Introduction

Since human beings started living in communities, problems with management of such groups

began and continued to become more complex as humans started relating in bigger and diverse

groups. These problems arose from “the need to organize and manage people; the need to set up

complex administrative and legal structures to maintain the systems built up; and the need to

modify and adapt these systems to cope with change” (Cambridge International College).several

theories and approaches have been developed over time with the effort of managing

organizations especially business organizations. A theory, as defined by Cambridge International

College is “an idea or an explanation which has not yet been universally proved ‘in practice’; it

is a conjecture or speculation as opposed to practice; it might be an “ideal”, or a hypothetical or

abstract situation.” in management, the term management theory is used to refer to differing and

often conflicting theories that have been “studied, researched, commented upon and modified by

many different people both as individuals and as groups over many years”(Cambridge

International College). The 20th century saw an evolution of such theories that until today

influence organizational management to some extent. These theories and approaches according

to Hartman include the classical school of management theory that encompasses bureaucratic

management, administrative management and scientific management branches, the behavioral

movement, the human relations movement, behavioral research models, the Japanese

management and the contemporary management thought that encompasses the systems and

contingency theoretical paradigms.

The earliest contributors to management theory can be divided into two main groups that are the

practising managers such as F.W. Tylor and Henri Fayol, and the social scientists such as Mayo
and McGregor (Cole 2004). Practicing managers focused on personal experiences of

management aimed at coming up with rational principles of management to be applied

universally so as to achieve organizational efficiency (Cole 2004; Cambridge International

College). Cole (2004) further states that “these resultant theories of management which were

labeled ‘classical or scientific’ were primarily concerned with the structuring of work and

organizations, rather than on human motivation or organization culture.” On the other hand,

social scientists bore another group, the contingency theorists, whose focus was on behavior of

employees in relation to factors such as structure, tasks, technology and the work environment

(Cole 2004)

Classical theories focused on the structure and activities of formal/official organisation. To

achieve an effective organisation, utmost importance was given to issues such as the division of

labour (work), the establishment of a hierarchy of authority, and the span of control (Cole 2004;

Robinson 2005). The most popular of this group of theorists are Henri Fayol (1841-1925) and

F.W Taylor (1856-1915). Fayol was a French industrialist who started his career as a mining

engineer at the age of nineteen and rose to Managing Director at the age of forty seven (Cole

2004; Cambridge International College). However, his work became universally popular after

1949 when his 1916 publication, ‘Administration industrielle et generale’ was translated to

English. Fayol advocated for command and control management style and outlined six key

activities in industrial management as follows:

 Technical activities such as production, manufacture and adaptation.

 Commercial activities such as buying, selling and exchanging.

 Financial activities such as search for, and best use of capital.

 Security services such as safeguarding property and persons.

 Accounting services such as providing financial information on stocktaking, balance

sheets, costs and statistics.

 Managerial activities such as planning and organising ((Cole 2004; Cambridge

International College; Robinson 2005)

Fayol further set out fourteen general management principles as outlined below:

 Division of work that encompasses specialisation that leads to speed and accuracy.

 Authority and responsibility which calls for senior personnel to be of high moral

character that sets an example to subordinates. The seniors also have the authority to give

orders to subordinates who should obey those orders.

 Discipline should be observed between an organisation and its employees where

obedience, application and respect are paramount.

 Unity of command where Fayol advised that each worker should receive orders from

only one immediate boss.

 Unity of direction which advocates for one plan, one leader, one set objectives.

 Subordination of individual interests to the general good meaning that the interests of the

organisation come before the individual.

 Fair but not excessive remuneration, which rewards effort.

 Centralisation whereby there is one central point that has control over all other parts of

the organisation.

 The scalar chain or in other words the chain of command which is inclusive of a line or

hierarchy of authority where communication should be from top to bottom.

 Order which advises for a place for everyone and everyone in their place.
  Equity which entails equal and fair treatment of employees that in turn encourages

workers to be loyal and devoted to their work.

 Stability or tenure of personnel where Fayol observed that for efficiency to be achieved,

people need to stay in their jobs long enough to deliver.

 Initiative which entails allowing employees to think through a problem and implement a

solution hence motivating employees.

 Esprit de corps or regard for the group that aims at keeping the team together, using

harmony as a basis of strength (Cole 2004; Cambridge International College; Robinson

2005)

Fredrick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) was an American manager who is popular for his classical

management theory of scientific management. He emphasised that successful management lies

on the employees not on the work therefore materials, equipment and methods should be

modified to make the most out of employees (Robinson 2005). In his 1911 publication,

“Principles of Scientific Management” focused on piece-rate systems and shop management and

other related topics (Cambridge International College; Xu & Rickards 2007). Taylor came up

with four principles of scientific management that were aimed at achieving mental revolution of

both managers and workers (Cole 2004). The first principle/step is “developing a science for

each operation to replace opinion and rule-of-thumb” where each employee’s daily duties were

to be established so that one gets his pay after achieving the set target or gets penalised for not

completing the given task (Cole 2004; Cambridge International College). The second principle is

scientific selection and training which entails proper training and coaching of employees so that

they are suited fro the job and that promotion opportunities are granted to employees for good
work output (Cole 2004; Cambridge International College). The third principle is “bringing

together science of work and the trained man” where the management should take the initiative

of educating workers on the importance of getting appropriate job training. The final scientific

management principle according to Taylor is co-operation between management and workers

whereby the management has the responsibility of giving job instructions, supervising and

paying of employees according to job output (Cole 2004; Cambridge International College)

