, which reduced the workers needed to shovel from 500 to
140. Henceforth, Taylor proposed four great underlying principles
of management. First, there is need to develop a science of
work to replace old rule-of-thumb methods: pay and other
rewards linked to achievement of optimum goals measures of
work performance and output; failure to achieve these would in
contrast result in loss of earnings. Second, workers to be
scientifically selected and developed: training each to be firstclass at some specific task. Three, the science of work to be
brought together with scientifically selected and trained people
to achieve the best results. Finally, work and responsibility to be
divided equally between workers and management cooperating
together in close interdependence.

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Alongside Taylors postulates is Gilbreths motion study. The

ultimate result of this study led to the centrality of efficiency in
organizations. Gilbreth was particularly interested in how he
could reduce the unnecessary motions resulting from bricklaying
at a construction site; he succeeded in reducing the motions
from 18 to 4. He then proposed that each worker should be
involved in doing his or her own work, prepare for the next higher
level, and training their successors.
Classical Organizational Theory School

In this category of management theory are the works of Max
Webers bureaucratic theory and Henri Fayols administrative
theory. Weber postulated that western civilization was shifting
from wertrational (or value oriented) thinking, affective action
(action derived from emotions), and traditional action (action
derived from past precedent) to zweckational (or technocratic)
thinking. He believed that civilization was changing to seek
technically optimal results at the expense of emotional or
humanistic content. Weber then developed a set of principles for
an ideal bureaucracy as follows: fixed and official jurisdictional
areas, a firmly ordered hierarchy of super and subordination,
management based on written records, thorough and expert
training, official activity taking priority over other activities and
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that management of a given organization follows stable,

knowable rules. The bureaucracy was envisioned as a large
machine for attaining its goals in the most efficient manner
possible. However, Weber was cautious of bureaucracy when he
observed that the more fully realized, the more bureaucracy
depersonalizes itself i.e., the more completely it succeeds in
achieving the exclusion of love, hatred, and every purely
personal, especially irrational and incalculable, feeling from
execution of official tasks. Hence, Weber predicted a completely
impersonal organization with little human level interaction
between its members.
Henri Fayols administrative theory mainly focuses on the
personal duties of management at a much more granular level.
In other words, his work is more directed at the management
layer. Fayol believed that management had five principle roles: to
forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to co-ordinate, and
to control. Forecasting and planning was the act of anticipating
the
future
and
acting
accordingly.
Organization
was
the
development of the institutions resources, both material and

human. Commanding was keeping the institutions actions and
processes
running.
Co-ordination
was
the
alignment
and
harmonization of the groups efforts. Finally, control meant that

the
above
activities
were
performed
in
accordance
with

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appropriate rules and procedures. Fayol developed fourteen

principles of administration to go along with managements five
primary roles. These principles are: specialization/division of
labor, authority with responsibility, discipline, unity of command,
unity of direction, subordination of individual interest to the
general interest, remuneration of staff, centralization, scalar
chain/line of authority, order, equity, stability of tenure, initiative,
and esprit de corps. Fayol clearly believed personal effort and
team dynamics were part of an ideal organization.
Fayols five principle roles (Plan, Organize, Command, Coordinate, and Control) of management are still actively practiced
today.
The
concept
of
giving
appropriate
authority
with
responsibility is also widely commented on and is well practiced.

Unfortunately, his principles of unity of command and unity of
direction are consistently violated in matrix management, the
structure of choice for many of todays companies.
Behavioral School
The key scholar under this category is Elton Mayo. The origin
of behavioralism is the human relations movement that was a
result of the Hawthorne Works Experiment carried out at the
Western Electric Company, in the United States of America that
started in the early 1920s (1927-32). Elton Mayo and his
7
associates experiments disproved Taylors beliefs that science

dictated that the highest productivity was found in the one best
way and that way could be obtained by controlled experiment.
The Hawthorne studies attempted to determine the effects of
lighting on worker productivity. When these experiments showed
no clear correlation between light level and productivity the
experiments then started looking at other factors. These factors
that were considered when Mayo was working with a group of
women included rest breaks, no rest breaks, no free meals, more
hours in the work-day/work-week or fewer hours in the workday/
work-week. With each of these changes, productivity went up.
When the women were put back to their original hours and
conditions, they set a productivity record.
These
experiments
proved
five
things.
First,
work
satisfaction and hence performance is basically not economic

