Theories of Management
Classical Approaches
The classical approaches focus in
developing principles to manage the
organization.
Known approaches that emerged during
the classical period were the Scientific
Management, Administrative
Management, Bureaucracy and Human
Relation Management.
Scientific Management
- The scientific management era
was spearheaded by Frederick
Winslow Taylor (1856-195).
- A young engineer who started his
working career at Midvale Steel
Company.
- He is also known as the Father of
Scientific Management in the year
1911.
Motion Studies
- Frank Gilbreth and his wife Lillian
Gilbreth use motion studies to
simplify and develop more efficient
work procedures.
- They applied efficiency methods in
their home with 12 children.
- Frank Gilbreth was known as the
“Father of Motion Study” while
Lillian is commonly referred as
“First Lady of Management”.
- Motion study is the reducing or
breaking a task to its physical
motions and eliminating
unnecessary or redundant motions.
- Frederick W. Taylor emphasized in
managing work through efficiency
while Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
emphasized in managing motion.
- The Gilbrets also devise a
classification scheme to label 17
basic hand motions (such as grasp,
hold) which they called therbligs
(Gilbreth spelled backwards with
th transposed) (Robbins & Coulter,
2004).
Scientific Management
- Henry Gantt (1861-1919) also
made an important contribution to
scientific management.
- He recognized the value of non
monetary rewards to motivate
workers.
- He also developed a system for
scheduling called Gantt Charts
(Stevenson & Chuong, 2010).
- Gantt charts are considered as one
of the most important
management tool that is widely
used by managers to this day. It
provides mechanism in controlling
and monitoring work progress of
employees or workers.
- Henry Ford (1863-1947) is known
to be one of the great
industrialists who use Scientific
Management techniques in his
factories.
- The major contribution of Henry
Ford is the introduction of the
moving assembly line which had a
tremendous impact on production
methods in many industries
(Stevenson & Chuong, 2010).
- Henry Ford also introduced the
mass production method. It is a
method of production in which large
volumes of standardized goods are
produced by workers using highly
advance equipment.
- The other concept used by Ford
was the Division of Labor.
 - It is the breaking up of jobs into
small tasks. The tasks were so
narrow that virtually no skill was
required.
Administrative Management
- The administrative management
approach emphasized the
perspective of senior managers
within the organization.
- It also argues that management
is a profession and could be taught
(Bateman & Snell, 2008).
- Henry (Henri) Fayol is a French
mining engineer.
- He is also known as the “Father of
Modern Management”.
- He published a book summarizing
his management experiences
wherein he identified 5 (five)
management functions: planning,
organizing, commanding,
coordinating, and controlling.
- He also developed 14 principles of
management.
Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management
Division of work – divide work into
specialized tasks and assign
responsibilities to specific individuals.
Authority – delegate authority along with
responsibility. The right to issue
commands, along with which must go the
balanced responsibility for its function.
Discipline – make expectations clear and
punish violations.
Unity of command – each employee should
be assigned to only one supervisor. Each
worker should have only one boss with no
other conflicting lines of command.
Unity of direction – employee’s efforts
should be focused on achieving
organizational objectives. People engaged
in the same kind of activities must have
the same objectives in a single plan.
Order – order jobs (social order) and
material (material order) so they support
the organization’s direction.
Equity – fair, discipline and order enhance
employee commitment. Treating employees
well is important to achieve equity.
Stability of tenure of personnel – promote
employee loyalty and longevity. An insecure
tenure and high rate of employee
turnover will affect the organization
adversely.
Initiative – encourage employees to act
on their own in support of the
organization’s direction.
Esprit de corps (Team spirit) – promotes
a unity of interests between employees
and management. Management must
foster the morale of its employees.
Bureaucracy
- Max Weber (1864-1920) is a
German sociologist who introduces
the idea of a bureaucratic
organization.
- The aim of this concept is to
create an organization that has
authority structures with a clear
procedure of rules and regulations.
- Bureaucracy can be defined as a
rational and efficient form of
organization founded on logic order,
and legitimate authority
(Schermerhorn, 1999, p.75).
Behavioral Theories
- Human Relations Management is
an approach in management that
emphasizes on the understanding
of the importance of human
element in a workplace.
