1-Modern Management Theories and
1-Modern Management Theories and
1-Modern Management Theories and
Management Theories
Contemporary theories of management are broadly classified as
follows:
1-Scientific Management School
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. Taylor consistently rejected the concept of management by
rule of thumb and replace it with actual timed observations
leading to the one bestpractice. 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 work load 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 stop-watch measured time trials. However,
many critics,
both historical and contemporary, have pointed out that Taylors
theories tend to
dehumanize the workers.
Nevertheless, Taylors postulations were strongly influenced by his
social/historical period (1856-1917) during the 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
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customers/clients, productivity).
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 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).
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.
Team Building approach or theory.
This theory emphasizes quality circles, best practices, and
continuous improvement. It
is a theory that mainly hinges on reliance on teamwork. It also
emphasizes
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