The Evolution of

Management Thinking
 Learning Outcomes

◉ Describe some early management examples.

◉ Explain the various theories in the classical approach.
◉ Discuss the development and uses of the behavioral
approach.
◉ Describe the quantitative approach.
◉ Explain various theories in the contemporary approach.

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Major Approaches to Management

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 Historical Background

◉ The Egyptian pyramids and the Great Wall of China

◉ Adam Smith---Division of Labor (job specialization)
_ breaking down jobs into narrow and repetitive tasks
o Industrial Revolution
_ A period during the late eighteenth century when machine
power was substituted for human power, making it more
economical to manufacture goods in factories than at
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 1. CLASSICAL Approach

◉ First studies of management, which emphasized rationality and

making organizations and workers as efficient as possible
1. Scientific Management
2. General Administrative Theory

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 a) Scientific Management

◉ An approach that involves using the scientific method to find the

“one best way” for a job to be done
◉ Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management

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 a) Scientific Management

◉ The Gilbreths’ primary contribution was finding efficient hand-

and-body motions and designing proper tools and equipment for
optimizing work performance
◉ Microchronometer recorded a worker’s hand-and-body motions
and the amount of time spent doing each motion

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 b) General Administrative Theory

◉ An approach to management that focuses on describing what

managers do and what constitutes good management practices
◉ Henri Fayol was a French Engineer
◉ Managerial activities were vary across the organizational levels
◉ He saw great need for systematic approaches to train managers
◉ Henri Fayol- 14 Principles of Management

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 Max Weber: The Theory of Bureaucracy

◉ Existing approaches of organization had really obvious problems

especially around authority
◉ Most workplace used relationship , kinship to lead and make
decisions
◉ Employees were hired or fired on the basis of non organizational
factors
◉ Decision making was isolated in the hands of few people
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 Wanted a More Rational Approach

Organizations should act rationally to achieve their goals

 Clarified leadership structure

 Clarified rules for decision making

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The Theory of Bureaucracy

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 2. BEHAVIORAL Approach

◉ The behavioral approach to management emphasizes increasing

production through an understanding of people
◉ The field of study that researches the actions (behavior) of people at work
is called organizational behavior (OB).
.

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 Hawthrone Studies
◉ A series of studies conducted between 1924 and 1932
◉ Investigated the behavior and attitude of workers
◉ Divided into two phases: The relay assembly test rooms experiments and
bank writing working conditions
The relay assembly test room experiment
◉ Determine the relationship between the intensity of lightning and worker efficiency
Results: Found no consistent relationship between productivity and lightning
intensity
The Bank Writing Observation Room Experiment
◉ Analyze the social relationship in a work group
Results: Social groups in organizations could effectively exert pressure to influence
individual to disregard monetary benefits
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 The Human Relation Movement

◉ A people oriented approach to management in which the interaction of people

in organization is studied to judge its impact on organizational success.
◉ Advocates of Human Relation Movement
Abraham Maslow: Managers must understand physiological ,safety, social ,
esteem and self-actualization needs of managers
Douglas McGregor: Formulated Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X: Employees tend to dislike work ----must be coerced, punished and
controlled to achieve organizational goals.
Theory Y:Employee does not dislike work------will exercise self control and self
direction to achieve organizational goals
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 Advocates of the OB approach

◉ Early advocates of the OB approach:

_ Robert Owen,
_ Hugo Munsterberg,
_ Mary Parker Follett,
_ Chester Barnard

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BEHAVIORAL Approach

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 3. QUANTITATIVE Approach

◉ The use of quantitative techniques to improve decision making

◉ It involves applying statistics, optimization models, information
models, computer simulations, and other quantitative techniques
to management activities
◉ Total quality management (TQM)
A philosophy of management that is driven by continuous
improvement and responsiveness to customer needs and
expectations
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Principles of Total Quality Management

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 CONTEMPORARY Approaches

◉ Earlier approaches focused on managers’ concerns inside the organization

◉ Starting in 1960s,managers look at what was happening in the external
environment outside the boundaries of organization
◉ Two contemporary management perspectives
_ System Approach
_ Contingency Approach

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How does the systems approach contribute to our
understanding of management?

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 Assumptions of System Approach

◉ All organizational parts are working together as unified

whole
◉ Actions and decisions in one organizational area will affect
other area
◉ Organizations are not self contained

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 System Approach
System
A set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a manner
that produces a unified whole
Closed systems
Systems that are not influenced by and do not interact with their
environment
Open systems
Systems that interact with their environment
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Organization as an Open System

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 Contingency approach
(situational approach)

A management approach that recognizes organizations as different,

which means they face different situations (contingencies) and
require different ways of managing
A good way of describing contingency is “if, then”
◉ There are no simplistic or universal rules for managers to
follow

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Contingency Variable

◉ Organization Size
◉ Routineness of Task Technology
◉ Environmental Uncertainty
◉ Individual Differences

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 Let’s review some concepts
◉ Looking at history gives managers a
broader perspective for interpreting ◉
and responding to current
opportunities and problems
◉ Today’s managers use the quantitative
approach, especially when making
decisions, as they plan and control work
activities such as allocating resources,
improving quality, scheduling work, or
determining optimum inventory levels.
The Hawthorne Studies
dramatically affected management
Frederick W. Taylor, known as the
beliefs about the role of people in
“father” of scientific management,
organizations, leading to a new
studied manual work using
scientific principles that is, emphasis on the human behavior
guidelines for improving factor in managing
production efficiency—to find the
one best way to do those jobs
◉ The systems approach says that an
organization takes in inputs
(resources) from the environment and
transforms or processes these
resources into outputs that are
distributed into the environment
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