A REVIEW OF THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

By Enyia Charles Daniel

Department of Management, Faculty of Management sciences, University of Port Harcourt

+234 8165390560

charlesdanonline@yahoo.com, charlesdanenyia@gmail.com

Abstract

To every art done in time past, there was an element of management theory. This paper exposes its
readers to the understanding of how management theories came to be and how it was, even if some
of these events were not captured in most management literatures. It also shows us the
shortcomings of most of these theories, compares some of these theories to preceding theories and
finally recommends that none of these theories can be labelled the best as every theory fits specific
situation and environment. This is where the contingency theory comes in. It also makes us
understand that most of these theories we study today are still in use from the pre-scientific to this
contemporary era.

Keywords: evolution, theories, management, classical, neoclassical, contemporary, contingency

 INTRODUCTION

Management has evolved and changed considerably over a period of time. It has continuously
adopted new theories and practices and replaced old once so as to make management activities
increasingly efficient. Management has been around as there has been need for decision making. An
understanding therefore of the behaviour of the organization-man must of necessity and desirability
include knowledge of the development of contemporary theories of management.

According to Baridam (2002) in his book “Management and organizational theory”, several schools of
thought were identified which includes The Formal approach, the Interpersonal approach, The
Economic approach, the Analytical approach, the Decision approach, the Intuitive approach, the
Political approach, Systems approach as well as the contingency or situational approach. However,
we shall group them into Pre-scientific, Classical, Neoclassical and Contemporary schools of thought.

PRE-SCIENTIFIC ERA:

Before now, man has always believed in the rule of thumb also known as the pre-scientific era,
however, scholars have also argued that these set of managers may have used as it were
unconsciously, some scientific managerial skills. Even though scientific management established itself
in the early 20th century, references to planning and organization are found in ancient Greek and
Biblical literature as well as in histories of Roman Empire. Imagine building ancient monuments such
as the great Pyramid, and consider what that would have required in terms of planning, work
allocation, organizing, directing and decision making. The Egyptians used the various Functions of
management which are planning, organizing, directing and controlling when they constructed the
pyramids” (Inyang, 2008). These great pyramids, which were built in 2900 B.C. are a classic example
of management and co-ordination. It is interesting to note that one pyramid required 100,000 men,
working for 20 years, covering 13 acres, using 2.3 million blocks, each weighing an average of 2.5
tons (George,1968; Inyang, 2008). Also take for example the tower of Babel in Biblical times which
occurred in such a way that God saw men so organized that He became afraid of what their
coordination could bring about (Gen. 11:5-6). This shows that science had been applied in
management long ago before the present theories that men have so tried to postulate ever existed.

FORMAL OR CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF THOUGHT:

This school of thought has various theories namely:

1. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT: This method was developed in the USA in the early part of the
20th century by Frederick Taylor. He paid close attention to “Time and Motion” studies here
each worker is timed when performing a task and then it provides the basis for the workers’
level of output per day (eg. If it took a worker 2 minutes to perform a task, then this could be
done 30 times per hour and 240 times in an 8 hour day.

Taylor was concerned primarily with factory management and within that context, his emphasis was
mostly on the management of production workers. Taylor believes that efficiency and discipline were
the two greatest features of a good manager and a good workforce but what he failed to recognize
was the high levels of morale and motivation that this system produces in the work force.
Scientific management was based upon five main principles:

 Develop a science for each man’s work

 Scientifically select the best man for the job and train him on the procedures he is expected
to follow.
 Cooperate with the men to ensure that work is done as prescribed
 Divide the work so that activities such as planning, organizing and controlling are the prime
responsibilities of management rather than the individual worker.
 Instantly rewarding the worker economically when he performs according to the prescription
of management and punish him when he does otherwise.

