Schools of Management Theory Management is defined as the creation and maintenance of internal environment in an enterprise, where individuals working

together in groups can perform efficiently & effectively towards the attainment of the goals. A management process consists of forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. Koontz describes six schools of management theory, they are as follows: 1. The Management Process School Fathered by Henri Fayol, this school views the management theory as a way of organizing experiences for practice, research and teaching. 2. The Empirical School The empirical school views management theory as a study of experience. The idea is that generalizations can be drawn from cases that can be applied as guides in similar situations. 3. The Human Behavior School The central thesis of the human behavior school is that since management involves getting thing done with people, management theory must be centered on interpersonal relations. 4. The Social System School The social system school identifies the nature of the cultural relationships of various social groups and how they are related and integrated. 5. The Decision Theory School The decision theory school of management concentrates on the rational approach to decisions where alternative ideas or courses of action are analyzed. . 6. The Mathematical School The mathematical school of management views management as a system of mathematical models and processes. This includes the operations researchers and management scientists.