EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT

Management practise is as old as human civilisation when people started living together in groups. Every
human group required management and the history of human beings is full of organisational activities and
early contributions which were relevant for management also came from people related with public
administration. However the study of how managers achieve results is predominantly a twentieth century
phenomenon. Initially, the contributions in development of management thought came from people
discharging managerial responsibilities or closely related to business operations. However, these
contributions were not systematic. Over the period of time, growing competition and complexity of
managing large business organisations provided impetus for developing systematic management concepts
and principles. This phenomenon attracted the attention of a wide variety of intellectuals- economists,
sociologists, mathematicians and management practitioners- to study the organisations and processes
through which these organisations could be made more effective. Each of these groups of intellectuals
viewed the processes in a particular way and made recommendations. This led to the emergence of a variety
of orientations and approaches in management; some making clear demarcations from others; some
overlapping others.

EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT

S. No MANAGEMENT THOUGHT PERIOD

1. Early contributions Up to 19th century

2. Scientific management 1900-1930

3. Administrative management 1916-1940

4. Human relations approach 1930-1950

5. Social systems approach 1940-1950

6. Decision theory approach 1945-1965

7. Management science approach 1950-1960

8. Human behaviour approach 1950-1970

9. Systems approach 1960s onwards

10. Contingency approach 1970s onwards

EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS
Before the systematic study of management contributions in the field come from a variety of sources:
existence of organisation and administration in Egypt in 1300 B.C., Confucius’s suggestions for proper
public administration before Christ, Kautilya’s principles of state administration in 320 B.C., Roman
catholic church’ concept of staff personnel, systematic administration as a source od strength during 16th to
18th centuries of the cameralists. These contributions provided insights about how resources could be used
more effectively. However these contributions were outside the field of business and other economic
organisations. In the field of business organisations, some stray contributions have come from Robert Owen,
James Watt, Charles Babbage and Henry Town. Their contributions came bit by bit and in a haphazard
manner and have failed to stimulate to study of management as a distinct discipline. However their ideas
created awareness about managerial problems. By the end of 19th century the stage was set for taking
systematic study of management.
Chanakya (350-283 B.C.) produced 3 famous works: Artha Sastra, Chanakya neeti and Chanakya sutra. He
identified seven pillars for effective state administration: the king, the minister, the country, the fortified
city, the treasury, the army and the ally. These can be treated as pillars of management.

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
The concept of management was introduced by Frederick Winslow Taylor(1856-1915) in USA in the
beginning of the 20th century. This concept was further carried on by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth,Henry
Gantt, etc. Taylor has defined scientific management as follows:
Scientific management is concerned with knowing exactly what you want men to do and then see in
that they do it in the best and cheapest way.
The principles of scientific management are:
1. Science, not rule of thumb
2. Harmony, not discord
3. Cooperation, not individualism
4. Development of each and every individual
The techniques of scientific management given by Taylor were Functional foremanship, standardisation,
work study including time study, motion study, method study and fatigue study.

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
Henry Fayol is considered the father of operational modern management theory . His contributions are
generally termed as operational management or administrative management. Fayol looked at the problems of
managing an organisation from top management point of view. He used the term ‘administration’ instead of
‘management’.
Fayol has divided his approach of studying management into three parts:
(i) managerial qualities (ii) general principles of management, and (iii) elements of management.
Fayol was the first person to identify the qualities required in a manager. According to him there are six
types of qualities; physical, mental, moral, educational, technical and experience.
Fayol has given fourteen principles of management which provide general guidelines for managerial actions.
They can be applied in any organisation : business or non- business, public or private sector.
Fayol holds that management should be viewed as a process consisting of five elements. He has regarded
these elements as functions of management. These are Planning, Organising, Commanding, Coordination
and Controlling.

HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACH

Hawthorne experiments were conducted to analyse the effect of physiological variables on the productivity
of workers at Hawthorne plant of General Electric Company of USA by Elton Mayo(psychologist),
Whitehead and Roethlisberger(sociologists), and William Dickson(company representative). The
experiments conducted were:
1. Illumination experiment
2. Relay assembly test room experiments
3. Mass interviewing programme
4. Bank wiring observation room experiments
Hawthorne Experiments found that there were many human factors that affected productivity of workers
more than the physiological factors. Therefore the findings of Hawthorne experiments were termed as
‘human relations approach’.
The major findings of the experiment were as follows:
1. An organisation is basically influenced by social factors.
2. Workers create informal groups which determine the norm of behaviour of members.
3. Conflicts may be solved with the help of informal group.
4. Leadership is important to direct group behaviour in an organisation.
5. Supervisory climate is important. Friendly, attentive and concerned supervision helps.
6. Proper communication and participation of workers increases productivity of workers.

