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Max Weber and Bureaucracy
Developed the theory of bureaucracy which is defined as a formal system of organization and administration designed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Weber believed that organizations would greatly benefit from a system of clearly defined objectives and regulations, a strictly defined hierarchy, and an increased level of skill and evaluation.
History of Management Thought. (n.d.). Retrieved from ht
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2014). Contemporary Management. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. -
Administrative Theory
Administrative management is defined as the study of how to create on organizational structure and control system that leads to high efficiency and effectiveness. Henri Fayol believed that management was an essential part of most aspects of life, not just in business. Because of its importance, he came up with four basic administrative functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling and 14 principles of management. (Bosman, 2009)
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Scientific Management Theory
Discovered and defined by Frederick W. Taylor as the systematic study of relationships between people and tasks for the purpose of redesigning the work process to increase efficiency. Scientific management discusses the ideas of specialization and the division of labor as key components to increased efficiency. This would be made possible of each employee could reduce the amount of time and energy put in to each unit of output. (Jones & George, 2014) -
The Gilbreths
Married couple Frank and Lillian Glibreth focused studies on fatigue and motion in the work place. The purpose was to increase efficiency and allow employees to reach their potential through the physical benefits of eliminating fatigue and and the sense of concern shown from their management. -
The Hawthorne Studies
The Hawthorne Studies consisted of a wide variety of experiments done the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne plant between 1924 and 1933. The initial experiment measured the relationship between worker efficiency and lighting in the workplace. After unstable results, following experiments replaced the lighting variable with increased wages, rest periods, and shorter workdays and work weeks. (History of Managment Thought) -
Mary Parker Follett
Introduced new topics in the area of human relations. She believed that individuals reached their highest potential through working in groups. Referring to management as “the art of getting things done through people”, Follett centered her theory around the importance of relationships and preferred the idea of groups over a managerial hierarchy. (History of Management Thought) -
Rensis Likert
Likert is best known for his studies on a survey scale that measures attitudes, the Likert Scales. He concluded that “employee-centered supervision was more effective than job-centered supervision” and “identified four management systems that are present in organizations”: exploitive-authority, benevolent-authority, consultative, and participative-group.
Management History Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved from McGraw-Hill/Irwin: http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/management_timeline/content.html -
Total Quality Management
Inspired by Joseph Juran and W. Edwards Demming, total quality management focuses on the quality of output and the response to customers and is viewed as the responsibility of every individual in the organization. Studied through the 1940s and 1950s, the largest aspects of TQM include “focus on the customer, employee involvement, and continuous improvement”. (Management History Timeline) -
Reinforcement Theory
The reinforcement theory applies psychology of the mind to its role in management. The theory suggests that “consequences that follow a certain behavior serve as motivators for repeating the behavior”. There can be two types of reinforcers that influence future behavior: positive and negative reinforcers. Positive reinforcers encourage and reward positive behavior and negative reinforcers are essentially types of punishment that will cease negative behaviors. (Management History Timeline) -
Systems Approach
Identifies an organization as a system of separate parts instead of one large unit. The three parts identified are inputs (raw materials from the external environment), transformation (converting the raw materials into a product), and outputs (finished goods returned to the external environment). The systems approach also identified two different types of systems: open systems (interact with their environment) and closed systems (do not interact with environment). (Management History Timeline) -
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow theorized that individuals are motivated by 5 needs that start with basic physiological needs and continue on to safety, belongingness, esteem, and ending with self-actualization. Maslow proposed that until an individual has satisfied a level of needs, they cannot move on to the next. Being able to identify which level an employee is at would make it possible to match their needs/motivation with an appropriate project. (Jones & George, 2014) -
Quantitative Approach
The quantitative approach is a technique that uses statistics, models, and computer simulation to add to the process of decision making organizational activities. This theory popularized the ability to analyze all types of data within an organization and has become a staple in today’s management. (Management History Timeline) -
Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory
