PRINCIPLES OF
MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 2: The Evolution of Management Thinking –
History of Management
Objectives of the Session
To help build my management skill, when studying
this chapter, I will attempt to:
Describe the major components of the classical
management perspective
Explain the humanistic management perspective
of management with all its components
Explain the major concepts of systems thinking
and the contingency view
Are You a New-Style or an Old-Style
Manager?
Fill out your responses on the Excel file and
mention the calculated score on LMS Choice
Activity!
Why should we look into the history of management???
(Provide your answers in the Discussion Forum)
Perspectives of Management
Perspectives are the umbrella concepts; and there are different
concepts under each perspective.
Management practices and perspectives vary in response to
social, political, and economic forces in the larger society.
Social forces refer to those aspects of a culture that guide and
influence relationships among people. What do people value?
What are the standards of behavior among people?
Political forces refer to the influence of political and legal
institutions on people and organizations.
Economic forces pertain to the availability, production, and
distribution of resources in a society.
Perspectives of Management
Perspectives of Management
CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVE (Lecture Video available on LMS)
The early study of management as we know it today began with
what is now called the classical perspective
The classical perspective on management emerged during the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
The myriad new problems and the development of large, complex
organizations demanded a new approach to coordination and
control
Thus began the evolution of modern management with the classical
perspective
This perspective contains three subfields, each with a slightly
different emphasis: scientific management, bureaucratic
organizations, and administrative principles.
CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVE
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT (Lecture Video
available on LMS)
Key figure: Fredrick W. Taylor
Focus: improving efficiency and labour
productivity
Scientifically study each job / task to
determine the ‘one best way’ to do the
work (eg. formulating a procure for each
task that is the best way to do that task)
Key principles: develop standard method
for performing each job; select and train
workers; support workers (careful
planning); provide incentives (wages)
Use today? Standardised work methods
(use of technology to create efficiency
and standardised products / processes)
CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVE
BUREAUCRATIC
ORGANISATIONS (Lecture Video
available on LMS)
Key figure: Max Weber
Focused on: rational authority
and formal structure
Employee selection and
advancement based on merit
rather than ‘who you know’
Rules and written records;
authority based on position /
legal power (i.e. power comes
form the position, not the
person (not who you know)
CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVE
CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVE
ADMINISTRATIVE
PRINCIPLES (Lecture Video
available on LMS)
Key figure: Henri Fayol
Focused on total organisation
Developed 14 principles of
management e.g. (unity of
command, division of work,
unity of direction, scalar
chain)
Fayol’s Fourteen Principles of
Management
Division of work
Centralization
Authority
Scalar chain
Discipline
Order
Unity of command
Equity
Unity of direction
Stability of tenure of personnel
Subordination of the individual
Initiative
Remuneration
Esprit de corps
Perspectives of Management
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
The humanistic perspective on management emphasized
the importance of understanding human behaviors,
needs, and attitudes in the workplace
According to proponents of this approach, if managers
understand their people and adapt their organizations to
them, organizational success will usually follow
There are three primary subfields based on the
humanistic perspective: the human relations movement,
the human resources perspective, and the behavioral
sciences approach.
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT (Lecture Video available on
LMS)
The human relations movement was based on the idea that
truly effective control comes from within the individual
worker rather than from strict, authoritarian control
This school of thought recognized and directly responded to
social pressures for enlightened treatment of employees
The early work on industrial psychology and personnel
selection received little attention because of the prominence
of scientific management
Then a series of studies at a Chicago electric company, which
came to be known as the Hawthorne studies, changed all
that.
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
HUMAN RESOURCES PERSPECTIVE
The human relations movement initially espoused a dairy
farm view of management
Further developed the idea of considerate leadership and
worker participation
Combines prescriptions for job design and theories of
motivation
Hierarchy of needs [Abraham Maslow]; physiological needs ->
safety needs -> love / belonging needs -> esteem needs -> self
actualization
Theory X and Theory Y [Douglas McGregor]; theories based
on different underlying assumptions about human nature
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
HUMAN RESOURCES PERSPECTIVE
Theory X assumes: the average human has an inherent dislike of
work and will avoid it if possible; thus most people must be coerced,
controlled, directed or threatened to get them to do work. The
average human prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid
responsibility, has relatively little ambition and wants security
above all
Theory Y assumes: the expenditure of physical and mental effort in
work is as natural as play or rest; the average does not inherently
dislike. The average human learns not only to accept but to seek
responsibility. The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of
imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the solution of
organizational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the
population
External control and the threat of punishment are not the only
means of bringing about effort towards organizational objectives.
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES APPROACH
Applies social science in an organizational context
Makes use of scientific methods drawn from fields such
as sociology, economics, psychology
Draws on quantitative techniques to manage problems
Operations research (mathematical model building)
Perspectives of Management
RECENT HISTORICAL TRENDS IN
MANAGEMENT
Systems Thinking (Lecture Video available on LMS)
▪ An extension of the humanistic perspective that
describes organization as open systems
▪ Characterized by synergy and sub-system
interdependence
▪ The development of technology has assisted this.
RECENT HISTORICAL TRENDS IN
MANAGEMENT
Contingency View (Lecture Video available on LMS)
▪ What works in one situation may not work in another
▪ Differs from classical perspective on universal concepts
(each case is unique, and therefore requires its own
processes)
▪ Organizational phenomena exist in local patterns;
managers divide and apply similar responses to
common types of problems
Thank you!