The primary criticisms of Taylor’s approach were his lack of concern for the individual within the
organization and for his over reliance on economic motives. Nevertheless, his work added greatly to
the knowledge of the psychology of industrial work organization. It also set the stage for a more
comprehensive approach to the study of behavior of the organization-man in the work place. Jaja
(2003)

2. CLASSICAL ADMINSTRATIVE MANAGEMENT:

In Fayol’s book “ADMINSTRATIVE INDUSTRIELLE ET GENERAL”(1916) which was late translated to

English in 1929 meaning “INDUSTRIAL AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT”. Here, he presented the basic
principles he felt a manager should adhere to in managing an organization. While Taylor was
concerned with lower-level organization, Fayol was concerned with higher level management. Born
in 1841 and while working as an engineer in a mining company, he improved the a virtual bankrupt
condition to high success. Fayol is however distinguished in that he believed that management is a
specialty in its own right and that an individual can learn to become a successful manager. The
fourteen principles of management by Fayol are:

I. Division of labor
II. Authority and Responsibility
III. Discipline
IV. Unity of command
V. Unity of management
VI. Subordination of individual interest to that of organization
VII. Remuneration
VIII. Centralization
IX. Hierarchy
X. Order
XI. Equity
XII. Stability of tenure of office
XIII. Initiative
XIV. Esprit de corps

Fayol also developed certain functions which he felt are essential to managers in carrying
administrative practices and principles of management. They are: Planning, Organizing, Directing,
Coordinating and controlling.
Other authors who contributed to the functions of management were Luther and Urwick (1937),
here they described the functions of management using the acronym POSDCORB- Planning,
Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting.

3. BUREAUCRATIC MANAGEMENT:

The concept of bureaucracy is generally associated with the works of Max Weber. Weber studied the
effects of social change in Europe at the turn of the century, he believed bureaucracy was a rational
means of minimizing the cruelty, nepotism and subjective practice common in earlier stages of the
industrial revolution. Until recently, Weber was not treated as a member of the classical
management school. He was only interested in applied management problems. He defined
bureaucracy as networks of social groups dedicated to limited goals, organized for maximum
efficiency and regulated according to the principle of legal rationality..

Some of the essential features of bureaucracy are:

 Specialization or division of labor

 Hierarchy of authority in which a lower office is supervised by a higher one.
 Written rules and regulations.
 Rational application of rules and procedures
 Selection and promotion based on competence and not on irrelevant mis-considerations

The major variables which characterize bureaucracy are:

I. Specialization: specialized tasks allocated to members

II. Standardization: standard procedure
III. Formalization: written rules
IV. Centralization: authority located at the top
V. Configuration: shape of organizational role structure

DEFECTS OF CLASSICAL THEORIES:

According to Jaja (2003;pp 9-10), Classical theories

a. Are Culture bound

b. Reveal that that managerial attitude towards subordinates are inconsistent with humanistic
democratic values of Africans
c. Demand and support employees who demonstrate immature personality traits and
characteristics.
d. Organizations that rely solely on the contribution of classical theories are unable to cope with
environmental changes hence, they become obsolete and dysfunctional.
e. The rules and regulations are not flexible to conform with society
f. Employees under classical framework are so indoctrinated to follow directives that they can
only exercise their discretionary powers and rights in a secretive manner.
g. Under the classical framework, self-criticism is discouraged, resulting in serious restraint on
the generation of innovative concept and ideas from within the organization.
h. High degree of centralization results to insufficient responsiveness to the needs of
emergency and unroutinised operations.
NEOCLASSICAL SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

As the name implies, Neo-classical theory was founded on the basis of the classical theory as It
modified, added to and even extended the precepts of the classical school of thought (CIPM 2013).
With the growth of sociology and psychology and a mass exodus of people from the farms to the
factories in the early 20th century, it was realized that any attempt to formulate a sound theory of
principles of management on formal structures, process and rationalization would be incomplete,
unsuccessful and confounding, in as much as it does not take into consideration the SOCIAL MAN(i.e.
the worker, labourer, or proletariat) and empirically find out his beliefs, needs, modes of behavior
and group relationship.

1. HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT:

The National Research Council of America from 1924-1927 made an almost futile study in
conjunction with the western electric plant in Hawthorne USA to determine the effect of illumination
and other conditions on workers and productivity, this was the work of Elton Mayo. It was the human
problem of industrial civilization and the second phase studies at Hawthorne works in Chicago (1927-
1932) that brought the behavioural school to limelight. Elton Mayo and his co-researchers found out
that changing illumination for the test group at Hawthorne, modifying rest period by shortening work
days and varying piece-rate incentives did not actually account for changes in productivity. other
findings are:

The amount of work carried out by a worker (and hence the organizational level of efficiency and
rationality) is not determined by his physical capacity but his social capacity.

