MANAGEMENT THOUGHTS-

CLASSICAL TO HUMAN
RELATIONS THEORY-
BEHAVIORAL THEORY

MMH3
17.6.2019

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 Management and Administration

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 Max Weber
1864-1920
Bureaucracy

Sometimes ‘bureaucracy’ seem to mean administrative efficiency, at other times the opposite. It may appear as simple as a
synonym for civil service,or it may be as complex as an idea summing up the specific features of modern organizational
structure. It may refer to a body of officials, or to the routines of office administration (Albrow 1970:14).

According to Max Weber, bureaucracy is the universal and most progressive and modern form of organization which is
based on legal rational authority.

He has identified three sources of legitimation, traditional, charismatic and rational-legal, of which rational-legal is
codified in bureaucracy. In case of traditional authority, the source of legitimation is tradition from customs, traditions,
and conventions. The charismatic source of authority rests upon personal charm such as magnetic personality, heroic
figure, gift of the gab and the like. The rational-legal authority invokes the sanction of law.
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 Features of Bureaucracy

 There is a clear hierarchy of officials,

 The functions of the officials are clearly specified,
 Officials are appointed on the basis of a contract,
 The staff members are personally free, observing only the
impersonal duties of their offices,
 They are selected on the basis of a professional qualification,
 They have a money salary, and usually pension rights. The salary is
graded according to position in hierarchy. The officials can always
leave the post, and under certain circumstances they may also be
terminated,
 The officials post is his sole or major occupation, there is a career
structure, and promotion is possible either by seniority or merit, or
according to the judgment of the superiors.
 The official may appropriate neither the post nor the resources
which go with it
 He is subject to unified control and disciplinary system.
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Dysfunctions of Bureaucracy

 It has been characterized as the ‘machine theory’ and ‘closed system’ model due to its over concern with
the formal structure of the organization and neglecting the environmental factors.

 Robert Merton(1949:365) argues that strict adherence to rules can become an end
in itself, resulting in ‘goal displacement’.

 The process in turn produces rigidity, red tape, and resistance to change. Bureaucracy provides an
insufficient account of the actual functioning of the organization.

 Bureaucracy is characterized as a self-seeking institution. It develops a tendency to

become an interest group itself and places its own interest at the centre of things.

 Robert Presthus observes that Weber’s model is not suitable for developing
countries as it is a product of Western culture. The developing countries require a
flexible, imaginative outlook to achieve quickly socio-economic
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  Earliest administrative theorist to discuss universal principle of administration.
 He interpreted administration from the perspective of a manager and spelled out five
key elements of administration- planning, organizing. Command, coordination, and
control
 He contributed host of papers General Principles of administration(1908), General and
Industrial Management(1916), and The Administrative Theory of the State(1923)
deserve special mention
 Fayol had refuted the popular distinction between management and public
administration, instead he opined that administration is an activity common to all
Henry Fayol human undertakings whether in home, business or government
1841-1925  Fayol further developed 14 principles of administration: divisions of labor, authority
French and responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of
Management individual interest to the general interest, remuneration, centralization, scaler chain,
Theorist hierarchy, equity, stability of tenure of personnel, order, initiative, and spirit de corps.
 Managers to be efficient must have the following traits: physical qualities, mental
qualities, moral qualities, general education, special knowledge, and experience.

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  Elton Mayo is considered the father of human relations theory
 Unlike the traditional approach, which glorified ‘economic man’, the
human relations school enthrones the ‘social man’.
 It underscores four key elements which classical theorist seem to have
overlooked: a. organization is to be viewed as a social system; b.
workers are human beings with all humanly attributes; c. informal
elements also play an important role in the overall organizational output;
Elton Mayo and d. organization has a social ethics, instead of individual ethIcs
1880-1949  The origin of the human relations theory can be traced back to
Hawthorne experiments.

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The essence of the human relations theory :
a. Unlike the machine model of organization, it views the organization in its holistic social perspective,
b. Workers are being treated as human beings with all humanity attributes
c. Instead of viewing workers as homogenous cogs in the machine, human relations theory put emphasis on the
uniqueness of each worker.
d. Each worker carries with him his culture, attitude, belief, and way of life. Therefore, the industry must
take proper cognizance of such sociocultural aspects of a worker while hiring an employee.
e. Another important attribute of human relations theory is the identificak of informal groups, which play a
huge role in the overall organizational output.
f.Human relations theory lays emphasis on social ethics, instead of individual ethics. It insisted upon a social
ethics based on ‘ human collaboration and social solidarity’
g.Finally, the human relations theory in effect has engendered a new form of management, that is participative
management.

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 Behavioral School of Management Though

The behavioral school of managemgt thought focused on human behavior

It has touched upon areas of organizational behavior, namely, motivation, leadership, communication, organizational
conflict, organizational change and development, and group dynamics.

Major exponents of this school are: Abraham Maslow, Frederick Hergzberg, Douglas McGregor, Rensis Likert, Chris
Argyris among others.

The central objective of this approach is the scientific study of human behavior in diverse social environment.

It tries to find answer to why workers behave the way they do. It focuses on the psycho-social aspect of management.
Simon Chester Barnard’s seminal work “ The Functions of the Executive’, Herbert Simon’s decision making had
uncovered nuances of human behavior.

