Defining Management through Comparison of Classical Behavioral Theories Essay

Management is indispensable to any company whether it be a individual or a group of individuals who represent it. However, to the full explicating what the construct of direction is proves to be hard. Typically, the aim of direction is to guarantee the accomplishment of set ends through a strategic constitution of processs that best utilize resources. Characteristically, these ends frequently relate to increased productiveness or net income and even employee satisfaction. As industry expanded in the U.S., as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, new theories on the organisation and direction of work developed and continued to be explored through the century. Many of these founding rules are still in topographic point and have become built-in in the modern apprehension of direction. Most significantly, the theories of direction scientific discipline and classical behavioural direction have been extremely influential. Through an scrutiny of the foundations and development every bit good as a comparing of the rules of these two theories ; a better apprehension of the construct of direction will be attained.

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Around the bend of the twentieth century, scientific direction implemented, as the name suggests, a more scientific attack to direction. Besides know as Taylorism, scientific direction was founded by applied scientist Fredrick Winslow Taylor ( 1856-1915 ). By definition, it was a system to derive maximal efficiency from workers and machinery ( “ Scientific direction, ” 2000 ). Establishing the theory ‘s foundation on scientific jurisprudence and the separation of mental and physical labour, Taylor established several rules: ( 1 ) developing a scientific discipline of production ; ( 2 ) carefully choosing and developing workers ; ( 3 ) linking scientific discipline and the worker ; and ( 4 ) dividing duty between direction and workers ( “ Taylorism, ” 2008 ). In his book, The Principles of Management ( 1911 ), Taylor stated:

To work harmonizing to scientific Torahs, the direction must coup d’etat and execute much of the work which is now left to the work forces ; about every act of the workingman should be preceded by one or more preparative actions of the direction which enables him to make his work better and quicker than he otherwise could. ( p. 26 )

This to the full expresses Taylor ‘s chief aim to the scientific attack to direction ; efficiency. Harmonizing to Taylor, workers instructed to give their clip to specific undertakings would finally go extremely specialised in that undertaking, therefore extremely efficient. Furthermore, since workers handled the physical facet of work, the direction became responsible for the planning of their labour and other mental undertakings. Having workers become extremely efficient in their occupations was what Taylor believed as the “ one best manner ” of executing a undertaking. In order to get at these impressions for this model, Taylor conducted several surveies and experiments at assorted industries during his clip. One of his most notable, the time-and-motion survey, helped Taylor create efficiency guidelines for workers. Basically, these guidelines determined criterions for the length of clip certain occupations take and the sum of resources or labour needed to finish those occupations. Then based on those guidelines, compensation would be determined.

Assuming workers were motivated by money ( “ Taylorism, ” 2008 ), Taylor believed that productiveness would so increase in order to get a higher pay. These guidelines were implemented into the workplace by puting day-to-day quotas for workers and accordingly establishing rewards on productiveness towards those quotas. Therefore, if a quota was non fulfilled, a lower pay would be paid to that worker. On the other manus, if the quota was achieved or exceeded, the wage would be well higher ( Halpern, Osofsky, and Stephen, 1989 ). As a consequence, this set up the first standard application of motive for workers. It enticed them, through money, to work efficiently and more expeditiously. Harmonizing to Encyclopedia of U.S Economics, when this method was introduced into U.S. Industry, makers were able to hike productiveness by 200 per centum ( “ Scientific direction, ” 2000 ).

An addition in productiveness, as a direct consequence of this new motivational method, was non merely utile for workers, now being able to straight impact their ain rewards, but for direction every bit good because money was non being wasted on inefficient workers. However, critics of Taylor argue that this was non good to the common worker. By stressing the single alternatively of a group, there was a deficiency of integrity to work towards a common end. Labor brotherhoods of the clip were enormously unreceptive to Taylor ‘s rules because they viewed the compensation and quota as a punishment for non working as opposed to motive ( Halpern, Osofsky, and Stephen, 1989 ). Although there is cogency to these statements, the basis that Taylor laid was good in animating farther research into the construct of direction, in peculiarly, as a scientific discipline.

Another statement against the direction scientific discipline theory accused Taylor of neglecting to acknowledge the societal and psychological demands of the worker and the discontent created when these demands are non met ( Halpern, Osofsky, and Stephen, 1989 ). Finally, this developed into a new theory of direction called the human dealingss motion, besides known as behavioural direction. This theory emerged out of a series of surveies known as the Hawthorne Experiments. Conducted in the 1920s through the early 1930s at Western Electric, the Hawthorne Experiments stimulated an increased accent on the societal and informal facets of the workplace ( Kleiman, Barnett, 2006 ). Elton Mayo ( 1880-1949 ) is credited as being the instigator of this theory of direction and of the Hawthorne Experiments. Altogether Mayo, along with other research workers, resolved several decisions from these surveies.

