Major Schools of Thoughts

Theories of Management &

Administration

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• The Classical School
– Scientific Management----F W Taylor
– Bureaucratic Organization----Max Weber
– Administrative Principles-----Henry Fayol
• Contemporary Thoughts
– The Human Relations Approach
– The Behavioral Approach
– The New Public Management
• New Public Service
• Public Choice Theory
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 The Classical School of Thought in
Management

• The Scientific Management Principles

• The Bureaucratic Administration

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 Scientific Management
• Scientific Management…based on life long
work of F W Taylor, an engineer by profession
turned management consultant by designing
jobs/work assignments on scientific lines.

• His voluminous book ‘The Scientific

Management Principles’ was published in
1911

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Scientific Management Movement
• Scientific Management
– a rational approach to managing organization resources
– in a systematic and objective manner.

• It seeks the “one best way” of accomplishing any given

task by discovering
– the fastest,
– most efficient , and
– least fatiguing method of operation.

• An approach based on carefully defined;

– “laws, rules and principles”
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 The Essence of Theory

• Taylor focused first on the individual worker’s job

activities

• designed detailed measurements of time and

motions involved in any task.

• Standardization of work methods for each task to

avoid ad hocism, delay and overlapping.

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 The Essence of the theory…….
• Incentives, salaries and wages based on scientifically
measured output per given time i.e.
– the ‘piece-rate pay system’

• “Time and Motion Studies” can be applied in industrial

and assembly line operations and administration

• Human cooperation in a mechanical fashion for

maximum output.

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 Taylorism in Public Administration

• L D White
“The objective of public administration is most efficient
utilization of the resources at the disposal of officials and
employees”

Luther Gulick
“ In the science of administration, whether public or private, the
basic ‘good’ is efficiency”

In public sector, position classification and job design still reflect

many of the aspects of Taylorism.
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 Critical Analysis
• Taylorism considers worker as an appendage to a
machine.
– Scientific approach turns workers into highly tuned
machines

• The smooth running organization is supposed to

be highly mechanical.

• The manager’s job is to ensure efficient

operation of the system with little concern for
employees.
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 Critical Analysis
• Clear cut roles and job designs with scientific
education and training

• It considers man as a mean to an end- the

organization’s goals

• In democratic societies, organizations should also be

responsive
– there is a trade off between efficiency and responsiveness

10
 Critical Analysis
• W E Moore- (Industrial Relations and Social Order)
emphasized that the approach ignored social and
human factors in an organization

• It is inhuman approach as incentives are economic only

and linked with maximum output for maximum gains.

• Employees do have needs other than monetary

incentives

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• The Bureaucratic
Administration

12
 Bureaucracy
Development
• It is as old as human civilization itself.

• Modern bureaucracies arose as the

government of states grew larger

• Rise of modern society, and especially following

the Industrial Revolution.

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 Concepts

• Bureaucratic administration means domination through

knowledge— Max Weber

• Weber described many ideal types of public administration

and government in his magnum opus Economy and Society
(1922)

• He described the bureaucratization of society- due to

democratization and rationalization of culture

• the advance of bureaucratic organization is due to its technical

superiority over any other form of organization
— Max Weber
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 Definitions
• An organizational model rationally designed to perform
complex tasks efficiently. (Macionis)

• The type of organization designated to accomplish large-

scale administrative tasks by systematically coordinating the
work of many individuals.
(Blau & Meyer)

• Any large organization, public or private, characterized by a

clearly defined hierarchy of impersonal offices to which
persons are appointed based on technical qualifications and
through which they are subject to strict discipline and
control. (Weber)
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 Characteristics of Ideal-Type of Bureaucracy

• Max Weber identified following key elements

of the ideal bureaucratic organization:
1. Structural Elements;
I. Hierarchy of offices- Graded structure
II. Specialized jurisdictions (Fixed division of labor)
III. A Permanent Bureaucratic System
IV. A career structure- career development
V. Large scale organizations.

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 Bureaucracy
2. Functional Elements
I. Impersonal….. Dehumanizing bureaucracy
II. Formalistic-little social and informal interaction
I. Formal written communications
III. Rule-bound-results into red-tape and delays
• Rational-legal authority (Rules & regulations)
IV. Highly disciplined-creates rigidity
I. Self-discipline
II. Group control
III. Organizational Stability

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 Bureaucracy
3. Power Position of Bureaucracy
i. Highly efficient
• due to technical competence and work specialization

ii. Powerful
• Exercise information, expert, legal/official as well as political power

iii. Ever-expanding

iv. Elites

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 Weber’s Bureaucracy

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

Publishing as Prentice Hall 2–20
 An Analysis by Scott
• Bureaucratic structures evolved from traditional
structures with the following changes:

1. Jurisdictional areas are clearly specified, activities

are distributed as official duties.

