Classical Management Theory is a "Body of management thought based on the fact that employees have only cost-effective and physical needs, and this public needs and dependence on job-satisfaction either don't exist or are unimportant. Appropriately, this university advocates high expertise of labor, centralized decision making, and revenue maximization. " (www. businessdictionary. com) To own originated by the end of the nineteenth century and in the very beginning of the twentieth century, the Classical Management Theory dominated management thinking in the 1920s and 1930s by emphasising on the efficiency of the work process. Classical Management Theory has three institutions of thought Scientific Management, which recognizes the ultimate way to do a line of work; "Bureaucratic Management, which focuses on rules and process, hierarchy and clear division of labour; and Administrative Management, which emphasises the move of information within the company. " (www. lehren. org) The purpose of this article is to discuss the three schools of thought of Classical Management Theory and find out that whether they have really become out-of-date and are of little relevance to work and organisation in today's world.
Scientific Management
Frederick Taylor is known as the begetter of Scientific Management. Taylor's strategy was to increase organisational productiveness by increasing the efficiency of the production process through emphasising on the empirical research. Especially in america where labour, especially the skilled labour was short in supply in the beginning of the twentieth century and the only path of increasing efficiency was by bringing up the efficiency of the workers. Scientific Management expresses that the type of work should be designed so that every employee has a well-controlled and well-stipulated process, and specific methods and types of procedures are strictly used for every single job. (www. lehren. org; Cole, 2004) Taylor's management theory is founded after a fundamental opinion that professionals not only are intellectually better than an average worker, nevertheless they have an optimistic obligation as well to oversee personnel and also to organise their work activities. Therefore, his theory was only applied to low-level repeated and routine responsibilities which could be easily been able at supervisory level.
Taylor developed four rules for his theory of Scientific Management. First process is to scientifically develop best methodology to execute each task. Second principle is that managers should make sure that the best person is chosen to perform the work and ensure that he/she provides the best training. Third principle is that professionals are in charge of guaranteeing that the best person picked for the job does it by applying the best methodology. Last basic principle Taylor developed was that total responsibility for the task method should be removed from the worker and should be passed on to the management, and the employee is only accountable for the real work performance. (Cole, 2004; Stoner et al, 1996)
On production-line time studies Taylor has structured his management system. Taylor contrived the best and quickest methods of performing each component by wearing down each job into its components and applying time study as his bottom. He also tried out to persuade employers to pay an increased rate to more fruitful workers. In the first elements of twentieth century Scientific Management Theory became extremely popular as its application was shown to lead improvements in output and efficiency.
Bureaucratic Management
Max Weber is recognized as the father of Modern Sociology. He had first used the word 'bureaucracy' to describe an organisational form which in his view was superior to others. He seen an ideal company to be bureaucratic whose divisions of labour were obviously expressed and whose targets and activities were rationally thought. He believed that performance analysis should entirely be produced based on merit and that technical competence should be emphasized on. The main element elements of a bureaucracy are described by Weber as: A chain of command line in a well-defined hierarchy where the top post holders have power and the to control the low post holders; Specialisation of skills and section of labour, where every employee will have the power and essential know-how to finish a particular task; In writing, correct and complete rules and regulations, to regulate and govern all decisions, activities and situations; Impersonal connections between employees and managers, with clear obligations of employees and claims of the privileges; And all the decisions regarding selection, recruitment and promotion will be produced on the basis of technical competence. The construction Weber provided for his theory of Bureaucratic Management advanced the forming of many huge corporations such as Ford. (www. lehren. org; Stoner et al, 1996; Cole, 2004)
Administrative Management
Henri Fayol a French industrialist was one of the very most influential management thinkers who developed one of the Classical Management Theory known as 'Administrative Management'. Scientific Management theory was concerned with increasing the productiveness of the shop floor while Fayol's theory grew out of the need to find suggestions to manage complex organisations like factories. An early work pioneered by Fayol was to recognize the skills and concepts that underlie effective management. Relating to Cole (2004), Fayol presumed that sensible management falls into certain habits which once identified can be analysed, so he centered on management of business functions, which he experienced have been the most neglected. He developed fourteen standard guidelines of management predicated on his management experience. It had been generally thought that mangers are given birth to not made, before Fayol. He insisted that management was an art like other skills which could be educated and learned once the principles underlying it were understood.
