Theories of Management and

its Authors
1. HENRI FAYOL
Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer and director of mines who developed a
general theory of business administration that is often called “Fayolism”. Like his
contemporary, Frederick Winslow Taylor, he is widely acknowledged as a founder of
modern management methods. His work was one of the first comprehensive statements
of a general theory of management. He proposed that there were five primary functions
of management and fourteen principles of management. The five primary functions of
management according to him are as follows: to forecast and plan, to organized, to
command or direct, to coordinate, and to control. Fayol’s “14 principles” was one of the
earliest theories of management to be created and remains as one of the most
comprehensive. He is considered to be among the most influential contributors to the
modern concept of management. His theory falls under the administrative management
school of thought, as opposed to the scientific management school led by Frederick
Winslow Taylor.

2. FREDERICK WINSLOW TAYLOR

Frederick Winslow Taylor was an American mechanical engineer who sought to
improve industrial efficiency. He is regarded as the father of scientific management was
one of the first management consultants. Taylor was one of the intellectual leaders of the
efficiency movements and his ideas were highly influential in the progressive era. He
summed up his efficiency techniques in his book “The Principles of Scientific
Management”.
Taylor’s scientific management consisted of four principles. The first is to replace
the rule-of-thumb work methods with methods based on a scientific study of the tasks.
Then, scientifically select, train, and develop each employee rather than leaving them to
train themselves. Third is to provide detailed instruction and supervision of each worker
in the performance of that worker’s task. And lastly, divide the work nearly equally
between managers and workers so that the managers apply scientific management
principles to planning the work and the workers actually perform the tasks.

3. GEORGE ELTON MAYO

George Elton Mayo was an Australian born psychologist, industrial researcher and
organizational theorist. Towards the end of his life, through his association with the
Harvard Business School and the Hawthorne studies, he enjoyed a public acclaim granted
to few social scientists of his day. Mayo has been credited with making significant
contributions to a number of disciplines, including business management, industrial
 sociology, philosophy, and social psychology. His field research in industry had a
significant impact on industrial and organizational psychology. His work helped lay the
foundation for the human relations movement. He emphasized that, alongside the formal
organization of an industrial workplace, there exists an informal organizational structure
as well. His ideas on group relations were advanced in his book “The Human Problems of
an Industrialized Civilization”, which was based partly on his Hawthorne Research. In this
research, Mayo’s team carried out a number of “experiments” to look at ways of
improving productivity. The research involved manipulating length of rest and lunch
periods and piecework payment plans. Mayo concluded that productivity partly
depended on the informal social patterns of interaction in the work group. The qualitative
aspects of the research suggested that norms of cooperation among workers were
related to productivity. He concluded that people’s work performance is dependent on
both social issues and job content. He suggested a tension between workers’ “logic of
sentiment” and managers’ “logic of cost and efficiency” could lead to conflict within
organizations.

4. DOUGLAS MCGREGOR
Douglas McGregor was an American social psychologist and a management
professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and president of Antioch College from
1948 to 1954. His book “The Human Side of Enterprise” proposed his famous “X-Y
Theory” and had a profound influence on education practices. Theory x and theory y are
still referred to commonly in the field of management and motivation, and whilst more
recent studies have questioned the rigidity of the model, McGregor’s X-Y Theory remains
a valid basic principle from which to develop positive management style and techniques.
His theory remains central to organizational development, and to improving
organizational culture.
a) Theory X – In this theory, the management assumes that the employees are
inherently lazy and dislike work. As a result of this, management believes that the
workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of control are
developed. A hierarchal structure is needed with a limited span of control at each
and every level. According to this theory, employees will show little ambition
without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they
can. When practiced, this theory can lead to mistrust, highly restrictive supervision
and a strenuous atmosphere. The Theory X manager tends to believe that
everything must end in blaming someone. The manager thinks all prospective
employees are only out for themselves.
b) Theory Y – In this theory, the management assumes that the employees may be
ambitious, self-motivated and exercise self-control. It is believed that the
employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. According to them, work
is as natural as play. These employees possess the ability for creative problem
solving, but their talents are underused in most organizations. Theory Y managers
 believe that given the proper conditions, employees will learn to seek out and
accept responsibility, exercise self-control and self-direction in accomplishing
objectives to which they are committed. They believe that a good job is a strong
motivation.

 EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT:
 Classical Management School (1880-1930): Scientific, Administrative, and Bureaucratic.
o It is the application of science to the practice of management.
o The development of basic management functions.
o Articulation and application of specific principles of management.
o Summary:
 Scientific – There is concern for precise work methods and chooses the
best way for work to be done.
 Administrative – Focuses on the development of managerial principles and
chooses the best way to organize all jobs in a business.
 Bureaucratic – Impersonal view of organizations and uses formal structure,
legitimate authority and competence of management.

 Neo-Classical Management School (1920-1950): Human Relations, and Behavioral.

o Focuses on the human side of organizations.
 The best way to motivate, structure and support employees.
 The need for workers to find intrinsic value in their jobs.
 The positive impact of social relationships on worker productivity.

 Modern Management School: Systems, Contingency, Organizational Humanism, and

Management Science.
o Dealing with complexity is the core of modern management theory.
o It is a synthesis of several theories, like behavioral science, mathematics, statistics,
operations/quantitative research and computing technologies.
o Management is an exercise in logic applied to situations.
o Application of management knowledge is extended to non-business areas.