Non-economic rewards play a central role in determining the motivation of workers, this is called the
“Hawthorne effect”

The highest specialization is by no means the most efficient form of division of labor.

Workers do not react to management and its norms/rewards as individuals but as members of
groups.

2. THEORIES X and Y:

Another contributor to the Neo-classical theory of management was Professor Douglas McGregor
whose theory of motivation incorporated both internal and external forms of motivation. McGregor’s
theory X was based on the following assumptions:

The average human being dislikes work and would always avoid it

Because of these human characteristics of work dislike, most people must be coerced, controlled,
directed and threatened with punishment to get them put forth adequate effort towards achieving
organizational goals.

The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little
ambition and wants security above all.

His theory Y also has the following assumptions:

The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest

External control and threat of punishment are not only the means of binging out efforts towards
organizational objectives.

Commitment to objective if a function of the rewards associated with their achievement.

The average human being learns under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek
responsibility.

The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solution of
organizational problems is widely and not narrowly distributed.

Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human
being are only partially utilized or under-utilized.

3. ABRAHAM MASLOW- Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow portrayed the needs of individuals in the form of a pyramid with several stages of needs. At
the least was the physiological needs and the highest was the self-actualization. According to
Baridam(2002), Maslow based his theory of human motivation on the following assumptions:

Individuals have certain needs that influence their behavior, only unsatisfied needs can influence
behavior, satisfied needs do not act as motivators.

Needs are arranged in an order of importance or hierarchy from the basic physiological to the
complex self-actualization needs,

An individual’s need at any level on the hierarchy emerges only when the lower needs are reasonably
satisfied.

It is probably safe to say that the most well-known theory of motivation is Abraham Maslow’s theory
of Needs. Maslow hypothesized that within every human being, there exists a hierarchy of five needs
which are:

Physiological needs: hunger, thirst, shelter, sex and other bodily needs.

Safety needs: security and protection from physical and emotional harm.

Social needs: affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship.

Esteem needs: internal factors such as self-respect, autonomy, achievement and external factors
such as status, recognition and attention.

Self-actualization: drive to become what one is capable of becoming. It includes growth, achieving
ones potential and self-fulfillment.

As each of the needs becomes substantially satisfied, the next stage becomes dominant (Robbins et
al 2009: 194)
However, a need must not be 100 percent satisfied before the next level becomes potent. A more
realistic description of the hierarchy would be in terms of decreasing percentages of satisfaction as
potency increases. That is 85% in physiological needs, 70% in security needs, 50% in social needs,
40% in in self-esteem and 10% in self-actualization needs. Jaja (2003)

4. FEDRICK HERZBERG TWO FACTOR THEORY

Herzberg’s TWO-factor theory, also called motivation-hygiene theory believes that an individual’s
relation to work is basic and that one’s attitude towards work can very well determine success or
failure.

This research undertaken by Herzberg in the 1950s where he interviewed 203 engineers, accountants
and managers at Pittsburgh, United states of America because of their growing importance in the
business world. This research has broadened the understanding of motivating factors and job
satisfaction in the work place. From his research, he concluded that employees have two set of needs
in the work place. He described them as Hygiene factors and Motivator factors. Hygiene factors
(satisfiers) include salary, working condition and fringe benefits. He also stated that these factors on
their own do not lead to job satisfaction but their absence can create dissatisfaction.

Motivators: these are factors such as recognition, responsibility, achievement, and opportunity for
progression. Herzberg found that a combination of these factors increased motivation and improved
individual performance.