depends
more
communications,
encouragement,
on
working
positive
working
conditions
management
environment.
and
attitudes
response
Second,
it
and
rejected
Taylorism and its emphasis on employee self-interest and the

claimed over-riding incentive of monetary rewards. Third, largescale experiments involving over 20,000 employees showed
highly positive responses to, for example, improvements in
working environments (e.g., improved lighting, new welfare/rest
7
facilities), and expressions of thanks and encouragement as

opposed to coercion from managers and supervisors. Fourth, the
influence of the peer group is very high hence, the importance
of informal groups within the workplace. Finally, it denounced
rabble hypotheses that society is a horde of unorganized
individuals (acting) in a manner calculated to secure his or her
self-preservation or self-interest.
These results showed that the group dynamics and social
makeup of an organization were an extremely important force
either for or against higher productivity. This outcome caused the
call for greater participation for the workers, greater trust and
openness in the working environment, and a greater attention to
teams and groups in the work place. Finally, while Taylors
impacts were the establishment of the industrial engineering,
quality control and personnel departments, the human relations
movements greatest impact came in what the organizations
leadership and personnel department were doing. The seemingly
new
concepts
of
group
dynamics,
teamwork,
and
organizational social systems, all stem from Mayos work in the

mid-1920s.
Recent Developments in Management Theory

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Under this category of theory are the Systems Approach,

Situational or Contingency theory, Chaos theory, and Team
Building theory. The systems theory has had a significant effect
on management science and understanding organizations. A
system is a collection of part unified to accomplish an overall
goal. If one part of the system is removed, the nature of the
system is changed as well. A system can be looked at as having
inputs
(e.g.,
resources
such
as
raw
materials,
money,
technologies, people), processes (e.g., planning, organizing,

motivating, and controlling), outputs (products or services) and
outcomes (e.g., enhanced quality of life or productivity for
customers/clients, productivity). Systems share feedback among
each of these four aspects of the system. The Systems Theory
may seem quite basic. Yet, decades of management training and
practices in the workplace have not followed this theory. Only
recently, with tremendous changes facing organizations and how
they operate, have educators and managers come to face this
new way of looking at things. The effect of systems theory in
management is that it helps managers to look at the organization
more broadly. It has also enabled managers to interpret patterns
and events in the workplace i.e., by enabling managers to
recognize the various parts of the organization, and, in particular,
the interrelations of the parts. The situational or contingency
7
theory asserts that when managers make a decision, they must

take into account all aspects of the current situation and act on
those aspects that are key to the situation at hand. Basically, it is
the approach that it depends. For example, if one is leading
troops in Iraq, an autocratic style is probably best. If one is
leading a hospital or University, a more participative and
facilitative leadership style is probably best.
The Chaos theory is advocated by Tom Peters (1942). As
chaotic and random as global events seem today, they are
equally chaotic in organizations. Yet for many decades, managers
have acted on the basis that organizational events can always be
controlled. Thus, a new theory, known as chaos theory, has
emerged to recognize that events are rarely controlled. Chaos
theorists suggest that systems naturally go to more complexity,
and as they do so, they become more volatile and must,
therefore, expend more energy to maintain that complexity. As
they expend more energy, they seek more structure to maintain
stability. This trend continues until the system splits, combines
with another complex system or falls apart entirely. It will need
an effective manager for the latter worst scenario not to happen.
The last management theory is the Team Building approach
or theory. This theory emphasizes quality circles, best practices,
and continuous improvement. It is a theory that mainly hinges on
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reliance
on
teamwork.
It
also
emphasizes
flattening
of
management pyramid, and reducing the levels of hierarchy.

