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History Module – A Brief History of Management’s Roots
HISTORY
MODULE
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF
MANAGEMENT’S
ROOTS
Since the birth of modern management theory in the early 1900s, management experts
have developed theories to help organizations and their managers coordinate and oversee
work activities as effectively and efficiently as possible. In presenting the history of
modern management, this module explores the evolution of management thought and
practice during the twentieth century.
EARLY MANAGEMENT
3000-2500 B.C.E. The Egyptian pyramids were projects of tremendous scope and
magnitude, requiring the efforts of tens of thousands of people. How was
it possible for these projects to be completed successfully? The answer is
management. Regardless of the titles given to managers throughout
history, someone has always had to plan what needs to be accomplished,
organize people and materials, lead and direct workers, and impose
controls to ensure that goals were attained as planned.
1400s Examples of early management practices can also be seen by studying the
arsenal of Venice. Assembly lines, accounting systems, and personnel
functions are only a few of the processes and activities used in business
in the fifteenth century that are common to today’s organizations as well.
1776 Adam Smith, author of the classical economics doctrine The Wealth of Nations, argued
brilliantly for the economic advantages that he believed division of labor
(the breakdown of jobs into narrow, repetitive tasks) would bring to
organizations and society.
1780s-mid-1800s The Industrial Revolution is possibly the most important
pre-twentieth-century influence on management. The introduction of
machine powers combined with the division of labor made large, efficient
factories possible. Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling became
necessary activities.
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Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
History Module – A Brief History of Management’s Roots
CLASSICAL APPROACHES
1911 Scientific management is defined as the use of the scientific method to determine the
“one best way” for a job to be done. Frederick W. Taylor is known as the
“father” of scientific management. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were
inspired by Taylor’s work and proceeded to study and develop their own
methods of scientific management and Henry Gantt’s ideas on scheduling
charts became the foundation of modern project management.
1916-1947 Henri Fayol looked at organizational practices by focusing on what
constituted good management, an approach known as general
administrative theory. Fayol also focused on activities common to all
managers. He stated 14 principles of management (fundamental or
universal truths of management that can be taught in schools; see Exhibit
HM-1). Max Weber is known for his description and analysis of
bureaucracy.
BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
Early 1700s-1900s Robert Owen, Hugo Munsterberg, and Mary Parker Follett were early
advocates of the OB approach. Their ideas served as the foundation for
employee selection procedures, motivation programs, work teams, and
organization environment management techniques.
1924-Mid-1930s The Hawthorne Studies were the most important contribution to the
development of organizational behavior. This series of experiments
conducted from 1924 to the early 1930s at the Western Electric Company
Works in Cicero, Illinois, were initially devised as a scientific
management experiment to assess the impact of changes in various
physical environment variables on employee productivity. After Harvard
professor Elton Mayo and his associates joined the study as consultants,
other experiments were included to look at redesigning jobs, make
changes in workday and workweek length, introduce rest periods, and
introduce individual versus group wage plans. The researchers concluded
that social norms or group standards were key determinants of individual
work behavior. Although not without criticism (concerning procedures,
analyses of findings, and the conclusions), the Hawthorne Studies
stimulated interest in human behavior in organizational settings.
1930s-1950s The human relations movement assisted managers in designing jobs that
motivate workers, in working with employee teams, and in facilitating
the flow of communication within organizations. Included in this
movement were Abraham Maslow, best known for his hierarchy of needs
and Douglas McGregory and his conceptualization of Theory X and
Theory Y managers.
1960s-Today An organization’s people continue to be an important factor of
management research. The field of study that researches the actions of
people at work is called organizational behavior (OB). Much of what
managers do today when managing people—motivating, leading, building
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Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
History Module – A Brief History of Management’s Roots
trust, working with a team, managing conflict, and so forth—has come
out of OB research.
QUANTITATIVE APPROACH
1940s The quantitative approach to management uses quantitative techniques
to improve decision making. This approach includes applications of
statistics, optimization models, information models, and computer
simulations. The quantitative approach originated during World War II as
mathematical and statistical solutions to military problems were
developed for wartime use. As often happens after wartime, methods that
were developed during World War II to conduct military affairs were
applied to private industry following the war. For instance, a group of
military officers—the Whiz Kids—used quantitative methods to improve
decision making at Ford Motor Company in the mid-1940s.
1950s Total Quality management is a philosophy of management that is driven
by continual improvement and response to customer needs and
expectations. TQM was inspired by a small group of quality experts,
including W. Edwards Deming, who was one of its chief proponents.
TQM represents a counterpoint to earlier management theorists who
believed that low costs were the only road to increased productivity.
CONTEMPOARY APPROACHES
1960s Systems Theory. During the 1960s, researchers began to analyze
organizations from a systems perspective based on the physical sciences.
A system is a set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a
manner that produces a unified whole. The two basic types of systems are
closed and open. An open system interacts with its environment (see
Exhibit MH-2).
1960s The Contingency Approach. The contingency approach recognizes
that different organizations require different ways of managing. The
contingency approach to management is a view that the organization
recognizes and responds to situational variables as they arise.
1980s – Present The next approach to management does not have a name (yet), but
technology and information are the obvious drivers for management
change today. From wired to wireless, the impact of computing resources
have changed how managers and employees relate to each other and to
the organization.
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