SOCIAL SYSTEMS APPROACH

Social systems approach of management has extended the implications of human relations approach further.
This approach was introduced by Vilfredo Pareto, a sociologist. His ideas were later developed by Chester
Barnard who synthesised the concept of social systems approach. Main features are:
1. An organisation is a social system, a system of cultural relationships.
2. Relationships exist among the external as well as internal environment of the organisation
3. Cooperation among group members is necessary for the achievement of organisational objectives.
4. For effective management, efforts should be made for establishing harmony between the goals of the
organisation and the goals of the various groups therein.
The contributions of Chester Barnard, a management professional are overwhelming. His book ‘The
functions of the executive’ is regarded as the most influential book on the management during the pre
modern management era.

DECISION THEORY APPROACH

Decision theory approach looks at the basic problem of management around decision making. Major
contributions in this approach have come from Simon. Other contributors are March, Cyert, Forrester, etc.
The major emphasis of this approach is that decision making is the job of every manager. The manager is a
decision maker and organisation is a decision making unit. Therefore, the basic problem in managing is to
make rational decisions. From this point of view it has the following features:
1. Management is essentially decision making
2. The members of the organisation are decision makers and problem solvers
3. Organisation can be treated as a combination of various decision centres.
4. Quality of decision affects the organisational effectiveness.
5. All factors affecting decision making are the subject matter of study of management.
Besides processes and the techniques involved in the decision making, other factors affecting the decisions
are information systems and social and physiological aspects of decision makers.

MANAGEMENT SCIENCE APPROACH

Management science approach, also known as quantitative, mathematical, or operations research. Approach,
visualizes management as a logical entity, the action of which can be expressed in terms of mathematical
symbols, relationships and measurement of data. The major features are:
1. Management is regarded as the problem solving mechanism with the help of mathematical tools and
techniques
2. Management problems can be described in terms of mathematical symbols and data.
3. This approach covers decision making, systems analysis and some aspects of human behaviour
approach.
4. Operations research, mathematical tools and quantitative techniques are the basic methodologies to
solve managerial problems.
Management science approach is a fast developing one in analysing and understanding management. This
has contributed significantly in developing orderly thinking management which has provided exactness in
management discipline. However it is very difficult to call it a separate school of management because it
does not provide the answer for the total managerial problems because many managerial activities are not
really capable of being quantified because of involvement of human beings who are governed by many
irrational factors as well.

HUMAN BEHAVIOUR APPROACH

Human behaviour approach is the outcome of the thoughts developed by behavioural scientists who have
looked at the organisation as collectivity of people for achieving certain specified objectives. Since
management involves getting things done by people , the study of management must revolve around human
behaviour. This approach also known as ‘behavioural science’ or ‘human resource’ approach integrates the
existing and newly developed theories for study of human behaviour. Among the many social psychologists
who have contributed to this approach are Maslow, Herzberg, McGregor, Likert, Bennis, Fiedler and others.
Major propositions of this approach are:
1. People do not dislike work. The job itself is a source of motivation and satisfaction
2. Most people can have a greater deal of self control, self direction and creativity than required in their
current job.
3. The managers basic job is to use the untapped human potential in the organisation.
4. The manager should create a healthy environment wherein all subordinates can contribute their best.
 5. The manager should provide environment for self direction by subordinates.
6. Operating efficiency can be improved by expanding subordinates’ influence.

SYSTEMS APPROACH
Systems approach has attracted the maximum attention of thinkers in management particularly in the present
era. It is an integrating approach which considers management in its totality based on empirical data. The
basic idea of system approach is that of an organisation must rely on a method of analysis involving
simultaneous variations of mutually dependent variables.
A system is an integrated set of elements that are organised according to plan and function as a whole.
Features of a system are:
1. A system is basically a combination of various parts or subsystems.
2. Parts and subparts of a system are mutually related to each other. The relationship is in the context of
the whole.
3. A system is not merely the totality of parts and subparts but their arrangement is more important.
4. A system can be identified because it has a boundary
5. The boundary of a system classifies it into two parts: open system and closed system.
6. System transforms inputs into outputs. This is necessary for survival of the system.

CONTINGENCY APPROACH
Contingency or situational approach is an important addition to the paradigm of modern management theory
and approach. In one way this is an extension of the systems approach. The basic idea of contingency
approach is that there cannot be a particular management action which will be suitable for all situations.
Rather an appropriate action is one which is designed on the basis of external environment and internal
states and needs . Thus contingency approach suggests ‘what should be done in response to an event in the
environment’. The features are as follows:
1. Management action is contingent on certain actions outside the system or subsystem.
2. Organisational action should be based on the behaviour of action outside the system.
3. Organisation- environment relationship is specific in each case.