EDEN UNIVERSITY

School of Nursing & Midwifery Sciences

Theories of MGT -2024

By Cecilia Malama
Supervisor-Mr Mwaka C Simoonga
 INTRODUCTION

• Leadership theories began when ideas of unique leader

traits were questioned in the 1940s.

• It Considered that the qualities of leaders could be

analyzed better by looking at their behaviour or their
behavioral style that causes others to follow them.
• Leaders are people who institute change, influence a situation or can bring creative problem
solving to existing problems.
• Leaders are those who advocate for positive change. Because leaders are always on the
forefront of change, they find themselves in situations that are complex and dynamic.
• Leaders consider multiple factors when solving a
problem in complex situations.
• Leaders need to work with different groups of
individuals, even when those groups of individuals may
have competing interests.
• The leader finds ways to get these diverse groups to
work together, and a leader takes action so that these
different groups can continue to operate independently
while minimizing conflict.
• Leaders always face problems that have never been
solved before and they learn how to work in the face of
constantly changing situations.
 OBJECTIVES

General objective
• At the end of the lecture, the student should be able to
demonstrate an understanding of the four major
Management theories.
 OBJECTIVES
Specific Objectives
• At the end of the lecture, the student should be able
to describe the following management theories:
• The Trait Theory (Great man)
• The Behavioural (Functional) Theories
• The situational theory of leadership
• Scientific Management
• The System Management Theory.

• The Quantitative Management Theory

 DEFINATION OF TERMS

• Leadership involves the use of interpersonal skills to influence others to accomplish a

specific goal (Sullivan and Garland, 2010).

• Theory is an idea or set of ideas that is intended to explain facts or events (Merriam
Webster, 2014).
 DEFINATION OF TERMS

• Management is the process of planning, organizing,

leading, and controlling the work of organization
members and of using all available organizational
resources to reach stated organizational goals (Stoner et
al, 2009).
 DEFINATION OF TERMS

• Management theory Authors like Yoder-wise (2003)

defined management theory as comprising the body of
knowledge that describes how managers should conduct
themselves to keep an organization operating effectively.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

1. The Trait Theory (Great man)

• Until 1940s, the study of leadership cantered on the
traits possessed by successful leaders.
•
• The traits that each possessed in common were
considered necessary “equipment” for the good leader.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• People who did not have these attributes felt that they
could never be effective leaders.

• The faulty of this theory lies in the assumption that the

process of leadership is a “thing” that you either have or
do not have.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• The theory implies that, if you are born with these traits,
you will be a leader,

• if not; you are destined to be a follower for all of your

professional life.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• Relying on leadership traits could be dangerous

mistakes.

• It is important to know your group, your organization

and be willing to adapt your techniques to each situation
presented.
• Not all leaders possess the same trait
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES
2. The Behavioural (Functional)

• Theories When it became evident that effective leaders

did not seem to have any distinguishing traits or
characteristics, researchers tried to isolate the behaviors
that made leaders effective.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• Rather than try to figure what effective leaders were,

researchers tried to figure out what effective leaders did.
• Unlike traits behaviors can be learned.
• Research has also showed that leadership behaviors
appropriate in one situation were not necessarily
appropriate in another
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

3. The situational theory of leadership

• It is also called contingency theory.
• Basically, contingency theory asserts that before
Managers make a decision, they must take into account
all aspects of the current situation and act on those
aspects that are key to the situation at hand
(Tappen,1995).
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• This theory has replaced older “trait” and “style”

theories, holds that since the total culture, the work
situation, and the work group are in constant flux, the
most effective leader for a particular situation is the one
whose personality and style best satisfy needs of the
work group for structure and support as they attack the
task at hand.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• A leader no more controls the work situation than she is

controlled by it.
• The leader like the subordinate is entirely subservient to
the task, since goal achievement is the sole justification
for leadership.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• Although she/he possesses considerable power of

position, a leader is peculiarly at the mercy of the
subordinate:
• she must control the behaviour of other workers in order
to realize her own work goals, but she can affect such
control only through acquiescence of subordinates to her
authority.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• Leadership should shift from one person to another or

from one style to another as changes occur within the
work situation,
• even though no one set of traits and no one leadership
style is effective in all situation.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• In order to adapt leadership to situational peculiarities,

worker‟ needs, and leader's abilities, specific methods
for directing, supervising,
• and coordinating should be selected on the basis of
whether workers desire structure or independence, and
whether the leader is a skilled group worker or an
absolute autocrat.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• 4. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
• Also called Classical Management Theory.
• Frederick Taylor developed the “scientific management
theory” which proposed careful specification and
measurement of all organizational tasks.
• Tasks were standardized as much as possible.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• Concentrates on one best way to perform a task

• it investigates how a task situation can be structured to
get the highest production from workers
• Consists primarily of the work of Frederick W. Taylor,
Frank, Lilian Gilbreth, and Henry L. Gantt
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• Frederick W Taylor is called the father of scientific

management as he made significance contributions to
the theory
• Taylor sought to create a mental revolution among both
workers and managers
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• He introduced four principles to increase efficiency and

predicted that these principles are applicable to all kind
of human activities
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

5.The System Management Theory

• The System Management Theory conceptualized a system
that it has interrelated parts (Cole,2004).
• These parts work or operate as one or a whole in order to
achieve a specific goal.
• This theory signifies that the manager of an organization
should be able to understand the various parts or systems
that make up the entire operation.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• In this case a Nurse Manager who applies the System

Management Theory
• Should understand that different workers in different
departments at the Hospital lead to quality Health
service delivery, because all departments contribute to
the recovery of a patients (Team work is encouraged in
all Health Care Organizations.
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

• For example;
• Laboratory,
• Pharmacy,
• Radiology departments,
• And Admission ward work towards achieving Patients’
quick recovery).
 MANAGEMENT THEORIES

6. The Quantitative Management Theory

• The quantitative management theory uses quantitative
tools to help plan and control nearly everything in an
organization (Cole, 2004).
• A Nurse Manager who adopts this Theory will try to
quantify the Nursing Tasks in her Planning of task
allocation and tries to control everything for the wellbeing
of the patient
 CONCLUSION

• Managers today are advised to analyse a situation and

use ideas from the various schools of thought to find an
appropriate combination of management techniques to
meet the needs of the organizations.
• Theories are powerful influences.
 CONCLUSION

• The longer we use a given theory, the more comfortable

we become with it and the more we tend to not seek out
alternative theories unless events force us to change.
• One benefit of understanding this concurrent popularity
of many points of view about organizations is that it
prepares you for your practice
 REFERENCES
• Abubakar H. S. (2014). Analysis of Theories of Management Relevant to the Marketing

• Anichebe N. A. (2013). Effects of Classical Management Theories on the Current

Management Practices in Nigeria. Europian Journal of Business and Management. Volume
5, No 19. 208-212
 REFERENCES
• Basavanthappa BT (2000). Nursing Administration. Jaypee Brothers Medical Publisher,
New Delhi, India.

• Sullivan EJ and Decker PJ, (2005). Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing, 6th
Ed. Pearson Education Inc. Japan.
THANKS ENJOY

THE END