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INTRODUCTION TO
MANAGEMENT (MMS103)
HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT
THOUGHT
Learning objectives
• To identify and explain the three main schools
of management thought.
• To explain the relationship among some of the
theories of management thought.
• To provide a critique of the various schools/
theories of management.
• To apply management theories into practice.
The historical nature of management
• It is too formal- the 14 principles are more like laid down rules that
should be followed religiously.
• Vague- some of the concepts have not been properly defined, for
example, the principle of division of labour does not tell us to what
extent i.e. how the task should be divided.
• Inconsistency- some principles are inconsistent, for example, the
unity of command principle is incompatible with division of work.
• Pro-management bias- the theory does not pay sufficient attention
to workers. Workers are treated as biological machines or inert
instruments in the work process.
• Historical value- the theory was relevant then; when organisations
operated in a stable and predictable environment. It may not be
possible for the present day manager to entirely rely upon formal
authority.
Max Weber’ bureaucratic management
• In the late 1800s, Max Weber noticed that many European
organizations were managed on a “personal” family-like basis and
that employees’ behavior was subjective rather than objective.
• In other words employees were loyal to individual supervisors rather
than to the organization.
• Max Weber believed that management was using power instead of
authority to run organizations.
• Power is a unilateral thing- it enables one person to force another to
behave in a certain way, whether by means of strength or by rewards.
(based on the individual)
• Authority, on the other hand, implies acceptance of rule by those
over whom it is to be exercised (based on the office).
• He believed that organizations should be managed impersonally and
that a formal organizational structure, where specific rules were
followed, was important, if productivity was to increase.
• In other words, he thought that authority should not
be based on a person's personality.
• Authority should be something that is part of a
person's job and passed from individual to individual
as one person leaves office and another takes over.
• This non-personal, objective form of organization
was called a bureaucracy.
• This approach views an organization as a system that
relies on rules and regulations, hierarchy, division of
labour and procedures.
• Bureaucracy is a formal, rigid method of managing.
(government, businesses, etc)
• Max Weber identified a number of factors he
labelled characteristics of Bureaucratic management.
Characteristics of bureaucratic management system
• 5. Competence. Competence, not “who you know,” should be the basis for all
decisions made in hiring, job assignments, and promotions in order to foster ability
and merit as the primary characteristics of a bureaucratic organization.