Development of Management | Term Paper

Here is a term paper on the ‘Development of Management’ especially written for school and college students.

Development of Management

---

The existence of Management and its principles is as old as humanity. Its development is closely associated with the development of humanity. Human beings are gregarious in nature and they have been living in groups and tribes in the beginning. When they started living in an established way they were making use of the well-recognised principles of management.

There are evidences in history to establish this. The important feature of management is that it is an evolutionary concept. Secondly, the art of management has ancient origins. But the science of management developed only after Industrial Revolution.

For a better understanding of the development of management its growth is discussed under the following heads: 1. Management in antiquity 2. Forerunners of management 3. Classical approach to management 4. Human relations approach.

Term Paper # 1. Management in Antiquity (Prior to 1800):

In ancient times management existed in different forms. In the early days it took the form of personal leadership. This leadership was reflected in almost all families, clubs, games, churches, armies expeditions and many other socio­economic and political organisations.

Evidence shows that the genesis and evolution of the concepts and methods of management has been closely followed on the heels of improvements in the industrial arts and in the growth of government and social institutions and their size.

An investigation into the origins of modern management indicates that its seeds are found to be scattered over many lands and in various ages of history since the dawn of civilization, but the sprouting and breeding is influenced by the climate created by economic conditions.

The following instances from history will establish this point:

(1) In Egypt, the planning and organisation skills were demonstrated by the construction of pyramids and buildings. They recognised the importance of specialisation in total organisation by passing laws stating that no trade-men could pursue any trade except their family business or profession.

(2) The Chinese philosophy was the first to recognise the need for methodical means of employee selection and staffing for various organisations. There are evidences in their history to prove that they were aware of certain principles on the functions of management.

(3) In India, Kautilya’s Arthashastra deals with a large variety of subjects. He concentrates on almost every aspect of the theory of government. He deals elaborately on governmental departments, organisation and management of trade and commerce, Judiciary, social customs, marriage and divorce, rights of women, taxation and revenue, agriculture, mines and factories, markets, census operations etc.

(4) In ancient Greece there is plenty of documentary evidences on management principles, its universality, management as an art, specialisation and employee selection.

(5) In Rome, the records of management are incomplete but their administrative capacities and organisational potentials established beyond doubt that they made use of principles like scalar relationship and delegation of authority.

(6) The military leaders of the past were good in their communication of plans, development of strategies, their objectives, maintaining effective morale in their expeditions and invasions and maintaining proper balancing between individual and group objectives.

(7) The Roman Catholic Church is considered as the established organisation throughout the globe has made use of the following:

(i) This has made an effective use of formal organisation.

(ii) They established well-defined objectives and effective and efficient organisational set up to achieve those objectives.

(iii) Division of work based on specialisation and the better use line and staff managers.

(8) The camera lists were a group of Germans and Austrian Public administrators and intellectuals.

They identified and advocated the following:

(i) They believed in the universality of management techniques.

(ii) They emphasised specialisation and simplification of administrative procedures.

(iii) Careful selection and training of subordinates for administrative positions.

(iv) Establishment of the office of Comptroller in the government for evaluation purposes.

These evidences in history enable us to have the following ideas on management in ancient days:

(i) Management was strictly on a Trial-and-error basis with little or no theory.

(ii) In those days the business community did not have a high position in the society and scholars evinced little interest in the study of business management.

(iii) The economists, political scientists and sociologists were exclusively concerned with the administration of the Government and had little concern for business firms.

(iv) There was a widespread belief that management could not be studied as a separate branch of knowledge. Further it was believed that management was a matter of practice.

(v) People believed that successful managers are born and they cannot be made.

(vi) Finally the interaction and communication between nations and continents was very much limited.

All these factors put together restricted the growth of management theory.

Term Paper # 2. Forerunners of Management (Between 1800-1860):

After 1800 we come across development of management literature and crystallization of ideas on management. The people who were associated with the development of ideas are known as forerunners of management.

The people who are short listed as forerunners are:

(1) Professor Charles Babbage

(2) James Watt (Jr) and M.R. Boulton

(3) Robert Owen

(4) Henry Robinson Towne

(5) Clade Henri Saint Simon

(1) Professor Charles Babbage:

He was a Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. He visited many factories in England and France.

He observed that the approach of the organisations was totally unscientific and he made the following assertions:

(i) He was surprised that the factories were run on traditional methods.

(ii) Manufacturers relied on opinions instead of investigations and accurate knowledge.

(iii) He wanted the organisations to run on the basis of accurate data obtained by rigid investigation.