Frederick Herzberg studied attitudes of people in the workplace and categorized positive attitudes as intrinsic factors and negative attitudes as extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors (motivation) refer to opportunities of growth and responsibility. Extrinsic factors (hygiene) related to job security and working conditions. Through his studies he discovered that eliminating one factor did not increase the other. (Management History Timeline) -
McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y
According to Douglas McGregor, employees can be categorized and viewed by managers in to different groups. Theory X implies that employees dislike work and require coercion to complete their work. Theory Y is the more positive category and assumes that employees find work to be natural and assume responsibility and complete tasks independently and tend to seek out more responsibility. (Management History Timeline) -
McClelland's Theory of Needs
Explains three needs for employee motiviation. The first need is the need for achievement and refers to individual’s drive for success, avoidance of failure, and desire for responsibility and challenge. Second is the need for power, which describes individuals who seek to be looked upon for authority and have a competitive nature. Finally is the need for affiliation, which illustrates individual’s desire for personal relationships. (Management History Timeline) -
Equity Theory
The equity theory refers to employee’s perceptions of equality in the workplace, relating to inputs and related outcomes. According to the theory, there are four main comparisons made: self-inside, self-outside, other-inside, and other-outside. These comparisons refer to personal and peer experience inside and outside of the organization. (Management History Timeline) -
Fiedler's Contingency Model
Assumes that group performance is based on two important steps: determining leadership style and evaluation the situation. According to Fred Fiedler there were two defined basic leadership styles: relationship-oriented and task-oriented. Fiedler defined three aspects that influence leader effectiveness: leader-member relations (rated as good or poor), task structure (rated as high or low), and position power (rated as strong or weak). (Management History Timeline) -
Expectancy Theory
This theory contains three basic relationships: effort-performance, performance-reward, and rewards-personal goals. Effort-performance is the idea that a given amount of effort will result in certain performance. Performance-reward is the expectation that a certain level of performance will result in a desired outcome. Rewards-personal goals measures rewards against an individual’s personal goals. (Managment History Timeline) -
Goal-Setting Theory
Emphasizes the importance of goals to motivation in the workplace. The theory expresses four qualities of difficult goals: they tend to keep individuals more focused, encourage strategizing to meet the goal, individuals work harder, and individuals are more persistent. The theory also notes the importance of feedback and that individuals will typically have higher performance levels when they receive feedback. (Management History Timeline) -
Hershey and Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory
The theory explains that leaders must decide upon a leadership style based on the “ability and willingness” of followers to perform tasks. The four leadership styles they studied range from highly directive (when followers are not willing or able) to laissez-faire (when followers are willing and able). (Management History Timeline) -
Path-goal Model
The path-goal model was developed by Robert House and explains that it is a leader’s job to help their workers meet their organizational goals. House described four important behaviors of effective leaders: directive, supportive, participative, and achievement. (Management History Timeline) -
Leader-member Exchange (LMX)
LMX explains that there are two types of leader followers and that each group is treated different by leaders. The first group is in-group followers and tend to have relationships with leaders based on similar personality and attitude traits and tend to be trusted and turned to more frequently than the other group. The second group is out-group followers and tends to be more formal relationships “based on organizational structure”. (Management History Timeline) -
Job Characteristics Model
J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham identified five core job dimensions that impact employee’s performance. They labeled these dimensions as skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. It was concluded that when these essential dimensions are present they have a great impact on motivation, job satisfaction, and quality outcomes. (Management History Timeline) -
Organizational Learning
Organizational learning was first defined by Argyris and Schon as “the detection and correction of error”. They also defined three different types of organizational learning: single-loop learning (based on policies and goals), double-loop learning (knowledge and processes), and deutero-learning (combination of single and double-loop). (Management History Timeline) -
Learning Organizations
Learning organizations are defined as “an organization in which managers try to maximize the ability of individuals and groups to think and behave creatively and thus maximize the potential for organizational learning to take place”. Peter Senge developed a process to create such an organization with the following 5 steps: develop personal mastery, build complex, challenging mental models, promote team learning, build shared vision, and encourage systems thinking. (Jones & George, 2014)