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  Abraham Maslow is one of the prominent exponents of motivation theory
 Maslow attempts to understand human behavior by applying it organizational
behavior
 His need hierarchy theory physical and security needs are at the bottom,,
while the self actualization needs will be at the top of the pyramid.
 Maslow’s mentions five kinds of needs. The need hierarchy theory states that
human needs are hierarchically arranged in ascending order, while the
satisfaction of higher needs comes when the lowest needs are duly satisfied.
 According to Maslow, human beings like organizms are always driven by
Abraham Maslow needs.
(1908-1970)  The physiological needs are the most fundamental needs. The gratification of
other need is solely contingent upon satisfaction of these needs such as
hunger, thirst and so on. Self actualization needs will be at the top of the
pyramid. The needs of the social and self-esteem will be in the middle.

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 Security needs refer to the search for security and safety which is a perennial
need of human being
 The belongingness needs point to the fact that human beings are by nature
social animal
 Maslow views once physiological and security need are satisfied , human
being will strive for love and belongingness.
 The esteem needs is another important need of human beings. Finally ,the
need for self actualization is the highest need in the hierarchy of needs as
propounded by Maslow.
 At the top of the scale, man becomes self actualized in that he successfully
fuses the responsibilities of his position with his personal aspirations.
 Management therefore in order to bring efficient outcomes, should satisfy
workers needs according to the prescribed hierarchy.

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 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self
Actualization

Esteem

Love/Belongingness

Safety Needs

Physiological Needs

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 Herzberg is famous for Motivation-Hygiene Theory or Two Factor Theory.

His motivation theory was a product of an empirical study conducted over 200
accountants and engineers in Pennsylvania, USA to find out what motivates
employees at work.
He found two factors as motivator and hygiene factors. For Herzberg, motivators are
basically satisfiers or the factors which led to job satisfaction among the employees.
Under this category, five factors namely achievement, recognition, work itself,
Frederick Herzberg
responsibility, and advancement were identified.
1923-2000
By hygiene factors, Herzberg denotes the potential dissatisfiers for the employees.
Five such dissatisfiers have been identified namely, company policy and
administration, supervision, salary, interpersonal relations, and working conditions.

In its essence, Motivation-Hygiene theory is that factors involved in producing job

satisfaction are separate and distinct form the factors that lead to job satisfaction.
Growth occurs with achievement, and achievement requires a task to perform. Hygiene
factors are unrelated to tasks. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are discrete feelings and not
opposite ends of the same continuum.
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 The motivators have a much more long lasting effect on sustaining satisfaction than hygiene
factors have on preventing dissatisfaction.
 The motivators in work place tend to be more self-sustaining and are not dependent upon
constant supervisory attention.
 Hygiene needs are however related to things for which our appetites are never satisfied
completely. Applications of improvement must be constantly applied.

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 Douglas McGregor
1906-1964

Contributed to the development of behavioural theory of organization.

His celebrated text ”Human Side if the Enterprise’- McGregor came up with his famous theoretical
assumptions regarding the nature if human being. This assumptions are popularly known as Theory ‘X’
and Theory ‘Y’.

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 Theory ‘X’

 it is assumed that average human being has an innat antipathy to

work, which he will avoid if he can
 Owing to such as inherent nature of human beings, most people
need to be coerced, controlled, directed, and threatened with
punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort towards the
achievement of organizational objectives
 The averge human being with relatively little ambition, prefers to be
directed and wishes to avoide responsibility, Security is his main
concern.

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 Theory ‘Y”
 The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is a s
natural as play or rest
 Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards
associated with their achievement
 The average human being learns after proper conditions not only
to accept but to seek responsibility
 exercising relatively high degree of creativity, imagination, and
ingenuity in the solution of organizational problems is widely,
not narrowly distributed in the population
 In modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of average
human beings are only partially utilized

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 The organization must strive to create conditions under which the individuals own
objectives and contribute to the attainment of the organizations goals

 The worker is to be integrated into the organization

The mangers must take care to determine the needs and desires of their employees, thru
more participatory and transparent mode of conduct

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 He extended the scope of behavioural analysis from individual personality and motivation to
organizational effectiveness. How does an organization perform better than others was his
concern.’

 He constructed Management Systems I - IV model

 System-I Exploitative-Authoritative- the origination system is hierarchic, centralized decision
Rensis making
Likert  System-II- Benevolent-Authoritative- the system is still authoritative, but becomes less
exploitative and more benevolent towards the members of the organization
 System-III. Consultative Leadership- the mode of operation is based on consultation.
Managers decide, especially with regard to setting goals, and in consultation with
subordinates
 System IV; Participative- this according to Likert, is the ideal management style. Ever
organization should strive to adopt the style of management. It allows the subordinates to put
forward their opinions and managers give proper cognizance to these opinions.

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  He made more sophisticated interpretation between individual and organization
 He raised the apparent incompatibility between prevailing organizational strategies and
individual need for fulfillment as the root of organizational crisis
 He was critical of the formal organization informed with task specialization, chain of
command, unity of direction, span of control and so on. He views these negatively
impact human capital.
 He sressed on personal development and organizational goal not to be seen as a zero-
sum proposition, potential for self –actualization should be unlocked.

Chris Argyris

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