(iv) Maintenance cost data for cost calculations.

(v) Paying bonus to workers on the basis of their efficiency.

(2) James Watt (JR) and M.R. Boulton:

They were the sons of the famous inventor of steam engine.

They used the following management techniques in their factory:

(i) Market research and forecasting.

(ii) Planned machine layout to facilitate better flow of work.

(iii) Standardization of components and parts.

(iv) Maintenance of elaborate statistical records.

(v) Maintenance of advanced control reports and cost accounting data.

(vi) Scheme of developing executives.

(vii) Payment of sickness benefit to employees.

(3) Robert Owen:

He was the owner of a group of textile mill in U.K. In those days unlike any other industrialist he took lot of interest in workers’ welfare and their working conditions. He was of the firm opinion that the performance of the workers was influenced by the total environment of working conditions and just treatment.

His contributions were:

(i) He was a well-known promoter of co-operative and Trade Union movement in U.K.

(ii) Responsible for the introduction and implementation of new ideas on human relations. Examples: Reduced working hours, housing facilities, Education of workers’ children’ Provision of canteen.

(4) Henry Robinson Towne:

He was the President of famous lock manufacturing company called “Yale and Town” in U.S.A. He took interest in the better management of the organisation and applied his own ideas.

His contributions were:

(i) Presented a paper titled “The Engineer as an Economist” wherein he stated that the combination of engineers and economists as industrial managers.

(ii) He advocated the organised exchange of experience among managers is needed for pooling and developing the art of workshop management.

(5) Clade Henri Saint Simon:

This Frenchman has visualized the need for industrialization of France.

His ad-vocations were:

(i) He proposed the entrustment of government to a chamber of professional men, industrialists and scientists with the object of increasing nation’s productive efficiency.

(ii) Incomes are to be distributed according to contributions that are made by respective individuals.

(iii) This thinker wanted to establish an economic and social system in which the role of capital is constructive, creative and entrepreneurial. This resulted in the development of a Bank called Credit Mobilizer in Paris. This played a key role in propelling industrial growth in France.

Thus the forerunners of management played a significant role in contributing crystallised ideas on management and demonstrated to the world by their conduct that management can be developed as a systematized body of knowledge.

Term Paper # 3. Classical Approach to Management (1860-1930):

This period has been characterised as an era of new movement of scientific management in the sense that new ideas and approaches were taking roots in management. Concrete contributions made by management practitioners and consultants of this period had a profound impact and influence in developing managerial know-how and enriching the store of management principles.

To have a proper understanding and appreciation of the developments the reader must be fully conversant with the backdrop at that time. Industrial Revolution was taking deep roots in U.K. and U.S.A. It has revolutionized the entire manufacturing process with all-round changes which were remarkable in character.

The effects of industrial revolution were mass-production, large-scale industry and industrialization, use of expensive machinery, prevalence of disharmonious relationship between employer and employee, discovery international trade routes and development in the financial sector and corporate sector has resulted in the requirement of effective and efficient managers.

Classical management theory provided some important insights into the nature and scope of management. Certainly time and circumstances have changed since the pioneers first undertook their analysis but the essence of their work has endured. Though this approach has left many questions unanswered but one cannot forget the fact that they provided answers to many fundamental management questions. Classical management can be divided into two main streams.

They are:

(a) Scientific management,

(b) Process management.

Scientific Management was advocated by F.W. Taylor and he was ably supported by his associates H.L. Gantt, F.B. Gilbreth and H. Emerson. The process management was ably advocated by Henri Fayol.

Term Paper # 4. Human Relations Approach:

Other Name: Neo-Classical Theory:

This approach focussed on human aspect of industry. This approach was advocated by Elton Mayo, Rensis Likert, Douglas McGregor, A.H.Maslow and Roethlisberger. The human relationists focused on the human aspect of industry.

They modified the classical theory by emphasizing the fact that organisation is a social system and the human factor is the most important element within it. Elton Mayo is generally recognised as the father of human relations school. The behavioural scientists criticised the early management approaches for their insensitiveness to the human side of the organisation.

In 1927, a group of researchers led by George Elton Mayo and F.J. Roethliberger at the Harvard business school were invited to join the studies at the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company at Chicago. This research project was undertaken jointly by the National Research Council and Western Electric Company.

This research came to be known as the Hawthorne studies. Elton Mayo was an Australian who spent most of his working life at Harvard University. The intention of these researchers was, to begin with, to discover relationships between productivity and working conditions when they were improved.

