Classical perspective is a management approach that focuses on hierarchy, labour specialization,

centralized authority and most notably, the provision of monetary incentives to employees in order
to optimize their productivity. The first most valuable contribution of this approach in the modern
workplace is of wage incentives. This management approach highlights that employees have
economical and physical needs that can only be met by money. A way to utilize this need in the
quest of getting employees to be more hard-working and productive, is to reward them with money
for going the extra mile. In the modern workplace we see this being translated as overtime pay,
performance-based bonuses and profit sharing.

The second contribution is a clearly defined division of labour. Projects are broken down into smaller
and manageable tasks for each employee. An employee’s responsibilities and expectations for their
job gets clearly defined to them in the terms of their employment contract. This division of labour in
a business naturally brings about job specialization as employees are just focusing on that one task.
In the modern workplace we see a business having various departments like the marketing and
finance department which will have individuals that mostly or only specialize in that field.

Humanistic management is a people-oriented management that emphasizes the interest of the

employee in the employee-manager relationship. It also considers human interactions and
relationships as vital to a business’ performance. Its contribution in the modern workplace has thus
been the promotion and protection of the human dignity of all employees. Human dignity means
being worthy of respect regardless of one’s position in the company, their race, gender etc. A
workplace with a culture of dignity promotes self-worth, self-assurance and pride within its
employees, thus increasing their productivity and engagement. This is because employees will have
lower work-related stress and will also feel confident in voicing their suggestions, opinions and
concerns to those in leadership positions. One sees companies having open-door policies that
encourage employees to reach out to their managers with any questions and concerns at any time.
One also sees sensitivity training of all employees that teaches them to value and respect each
other.

Another valuable contribution is the integration of ethical reflection in management decisions. This
management approach values human wellness, therefore, makes management examine all its
decisions in terms of how they will affect or risk their employees.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach that focuses on achieving long-term
success through customer satisfaction. All employees participate in improving the processes used,
and in improving the products and services too. A valuable contribution it has had in the modern
workplace is of continual improvement. TQM is all about continual process improvement, as it drives
a business to stay analytical and creative in finding efficient ways to meet expectations. A common
example of this, is Toyota implementing the Kanban System in order to make its assembly line more
efficient.

The second contribution is customer focus. Customers’ input and opinion is valued as they are the
ones who justify a product’s quality. By being customer focused, this management approach
encourages the better understanding of customers’ needs and wants through research and using
strategy data. One sees this in businesses designing a survey system or having a call centre in order
to track and ensure customer satisfaction of the quality of the product.
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