Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 2
Management in the Past
• Management existed, but…..– Often hereditary (usually
male…)– One-trial learning– But, some thought about
management
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 3
• First large state• Centralized government
– Provincial governors (nomarchs)– Bureaucrats (taxation, irrigation)– Based on writing (first
Information Revolution)
• Large scale construction projects– Pyramids, Sphinx, temples– Workforce: thousands of
peasants, possibly slaves (prisoners of war)
The Case of Egypt
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 4
Sun Tzu and The Art of War• Dates uncertain –
– Some say he lived ca. 544 BC to 496 BC– Others place it closer to 600 BC
• A renowned Chinese general• The Art of War a work on military
strategy, but seen in Asia as a guide to management
• Principles:– Moral cause for battle– Leadership – wise, courageous,
benevolent yet strict– Awareness of environmental conditions –
events and the playing field– Organization and discipline– Espionage
Sun Tzu and The Art of War
“Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes few calculations before hand. It is by attention to this point that I can see who is likely to win or lose.”
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 6
Farming in Rome
• Cato the Elder (234 - 149 BC)• De re rustica or Roman Farm
Management• Instructions for the
management of a commercial farm– Absentee landlord– Based on slave labor– Wine grapes or olives
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 7
Cato’s Advice• “When the weather is bad and field work
cannot go on, carry the manure out to the manure heap. Clean thoroughly the ox stable, the sheep pen, the yard…”
• How an olive orchard…should be equipped…a foreman, a foreman’s wife, five laborers, three ox drivers, one ass driver, one swineherd, one shepherd, thirteen persons in all….”
• “Have the work oxen cared for with the greatest diligence and to some degree flatter the ox drivers so that they will more cheerfully care for the oxen”
• When the head of the household comes to the farmhouse...he should make the round of the farm; if not on the same day at least on the next.
Planning
Organizing
Leading
Controlling
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 9
The Industrial Revolution
• A long-term process, not a single event– Protestant Work ethic– Political changes (American,
French revolutions)– Invention of steam power
• Some important figures:– Adam Smith (1776)– James Watt, Eli Whitney
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 10
The Industrial Revolution – New Technology• Manufacturing
– Steam engines– Cotton gin– Mass production through
standardization and specialization
• Transportation– Steam powered ships– Railroads
• Communications– Telegraph
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 11
Large Organizations and New Approaches to Management• Economic transformation
– Previously – family farms, small workshops
– After Industrial Revolution – large organizations, requiring management skills
• New demands on management– Need for professional managers
(as opposed to owners)– Need to plan, structure, and
schedule activities– Push to efficiency– Need for worker training and
socialization to factory work
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 12
Classical Management• Time period: last half of 1800’s, first
part of 1900’s• Environment:
– Social / Political: little restraint (Robber Barons)
– Economic: manufacturing economy, focus on efficiency
– Technology: most jobs relatively simple
• Major schools– Scientific management– Administrative management theory
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 13
Scientific Management
• Bottom- up approach• Focus on efficiency,
primarily in industrial settings
• Today: industrial engineering, production management
• Key players:– Frederick W. Taylor– Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 14
General Principles
• Standard methods for performing jobs
• Push to efficiency• Employee selection and
training• Management control over
work processes• Wage incentives for
output
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 15
F. W. Taylor and Scientific Management• Worked at Midvale Steel
(beginning as a common laborer, rising to chief engineer, in 6 years)
• Identified “soldiering”– Workers doing less than they
were capable of– Due to lack of training, fear of
losing work or rate cuts
• Began with time study and incentive plans
• Pig iron study: the right shovel for each job
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 16
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth: The One Best Way• Focus on work
simplification and efficiency– Reduce time and fatigue
(Frank)– Involve workers (Lillian)
• “The One Best Way”• Therbligs
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 18
Scientific Management: Recap
• Contributions:– Pay for performance– Careful examination of job tasks– Importance of training and
selection
• But……..*– Assumed workers were robots
without social needs or higher order needs
– Assumed all individuals were the same
– Ignored worker’s potential to contribute ideas, not just labor
* These are Taylor’s ideas; Gilbreths thought differently
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 19
Administrative Management Theory• Top-down approach• Focus on rationality, no
matter what the setting• Today: basis of most
management texts• Key players:
– Henri Fayol– Max Weber
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 20
Henri Fayol• French manager (coal mining)• Published Industrial and General
Administration in 1916 (not translated into English until 1930’s)
• Elements of management– Planning– Organizing– Command, Coordination, Control
• Fourteen principles• Universality of management• Management as a skill can be taught
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 21
Fayol’s 14 Principles
1. Specialization of labor
2. Authority 3. Discipline4. Unity of
command5. Unity of
direction6. Subordination
of individual interests
7. Remuneration
8. Centralization9. Scalar chain
(line of authority)
10. Order11. Equity12. Personnel
tenure13. Initiative14. Esprit de
corps
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 22
Max Weber and Authority
• Traditional– Inherited - monarchs
• Charismatic– Based on the individual
• Rational – Legal– Based on the position
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 23
Max Weber and Bureaucracy• Bureaucracy = management by the
office (Büro)• Weber well aware that bureaucracy
could become an end in itself• Bureaucracy
– Clearly defined division of labor, authority, responsibility
– Offices organized in a hierarchy– Recordkeeping (organizational memory
and continuity separate from individuals)– Selection on the basis of qualifications– Officials appointed, not elected– Administrators work for fixed salaries, on
a career basis– Administrators are not owners– Administrators subject to impersonal
rules, discipline, control
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 24
Human Relations Movement and Subsequent Developments• Hawthorne Studies• Mary Parker Follett• Chester Barnard
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 25
Hawthorne Studies• Western Electric plant, Hawthorne
Illinois, 1930’s• Mayo, Roethlisberger and Dickson• Original idea: effect of lighting on
productivity• Three phases
– Relay Assembly Test Room (social nature of work, effect of supervision)
– Bank Wiring Room (group norms)– Interview program
• The “Hawthorne Effect”
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 26
Theory and Practice
• Mary Parker Follett– Primarily a political thinker,
theoretical writer– Emphasized the importance of
the group
• Chester Barnard– AT & T executive– Importance of communications– Authority -- exists only if
accepted– Functions of the executive
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 27
The Last Fifty Years
• Management science• Systems theory• Motivation and leadership• Contingency models
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 28
Management Science
• Different from "scientific management”
• Formative years: 1940's to 1960's
• Operations research• Uses a quantitative basis
for decision making - mathematical models
• Emphasis on managing production and operations
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 29
Systems Approach
• Formative years: 1950's to 1970's
• Views an organization as a group of inter-dependent functions contributing to a single purpose
• Important contributor: U.S. Department of Defense
Spring 2007 History of Management Thought 30
Motivation and Leadership (1950’s and 1960’s)• Late 1950's: Douglas McGregor
proposed his Theory X and Theory Y assumptions of the relations between
• Early and mid 1960's: contingency models of leadership proposed a need for different styles under different circumstances (Fred Fiedler)
• 1964: Vroom's VIE theory (valence, instrumentality, expectancy) of motivation proposed
• Mid 1960's: David McClelland proposed need for achievement theory
• Late 1960's: Frederick Herzberg proposed his two-factor theory of motivation (motivators and hygiene factors)
• Late 1960's: Edwin Locke outlined his goal setting approach to motivation