EVALUATION OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT AND THE PATTERN OF MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS

EVALUATION OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT AND THE PATTERN OF MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS

Introduction  Through  Through the practice of management and the continued development of commerce and wealth we are transforming our lives. In Massachusetts (USA) in the 18!s the life e"pectanc# of a male would have $een %& #ears of age and a female '! in 1* it was 8 for a male and +1 for a female, nowada#s life e"pectanc# would $e in the region &!-8! #ears. hile appreciating the past success of /management0 we would also recognie that toda#0s accelerating pace of change is putting pressure on our organiations to $e at the forefront of management thin2ing. If we want to maintain our standard of  living our rate of change has to $e comparative to the rest of the world. 3ut our prese present nt da# da# manage managemen mentt thin2i thin2ing ng has evolved evolved from from a whole whole range range of  in4uences over an e"traordinar# long period of time. In his comprehensive $oo2 /The 5volution of Management Thought0 6aniel A ren writes "Within the practices of the past there are lessons of history for tomorrow in a continuous stream. We occupy but one point in this stream. The purpose is to  preset the past past as a prologue prologue to the future." future." So with the aim of accelerating the development of our management practice for the future let us e"amine that stream of evolving management thought of the past. 7ur hristian past has taught that us that there was a $eginning (Adam 9 5ve) and there will $e an end (Armageddon) and in $etween we should hear the word of god and o$e# his commandments. e therefore therefore tend to thin2 linearl# as well as in terms of authorit# and compliance. In contrast the religions of the 5ast emphasie the c#clical c#clical and regener regenerative ative properties properties of nature. nature. The# therefor therefore e thin2 thin2 in terms terms of  c#clical processes and of $eing at one with :od and authorit#.  The :ree2 in4uence is evident in that we retain the Socratic concept of searching searching for the truth $# the ;udging of a proposition $# stringent e"amination to conrom Aristotle0s anal#tical s2ills we have developed pro$lem solving methods that $rea2 down comple" issues into component parts. 3ut in this process we often lose sight of the whole and how important is the interrelationship of all the parts. ?ierarchical control structures were recorded in the writings of the hinese :eneral Sun Tu of +!!3 hina@ and it is of note than our own militar# command structures still resem$le those of ancient times. >ather uca Bacioli invented the dou$le entr# $oo22eeping s#stem in 1''. 7ur accounting s#stems to this da# are $ased around these principles. 6uring the Middle Ages the atholic hurch dominated life and provided the hope of  afterlife as the onl# consolation for this one. It discouraged the pursuit of gain. ith the reformation our $eliefs move onto considering that salvation comes from a life of diligence and industr# = the wor2 ethic is nurtured and esta$lished. And at the same time comes the importance of education - the reformers of the si"teenth centur# Scotland had the stated aim of having a college or grammar school in ever# $urgh. >rom this general movement comes the li$ert# ethic where we as individuals esta$lish our rights and start tal2ing a$out government $# the people for the people. And onto the Mar2et ethic of the eighteenth centur# with Adam Smith0s ealth of Cations and the encouragement of free enterprise. And into this evolving culture comes Dames att0s wor2 in the development of the steam engine as a source of power for factories and the resultant move from cottage industries and into factories At one in the same time we have the development of mathematical thought. Isaac Cewton and Simon aplace0s olett where she recognies the interdependencies $etween the individual@ the wor2 and the environment. There are the human $ehavior studies of the ?awthorne e"periments of the late 1*!s@ and the su$seGuent research into motivation $# Ma#o@ Maslow@ ?et$erg@ Mclelland etc. In 1+! 6ouglas Mc:regor writes LThe answer to the Guestion managers often as2 = how do #ou motivate people = is - #ou don0t.L e all come to wor2 alread# motivated, the organiation either captures or destro#s that motivation. 6avid Mclelland (1&!s) of ?arvard Universit# researches motivation for 1! #ears over 1 diHerent cultures. ?e identiurthermore writers such as 5dward de 3ono are challenging the anal#tical and confrontational st#les of Aristotle and Blato in their search for the truth. ?e tal2s a$out lateral thin2ing and developing solutions $# $uilding on people0s /half $a2ed0 ideas (parallel thin2ing). e are now starting to tal2 a$out democrac# within organiations0. hile we have $een committed to democrac# relative to government for hundreds of #ears our commercial organiations are not lead $# elected mem$ers nor are the# held accounta$le to the emplo#ees within the compan#. ?owever Ficardo Semler of  Semco in his $oo2 /Maveric20 (1%) e"plains how he was a$le to transform a traditional hierarchical organiation into one in which the emplo#ees appoint their respective leaders.

Margaret heatl# in her $oo2 /eadership and the Cew Sciences0 (1') starts e"ploring modern scientia#ol $elieved that all managers performed these functions and that the functions distinguished management as a separate discipline of stud# apart from accounting@ a#ol also presented fourteen principles of management@ which included ma"ims related to the division of wor2@ authorit# and responsi$ilit#@ unit# of command and direction@ centraliation@ su$ordinate initiative@ and team spirit. Although administrative management has $een criticied as $eing rigid and in4e"i$le and the validit# of the functional approach to management has $een Guestioned@ this school of thought still in4uences management theor# and practice.  The functional approach to management is still the dominant wa# of organiing management 2nowledge@ and man# of >a#ols principles of management@ when applied with the 4e"i$ilit# that he advocated@ are still considered relevant.