- In today’s settings, this is known
as Organizational Behavior, which
can be defined as the study of
human behavior in organizational
settings, of the interface between
human behavior and the
organization and of the
organization itself
- (Griffin & Moorehead, 2012).
- Elton Mayo (1880-1949) is a
researcher who conducted studies
at Hawthorne Works Plant of
Western Electric in Chicago.
- He led a team who developed a
research project known as
Hawthorne Studies.
- It is a series of experiments in
which the initial studies failed
because the team proposed that
better lighting would improve the
performance of the workers but it
is reasonable that better lighting
will have a positive effect in the
increase of production.
- The researchers concluded that
workers performed well when they
know that they are part of the
experiment and when they are
being observed by the researchers.
- This effect is known as the
“Hawthorne Effect”.
- The team also concluded that
psychological and social factors are
more important than physical
condition of the workplace and
financial incentives in motivating
workers.
- Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) is
a professor and psychologist who
developed a motivational theory in
which it is considered to be the
best-known theory of motivation.
- Motivation is the inner desire to
satisfy an unsatisfied need
(Lussier, 2006, p.428).
- This theory is known as :Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs”.
- It consists of five basic categories
of needs.
- Need refers to the deficiencies
that energize or trigger behaviors
to satisfy those needs (McShane &
Glinow, 2008, p. 135).
✓ Physiological Needs – it is also
known as the basic needs. (food,
water, air)
✓ Safety Needs – a need which
involves need for security and
protection from physical and
emotional needs.
✓ Social Needs – this level is also
known as Belongingness needs. It
includes need for love and affection,
acceptance and friendship.
✓ Esteem Needs – it involves self-
respect, recognition and
achievement.
✓ Self-Actualization Needs - the
highest level in the hierarchy. It
is also known as self-fulfillment, it
involves a person realizing his/her
full potential and abilities
- Frederick Herzberg (1923-200) is
a psychologist who conducted a
research where he started
interviewing 200 accountants and
engineers in Pittsburgh that
resulted him to develop the
Two-Factor theory or better known as
Motivation-Hygiene Theory.
- This theory proposes that
employees are motivated by
intrinsic factors rather than
extrinsic factors.
- Intrinsic or Motivation factors are
related to job satisfaction such as
achievement and recognition.
- Extrinsic or Hygiene factors are
associated with job dissatisfaction
such as working conditions, company
policies, pay and job security.
-
 Management Science
- Management Science is an
approach that emphasizes the use
of mathematics or quantitative
techniques to analyze and support
management decisions and
problems.

- After World War II , the efforts

to develop several quantitative
techniques continues which helps
business managers make decision in
terms of solving problems.
- Douglas McGregor (1906-1964) is
a psychologist who developed
philosophical view of human - Linear programming is used to
behavior with his Theory X and calculate allocation of scarce
Theory Y. resources, it can also be used in
inventory management.
- The two sets of assumptions that
represented how employees view - Quantitative management allows
work. for developing quantitative
approaches such as statistics and
computer simulations to arrive at
- Theory X represents a negative management decision.
end or view of people they avoid
work, responsibility, relatively have
little ambition and need to be - The two main branches of
controlled (reward and punish) and quantitative management are
supervised. management science and operations
management (Zarate, 2009).
- Theory Y represents a positive end
or view of workers, they usually
accept and seek responsibility.
They enjoy the physical and mental
aspect of work and more
committed to work. They can
express self-control and self-
direction towards organization
objectives.
System Theory
- The system theory focuses on
viewing the organization as a
whole and the interrelationships of
its parts.
- System is a collection of
interrelated elements that
function as a whole. Subsystems
are small units of a larger system.
- Organizations are open systems
that process resources (inputs)
into a product or services
(outputs) in which the
environment reacts to the output
in the form of feedbacks.
Contingency Management
- In modern management, it is
difficult to identify one best ways
to manage and organize firms in all
circumstances because different
factors may vary depending on the
situation.
- Understanding contingencies helps
managers determine on how to
- react to the situation by choosing
a proper strategy.
- Contingency thinking recognizes
that what may be a good
structure for one organization may
not work as well in another
organization.
- It also recognizes that what may
work well at one time may not
work as well in the future as
circumstances change
(Schermerhorn, 1999).