Management History Module
In this chapter, we’re going to take a trip back in time to see how the field of study called
management has evolved. What you’re going to find out is that today’s managers still
use many elements of the historical approaches to management. Focus on the following
learning objectives as you read and study this chapter.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Describe some early management examples.
2. Explain the various theories in the classical approach.
3. Discuss the development and uses of the behavioral approach.
4. Describe the quantitative approach.
5. Explain the various theories in the contemporary approach.
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 supplement explores the evolution of management thought
and practice during the twentieth century. Students discover how knowledge of
management history can help us better understand current management practices while
avoiding some mistakes of the past.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
MH.1 EARLY MANAGEMENT
Many fascinating examples from history illustrate how management has been
practiced for thousands of years.
A. Organizations and managers have existed for thousands of years. The
Egyptian pyramids and the Great Wall of China 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
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1. Frederick W. Taylor is known as the “father” of scientific
management. Taylor’s work at the Midvale and Bethlehem Steel
companies stimulated his interest in improving efficiency.
a. Taylor sought to create a mental revolution among both
2. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were inspired by Taylor’s work and
proceeded to study and develop their own methods of scientific
management.
3. How Do Today’s Managers Use Scientific Management?
Guidelines devised by Taylor and others to improve production
B. General Administrative Theorists. This group of writers, who focused
on the entire organization, developed more general theories of what
managers do and what constitutes good management practice.
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1. Henri Fayol, who was a contemporary of Frederick W. Taylor, was
the managing director of a large French coal-mining firm.
2. Max Weber (pronounced VAY-ber) was a German sociologist who
wrote in the early twentieth century.
a. Weber developed a theory of authority structures and
3. How Do Today’s Managers Use General Administrative Theories?
Some current management concepts and theories can be traced
to the work of the general administrative theorists.
A. Early Advocates of Organizational Behavior.
Four individuals—Robert Owen, Hugo Munsterberg, Mary Parker Follett,
and Chester Barnard—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. (See Exhibit MH-5 for a summary of the most
important ideas of these early advocates.)
B. The Hawthorne Studies were the most important contribution to the
development of organizational behavior.
1. 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
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2. After Harvard professor Elton Mayo and his associates joined the
study as consultants, other experiments were included to look at
3. The researchers concluded that social norms or group standards
were key determinants of individual work behavior.
4. Although not without criticism (concerning procedures, analyses of
findings, and the conclusions), the Hawthorne Studies stimulated
interest in human behavior in organizational settings.
C. How Do Today’s Managers Use the Behavioral Approach?
1. The behavioral approach assists managers in designing jobs that
2. The behavioral approach provides the foundation for current
theories of motivation, leadership, and group behavior and
development.
1. As often happens after wartime, methods that were developed
during World War II to conduct military affairs were applied to
2. In the 1950s, the ideas and techniques of W. Edwards Deming
3. The management philosophy devoted to continual improvement
4. TQM represents a counterpoint to earlier management theorists
5. The objective of quality management is to create an organization
committed to continuous improvement in work processes.
B. How Do Today’s Managers Use the Quantitative Approach?
1. The quantitative approach has contributed most directly to
2. The availability of sophisticated computer software programs has
made the use of quantitative techniques more feasible for
managers.
1. Using the systems approach, managers envision an organization
2. Managers coordinate the work activities of the various parts of the
organization, realizing that decisions and actions taken in one
organizational area will affect other areas.
B. The Contingency Approach. The contingency approach recognizes that
different organizations require different ways of managing.
1. The contingency approach to management is a view that the
2. Some popular contingency variables are shown in Exhibit MH-8.
ANSWERS TO REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
MH–1. Explain why studying management history is important.
While the study of management history reviews the work of experts in the past, from a
practical side, it shows the techniques and implementations that companies are using
MH–2. What was the significance of the industrial revolution?
MH–3. What is a bureaucracy? Do bureaucracies still exist today?
MH–4. What did the early advocates of OB contribute to our understanding of
management?
MH–5. Why were the Hawthorne Studies so critical to management history?
MH-6. Explain what the quantitative approach has contributed to the field of
management.
MH-7. Describe total quality management.
As proposed by Edward Deming, TQM is a management philosophy devoted to
Continual improvement and responding to customer needs and expectations. (see
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MH-8. How has technology impacted how managers use the quantitative approach in
today’s workplace?
MH–9. How do systems theory and the contingency approach make managers better at
what they do?
MH–10. How do societal trends influence the practice of management? What are the
implications for someone studying management?
MY TURN TO BE A MANAGER
See if there are activities that could be combined or eliminated. Find the “one best
way” to do this task. And the next time you have to do the task, try the scientifically
managed way and see if you become more efficient (keeping in mind that changing
habits isn’t easy to do).
• How do business organizations survive for 100+ years? Obviously, they’ve seen a lot
of historical events come and go! Choose one such company (for example, Coca–
Cola, Procter & Gamble, Avon, General Electric) and research its history. How has
the company changed over the years? From your research on this company, what
did you learn that could help you be a better manager?
• Pick one historical event from this century and do some research on it. Write a paper
describing the impact that this event might be having or has had on how workplaces
are managed.
• Come on, admit it. You multitask, don’t you? And if not, you probably know people
who do. Multitasking is common in the workplace. But does it make employees more
efficient and effective? Pretend you’re the manager in charge of a loan-processing
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