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Management Theories

Decent Essays

A manager’s role is to plan, make decisions, and co-ordinate the organising, leading and controlling of an organisation’s resources, in order to achieve organisational goals in an efficient and effective manner (Davidson, Simon, Woods & Griffin, 2009). Management theories from the past can be utilised by contemporary managers, enabling them to consider a range of perspectives on how to approach problems, make decisions and develop systems designed to reap the benefits of employees exhibiting desirable behaviours (Davidson et al, 2009). Despite the common conception that theories are abstract and irrelevant to practical situations, management theories are grounded in reality (Davidson et al, 2009). Knowledge gained from experiences in the …show more content…

Managers can learn a lot from the positives and negatives of scientific management. In modern organisations, increasing efficiency is always a desirable outcome, however case studies involving scientific management highlight the danger of focussing on efficiency at the expense of employees’ satisfaction. Henri Fayol, Max Weber and Chester Barnard were three contributors to administrative management, the branch of classical management concerned with the organisation as a whole (Davidson et al, 2009).

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) described fourteen basic principles of management, which provide the basis for the four basic categories- planning, leading, organising and controlling- used in most contemporary management books (Davidson et al, 2009). Under Fayol’s system, the management process goes beyond the basic hierarchical model developed by Taylor. The command function continues to operate effectively through a series of co-ordination and control methods. Regular managerial meetings were recommended to improve co-ordination of organisational operations (Pindur et al, 1995). Fayol’s categorisation of managerial principles is a useful reference point for contemporary managers to examine their behaviours against (Davidson et al, 1995).

Max Weber is often referred to as the father of bureaucratic management (Pindur et al, 1995). He developed a system in which individuals were granted occupations and responsibilities within an

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