Prescribed book. MNG2601.pdf

Prescribed book. MNG PART I Introduction Chapter 1 The evolution of management theory mari Vrba C 1 2013/11/20 4:23 PM Copyright @ 2014. Juta and Company. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright EBSCO : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 5/12/2018 6:33 AM via UNISA AN: ; Vrba, M. J., Brevis, Tersia.; Contemporary Management Principles Account: 2 Part I: Introduction Contemporary management prinCiples OPENING CASE The capitalist philosophers through the ages, relatively few individuals rose above their contemporaries to shape the course of history in the context of the specific social, scientific and political settings of their time. albert einstein, Franklin roosevelt – and closer to home, nelson mandela – are just a few individuals who achieved such status. Frederick Winslow taylor is another example of an achiever whose name appears in history books. taylor is widely considered to be the father of scientific management and although others made substantial contributions to this approach to management, it is taylor’s name that is closely linked to the metaphor of a factory as a ‘machine’ and the mission to find the ‘one best way’ to manage. ‘taylorism’ captivated the attention of management theorists in the United states of america, where taylor’s influence was (and still is) substantial, but also in countries ranging from germany and the soviet Union to india and China1 . taylor was an engineer and a colourful personality who, by the time of his death in 1915 had gained the reputation of being an ‘enemy of the working man’ 2 . a committee of the United states House of representatives summoned him to defend his system of management in 1911. Conversely, in the context of the historical setting at the time, when the average educational level in the Usa workforce was three years, taylor’s ideas instigated a revolution that enabled workers to earn middle-class wages and achieve middle-class status. His ideas resulted in greater productivity, greater purchasing power, and the highest standard of living ever seen in the world3 . supporters of taylor and his ideas say that he is the most popular target of modern management theorists to criticise. one critic described him as the ‘epitome of anachronistic management studies and dehumanising time-motion studies’ 4 . this is an unfortunate presentation of taylor’s work because the fundamental aim of his philosophy was to replace rule-of-thumb opinions with scientific study in a search for the best way to manage complex organisations. ironically, this is precisely the goal that contemporary managers strive to achieve. the human problems resulting from taylor’s scientific method have been obvious ever since its inception. taylor himself recognised the limitations of the scientific knowledge at his disposal and he understood that he was dealing with a human problem as well as with materials and machines. He readily admitted that ‘… the motives which influence men warrant serious studying’ 5 . Viewed in their historical context and judged with reference to the intellectual framework and assumptions of the period in which he lived, taylor’s ideas still have relevance for contemporary managers6 . one example is fast-food chains that serve hamburgers and other standardised products. the food chains organise work in the smallest detail; they analyse the total process of production, determine the most efficient procedures, and allocate specialised duties to people trained to perform them in a very precise way 7 . it is true that scientific management discounted the value of human creativity. What sets current thinking apart from earlier management trends is the recognition that people are the source of the competitive advantage and the heart of the survival instinct that drives the most successful organisations in the twenty-first century. outside units, including remote divisions, suppliers, and even customers, influence the decisions of top management, and teams or work groups are an integral part of organisational activity8 . globalisation, the increasing complexity of markets and production systems, and the exchange of ideas across cultures have all helped the converging of the humanistic and scientific tracks of management9 . this trend is meaningful as it also recognises that, for capitalism to succeed globally, it must be bearable for society – markets are sustainable because social and political institutions underpin them. the success of capitalism will continue to rest on the example set by business organisations, and increasingly by that of global organisations. a new band of twenty-first century managers are shaping and developing these organisations’ views and leadership10 . C 2 2013/11/20 4:23 PM Copyright @ 2014. Juta and Company. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright EBSCO : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 5/12/2018 6:33 AM via UNISA AN: ; Vrba, M. J., Brevis, Tersia.; Contemporary Management Principles Account: 3 ChaPter 1 Evolution of management theory Contemporary management prinCiples LEARNING OBJECTIVES The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the history of management theory, from the Industrial Revolution to the point where the world has entered another revolution, the Information Revolution, which developed in the context of a global economy. The objective of studying this chapter is to enable you to: 1. Explain why managers need to study the history of management theory. 2. Discuss the important contributions made by Frederick W Taylor, Max Weber and Henri Fayol to management theory. 3. Distinguish between human relations, human needs, motivation, and the integration phases of the behavioural approach to management. 4. Explain why the quantitative approach to management emerged and how it led to the focus on quality. 5. Discuss the contributions of W Edwards Deming, Joseph M Juran and Philip B Crosby to the quality approach to management. 6. Discuss the systems approach to management and explain how systems thinking infl uenced the fi eld of cybernetics and Peter Senge’s ideas on the learning organisation. 7. Discuss the contributions of Tom Burns, George M Stalker, Paul Lawrence, Jay Lorsch, Joan Woodward, and Alfred Chandler to the contingency approach to management. 8. Describe the three revolutions that took place since the late eighteenth century and explain how the Information Revolution changed the business environment of organisations. LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1 Explain why managers need to study the history of management theory. 1.1 WHY MANAGERS NEED TO STUDY THE HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT THEORY When studying the evolution of management theory, one recurring theme is that management theorists have developed numerous responses to the same basic management question: What is the best way to manage an organisation? the reason why this question elicited so many diff erent responses is that one should see the proposed ‘best’ ways to manage organisations in the context of the social, political, economic, technological, international and ecological forces that aff ect organisations (and society) at any specifi c time. as these forces change, so do the theories on management, adjusting to changing circumstances in the environment. this chapter reviews the major approaches to management since the beginning of the twentieth century. a study of these approaches is the basis for understanding the practice of management today. management theorists distinguish between six various approaches to management that had evolved since the 1890s, namely the classical, behavioural, quantitative, systems, contingency and quality approaches to management. many of these major approaches still infl uence management thinking today, but towards the end of the previous century, new approaches emerged because of the major changes occurring in the environment since then.