Evolution of Management Theory

Introduction:
In 500 B.C., the first known management concepts were recorded. when
Sumerian traders create written documents for use in commerce and
administration. As early as 4000–3000 B.C., management was being used by
the Egyptian culture. The Egyptian pyramid, which was constructed using
millions of stone blocks and labor from individuals, is proof that a coordinated
effort on a really huge scale was possible. Such a massive edifice would
undoubtedly have required substantial planning, decision-making, organizing
personnel and resources, and management. Roman made important
contributions to management as well, and these contributions can be seen in
western military and public administration systems. Without using strong
management principles, it would be impossible to run the vast Roman Empire.
Army commanders created techniques to inspire their troops and slaves to do
the task at hand to the best of their abilities. Organization and management are
byproducts of their historical and social contexts. Consequently, we may
comprehend the development of management theory in terms of how people
have struggled with relationship-related issues at specific points in history.
At the close of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth century in
Europe and the United States, there were several attempts to understand these
newcomers to industrial life. This was the foundation of early management
theory.
Early Writings on Management.
For many millennia, people have been altering and changing organizational
structures. A literature that contributed to the formation of contemporary
management theories was produced by the writings of numerous authors in the
fields of kingdom governance and human resource management. The authors'
articles focused on improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
Early military, political, mythological, and religious organizations offered
examples of leadership and management. The following is a description of
some early texts that later influenced the evolution of managerial theory.
Chanakya’s Arthashastra : This treatise, developed around third century BC,
deal with the governance of kingdom by a king or a leader while making the
policies of governance and people management. It highlights the importance of
creation of department, development of detailed job profiles and qualifications
of administrations who had to manage these departments a director.
Arthashastra considerably affected the administrative philosophy of different
ruler of India for centuries. Machiavelli’s The Prince: This book written by
Niccilo Machiavelli in 1531 as a counsel for the leadership of Florence, Italy.
Machiavelli recommended in this classic that the end justify the mean and that
a leader should use fear, not hatred, to maintain control. Although Sun
Tzu ,Chanakya and Machiavelli was trying to development a theory of
management, insights teach us an important lesson about Management. And its
help to think about management of organization.
Effect of the Industrial Revolution on Management
The industrial Revolution made a significant contribution to the development
of management thought before the 20th century. The substitution of human
power with machine power made it possible to manufacture goods in large
numbers in factories more economically. Consequently, there emerged
large-scale business which required managerial skills to produce goods in an
efficient and profitable manner. The growing size and complexity of business
organisation led to the requirement of managers to various business-related task,
like assessing the demand of goods, ensuring the availability of raw materials,
assigning the task to factory workers, supervising the production and sales of
goods, maintaining quality standard etc.

The first textbook of management was written by J. Duncan in 1911 and the
early comprehensive theories on management appeared around 1920.The
discipline of management got a strong foundation. When Harvard University
became one of the first American universities to offered graduate degree in
business management in 1908.The curriculum for teaching management was
based on the analysis of relevant real situations in the business world.

Different school of management thought

Early Management Theory include Scientific management theory school,
classical organisation theory school , the behavioural school, and management
science school. Keep one important fact in mind: The managers and Theorists
who developed these assumption about human relationship.

The scientific Management school

Scientific Management theory arose in part of from the need to increase
productivity. In the united states especially ,skilled labour was short supply at
the beginning of the twentieth century. To increase the productivity was to
increase efficiency of workers. There for ,Frederick W.Tylor, Henry L.Gantt,
and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth devised the body of principle know as scientific
management theory .

Frederick w. Tylor (1856-1915)

Taylor’s famous work principle of scientific Management was published in
1911.The fundamental principles that Taylor saw underlying the scientific
approach to management are as follows:

 Replacing rules of thumb with science (organised knowledge)

 Obtaining the harmony, rather than discord, in group action .
 Achieving cooperation of human being, rather than restricted output.
 Working for maximum output, rather than restricted output.
 Developing all workers to the fullest extent possible for their own and
their company’s highest prosperity.
 His philosophy on four basic principal:
 The development of a true science of management, so that the best
method for performing each task could be determined.
  The scientific selection of workers, so that each workers would be given
responsibility for the task for his or her was best suited.
 The scientific education and development of the worker.
 Intimate, friendly cooperation between management and labour.

Taylor believed that a high division of labour was needed to produce more
output, and he was introduced a differential rate system(this meant that the
workers received more an amount of wages per ‘piece’ that encourage
employer to pay more productive workers at the higher rate than others that
would profit both company and workers. This method of management paid
close attention to ‘time and motion ‘studies. (e.g. 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).