Finally, it is all about consensus management i.e., involving
more people at all levels in decision-making.
Other Management Theories

In this category are the works of Edward W. Deming and
Douglas McGregor. Edward Deming is the founder of modern
quality management and is regarded by the Japanese as the key
influence in their postwar economic miracle. He postulated
several assumptions: create constancy of purpose for continual
improvement of products and service; adopt the new philosophy
created in Japan; cease dependence on mass inspection; build
quality along with price; improve constantly and forever every
process planning, production, and service; institute modern
methods of training on-the-job for including management; adopt
and institute leadership aimed at helping people to do a better
job; drive out fear, encourage effective two-way communication;
breakdown barriers between departments and staff areas;
eliminate exhortations for the workforce they only create
adversarial
relationships;
eliminate
quotas
and
numerical
targets; remove barriers to pride of workmanship, including

annual appraisals and Management by Objectives; encourage
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education and self improvement for everyone; and define top

managements permanent commitment to everimproving quality
and productivity and their obligation to implement all these
principles.
Douglas McGregor (1906-1964) postulated management
ideas as contained in Theory X and Theory Y. Using human
behavior research, he noted that the way an organization runs
depends on the beliefs of its managers. Theory X gives a
negative view of human behavior and management that he
considered to have dominated management the oryfrom Fayol
onwards especially Taylorism. It also assumes that most people
are basically immature, need direction and control, and are
incapable of taking responsibility. They are viewed as lazy, dislike
work and need a mixture of financial inducements and threat of
loss of their job to make them work (carrot and stick mentality).
Theory Y, the opposite of Theory X, argues that people
want
to
fulfill
themselves
by
seeking
self-respect,
self-
development, and self-fulfillment at work as in life in general. The

six basic assumptions for Theory Y are: work is as natural as
play or rest the average human being does not inherently
dislike work, whether work is a source of pleasure or a
punishment (to be avoided) depends on nature of the work and
its management. Second, effort at work need not depend on
7
threat
of
punishment
if
committed
to
objectives
then
selfdirection and self-control rather than external controls. Third,

commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated
with their achievement.
Satisfaction of ego and self-actualization needs can be
directed towards the objectives of the organization. Fourth, the
average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only
to accept but to seek responsibility. Fifth, high degrees of
imagination, ingenuity and creativity are not restricted to a
narrow group but are widely distributed in the population. Lastly,
under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual
potentials of the average human being are being only partly
utilized.
There is, however, one theory or approach, the quantitative
approach that is hardly used and known by managers. It emerges
from operations research and management science. It is a
mathematical
and
statistical
solution
to
problems
using
optimization models, and computer simulations. It is most

effective management decision-making rather than managerial
behavior. The management theories that have been discussed,
important as they are, have to be translated in practice by
managers. To this discussion I now turn.

7
Management as Practice
Managing, like all other practices whether medicine, music
composition, engineering, accountancy, or even baseball is an
art; it is know-how. It is doing things in the light of the realities of
a situation. Yet managers can work better by using the organized
knowledge about
management. It is this knowledge that
constitutes science. However, the science underlying managing

is fairly crude and inexact. This is true because the many
variables with which managers deal are extremely complex.
Nevertheless,
such
management
knowledge
can
certainly
improve managerial practice. Managers who attempt to manage

without management science must put their trust to luck,
intuition, or what they did in the past.
In managing, as in any other field, unless practitioners are to
learn by trial and error, there is no place they can turn for
meaningful guidance other than the accumulated knowledge
underlying their practice; this accumulated knowledge is theory.
For practical purposes, all managers must develop three sets of
skills, namely; conceptual, technical, and human (see Fleet and
Perterson 1994, p. 25). Conceptual skills allow the manager to
develop relationships between factors that other people may not
see. Managers who have well developed conceptual skills are

7
able to apply different management theories to the same

situation.
For a manager to be technical, it implies that he or she
should act professionally. Professionalism demands that the
manager
performs
procedures,
rules
his
or
and
her
duties
regulations.
within
Any
established
behavior
that
compromises the managers professional etiquette is certainly

bound to interfere adversely with the organizations productivity.
Lastly, a manager should be able to see members of the
organization as human beings who have needs and psychological
feelings and emotions. These needs and feelings must be
positively harnessed for the good of the organization; motivation
of the employees, therefore, becomes a critical factor in
increasing productivity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it has to be restated that management is the
process of designing and maintaining an environment for the
purpose of efficiently accomplishing selected aims. Managers
carry out the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading,
and
controlling.
Managing
is
an
essential
activity
at
all
organizational levels. However, the managerial skills required

vary with organizational levels. Although women have made
7
progress in obtaining responsible positions, they still have a long