The ideas Traditional Theorists have provided still have many applications in the management of today's organisations but with some alterations. Professionals of today are facing many inner challenges which are similar to the ones faced by the managers during earlier periods. Like Taylor's matter for increase productivity of workers continues to be shared by managers. The Scientific Management theory continues to be relevant, right now but it isn't as popular as it was in the past. The job design it presented continues to be trusted in establishments today and has made almost all of the commercial work repetitive, boring, menial and depressing, and can be known for example in fast-food restaurants like KFC and McDonald and in assemblage lines of automobile manufacturers. McDonald's divides its operation into lots of tasks such as functioning a deep fryer or preparing operation, supervising and assign people to perform the duties. The present day mass automobile assembly lines put out finished merchandises faster than Taylor could have ever thought off or dreamed. In addition to this, the efficiency techniques of Scientific Management ate used in the training of Doctors.
Today's armies also employ Scientific Management. Of the key points shown - select staff with appropriate skills for each and every job, a standard solution to perform each activity, training for standard task, removing interruptions and planning work, and income motivation for increasing outcome - basically wage incentives are being used by modern military services for increased output. Wage incentives usually come in the form of skill bonus deals in armies. Furthermore, professional engineers of today are also trained Scientific Management methods such as job-tasks evaluation, time and action studies and thorough production planning about the field of operation research and management. (Backer, 1998)
In USA Bureaucratic Management is still utilized by service-based organisations like libraries. Libraries of Wichita Condition University or college are one concrete example where Weber's Bureaucratic Management ideas are still applied. Postal service in United States is also still using bureaucracy. (www. biz. colostate. edu)
Piece rate systems and mass development line are used in the making and garment sectors in Mauritius. Sea-food hub is another industry where in fact the Classical Management Ideas are still applied, more specifically at Tuna Handling seed in Mauritius. (www. biz. colostate. edu)
But since the emergence and formulation of the Classical Management Ideas in the nineteenth century the financial landscape has speedily improved. Businesses of today do not are present in a vacuum. They have become open systems with powerful and constant conversation with the environment. Business environment of today is highly competitive and global, and professionals of today are increasingly becoming aware of the business environment and its effects.
There are two types of business environment known as the internal and the external environment. Factors that can be relatively controlled by the company relates to the internal environment. These factors are the employees, owners, customers, suppliers, pressure communities and regulators. The exterior environment constitutes of Political, Economical, Social and Technological (PEST) factors that cannot be handled by the organisation.
Business environment of today is characterised with doubt, changes and invention. At exactly the same time matter about the environment has also emerged worldwide. Current natural concerns are climate changes, pollution, ozone depletion and other global issues like inhabitants and food security. It is becoming more challenging as a result of commotion in the financial sector and global financial slowdown. Businesses must adjust to the environment by any means or perish. As McDonald's have concluded professionals of today have to be concerned not only with the clinical facts but with the surroundings and the general public perception.
Conclusion
Organisations today are mainly influenced by the external environment (continuous technology change, globalisation, fierce market share competition, hiring and retaining prominent line personnel and professionals) that often fluctuate as time passes. Yet Classical Management Ideas only portrays the image of organisation that is not designed by the external influences. In today's world of Classical Management Theories are slowly but surely fading and the main cause of this is that individuals and their needs are considered as extra to the needs of any organisation by Classical theorists. Nowadays, Human Resource Management in addition has very critically challenged the technological procedure. Furthermore, in organisations the Bureaucratic Management is speedily supplying way to the Matrix structure. However, Classical Management Theories are still important because they had introduced the concepts of management for intellectual evaluation and provided ideas that have been further produced by the next management universities of thought.
References
Classic University Of Management, [online] Offered by: http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/classical-school-of-management. html [Accessed 8 December 2010].
Cole, G. A. (2004). Management: Theory and Practice. 6th ed. London: Thomson Learning
Management Advancement, [online] Offered by: http://www. biz. colostate. edu [Seen 8 Dec 2010].
Module: Basics of Company. [online] Offered by: http://lehren. org/foundations/fundamentals. htm [Seen 8 December 2010].
Backer, P. R. (1998). Scientific Management. [online] Offered by: http://www. engr. sjsu. edu/pabacker/scientific_mgt. htm [Seen 8 Dec 2010].
Stoner, J. A. F. , et al (1996). Management. 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
