This study will introduce rationalisation, identifying key concepts and introducing early pioneers of the movement, it will then explain how rationalised techniques are utilised in the pursuit of efficiency and control in the workplace through key theories and studies assimilated from a variety of academic resources. Next it will compare and contrast the rationalisation perspective with insights from the leisure and service industries. Finally, both rationalisation and the leisure and service industry insights will be applied in practice to the restaurant at the running case study “Junction Hotel”, evaluating the potential impact of each on both the hotel and the workers, concluding with a summary of the points discussed and finally a …show more content…
Historically, the Industrial Revolution was a critical time in the formation of early rational organisation (Smelser, 2013). To begin with; work was moving from self-employment in the homestead to migration of a workforce to a centralised workplace whereby the building, tools and technologies were owned and controlled by capitalists (Ibid). The aim of the capitalists was to increase productivity and the output through utilising this new concept of an employed workforce whilst trying to maintain a relatively low level of expenditure in order to maximise profits, however, this inevitably required ever improving technologies, incentives for employees and methods of control as they moved from the flexibility that they previously enjoyed, to working a set schedule as arranged by their superiors (ibid). Consequently commanding and controlling each individual employee became a very real consideration with the everincreasing magnitude of the industrial workspace; something essentially needed to be done as it was becoming impractical and arguably impossible for the owners of businesses to manage their workforce and maintain order (King and Lawley, 2013). A result of this was the integration of a managerial structure within organisations. Critically, an early pioneer of this managerial structure within organisations was Henri Fayol. Fayol devised a ‘common sense’ view of the managerial responsibilities
Chapter 2: The classical approaches (scientific management, administrative principles, and bureaucratic organization) share a common assumption: people at work act in a rational manner that is primarily driven by economic concerns. Scientific Management: in 1911, Fredrick W. Taylor published The Principles of Scientific Management, in which he made the following statement: “The principle object of management should be to secure maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for the employee. He noticed that many workers did their jobs their own ways and without clear and uniform specifications. He believed this caused them to lose efficiency and underperform. He believed the problem would be fixed by scientific
Henri Fayol was an Engineer and French industrialist. He recognizes the management principles rather than personal traits. Fayol was the first to identify management as a continuous process of evaluation. Fayol developed five management functions. These functions are roles performed by all managers which includes planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. Additionally, he recognizes fourteen principles that should guide management of organizations.
Rationalisation as an approach towards Junction Hotel can show its advantages in efficiency levels however; even efficiency is not always affected in a positive way as Ritzer (2011) explains using the organisation McDonald’s as his focus, constructing social theories in the organisation about how people’s creativity can be restrained in the repetitive workforce. Ritzer (2011) explains his theory upon how individuals in the workplace are affected by a more psychological perspective. Thinking about the rationalisation approach towards the Junction Hotel may not only limit staff member’s creativity, but make the current workplace more repetitive and therefore dull. Increasing managing customers in an efficient time may also create a negative affect by increasing the workload per person
His 14 universal principles of management, listed in Table 1.1, were intended to show managers how to carry out their functional duties. Fayol’s functions and principles have withstood the test of time because of their widespread applicability. In spite of years of reformulation, rewording, expansion, and revision, Fayol’s original management functions still can be found in nearly all management texts. In fact, after an extensive review of studies of managerial work, a pair of management scholars
The fundamental of orthodox management literature is concerned with the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation. It copes with several problems such as the classical and human relations theory, motivation and leadership. It also assumes that employees are a key asset as well as the society has moved to a Post-Fordism and post-bureaucratic approach. However, orthodox management is only concerned with how the organisation is behaving instead of why the business is conducting in a certain way. Another limitation is that the theory is merely a group of people’s idea so it is always contestable. In this essay, I will describe how the conventional management theory apply to today’s organisations; demonstrate the reality of work through
In mid-eighteenth-century England the industrial revolution was in full swing. However, workers lived near the level of physical subsistence, and their condition worsened in latter half of the eighteenth century. Monotony and repetition characterized factory work; the tyranny of the factory clock and the pace of the assembly line were beyond the control of all workers. The division of labor, praised by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations as the means to productivity growth and rising living standards, made work so routine that women and children could perform jobs just as easily as men. Business owners logically preferred such workers because they could be hired for less.