2. Organization follows hierarchical principle --

subordinates follow orders of superiors, but have right of appeal

3. Abstract rules govern decisions and actions.

Decisions are recorded in permanent files

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4. Means of production or administration belong
to office. Personal affairs separated from office.

5. Officials are selected on the basis of technical

qualifications/merit.

6. Employment by the organization is a career.

The official is a full-time employee and looks
forward to a life-long career.

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 Scott ..conti

• Weber stressed that the rational-legal form

was the most stable of systems for both
superiors and subordinates -- it's more reliable
and clear.
– Subordinates ideally can challenge the decisions of
their leaders by referring to the stated rules.

• bureaucratic systems can handle more

complex operations.
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 Criticism
• Bureaucracy and responsiveness- Red-tape, delays, inefficiency,
corruption, partisanship

• Bureaucrats consider individuals as cases and not as human beings.

• Although bureaucracies are established to serve the society, but

with the passage of time as bureaucracies get maturer, the society
become dependent of them.

• Rules becomes ends in themselves instead of means toward end i.e

service delivery

• Impersonality, sometimes, becomes almost impossible as public

office holders are human beings not machines
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• HUMAN RELATIONS
APPROACH

26
• Human Relations Approach-----shifting the focus
from work to worker

• It stresses upon a manager to continuously

improve working relationships at all level of the
organization.

• Focus of this approach is also maximum efficiency

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 Human Relations
• The scientific school did not give importance to the human
aspects of the workers.

• Therefore, scientific managers did not achieve a high level

of production, efficiency and co-operation between the
management and workers.

• The failure of the scientific approach led to the human

relations movement.

• The human relations experts tried to integrate Psychology

and Sociology with Management.
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Human Relations …cont
• According to them, organization is a social system
of interpersonal and inter group relationships.

• They give importance to the management of

people;

• That management can get the work done from the

workers by satisfying their social and psychological
needs.

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 Principles of Human Relations Approach

• The 7-basic principles of human relations

approach are :-
1. Human beings are not interested only in
financial gains. They also need recognition
and appreciation.

2. Workers are human beings. So they must not

be treated like machines.
• Managers should try to understand the feelings and
emotions of the workers.

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 ……..Principles of Human Relations Approach

3. An organization works not only through

formal relations, but also through informal
relations.
• Therefore, managers should encourage informal
relations in the organization along with formal
relations.
4. Workers need a high degree of job security
and job satisfaction.

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 ……..Principles of Human Relations Approach

5. Workers want good communication from the managers.

• Therefore, managers should communicate effectively without feelings of ego

and superiority complex.

6. Workers want freedom. They do not want strict supervision.

• Therefore, managers should avoid strict supervision and control over the
workers.

7. Employees would like to participate in decision making,

especially, in those matters affecting their interests.
• Therefore, management must encourage workers' participation in
management. This will increase productivity and job satisfaction.

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 The Behavioral Approach
• Ironically, the Human Relations Approach grew out of
series of scientific experiments conduct by Elton Mayo
and his team.

• Experiments were conduct around six years on the

Hawthorne Workers of the Western Electric Company
Chicago from 1927-1932

• The hypothesis was ‘ the physical conditions at work

would directly affect productivity’.
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 The Behavioral Approach
• Behavioral theorists believe that a better
understanding of human behavior at work, such as
motivation, conflict, expectations, and group
dynamics, improve productivity.

• Several individuals and experiments contributed to

this theory.

• Elton Mayo's contributions came as part of the

Hawthorne studies
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 The Hawthorne Experiments
• The Hawthorne experiments consisted of two studies

• The first study was conducted by a group of engineers

seeking to determine the relationship of lighting levels to
individual worker’s productivity.

• They discovered that workers productivity increased as the

lighting levels increased.

• But astonishingly, productivity increased with the decrease

in light until the employees were unable to see what they
were doing, after which performance naturally declined.
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 Bank Wiring Room Studies
• A few years later, a second group of experiments began.

• Harvard researchers Mayo and F. J. Roethlisberger supervised a

group of five women in a bank wiring room.

• They gave the women special privileges, such as the right to

leave office without permission, take rest periods, enjoy free
lunches, and have variations in pay levels and workdays.

• This experiment also resulted in significantly increased rates of

productivity.

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 Findings & Conclusion
• In this case, Mayo concluded that the increase
in productivity resulted from the supervisory
arrangements rather than the changes in
lighting.
• the intense interest researchers displayed for
the workers was the basis for the increased
motivation and resulting productivity.

