Professional Documents
Culture Documents
- Provided a set of concepts and a vocabulary and a whole way of thinking about organizations that
is a direct counterpoint to the classical management era school of thoughts
- Established by Ludwig von Bertalanffy and J.G Miller in the 1960s and 1970s
*Researchers in the Organizational Studies imported the systems metaphor of the living biological
organism and key terms pursue a richer understanding how organizations worked
- Published by Daniel Katz and Robert Kahn in 1966 that applied systems theory concepts to
organizational life
Organizational System
Interdependence
Goals
- Goals in a system are contingent and negotiated (means it depends on what the organization is
facing and where it goes along the way where the system develops)
- Equifinality
o There is no one best way to organize
o All ways of organizing are not equally effective
Feedback
- Negative feedback: Seeks to correct or reduce deviations in the system’s processes to reestablish
a steady course back in the direction of the system’s goals
- Positive feedback: Changes or grows the system in desired ways that amplify and enhance the
system’s current processes
Entropy
Henri Fayol – big French name in the classical management era of organizational studies, the
administrative science era
General and Industrial Management – his book that was published in English in 1949
“It is a case of setting it going, starting a general discussion – that is what I’m trying to do by publishing
this survey, and I hope a management theory will emanate from it” (Fayol, 1949 p.16)
6 Activities of Industry
5 Management Activities
Principles of Management
Scientific Management
Applying science to work – studying tasks carefully and systematically at the micro level to speed
up work
Wanted to break away from the common sense “rules of thumb” that he saw as unproven and
inefficient
Scientific management is also known as Taylorism
Division of Labor
Wanted to divide the work process into small, simple, and separate steps
Each step or two was performed by a different person
Wanted to determine the one best way, a standard, to do every part of every task to boost
productivity
Hierarchy
Wanted a clear chain of command that separated the managers from workers
Managers would design work process and enforced how the work was performed
Employees simply followed directions
Wanted to select and train high-performing workers or “first-class employees” and match them to
a job that best suited them
Believed the most productive workers should be paid more
Employees who could not meet the new higher standard were fired
Time = What is the least amount of time, on average, it took to perform each task and even each part of
each task? (Reduce amount of time)
Motion = What were the fewest number of motions required for each small task? (Reduce numbers of
motion)
Outcomes of Taylorism
Boost in productivity by 200% to 400%
More work accomplished with fewer people meant more profit for companies
More consistent products of arguably higher quality
Companies often failed to pay employees more
“Managers think, employees do” philosophy became normal
Separated workers from the greater meaning of the work
Deskilled employees and made them expendable
“Survival of the fittest” philosophy = harsh atmosphere
Employee burnout, dehumanization, mental anguish
Max Weber
Authority
Traditional Authority – most work places used relationships, kinship, or customs to lead and make
decisions
Particularism
- Employees were hired or fired for a variety of non-organizational reasons such as religion, race,
sex, and relational/family connections – favoritism
*Wanted a more rational approach (Organizations should act rationally to achieve their goals: Clarified
leadership structure, clarified rules for decision making)
Legal-Rational Authority
o The legitimate authority of leadership positions should be formalized and fixed to those positions
o Consistent with the societal law, organizations should be run by formal rules and policies
o Authority resides in the position or office
Bureaucracy
Max Weber
Frederick Taylor
Henry Fayol