Chapter 3:

Evolution of managerial thought

Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Explain the difference between the phenomenon of management as a science and management as an
art
• Comment on whether management can be regarded as a discipline and as a profession
• Explain why it is important to consider the development of managerial thought when learning about
management
• Compare the three branches of the traditional viewpoint of management
• Explain the contribution of the behavioural viewpoint to management
• Describe how managers can use the systems viewpoint and quantitative techniques to improve
employees’ performance
• Explain the contingency viewpoint in modern management
• Discuss the important benefits of quality for an organisation
• Highlight the characteristics of the flexible viewpoint of management
• Explain the main concepts associated with the digitisation transformation viewpoint as they relate to
contemporary management challenges.
Management: An introduction
• Management has the role of directing efforts towards achieving the
organisation’s purpose.
• In directing efforts towards achieving a specific purpose, management
can be seen as a dynamic process and purposive activity of getting
things done effectively and efficiently through and with other people
and resources.
• As a dynamic process, the tasks of planning, organising, leading, and
controlling, are used to create an internal environment where the
working conditions enable an environment in which employees can
perform their tasks effectively and efficiently to achieve the
organisation’s goals.

The First Industrial Revolution,
1760 to approximately 1820, was
characterised by mechanisation,
steam, and waterpower through
spinning mills.
We are currently experiencing the
phenomenon of cyber physical
systems – the integration of
computation, networking, and
physical processes – of the Fourth
Industrial Revolution (4IR) in the
automotive industry.
The Second Industrial Revolution In the 20th century, the Third
in the 19th century gave us Industrial Revolution saw the
electricity and mass production introduction of computers, the
towards the 1870s, as typified by Internet, digital automation in
the assembly lines of Henry Ford manufacturing, digitisation, and
in 1913. robotics from the 1950s onwards.
The 4IR will involve the digital
transformation of manufacturing
and value creation processes,
driven by high-speed mobile
Internet, cloud technology, AI and
automation, robotics and big data
analytics
Management as a phenomenon
• The phenomenon of management (contemporary understanding of
management) is further explained in terms of:
• Management as a science
• Management as an art
• Management as a discipline
• Management as profession
• Then consider the evolution of managerial thought.
Management as a science
Science is a systematic body
In explaining a phenomenon,
of knowledge pertaining to a
we need to consider what is
specific field of study that
meant by a universal
contains general facts which
principle.
explain a phenomenon.

In the universal principled

approach, a body of
A universal principle would be
knowledge is created using a
applicable in all situations in
scientific method of
any type of organisation.
observation and verification
through testing.
• Management has the characteristics of a science, often referred to as
a discipline. As such, it is important to not only know but also to
explain and to understand a phenomenon in management
• However, the inexactness of management as a science is largely
attributed to management being a social science.
• As a social science, management deals with working through and with
people in an organisation where it is difficult to predict behaviour
accurately.
• Consequently, theories and principles may produce slightly different
results because behaviour is not always consistent
Management as an art
• An art is something a person practices, based on skills applied to achieve a desired result.
• While management as a science requires knowledge about theoretical principles,
management as an art requires the practical application of these scientific theoretical
principles.
• The manager needs to know how to use techniques and apply principles appropriately in
real situations.
• The art of management is individualised
• The role played by a manager, and the quality of individual performance, is also
influenced by their personal skill based on their knowledge, experience, judgement,
intuition, and personality.
• Management is also creative → For managers to produce something unique requires a
combination of both intelligence and imagination. It takes time and practice to become a
more effective manager. This is achieved through trying new things and learning from
mistakes.
We can thus say that management is an art because it deals with
applying scientific principles (knowledge) to influence thinking and
behaviour at work to accomplish desired organisational goals.

Influencing people at work implies that attitudes and behaviour

need to be changed.

As an art, the focus is on the practical or technical know-how of

‘how to do it’.
Management as a discipline
• A discipline is a branch of knowledge and should fulfil the following two
requirements:
• Relevant knowledge by scholars should be communicated via publications
• Relevant knowledge should be included in formal education and training programmes
• Management is, however, still a relatively new discipline and growing at a fast
pace. It can thus be regarded as an emerging discipline.
• Management as an emerging discipline is characterised by the complex interplay
of functions, contingencies, and processes to accomplish the goals of an
organisation in an efficient and effective manner.
• Management is best described as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge
because of the complex interplay between the professional disciplines and social
sciences.
Management as a profession
• A profession may be defined as an occupation that requires specialised
knowledge and intensive academic preparations to which entry is
regulated by a representative body.
• In terms of being knowledge-based, evidence-based knowledge and
practice are important in establishing a systematic body of knowledge
for developing professionals.
• A professional ethos is concerned with rules of conduct as essential to
the integrity of practice.
• As the science of management develops, the knowledge base is
becoming more defined and it calls for more evidence-based research to
guide practitioners.
 Aristotle’s intellectual virtues
Episteme
Universal scientific and context-
independent knowledge, which
is appropriate for
professionalisation and focuses
on theoretical knowledge
Techne Phronesis
Art, craft, or skills and which
represents pragmatic context-
Implies practical wisdom or
dependent knowledge where
prudence
the focus is on technical know-
how
The development of managerial thought
• Modern organisations are global entities with employees working at
home, in offices, retail outlets, service centres, or manufacturing
plants scattered throughout the world.
• Although new methods of managing employees are needed to keep
pace as organisations, business environments, and technologies
change, we must not forget the way in which management was
practised over the decades.
• This is because management as we know it today, is built on
managerial practices of the past.
1870s
• Several initial important turning points in business and management history have been
identified, including the following:
• The establishment of several well-known, large-scale organisations
• The need for formal management practices
• The emergence of major labour unions.