Bureaucratic Management  3ureaucratic management focuses on the ideal form of organiation. Ma" e$er was the ma;or contri$utor to $ureaucratic management. 3ased on o$servation@ e$er concluded that man# earl# organiations were ineJcientl# managed@ with decisions $ased on personal relationships and lo#alt#. ?e proposed that a form of  organiation@ called a $ureaucrac#@ characteried $# division of la$or@ hierarch#@ formalied rules@ impersonalit#@ and the selection and promotion of emplo#ees $ased on a$ilit#@ would lead to more eJcient management. e$er also contended that managers authorit# in an organiation should $e $ased not on tradition or charisma $ut on the position held $# managers in the organiational hierarch#. 3ureaucrac# has come to stand for in4e"i$ilit# and waste@ $ut e$er did not advocate or favor the e"cesses found in man# $ureaucratic organiations toda#. e$ers ideas formed the $asis for modern organiation theor# and are still descriptive of some organiations.

THE BEHAVIORAL SCHOOL  The $ehavioral school of management thought developed@ in part@ $ecause of  perceived wea2nesses in the assumptions of the classical school. The classical school emphasied eJcienc#@ process@ and principles. Some felt that this emphasis disregarded important aspects of organiational life@ particularl# as it related to human $ehavior. Thus@ the $ehavioral school focused on tr#ing to understand the factors that aHect human $ehavior at wor2.

Human relations  The ?awthorne 5"periments $egan in 1*' and continued through the earl# 1%!s. A variet# of researchers participated in the studies@ including lair Turner@ >rit D. Foethlis$erger@ and 5lton Ma#o@ whose respective $oo2s on the studies are perhaps the $est 2nown. 7ne of the ma;or conclusions of the ?awthorne studies was that wor2ers attitudes are associated with productivit#. Another was that the wor2place is a social s#stem and informal group in4uence could e"ert a powerful eHect on individual $ehavior. A third was that the st#le of supervision is an important factor in increasing wor2ers ;o$ satisfaction. The studies also found that organiations should ta2e steps to assist emplo#ees in ad;usting to organiational life $# fostering colla$orative s#stems $etween la$or and management. Such conclusions spar2ed increasing interest in the human element at wor2, toda#@ the ?awthorne studies are generall# credited as the impetus for the human relations school. According to the human relations school@ the manager should possess s2ills for diagnosing the causes of human $ehavior at wor2@ interpersonal communication@ and motivating and leading wor2ers. The focus $ecame satisf#ing wor2er needs. If 

wor2er needs were satisollett@ hester 3arnard@ A$raham Maslow@ Kurt ewin@ Fenais i2ert@ and Keith 6avis. The human relations school of thought still in4uences management theor# and practice@ as contemporar# management focuses much attention on human resource management@ organiational $ehavior@ and applied ps#cholog# in the wor2place.

Behavioral Science 3ehavioral science and the stud# of organiational $ehavior emerged in the 1!s and 1+!s. The $ehavioral science school was a natural progression of the human relations movement. It focused on appl#ing conceptual and anal#tical tools to the pro$lem of understanding and predicting $ehavior in the wor2place. ?owever@ the stud# of $ehavioral science and organiational $ehavior was also a result of  criticism of the human relations approach as simplistic and manipulative in its assumptions a$out the relationship $etween wor2er attitudes and productivit#. The stud# of $ehavioral science in $usiness schools was given increased credence $# the 1 :ordon and ?owell report on higher education@ which emphasied the importance to management practitioners of understanding human $ehavior.  The $ehavioral science school has contri$uted to the stud# of management through its focus on personalit#@ attitudes@ values@ motivation@ group $ehavior@ leadership@ communication@ and con4ict@ among other issues. Some of the ma;or contri$utors to this school include 6ouglas Mc:regor@ hris Arg#ris@ >rederic2 ?er$erg@ Fenais i2ert@ and Falph Stogdill@ although there are man# others.

THE !A"TITATIVE SCHOOL  The Guantitative school focuses on improving decision ma2ing via the application of  Guantitative techniGues. Its roots can $e traced $ac2 to scientior e"ample@ optimal organiational structure has $een theoried to depend upon organiational sie@ technolog#@ and environmental uncertaint#, optimal leadership st#le@ meanwhile@ has $een theoried to depend upon a variet# of factors@ including tas2 structure@ position power@ characteristics of the wor2 group@ characteristics of individual su$ordinates@ Gualit# reGuirements@ and pro$lem structure@ to name a few. A few of the ma;or contri$utors to this school of  management thought include Doan oodward@ Baul awrence@ Da# orsch@ and >red >iedler@ among man# others.

CO"TEM#ORAR% 'SCHOOLS' O( MA"A&EME"T THO!&HT  Management research and practice continues to evolve and new approaches to the stud# of management continue to $e advanced. This section $rie4# reviews two contemporar# approaches total Gualit# management (TRM) and the learning organiation. hile neither of these management approaches oHers a complete theor# of management@ the# do oHer additional insights into the management inall#@ a philosoph# of continuous improvement means that the organiation is committed to incremental changes and improvements over time in all areas of the organiation.  TRM has $een implemented $# man# companies worldwide and appears to have fostered performance improvements in man# organiations. Berhaps the $est-2nown proponent of this school of management was . 5dwards 6eming.

Learning Organi*ation  The contemporar# organiation faces unprecedented environmental and technological changes. Thus@ one of the $iggest challenges for organiations is to continuousl# change in a wa# that meets the demands of this tur$ulent competitive environment. The learning organiation can $e de