• Employees socialized themselves, formed

informal group, modified their behavior and
set their own rules. 37
• Essentially, the experimenters became a part of the
study and influenced its outcome. This is the origin of
the term Hawthorne effect….

• Hawthorne effect : the finding that a manager’s

behavior or leadership approach can affect workers’
level of performance.

• Employees react/behave as groups rather than as

individuals.
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Findings & Conclusion …cont

• Human relations and the social needs of

workers are crucial aspects of management.

• As a group, employees worked for inner

satisfaction and not materialistic rewards only.

• shifting the focus to the role of individuals in

an organization's performance.

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• THE SYSTEMS APPROACH
• Shifting the focus from work to worker, and
now to working environment

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 The Systems Approach
• It’s the study of relationship between the organization and its
environment.

• Organizational Environment
The set of factors and forces that operate within and outside an
organization’s boundaries but affect a manager’s ability to acquire
and utilize resources.

• A system is a collection of parts unified to accomplish an overall goal.

• If one part of the system is removed, the nature of the system is

changed as well.

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 System Theory ..cont
• Systems are;
– Open Systems
– Closed Systems

• Open system:
A system that takes in resources from its external environment and
converts them into goods and services that are then sent back to
that environment for purchase by customers.
Open systems are adaptive.

• The Cybernetic Model

• The Feedback Loop

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The Organization as an Open
System

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

Publishing as Prentice Hall 2–44
 System Theory ..cont
• Closed System
A system that is self-contained and thus not
affected by changes that occur in its external
environment.
• Entropy
The tendency of a system to lose its ability to
control itself and thus to dissolve and
disintegrate.

45
 System Theory ..cont
• Systems theorists argue that “the parts are
more than the sum of the whole”
• They mean that an organization performs at a
higher level when its operational
units/departments work together rather than
separately
• synergy
Performance gains that result when individuals
and departments coordinate their actions.
46
 Critical analysis
• The systems approach also recognizes existence of
organization sub-systems working in harmony for
greater gains.

• These sub-systems may be working in conflict with

other sub-systems

• A productive manager create synergy by overcoming

resistance in the components of the system

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 Pakistani Bureaucracy: a Comparison with
Weber’s Principles
• The civil service of Pakistan follow the principle
of hierarchy.
• Selection of candidates is based on technical
qualifications determined by a rigorous process.
• The system of division of labor exists.
– Strict division between generalists and specialists
• The civil service is a well-defined career based
on seniority, or merit or both

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• Although merit system is the hallmark of civil
service, however, quota system is also present.

• It is rule bounded and operates in legal

framework.

• As Weber identified malfunctions of

bureaucracy, we also find such drawbacks in
Pakistani bureaucratic systems and structures.

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 Ecology of Bureaucracy
Ecology

Bureaucracy Environment

• Ecological factors
– Historical
– Ideological- religious, political, democratic
– Economic
– Social & Cultural
– Technology and innovation
– Globalization
– Security and Terrorism
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 CSS-Questions
• CSS-2014
• Q. No. 5. Describe Max Weber’s Ideal Type Bureaucracy and discuss its applications
in the Modern society. What are its dysfunctions and how these can be overcome
to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the Public Sector of Pakistan?
• CSS-2012
• Q. 2. Give a precise but comprehensive account of major schools of thoughts in
administration. Also compare and contrast Taylor’s Scientific Management and
Human Relations.
• Q. 3. Explain the basic theme and theoretical bases of the ‘New Public
Management’. What are the different mechanisms, that have used in pursuing
NPM goals by the governments in different parts of the World, especially in
Pakistan?
• Q. 6. Critically examine the Weberian model of bureaucracy. Do you think its
characteristics are still relevant to changing Public Administration and should be
maintained?

56
• CSS-2011
• Q.5. Discuss Max Weber’s concept of “ideal type of bureaucracy”.
How does it differ from the existing public bureaucracy in Pakistan?
• Q.8. Write short notes on any FOUR of the following: (a) E-
government in Pakistan (b) Judicial activism (c) F. Taylor’s “Scientific
Management Theory” (d) Theory X and Theory Y (e) New Public
Management Concept
• CSS-2010
• Q.3. Comparatively evaluate Taylor’s Scientific Management and
Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy and discuss their relevance to
contemporary public organizations in Pakistan. (20)
• Q.4. Compare and contrast the Bureaucratic Model with New Public
Management (NPM). Do you think NPM has replaced the
bureaucratic approach to public administration? Support your views
with examples from Pakistan

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Q&A

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