way to go. The goal of all managers is to create a surplus and to
be productive by achieving a favorable output-input ration within
a specific time period with due consideration for quality.
Productivity implies effectiveness (achieving of objectives) and
efficiency (using the least amount of resources). Managing as
practice is art; organized knowledge about management is
science. The development of management theory involves the
development of concepts, principles, and techniques. There are
many
theories
about
management,
and
each
contributes
something to our knowledge of what managers do. Each

approach or theory has its own characteristics and advantages as
well as limitations. The operational, or management process,
approach draws on each school and systematically integrates
them. Finally, the organization is an open system that operates
within and interacts with the environment. The systems approach
to management includes inputs from the external environment
and
from
claimants,
the
transformation
process,
the
communication system, external factors, outputs, and a way to

reenergize the system. No doubt, a manager who makes serious
attempts to translate theory into reality is bound to increase
productivity more than a manager who chooses to use the fire
brigade or trial and error approach.
7
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Homans G. C. (1958) The Human Group (New York: Harcout,
Brace and World).
Fleet David D. Van and Peterson Tim O. (1994) Contemporary
Management (Houghton Mifflin Company), Third Edition.
Koontz Harold (1961) The Management Theory Jungle, in
Journal of the Academy of Management, December.
Koontz Harold (1962) Making Sense of Management Theory, in
Harvard Business Review, July-August.
Koontz Harold (1980) The Management Theory Revisited, in
Academy of Management Review, April.
Koontz Harold and Weihrich Heinz (1990)
Management, Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill.
Essentials
of
Stoner James A. F., Freeman R. Edward, and Gilbert, Jr. Daniel R.

(2003) Management (New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India), Sixth
Edition.


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7

Modern Management Theory

MODERN MANAGEMENT THEORIES AND PRACTICES:

coordination of individual efforts. As society continuously relied

among all persons in organizations, especially among managers

management as a practice will be contextualized; and the way

environment in which individuals, working

Doctoral Program Economic Faculty Mulawarman University |

together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims (Koontz

bureaucracy that derives its importance from the need for

therefore, management entails the acquisition of managerial

procedures or rules should not be seen as ends in themselves)

motivation to perform, emotional strength and maturity to handle

There are basically three management objectives. One

organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Planning involves

Doctoral Program Economic Faculty Mulawarman University |

selecting missions and objectives and the actions to achieve

are encountered in making structures fit

situations, including both defining the kind of jobs that must be

Doctoral Program Economic Faculty Mulawarman University |

Staffing involves filling, and keeping filled, the positions in

candidates and current jobholders to accomplish their tasks

precede controlling, plans are not self-achieving. Plans guide

the plans. Compelling events to conform to plans means locating

accomplishment of group goals. Each of the managerial functions

Goals of All Managers

Thus, managers must

establish an environment in which people can accomplish group

accomplish as much as possible with available resources. A

Productivity improvement is about effectively performing the

Lastly, productivity implies effectiveness and efficiency in

The: Essentiality of Management in Any Organization

a great deal of time for first line supervisors. The difference in

management. Thus, the emergence of management as an

opposition. Hence, the developed and developing worlds have an

Managerial Skills and the Organizational Hierarchy

realities they face. It has, however, got to be mentioned that the

Women in the Organizational Hierarchy

women in the workplace, and the desire of companies to project

Doctoral Program Economic Faculty Mulawarman University |

difficulties in making it to the top. Besides historical reasons,

Why Study Management Theory?

relationships. Theory is in its lowest form a classification, a set

analysis, the welter of research, and the number of differing

explaining relationships between two or more sets of variables,

discussed above, techniques are essentially ways of doing things;

organizational environments. This paper will deal with several

comprising the work of Elton Mayo and his associates; the

Scientific Management School

Taylor consistently sought to overthrow management by rule of

Revolution; it was a period of autocratic management that saw

Steel Works (reducing the workers needed to shovel from 500 to

standpoint, Taylorism was an extreme success. Application of his

Doctoral Program Economic Faculty Mulawarman University |

Alongside Taylors postulates is Gilbreths motion study. The

Classical Organizational Theory School

that management of a given organization follows stable,

development of the institutions resources, both material and

harmonization of the groups efforts. Finally, control meant that