The third branch of the classical school of theory is the bureaucratic organisation that was

advocated by Max Weber (1864–1920), a German sociologist. Weber was interested in

organisations’ authority; he wanted to know why organisations’ personnel obeyed those in

authority over them (Cole 2004; Robinson 2005; McMillan). He observed that there are three

types of legitimate authority that are traditional authority, charismatic authority and rational-legal

authority (Cole 2004; Robinson 2005; Hartman). Traditional authority is based on traditions and

customs which compel people to obey those in authority whereas charismatic authority is based

on personal qualities where people obey those in authority based on their (rulers) personal traits.

Rational-legal authority stems from the laid down rules and procedures of the organisation (Cole

2004; Cambridge International College; Robinson 2005). Weber further outlined the features of a

bureaucracy as follows:

 Official functions bounded by rules.

 Specialisation of work with a clear division of labour and an understanding of what is

expected, with job holders having the necessary authority.

 A clearly defined hierarchy where the top-bottom approach to management is exercised

 Stable and comprehensive rules, decisions and actions that are recorded in writing.
  Equal treatment of employees in the workplace.

 Fair job appointment based on qualification and competence.

 Officials are paid full-time.

 A career structure.

 Officials are not to be in ownership of the organisation so as to reduce incidents of

bribery and corruption.

 Systematic discipline and control of work (Cole 2004; Cambridge International College;

Robinson 2005)

Bureaucracy was quite beneficial in that social classes were abolished as job appointments were

given according to qualifications and competence and there was equal treatment of employees

despite their personal backgrounds.

Social scientists like Elton Mayo (1880-1949), Abraham Maslow (1908–1970), Mary Parker

Follett (1868–1933) and D. McGregor contributed to the human relations movement that focused

on employees’ welfare with the argument that if employees are well treated and motivated, they

will increase their productivity that will lead to the success of the organisation. Elton Mayo was

an Australian professor who carried out a social research at the Hawthorne plant of the Western

Electric Company in Chicago, USA. He is viewed as the founder of the human relations

movement that advocates for management strategies aimed at improving employees’ welfare

(Cole 2004). This movement was popular as from the mid 1920s to the mid 1950s. the

Hawthorne experiments were carried out in five stages with stage one being carried out between

1924-1927, the second stage between 1927-1929, the third stage from 1928-1930, the fourth

stage in 1932 and the final stage in 1936. The conclusion of these experiments were that

individual workers should be treated as members of a group rather than in isolation; informal
groups in the workplace have a strong influence on workers’ behavior; supervisors and those in

authority should support employees’ informal groups; and people preferred being part of a social

group to monetary incentives and other motivational factors (Cole 2004; Cambridge

International College)

Abraham Maslow came up with the motivational theory of management with his hierarchy of

needs theory being published for the first time in 1954 (Cole 2004). In this model, Maslow

placed basic needs at the bottom whereas higher needs were placed at the top. The needs are

outlined in an ascending manner as follows:

 Physiological needs that include food, shelter, sleep, clothing and sex among others

 Safety needs such as a stable environment relatively free of danger

 Love needs such as affection

 Esteem needs such as self respect, self esteem and the esteem of others

 Self actualisation needs which is simply the need for self fulfillment

D. McGregor formulated the theory of X and the theory of Y which were based on two sets of

assumptions that managers have about their employees (Cole 2004). Theory X is based on the

managers’ attitude that employees are lazy, require coercion and control, avoid responsibility and

seek security whereas theory Y is based on the assumption that employees are seen as liking

work and do not have to be coerced or controlled as long as they are committed to achieve the

organisation’s objectives (Hartman; Cole 2004)

The classical school of management and the human relations/psychosocial school of thought did

not view organisations as complex social systems and this prompted contemporary theorists to

come up with the systems and contingency approaches to management theory. These approaches
look at variables such as people both as individuals and in groups; technology in terms of the

technical requirements of work; organisation structures; and the environment that encompasses

the external factors affecting an organisation (Cole 2004). Examples of theorists in this group

include the Aston Group ( environment, technology and structure), Joan Woodward (technology

and structure), Burns & Stalker ( organic management systems, environment and structure), Katz

& Khan (systems approach to organisations) and the Tavistock institute of Human Relations of

London (socio-technical systems) (Cole 2004)

Conclusion

From the above discussion it can be concluded that the evolution of management theory in the

20th century can be attributed to the extensive research of practising managers such as Tylor and

Fayol, and social scientists such as Mayo and McGregor. The most popular of theories and

approaches developed by these theorists include the classical school of management

(bureaucracy, administration and scientific management), the human relations

movement/psychosocial school of management (motivation theory) and the systems and

contingency theories that focus on organisations as complex social systems whose success

depend on the interaction of several variables such as people, technology, structures and the

environment.
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