Management is when different individuals come together in an organization to work

towards achieving the organizational goals. People in an organization work towards

the same goal but perform in various ways. Thus, management is taking charge of
different activities in an organization and guiding their efforts towards the same goal.
Managers in an organization would perform functions such as planning, organizing,
staffing, directing and controlling. But most of the managers focus on earning a
surplus. Managers would manage the workers in such a way that they would increase
productivity efficiently and effectively. The organization also needs to learn to
influence the behavior of the employees. A firm cannot only rely on providing their
employees with financial incentives such as Salaries, Perquisites, Wages etc but also
have to provide them with non financial incentives such as Promotions, Job
Enrichment, Employee Empowerment etc. Hence many great managers have come
up with different theories regarding this topic. Two popular ones are Scientific School
of Thought by Frederick Winslow Taylor [1856-1915] and Human Relation School of
Thought by Elton Mayo [1880-1949].

Management, as described by Mary Parker Follett can be called the ‘art of getting
things done through people’. An organization’s performance completely relies on
how effective is their management. Therefore, achieving group goals and personal
goals become the top priority of management.

There are different types of schools of management

1. The Classical Approach

2. The Neo-Classical Approach
3. The Modern Approach

The Classical approach includes Scientific Management, Administrative Management

and Bureaucratic Management. The Neo-Classical approach includes Human relation
approach, Behavioral approach and Operational research approach. The Modern
approach includes System Theory and Contingency Theory.

Scientific School of Thought

This part of the essay would focus on scientific school of thought also known as
“Taylorism” which comes from the Classical Approach. The name Taylorism arises
from Fredrick Winslow Taylor, the founder of scientific management. “Scientific
management means knowing exactly what you want one to do and seeing that they
do it in the cheapest way possible.” This approach focused on achieving the task in
the most efficient and effective way possible. Maximum prosperity was to be the
principle aim of any organization. According to Taylor, each employee should
specialize in a particular job and should be given further training so that they can
produce more and earn more. This would help prosper both the company and the
worker. He said that the main factor which motivates the workers in an organization
is monetary reward. Taylor did not believe the management and workers should be
separated, he always thought that they should work together and should be treated
equally. F.W. Taylor is also famously known as the “Father of Scientific Management”.
His main focus was on motion study and time study. The work methods designed by
Taylor were to simply increase the productivity from the workers. In short, we can say
that Taylor strongly believed in division of labour which results in the workers being
de-skilled.

Scientific management is based on some of the following principles:

 Firstly, Rule of Thumb method should be replaced with scientific approach.

Each method should be evaluated and the best method therefore should be
selected.
 Secondly, Workers and managers should be able to work together and
coordinate their work. There should be no dispute between them and each
task should run smoothly in an organization.
 Thirdly, each worker in an organization should need the other. The top and
the lower level of the organization should co-operate with each other at all
times.
 Lastly, every person should be able to develop to their greatest efficiency and
prosper accordingly.

F.W.Taylor conducted many experiments during his career, and some of the
techniques of management specified by him are:

1. Functional Foremanship
2. Standardization and Simplification of Work
3. Method Study
4. Motion Study
5. Time Study
6. Fatigue Study
7. Differential Piece Wage System

Behavioral School of Thought

This part of the essay would talk about the Behavioral School of Thought which
comes under the Neo-Classical Approach. This approach did not only focus on
maximum prosperity of the organization but fulfilled the employee’s needs also.
According to Elton Mayo, the employee’s needed something over and above
financial incentives and that was the non – financial incentives. The behavioral
science approach studied the attitude, behavior and performance of the individuals
and groups in an organization.
The Human Relation Movement focused on cooperation and coordination among
the employees not only to achieve the organizational goals but also to increase
communication among the employees and fulfill their needs. The attention provided
to the human resource was the salient aspect of the Human Relation Movement.
Informal groups formed within an organization are proved to be most effective when
decisions are to be made, as it unites all the members in the organization. The
management should make sure to fulfill their safety/security needs, the basic
physiological needs, affiliation needs etc.