Uyai Lizamay Useh

1240391

MGMT*6840

Dr. Ron Baker

18/09/2022

POSITION PAPER ON THE MANAGEMENT THEORY JUNGLE (REVISTED)

PURPOSE

“This paper analyses the current Management theories in order to further detangle the Management
Theory Jungle, as well as how future developments of management theory approaches can lead to a
convergence of various management approaches to and form a new unified Management Theory.”

INTRODUCTION

“In 1961; Harold Koontz, a Professor of Management at the University of California published an
article titled “The Management Theory Jungle”, wherein he explained that in the bid to understand
and improve the knowledge of management for Managers, academic scholars had created various
approaches to management that caused confusion and created a destructive jungle warfare (Koontz,
1961). This prompted him to create and classify the first group/schools of Management theory
approaches. They were; the management process school, the empirical or case approach, the
human behaviour school, the social system school, the decision theory school, and the mathematics
school.

However, over the years the management theory jungle become even more impenetrable than before,
due to conflicting interpretations of management by the intelligent academicians and practicing
managers, as most of their knowledge findings on management were too vague, and the managers
were losing confidence in the academic systems ability to understand the concept of management.

In 1980; Koontz re-examined the Management theory jungle, identifying and analysing more aspects
of Management that would form the current schools of Management theory. He envisions that there
will be future developments occurring that will merge all the current management theories into a
single, unified and acceptable Management theory.”

THE CURRENT SCHOOLS OF MANAGEMENT THEORIES

“The Mathematical or “Management Science approach”, Decision Theory Approach, and the
Empirical or Case approach are the still part of the first school of management theories. However,
the rest have been identified and modified to form the current school of Management theories. They
include;

The Interpersonal Behaviour Approach; a modification of the Human behaviours school that
asserts that management is about interpersonal relations, the focus is on the individual and their
motivations as a socio-psychological being.

The Group Behaviour Approach; is concerned primarily with the behaviour of people in groups,
and has its emphasis of group patterns.
The Cooperative Social System/Organizational Theory Approach; is a modification of the
interpersonal and group behaviour approaches focuses on the cooperative interaction of ideas, forces,
desires, and thinking of two or more persons. This type of managerial approach is suitable for
managers who work best in teams with fellow employees in the organization.

The Socio-Technical System Approach; a school of thought where social and technical systems
must be considered together and that a major task of a manager is to make sure that these two systems
are made harmonious.

The System Approach; Here, there is an assumption that a boundary of managing knowledge
detailing what a manager ought to do. Koontz (1980) however says that there external variables that
like employee behaviour, markets, social forces, technology that can affect a manager’s output.

The Contingency or Situational Approach; where emphasis is made on the fact that what managers
do in practice depends on a given set of circumstances - the situation. Contingency management
implies an active interrelationship between the variables in a situation and the managerial solution
devised.

The Managerial Roles Approach; where management is explained based on the functions managers
have to carry out to make a task succeed. The managerial roles approach is quite similar to the
Administrative management theory propounded by 1916 by Henry Fayol, which introduced the core
functions of management; Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling (Fayol, 1916), that are still
in use in today’s society.

The Operational Theory Approach; where management recognizes that there is a central core of
knowledge about managing that exists only in management that it draws on pertinent knowledge
derived from other fields.”

PROMISING TENDENCIES TOWARD CONVERGENCE OF THEORIES

“Koontz (1980) lets us know that as the management theory jungle continues to flourish, it has also
got denser, due to new managerial approaches found. However, there is hope and opportunity for the
various schools of thought to coalesce. The convergence of Management theories can be achieved
through;
1. Increased emphasis in not only knowing what happened in a given situation but also
analyzing the underlying causes and reasons for the issue. This has resulted in an increased
emphasis on strategy and strategic plan, resulting in more knowledge that fits into the
operational theorist’s classification planning.

2. Recognizing that system theory was not a separate approach that practicing managers as well
as operational theorists had been using the basics, concepts and theory of system, which has
lead to improvement in developing a scientific field of management.

3. Realizing that the contingency approach has not been recognized as a new or separate
approach, and is merely a way of distinguishing between science and art, knowledge and
practice.

4. Organization theory was also found as too broad an approach, because it refers to almost any
kind of interpersonal relationships.