Henry l. Gannt (1816-1919)

Henry L.Gantt worked with Taylor on several project. He believed that every
workers who finished a day’s assigned work load would win a 50-cent
bonus .After he added a second motivation. The supervisor would earn a extra
bonus for each worker who reach the daily task, plus an extra bonus if all
workers reached it .He was made individual bar chart which show workers
performance that rated and publicly and recorded on chart.

The Gilbreths
Frank B and Lillian M Gilbreths (1868-1924 and 1878-1972) made their
contribution to the scientific management movement as husband and wife
team .Lillian and frank collaborated on fatigue and motion studies and focused
on ways of promoting individual worker’s welfare. After using the camera,
they tried to find the most economical motion of each task in order to upgrade
performance and reduce fatigue.

Classical organization theory school

Scientific management was concerned with increasing the productivity of the
shop and the individual worker. Classical organization theory grew out of the
need to find guideline’s for managing such complex organisation as factories.

Henery Fayol (1841-1925)

He is generally hailed as the founder of the classical management school. And
he was not the first to investigate managerial behaviour because he was the first
to systematize it. Fayol that sound management practice fallen into certain
pattern that can be easily identified and analysed .he was also interested in the
total organization and focused on management ,which he felt had been the most
neglected of business operation.Fayol made principles which “most frequently
had to apply “before he believed that managers are born ,not made ” .
It emphasised to following factor as being essential to an effective management
process.

 The division of labour.

 A tall organisational structure.
 A wide span of control
 An authoritarian style of management.

Source ;Henri Royal Industries and General

Administration,J.A.Caubrough,trans.(Geneva International Management
institute ,1930)

Max weber (1864-1920)

Max weber developed a theory of bureaucratic management that stressed the
need for a strictly defined hierarchy governed by clearly defined regulation and
lines of authority. He considered the ideal organization to be a bureaucracy
whose activities and objectives were explicitly spelled out. He was also
believed that technical competence should be emphasized and that performance
evaluation should be made entirely on the basis on merit .

Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933)

Mary parker Follett was among those who built on the basic framework of the
classical school .However she introduced new element, especially in the area of
the human relations and organization structure. In this, she initiated trends that
would be future developed by the emerging behavioural and management
science schools.

Follett convinced that no one could become a whole person expect as a

member of a group, a person grew through their relationships with other in
organisation .She belived that the artificial distinction between managers (order
givers) and subordinates(order takers)obscured this natural patership. she was a
great belived in the power of group ,where individuals could combine their
diverse talents into something bigger.

The Behavioral School:

The Behavioral school emerged partly because the classical approach did not
achieve sufficient production efficiency and workplace harmony. To manager’s
frustration, people did not always follow predicted or expected patterns of
behaviour. Thus there was increased interest in helping managers deal more
effectively with the “people side” of their organizations. The behavioural
school of management thought began late in the scientific management, but a
achieve large scale recognition in 1930’s

The Human Relations Movement

Human relations management emerged in the 1920’s and deal with the human
aspects of organization .It is frequently used as a general term to describe the
way in which managers interact with their employees. When “employee
management” stimulates more and better work, organisation has effective
human relationship; When morale and efficiency deteriorate, its human relation
are said to be ineffective.

From Human Relations To The Behavioral Science Approach

Mayo and his colleagues pioneered the use of the scientific method in their
studies of people in the work environment. Later researchers, more rigorously
trained in the social science (psychology, sociology and anthropology) ,used
more sophisticated research method and became known as “behavioural
scientists” rather then “human relation theorist’s.”

The behavioural scientists brought two dimensions to the study of management

and organizations.

Self -actualizing people, Their work spawned new thinking about how
relationships can be beneficial arranged in organizations. They also determined
that people wanted more than “instantaneous” pleasure or rewards.

Behavioural scientists applied the methods of scientific investigation to the

study of how people behaved in organization as whole entities.

The Management science school

At the beginning of world War II ,Great Britain desperately needed to solve
number of new ,complex problem in warfare. With survival at the sake ,the
british were able to achieve significant technological and tactical breakthroughs.
When American entered the war ,they formed what they called operational
research teams, based on the successful British model, to solve similar
problems.

New Industrial technologies were being put into use and transportation and
communication were becoming more complicated. These development brought
with them a host of problem that could not be solved easily by conventional
mean. Over the years, OR procedures were formalized into what is now more
generally called The Management Science School.

The management science school gained popularity through post war

phenomena are as follows-

1. First ,The development of high -speed computers and of

communications among computers provided the means for trackling
complex and large -scale organizational problems
2. Second, Robert M.C. Namara implemented a management science
approach at Ford Motor Company in the 1950s and 1960s.
Conclusion
To conclude a detailed report on management evolution and its various
functions, how they help an organisation to progress in their operations. The
first part shows the evolution of management, how and when it started. The
second part tells us about the functions of management giving a detailed
explanation about how these functions differ from each other and their
importance in an organisation.