CRITICISMS OF HERZBERG’S THEORY

His research methodology is being questioned by scholars. The critical incident technique he used by
asking people to look at themselves retrospectively does not substantially provide a vehicle for
expression of other factors to be mentioned. This methodology may cause people to recall only the
most recent experiences. Secondly, Herzberg’s theory was conducted on knowledge
workers(managers, accountants and engineers) thus scholars criticize its ability to be generalized.
Thirdly, Herzberg’s theory focused too much attention on “satisfaction”-“dissatisfaction” rather than
individual performance. Satisfaction may not be directly related to job performance. Fourthly,
Herzberg’s theory fails to account for differences in individuals. While some are motivated by job
context variables, others find favor in job content factors depending on his particular circumstance.
Baridam(2002)

CLASSICAL SCHOOL COMPARED WITH NEO-CLASSICAL SCHOOL

Classical school emphasizes order, rationality structure and specialization. It also accepts the
importance of the concept of an economic man (workers). An employee is motivated almost by
economic incentives. Neo-classical theory on the other hand generally builds upon the classical
theory i.e modifies and extends certain concepts of the classical theory. CIPM (2013)

The basic change or dichotomy between the two is that the Neo-classical theory directly challenges
the concepts of the economic man and in contrast to the classical theory; Neo-classical theory holds
that every person is different. This view contrasts with the emphasis placed on homogeneity of the
economic man as propounded by the Classical theorists. The neo-classical also emphasized that a
person’s work group and other social factors/needs are very important to him.
CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

1. SYSTEMS APPROACH:

The systems approach tends to see the organization and its component parts as being interrelated
and interdependent. Thus each part of the organization depends on the other to succeed.

A system can be classified as follows: Natural and Man-made: social economic and political systems
are man-made while physical and biological systems are mostly natural.

The second classifications of systems are Open and Closed system: a system is said to be open if it
interacts with its environment while a closed system does not interact with its environment.

The third classifications are Adaptive systems and non-adaptive systems: Adaptive systems react to
environmental changes in a way that is desirable considering the purpose the system was designed
for while non-adaptive systems do not react to changes in the environment.

2. POLITICAL APPROACH:

Our today’s view of organizations as political entities is not a recent phenomenon. Most authors view
organizational politics as outcomes that make a claim against the organization’s resource sharing
system. For example, an employee asking for some fringe benefits which constitute a claim against
the resource sharing system would not be political, but the use of threat to unionize, to obtain such a
benefit could be considered a political act.

Organizational politics can be defined as conflict over whose preferences are to prevail in the
determination of policy.

3. DECISION APPROACH:

By decision making, we mean the act of choosing from among alternatives. The foundation of this
approach lies in economics and philosophy. Decision-making often reflects a process of power and
negotiation rather than a unitary pursuit of goals. Methods that could be adopted in decision making
could be Bureaucratic approach, Normative approach (here, there is complete awareness of all
possible alternatives), Behavioral approach, Group decision making, conflict equilibrium approach,
open systems decision making, etc.

4. ECONOMIC APPROACH:

The simplest model of a business firm lies solidly on attainment of goals and profit maximization. This
is derived from economic theory. The traditional economic concept of the firm is centered on the
actions of the entrepreneur, the behavior of which is conditioned by its drive to maximize its
incentive function. Traditionally, the incentive function is thought as the greatest amount of profit
that can be obtained within the parameters of the model. However, rationality in economic theory
implies that the entrepreneur will choose from among limited range of alternative actions open to
him, that course of action which would lead to maximization of profits for the firm.

5. ANALYTICAL APPROACH:

Today, the term ANALYTICAL APPROACH or OPERATIONS RESEARCH (OR) means a scientific approach
to decision making which seeks to determine how best to design and operate a system usually under
conditions requiring the allocation of scarce resources. The development of operations started at the
pre-world war era to the world war era an then the post-world war era, CIPM (2013).

Frederick Taylor(1885) during the pre-world war era emphasized the application of scientific analysis
to methods of production, a Danish mathematician Erlang(1917) published his work on the problem
of congestion of telephone traffic. A few years after the appearance of his work, the British Post
Office accepted his work as the basis for calculating circuit facilities. The formulae developed by
Erlang on waiting time are of fundamental importance to the theory of telephone traffic.

During the world war II, British military leaders asked scientists and engineers to analyse several
military problems: the development of radar and the management of convoy, bombing, anti-
submarine and mining operations. Thus, the application of mathematics and the scientific method to
military operations was called operations research (Winston 1991;CIPM 2013).