Henry R. Towne (1844–1924)

• An engineer and co-founder of the Yale Lock Company
• Proposed that the American Society of Mechanical Engineers create an economic section
to act as a clearing house and forum for ‘shop management’ and ‘shop accounting’.
• Shop management would deal with the subjects of organisation, responsibility, and
reports as well as the ‘executive management’ of industrial works, mills, and factories.
• Shop accounting would treat the nuts-and-bolts of time and wage systems, cost
determination and allocation, bookkeeping methods, and manufacturing accounting.
• The society would develop a body of literature, record members’ experiences, and provide
a forum for exchanging managers’ ideas.
The emergence of labour unions in 1886
• The labour movement in America (1886) by Richard T. Ely
• advocated a less radical approach to labour management relations and
advised labour to work within the existing economic and political systems.

In South Africa:
• The first Industrial Conciliation Act was only passed in 1924 and amended in
1979.
• The Wiehahn Commission and subsequent Industrial Conciliation Amendment
Act 94 of 1979 granted all South African employees equal rights in the sphere
of industrial relations.
• On 11 November 1996, the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 became law. For
the first time in South Africa’s history, management, employees, the labour
movement, and government sat down as joint social partners to negotiate this
Act.
• The rules and regulations found in all organisations were originally created
to protect managers from undue pressures to favour certain groups of
people.
• The past is a good teacher, allowing us to identify practices that have been
successful as well as practices that have failed.
• History gives us a feel for the types of problems for which managers have
long struggled to find solutions.
• Many of these problems, such as low morale, high absenteeism, and poor
workmanship, still exist in some organisations and continue to concern
managers.
• There are seven viewpoints of management, that are based on different
assumptions about the behaviour of people in organisations, the key goals
of an organisation, the types of problems faced, and the methods that
should be used to solve those problems.
Figure 3.1 History of managerial thought (p. 63)
Source: Amended from Hellriegel et al. (2004)
The traditional viewpoint of management
Table 3.2 Characteristics of traditional management (p. 68)
Source: Compiled by the author
The traditional viewpoint of management
The behavioural viewpoint of management
Table 3.3 Characteristics and proponents of the behavioural (human-relations) viewpoint (p. 71)
Source: Compiled by the author
The systems viewpoint of management
Table 3.4 Main characteristics of the systems viewpoint (p. 72)
Source: Compiled by the author
Figure 3.2 Basic systems view of the organisation (p. 73)
The contingency viewpoint of management
Figure 3.3 Contingency viewpoint (p. 75)
The quality viewpoint of management
• Quality is defined as how well a product or service does what it is
supposed to do
• Managers understand the critical link between achieving superior
quality goods and/or services and establishing a competitive advantage
• Quality viewpoint emphasises achieving customer satisfaction through
the provision of high-quality goods and services. Thus, the focus of the
quality viewpoint of management is the customer, who ultimately
defines quality in the marketplace.
• Total Quality Management (TQM) is the continuous process of ensuring
that quality is built in at every stage of production.
The flexible viewpoint of management
• The flexible viewpoint of management emerged in the mid-1990s as a result of the
economic turbulence experienced by many organisations.
• Managers are expected to integrate strategic planning and implementation, handle both
incremental change (in other words, daily situations close to certainty) and
transformational change (in other words, extraordinary situations far from certainty), and
have to be skilled in interpersonal, networking, and negotiation competencies. To be
successful in these competencies and to meet the increasing emotional and social needs
of employees, a manager needs to be able to communicate in an inspirational manner
and cultivate a learning organisational culture.
• A learning organisational culture is one in which everyone is engaged in identifying and
solving problems, enabling the organisation to experiment and increase its capacity.
• In essence, the thinking is that all employees should be involved in identifying problems
and understanding customer needs, and they should make innovative decisions together.
The digitisation transformation viewpoint
• Commensurate with developments in the previous industrial
revolutions, the acceleration and advancement of digital technology
merges the physical, digital, and biological worlds.
• The 4IR will be characterised by a much faster speed, depth, and
breadth in advancement that will influence how countries develop,
lead to the development of new organisational business models that
are focused on creating value, and it has implications for people and
human-machine interaction.
• Managers need to:
• Embrace uncertainty
• Know how to manage in a digitised knowledge-based economy and apply
processes through which organisations generate value from their intellectual
and knowledge-based assets
• Be concerned with sustainable management practices
• Be ethically and socially responsible and adhere to corporate governance
guidelines
• Manage the intense focus on quality
• Embrace the shift to the service economy
• Manage talent retention and deal with the impact of the generational gap
• Build relationships, connections, and trust with stakeholders
• Embrace the principles and values of principle-led management.
The main concepts associated with this viewpoint are:

A principle-led
management
Millennials and framework.
Generation Z –
Sustainable implications for
abundant the future of
Digitised organisations work
knowledge
management
Integration of managerial viewpoints and competencies

Table 3.5 Integration of managerial viewpoints and competencies

Chapter Summary
• The phenomenon of management is explained
• Management is not an exact science because it is largely a social science.
• Management is an emerging discipline
• Management is an occupation with a professional character
• We considered seven accepted viewpoints of management that have evolved since about
1870:
• The traditional (or classical) viewpoint of management (at the beginning of the Second Industrial
Revolution)
• The behavioural viewpoint of management (in the middle of the Second Industrial Revolution)
• The systems viewpoint of management (at the end of the Second Industrial Revolution)
• The contingency viewpoint of management (at the beginning of the Third Industrial Revolution)
• The quality viewpoint of management (prior to mid Third Industrial Revolution)
• The flexible viewpoint of management (towards the end of the Third Industrial Revolution)
• The digitisation transformation viewpoint (at the end of the Third Industrial Revolution, beginning of the
4IR).