The Hawthorne studies actually consist of four different, interrelated experiments.

They were:

a) Illumination Experiments

b) Relay-room Experiments

c) Bank wiring room Experiments

d) Interview Programme

a. Illumination Experiments:

This experiment was called as illumination experiment because the researchers chose the lighting factor for study and to study the relationship between this physical factor and productivity.

The methodology adopted for this experiment was:

(i) Two groups of employees were established.

(ii) One group worked under constant light and the other group worked under variable light.

(iii) The object of this experiment was to determine how the independent variable lighting would influence dependent variable productivity.

Result of the Experiment:

The researchers were surprised by the results. The productivity of both the groups increased irrespective of candlepower variation of lights. So they realised that some factor or factors other than illumination was responsible for affecting productivity.

b. Relay Room Experiments:

The object of this experiment is to identify the physical factors that dominate a worker’s productivity.

The methodology adopted was:

(i) Six female employees assembling telephones were selected and the researchers manipulated many variables in physical environment to determine the effect on their productivity.

(ii) The physical factors that were manipulated were working hours (increased or decreased), Rest pauses, improved physical conditions, temperature, special group incentives.

(iii) The employees were completely separated from rest of the plant in their work.

(iv) The employees had no regular supervisor but they were subject to the observation of the researchers.

The researchers identified that there is no strong correlation between any of these variables and productivity. Productivity tended to constantly increase irrespective of manipulations.

c. Bank Wiring Observation Room Experiment:

The idea of researchers is to find out the real influencing factors of productivity.

The technique adopted by the researchers was:

(i) The researchers selected a group of fourteen employees.

(ii) Their production records were compared with earlier production records.

The findings of this experiment were:

(i) Each individual was restricting output.

(ii) The group had its own ‘unofficial’ standards of performance.

(iii) Individual output remained fairly constant over a period of time.

(iv) Departmental records were distorted due to differences between actual and reported output or between standard and reported working time.

d. Interview Programme:

The purpose of this programme was to search for other variables through interviewing methods. The researchers conducted 20,000 interviews. The employees were given a questionnaire and asked to answer freely without getting identified. The findings confirmed the importance of social factors at work in the total work environment.

Contributions of Hawthorne Studies or Human Relations Approach:

The human relationists came out with the following findings from their experiments:

(i) Work is a group activity.

(ii) The organisation in general is a social system consisting of numerous interacting parts.

(iii) The social environment on the job affects the workers and is also affected by them. Management is not the only variable.

(iv) The informal organisation does also exist within the framework of formal organisation and it affects and is affected by the formal organisation.

(v) Informal groups exercise strong social controls over the work habits and attitudes of the individual worker.

(vi) There is emergence of informal leadership as against formal leadership. The informal leader sets group norms. He helps the workers to function as a social group and the formal leader is rendered ineffective if he is unable to make use of informal leader and the group.

(vii) Free-flow of two way communication (upward and downward) is necessary for proper functioning of the organisation.

(viii) Money is only one of the motivators but not the sole motivator of human behaviour. Man is motivate by socio-psychological factors as well.

(ix) Man’s approach is not always rational. He may behave irrationally as far as rewards from the job are concerned.

(x) Employees prefer self-control and self-direction.

(xi) Employees prefer democratic participative style of management and is more effective than mechanistic task-oriented management style.

Criticisms of Human Relations Approach:

Elton Mayo was able to draw extremely broad conclusions about the conditions that existed at that time.

However, this approach was subject to following criticisms:

1. It laid a heavy emphasis on the human side as against the organisational needs.

2. It Lacked Scientific Validity:

The conclusions were based on clinical insight rather than on scientific evidence. The groups chosen for study were not representative in character. The findings were based on temporary groups and they do not apply to groups which have continuous relationship with one another. Further the experiments focused on operative employees only.

3. Limited Focus on Work:

This approach lacks adequate focus on work. This approach lays emphasis on interpersonal relations and on the informal group.

4. Over-Emphasis on Group:

This approach has over emphasised on the group and group decision-making. In reality groups may create problems. Collective decision making is not possible.

5. This approach concluded that all organisational problems are amenable to solutions through human relations. In practice, this is not feasible always.

In spite of these criticisms the ad-vocations remain revolutionary even today. The primary focus of the movement was on improving the style of leadership to improve mutual understanding, trust and self-awareness to root out hidden feelings and to build a climate of co-operation and productivity. The authorities felt that human behaviour was complex and the research convinced them of the uniqueness of each situation. This approach brought about a popular view on ‘how to deal with people.’

---