Operations Research was introduced as a subject for academic study in American universities around
1950 and since then, it has been gaining ever increasing importance. The general form for operations
research model is given as U=fc(Xi, Yj)

Where U= Systems performance/Utility

Xi= Controllable Variable

Yj= uncontrollable variable

F= functional relationship between U, Xi and Yj

Some analytical tools used by Operation Researchers are:

 Decision-Making Models: i.e Decision theory (under risk, certainty or uncertainty)

 Determination Models: ie mathematical programing and Networks
 Dynamic Models: i.e Dynamic programing and Markov chains
 Inventory and Queuing Models: Inventory theory and Queuing theory
 Simulation Models: ie Business Games.

6. INTUITIVE APPROACH:
This approach addresses the use of intuition as an approach to management. Intuition can be defined
as alleged wisdom or acknowledged cognition attained without rational thought and inference. Since
there is ample evidence to believe that formal education, coupled with the narrow-minded concept
called rationality is not a yardstick for organizational effectiveness. Organizational effectiveness
therefore calls for a blend of clear-headed logic and powerful intuition.

Intuition involves the ability to arrive at reasonable but tentative formulations, prior to actual formal
analysis. It can also be called an ‘educated guess’. In the day to day work of both the manger and his
subordinates, so many occasions arise which demand that intuitive approach be adopted. Intuitive
judgment is particularly important when conceptual and logical arguments are fuzzy or when
immediate action is required without waiting for long rational analysis.

Intuitive ability is not just available as it is in other abilities. The manager’s upbringing, heredity, and
circumstances that surround his developmental stage enhance the development of his intuitive
capabilities.

7. CONTIGENCY APPROACH:

This approach to management was developed by managers and researchers who found that certain
methods and practices are affected in one situation but not in others. For example, why does a
certain leadership style or job design work in one type of organization but not in other types? The
answer appears to be because of situations differ.

The contingency approach to leadership was influenced by two earlier research programs
endeavouring to pinpoint effective leadership behaviour. During the 1950s, researchers at Ohio State
University administered extensive questionnaires measuring a range of possible leader behaviours in
various organizational contexts. Although multiple sets of leadership behaviours were originally
identified based on these questionnaires, two types of behaviours proved to be especially typical of
effective leaders: (1) consideration leader behaviours that include building good rapport and
interpersonal relationships and showing support and concern for subordinates and (2) initiating
structure leader behaviours that provided structure (e.g., role assignment, planning, scheduling) to
ensure task completion and goal attainment.

Managerial practices at the workplace are contingent to the following situational forces:

I. Forces in the leader in terms of the degree of his knowledge, skills and competencies.
II. Forces in the task to be performed
III. Forces in the subordinates and
IV. Forces in the environment.

                                                            CONCLUSION

It is no longer news that management has evolved through so many processes, and the theories
associated with this evolution tend to fit the times when they were propounded. However, having
understood the various types of management approaches/school of thoughts, we must also
understand that there is no best way to manage and this is what the contingency approach tries to
make us understand. One best practice here may constitute the worst practice in another location,
therefore, there must be a thorough comparative analysis before any management style is been
adopted in any organization anywhere. The classical, Neoclassical and contemporary schools are still
present in today’s management, take for example today’s selection, training and remuneration of
workers, they still follow the classical principles. Say also the methods of social integration in the
Nigerian politics which considers zoning and other human factors as well as business social
responsibilities, this is also a sign that the Neo-classical is not left out. We can go on and on in
considering the contemporary approaches but the major understanding we should grab is that there
is no one best form of management.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The contingency theory of management has given us a hint to what changes we should apply when
changes occur in our business environment. It should therefore be a clarion call for all management
practitioners to apply whichever theory that would be suitable for each environmental change.
Multinational organizations should not take advantage of the fact that their host communities may
not sometimes be used to various scientific approach to management so it is advisable for such
organizations to try understanding the use of the African concept of leadership especially within
Africa because it would go a long way in establishing peace.

We must also understand that the main reason why these theories were postulated were the fact
that there was a need for organizations to increase productivity and benefit humanity, therefore, in
whichever form of application we choose to depend on, it must reflect in reducing conflicts within
the organization, between the organizations and its contemporaries as well with the organizational
external environment.

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