5. Knowing the importance of the organizational climate in curbing or arousing motives. The
interaction between motivation and organizational climate not only underscored the systems
 aspects of motivation, but also emphasized how motivation depends on what managers do for
performance.

6. Understanding the relationship between motivation and leadership theory, as recent research
found that the explanations of leadership have been increasingly related to motivation and
also emphasized the importance of Leadership theory and motivation the organization climate
and style of leaders.

7. Understanding that Organizational development (organizational behaviour) is more closely

integrated with organizational structure design, staffing, planning and control. Therefore, it
easily falls into place in the scheme of operational management theory.

8. Realizing Intelligent practitioners have already recognized that the technology has an
important impact on organizational structure, behaviour pattern and other aspect of managing,
and that the impact of technology is easily embraced by operational management theory and
practice.

9. Realizing that operation research and similar mathematical and modelling techniques fitted
nicely in the planning and controlling areas of operational management theory and sciences,
and "management science" should move their expertise and research more closely to a
practical and useful management science.

10. Developing a glossary of clearly defined management concepts and terms by Management
Scholars and Leaders to be published in a number of languages and distributed to many
countries.”
“Koontz concludes the paper by calling for more ways the jungle can be totally detangled. He calls for
Managers to take a more active role in narrowing the widening gap of the Management concept
between professional practice and academic institutions, by being vocal and helpful in making sure
that colleges and universities improve the development of the theory and science of management, in
order to create and establish the best operational theory of Management.”
MY POSITION ON THE ARTICLE
“The main purpose for the researching and writing of “The Management Theory Jungle Revisited”
was to further analyse and create new managerial theories to continue detangling the Management
Theory jungle. The theories, analysis and solutions in this paper, do not only come from an academic
point of view, but also from Koontz real life experiences in the business and management world as a
consultant, and has successfully narrowed the existing gap of conflicting knowledge of Management
between the academicians/researchers and Managers, which was the basis of him exploring the
Management theory jungle in the first place. In my opinion, this is the article’s strength. There is little
to no weakness found in this article as it was carried out in a lengthy research period and thorough
observation.
The search for a Unifying Management theory approach is “almost” complete, by the emergence of
Operational Theory Approach. This Management approach encompasses all the previous schools of
management theory derived just for the purpose of explaining the knowledge/concept of management
better to us readers.”
“In my opinion, it also helps managers choose which Management theory would be best to practice in
different business and organization settings. For Instance;
  Managerial theories like the Interpersonal, group, and Corporative social system theory, are
best suited for Managers who work with teams and want to be productive with group tasks
assigned.

 Socio-technical and system approach theories are dynamic theories that are often in constant
interaction for successful organizational management (Akpor-Robaro, 2018).”

“I also agree with Koontz on the recommendations for the convergence of theories to be achieved, as
they give out solutions to the individual management theories, so that it can be implemented in the
almost Unified Management Approach, which is currently the Operations Theory Approach. He
suggested in his conclusion that Practicing Managers should put much focus on the academic
institutions to encourage in the total detangling of the management theory jungle and development
and completion of the Unified Management approach. This could be achieved through awarding
Scholarships and Research Grants to the researchers/ academicians, as well as constant interaction via
meetings, talks and seminars to gain insights on how to successfully detangle the current management
jungle and make it penetrable and understandable for both parties.
Currently, the Management approaches available are suited for the developed world. It would be best
to carry out similar research in underdeveloped regions, to see if the results are the same, and if not,
what adjustments can be done to the Management theories for it to be able to serve both areas.
In terms of my research interest, this study is less useful to me. However, in terms of professional
interest, I have been able gain new knowledge on the type of managerial approaches available to be
used in an organization, and I now know which one can be best suited for carrying out a managerial
task successfully.”

REFERENCES
Akpor-Robaro (2018). Why do Management Theories Fail? Reasons and Solutions: A Perspective of
African Context. International Journal of Economics & Management Sciences,7(3),pp. 1-4

Fayol, H. (1949). General and industrial management.  Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, Paris.
Koontz, H., 1961. The Management Theory Jungle. Academy of Management Journal, 4(3), pp. 174-
188.
Koontz, H., 1980. The Management Theory Jungle Revisited. The Academy of Management Review,
5(2), pp. 175-187.
Fayol, H. (1949). General and industrial management.  Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, Paris.