Management is a very complex field. Not only must managers pay attention to what is best for the organization, but they also have to do what is best for their customers. At the same time, the manager must satisfy the need of their employees. Henri Fayol developed fourteen principles of management in 1916 that organisations are recommended to apply to order to run properly. This paper will show how some of Fayols
The nineteenth century was a time ripe with progress and hope due to booming industrialization. As organizations and workforces grew, people looked for ways to increase their productivity and profit margins. New ideas were needed to satisfy both business owners and their employees and as such, along came theorists such as Marx or other contributors like Frederick Taylor and Elton Mayo. Taylor produced a management style coined Scientific Management whereas Mayo took a slightly different route and conducted the Hawthorne studies. Over the years theorists such as Marx, with his wildly popular theory about alienation in the workplace, have shaped our view of how management should be conducted in
While scientific development emphasised principles to improve worker effectiveness, another branch within the classical school arose, administrative management, with its main contributor being French industrialist Henri Fayol. He is regarded as the father of administrative management as he proposed fourteen principles of management intended to assist managers in determining what to do to manage an organisation more effectively (Rodrigues, 2001). Fayol’s ideas are still valid in today’s organisations and his definitions of management are widely used in this field of study. In his book General and Industrial Management, published in 1916, he defined management as “to manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control” (Fayol, 1916). This definition yielded the now known functions of management. Fayol’s approach to management has several similarities with Taylor’s scientific management theory. Included in Fayol’s fourteen principles is the division of work, which outlined the need for workers to specialise in specific jobs (Rodrigues, 2001). This idea of work specialisation has been derived from Taylor’s principles of scientific management. Furthermore, the empowerment of managers, proper training of employees and the use of a reasonable rewards system were principles that originated
Employees are not encouraged to take risks and rewarded for following rules. This is suitable for a stable environment that is hard to find in these modern days. It is visible that Quinlan’s culture was bureaucratic. In particular Quinlan had: a) Properly defined rules and procedures to function in a predictable and routine manner b) Roles were clearly defined and labour was divided based on these roles c)
Henri Fayol’s theory was almost a century old and was originally written in French. Further review on several journal articles has led to an overview background of Fayol’s working life which provided the foundation that conceptualized his theory. According to Wren (2001), Fayol was appointed as the Director in a mining company, Decazeville, where he succeeded to turnaround the company to become profitable. Fayol was the first person to classify the functions of a manager’s job. Fayol (1949; as cited in Wren, 2001) identified five key functions in managerial works.as planning, organising, command, coordination and control. Planning consists of any managerial work that involves setting goals and coordinating actions to
What are the reasons that hierarchies emerge in organizations? What about the roles and the nature of this emergence? Does this aid in structuring these organizations/work areas? In this essay, I will be relating the description of activities that take place in an early industrial pin factory from Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations to the organizing and structuring of work. The relation will be described done by examining the division and specialization of labour, requirements that lead to the need for coordination, Horizontal and Vertical Differentiation required for coordination and how structure/hierarchy arises and if it is in fact needed.
According tot the Administrative Management Theory, management is the process of getting certain tasks completed through the use of people. In this theory developed by Henri Fayol, he believes that it was very important to have the use of a multiplied of people instead of just relying on one person alone. Henri Fayol is known today as the “Father of Modern Management”, his theory has shaped what is know today as the Administrative Model, which relies on Fayols fourteen principles of management. These principles have been a significant influence on modern management; they have helped early 20th century manager learn how to organize and interact with their employees in a productive way. Fayols principles of management were the ground work in which his theory was formed. He believed highly in the division of work throughout a project and within the project he believed that the task at hand had to be done with a certain level of discipline in order for the division of work to be able to run smoothly without error.
Between 1770 and 1850, during the Industrial Revolution in England, huge changes occurred in society. In this time, huge Industrial growth occurred due to advancements in power, transport and communication. Inventions such as the steam engine allowed industries to expand and transport goods and materials with ease. Communication improved also due to the arrival of the telegraph, telephone and radio. This industrialisation continued at a rapid pace with the economy in the western world shifting from mainly agricultural to being involved with manufacturing goods and industrial markets. This change required more structured and coherent management methods to be created. It wasn’t until the early 1900s however that formal theories of management started to be formulated with the arrival of classical schools of management.
Henri Fayol: Henri Fayol was administrative management’s most articulate spokesperson. A French industrialist, Fayol was unknown to U.S. managers and scholars until his most important work, General and Industrial Management, was translated into English in 1930. 16 Drawing on his own managerial experience, he attempted to systematize the practice of management to provide guidance and direction to other managers. Fayol also was the first to identify the specific managerial functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. He believed that these functions accurately reflect the core of the management process. Most contemporary management books still use this framework, and practicing managers agree that these