First, that worker attitudes and behaviours straight affected production in the work topographic point. Second, they found that the workplace as a societal system had a profound affect on single worker behaviours. Last, the manner of supervising was an of import factor in increasing workers ‘ occupation satisfaction ( “ Management idea, ” 2009 ). Harmonizing to these decisions, direction demand non merely be concerned with its workers behavior, but be witting that they are besides an of import factor in it. This consciousness created a new manner of sing the relationship of direction and its work force. Now, alternatively of simply supervising worker duties, direction needed to measure and place specific societal and psychological demands and find how to outdo fulfill them. Basically, directors needed to be equipped to name worker behaviour through interpersonal communicating, motive, and by taking ( “ Management idea, ” 2009 ).

Continuing a few decennaries subsequently around the 1950s and 1960s, a theory considered to be a patterned advance from the human dealingss motion called behavioural scientific discipline moved into the head of direction development. Behavioral scientific discipline, besides called organisational behaviour direction ( OBM ), focused on the usage of conceptual tools to help in understanding and foretelling behaviour in the workplace ( “ Management idea, ” 2009 ). Behavioral scientific discipline utilized the fundamental thoughts from the human dealingss theory as its foundation. However, its parts included a concentration on personality, attitudes, values, motive, group behaviour, leading, communicating, and struggle ( “ Management idea, ” 2009 ). Many research workers participated to these parts including Abraham Maslow ( 1908-1970 ). Around 1943, Maslow began researching the theory of motive among workers. His surveies proposed that motive starts from a demand that developed within an person. Then, that demand spurred the person to put a end. When the end was achieved, the demand was, in bend, satisfied ( Anderson, 2006 ). Maslow identified and grouped demands into a hierarchy. Harmonizing to Maslow, worlds have five set of basic demands:

Physiological demands: These are the most basic of all human demands and include air, nutrient, shelter, H2O, sex, and slumber.

Safety demands: This demand class includes physical and psychological safety. Issues of personal safety and security of household, belongings, and employment are all included.

Love needs: Although Maslow originally labeled this as love, ulterior readings expanded the impression and renamed it belongingness. Maslow stated that all persons desire fondness and a sense of belonging.

Esteem needs: Maslow argued that all persons have a demand for self-respect and the regard of others. This demand class was divided into two subordinate sets: ( 1 ) the demand for strength, accomplishment, and adequateness ; and ( 2 ) the desire for repute and prestigiousness, acknowledgment, attending, and grasp.

The demand for self-actualization: Maslow described this as the demand for persons to make what they were meant to make, and argued that persons could non be genuinely satisfied unless they became all that they were capable of going. He noted that a vocalist must sing and a poet must compose if they are to be genuinely healthy and happy ( Maslow, 2008, p 11 ).

These demands became widely used and adapted throughout surveies of the construct of direction. In fact, one of Maslow ‘s pupils, Douglas McGregor ( ), took his theories of motive even further. McGregor ‘s surveies were based on premises of human nature and human motives, which he named Theory X and Y. Theory X supposed that people prefer to be directed, are non interested in taking duty ; and are merely motivated by money, benefits, and the menaces of penalty. While Theory Y assumed that, instinctively, people are neither lazy nor undependable and that they can be autonomous and originative if decently motivated ( Anderson, 2006 ). These two theories mirror the thoughts of direction scientific discipline ( Theory X ) and behavioural scientific discipline ( Theory Y ). Furthermore, puting basis to the similarities they portion as good.

First, taking McGregor ‘s Theory X and Theory Y analysis, by arguably ignoring the human nature facet of these 2 theories, motive was still a cardinal factor and a correlativity between the scientific attack to direction and the behavioural attack. Understanding that whether the motive came from compensation or through the desire for grasp and acknowledgment, the worker ‘s demand to be motivated was polar to a direction ‘s success. Ultimately, direction scientific discipline and behavioural direction have several similarities if looking at the root of some of their rules.

Chiefly, both developed the impression of utilizing scientific discipline applications to direction. Management scientific discipline applied scientific timing methods and stairss to put efficiency guidelines. While, behavioural direction applied the psychological and societal scientific disciplines to direction. Second, both schools of idea utilized the construct of using some signifier of motive to workers. As stated before, direction scientific discipline used compensation based on productiveness to elicit workers. On the other manus, the behavioural scientific discipline examined the single worker ‘s personal demands for motive. These demands extended from physical demands, such as H2O to more psychosomatic demands like the demand of self realization and carry throughing certain internal ends and desires through work. Although the type of demands vary, the construct behind motive is decidedly shared between these two theories.

In decision, the theories of direction scientific discipline and behavioural direction grew out of a necessity. Taylor recognized a demand to set up certain criterions in industrial direction to assist both the worker and company. Through his thought of utilizing scientific jurisprudence to find guidelines, he everlastingly changed direction. Derived from some of the defects of direction scientific discipline, behavioural direction based its rules on the demands of the single workers in relation to psychological science and sociology. Although both schools of thought vary vastly, they portion some similarities. Most significantly, they portion the fact that they had a profound affect on determining modern apprehensions of direction.

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