HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT AND ITS LEGACY
FOR TODAY'S WORLD
by
J. David Hunger, Ph.D.
for
Management 370
College of Business
Iowa State University
(8/18/2005)
HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT AND ITS LEGACY FOR TODAY'S WORLD
But I'm coming to believe that all of us are ghosts .... It's not just what we inherit from our mothers or fathers. It's also the shadows of dead ideas and opinions and convictions. They're no longer alive, but they grip us all the same, and hold on to us against our will.
- Henrik Ibsen, Ghosts
Is there one best way to manage the activities of people in an organization? Many beginning managers (and even some experienced
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What went wrong in this example? A number of very bright people spent a lot of time re-designing a task to make it more efficient, but ended up with poorer performance, employee dissatisfaction, and probably higher hiring and training costs. The well-intentioned managers at Hovey and Beard ignored the lessons of history. They introduced what most managers believed were methods to improve efficiency without considering the likelihood of undesirable side effects. It was these side effects, however, that caused efficiency to decline instead of increase. For these reasons, among others, this chapter explains the development of management thought and shows why the application of some still-popular concepts and techniques do not always work out as planned.
EARLY MANAGEMENT
The practice of management can be traced back in time thousands of years. The Chinese bureaucracy was, for example, fully developed into a hierarchy of officials based upon a merit rating system perhaps as early as 1000 B.C. One of the most ancient terms used to describe the position of a manager is that of vizier in Egypt. The title was in use around 1750 B.C. and probably earlier. The "rule of ten" in the span of management was an Egyptian practice of allocating around 10 servants to each supervisor. The ancient concepts
Furthermore, HMC employed a compensation system that not only helped to attract and retain some of the most adept portfolio managers in the market, but also permitted to align the economic objectives of portfolio managers with those of the university. In other words, the structure and compensation system of HMC was designed specifically to achieve its objectives and to maintain the real long-term value of Harvard’s endowment
Within this assignment I will describe my understanding of the links between management and leadership, the skills and styles of management and leadership, the application of management and leadership theories in an organisational context and planning for the development of management and leadership skills.
To organize and prioritize the current and future projects in the pipeline in a way that fits into the PMB budget of $5B, and ensures projects that increase sales, growth, and stockholder value are of top priority, whereas projects that are not beneficial are either put on hold or discarded.
Managers throughout history have been interested in studying ways to increase productivity. For example, Frederick Taylor began the movement of scientific management in the 1880’s. Scientific management looked to improve productivity through means of scientific analysis of worker’s tasks and work processes rather than the old “rule of thumb” (Taylor, 1914). Taylor believed that he could maximize worker efficiency and productivity through focusing on workers specific hand motions and patterns. After this period, beginning in about the 1930’s, managers looked to take productivity to yet another level by studying worker physiology and motivation. This new movement came to be known as the human relations movement.
As a Naval Officer I had the opportunity to experience both leadership and management. Today's Navy operates with fewer people and resources than before. Therefore, leadership and management are more important than ever. Very early in my career I was taught leadership and as I advanced through the ranks I experienced management.
Every manager must have a set of principles, values, and core beliefs that he must follow. These principles, values, and beliefs make up his philosophy of management. Webster defines philosophy as “the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group.” (Webster) I will be discussing the principles, values, and beliefs I as a manager will have to do my job efficiently. I will also discuss the different biblical beliefs that support my management style.
Is every good manager a good leader? Is every leader a good manager? Leadership and management are often used in similar perspectives, yet they do not share the same meaning. Leaders are exactly what the name says - they lead team members to success. Managers, like leaders, have the meaning referenced in the name. Managers manage over employees, striving for success. The two titles can be used simultaneously with one person, but this is a rare occurrence.
For any management team or executive, the pursuit to merge a good amount of these two qualities together requires some amount of sacrifice. To become highly effective, efficiency has to be first sacrificed after which it can be slowly increased without a considerable drop in effectiveness. This is the most accepted method used by managers because results matter to clients and customers instead of the cost of acquiring it.
Successful organizations have strong leaders and managers that develop, support and encourage employee longevity within a company. There is a significant difference between leadership and management however both skills have to be used collectively and both are important to a profitable organization. Leadership is a notion of communicating an organization’s vision, whereas management is more of the implementation of the organization’s vision. The manager typically carries out the responsibilities written by the organization and has a good team underneath them to carry out the duties and meet the goals. Most companies have a mission statement that mirrors and supports a company’s vision. When referring leadership and management, the two
The year 1911 saw Frederick Winslow Taylor publish a book titled ‘The principles of scientific management’ in which he aimed to prove that the scientific method could be used in producing profits for an organization through the improvement of an employee’s efficiency. During that decade, management practice was focused on initiative and incentives which gave autonomy to the workman. He thus argued that one half of the problem was up to management, and both the worker and manager needed to cooperate in order to produce the greatest prosperity.
In this topic we talk about many different forms of leadership and how it can affect relations between the corporate leadership entities and union leadership. Most often we see or read about in the news the break down between negotiations between the corporate leaders and the union leaders causing production to come to a halt while items are being negotiated.
Hogan, M. (2014, June 16). 6 qualities of bad managers that send employees running. Retrieved from http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/6_qualities_of_bad_managers_that_send_employees_ru_48433.aspx
In today’s competitive landscape, organizations must utilize every resource to its fullest in order to achieve profitability. Peter F. Drucker, who is known as “the founding father of the discipline of management”, informs us that employees are assets, which should be treated as a company’s most valuable resource. The key players involved in utilizing this valuable resource are the managers of a company. Managers have a vital role in a company and the effort they put forth into their tasks and responsibilities will directly affect the success of a company. In Drucker’s book Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (Revised Edition), he explains the role of a company’s management team and the secrets to becoming a great manager.
Over the past hundred years management has continuously been evolving. There have been a wide range of approaches in how to deal with management or better yet how to improve management functions in our ever changing environment. From as early as 1100 B.C managers have been struggling with the same issues and problems that manager's face today. Modern managers use many of the practices, principles, and techniques developed from earlier concepts and experiences.
The definition of ‘management’ is controversial and subject to much debate. There have been many contradictory views on what the term ‘management’ means and accordingly how one should correctly manage an organisation. These theories have been put forward by several highly regarded management scholars over time. By taking into account past knowledge and contemporary views on management, we are able to ‘’explore how thinking has changed through time’’. (Brooks, 2006). Moreover, businesses have, and can continue to be able to adapt these theories and put them into practice. Successfully applying correct management practices is especially vital in a global business environment which is becoming very competitive. ‘’Most management theories, even those that do not resonate comfortably with the prevailing mood, have attractive and valid elements to them.’’ (Robinson, 2005). For example, some of these theories can be seen flourishing in fast food chains like McDonalds.