Schools of Management Analysis

Frederick Winslow Taylor, the father of scientific management, was born on March 20, 1865, into an upper class liberal Philadelphia family. He was a management consultant and director of a famous firm and had also worked for several companies as a consulting engineer. Sceintific management methods were produced by him for optimizing the way that task were performed and simplifying the jobs enough so that workers could easily be trained to perform their specialized sequence of motion in the one best way.

Taylors uncompromising attitude in developing and installing his new ideas caused him much criticism. His scientific methods could be applied to any problems and appplied just as much to managers as well as the workers.

“In his own words he explained that the old fashioned dictator does not exist under scientific managment. The man at the head of the business under the sientific management is governed by the rules and laws which have been developed through hundreds of experiments just as much as the workman is , and the standards developed are equitable.”

Scientific School of Management Thought

Scientific School of Management Thought came into existence as there was an intense need to increase the productivity for there was a shortage in the supply of skilled laborers in US, since 20th century. The only way to tackle this issue was by increasing the efficiency of the workers. Thus, F. W. Taylor a main proponent in the scientific field introduced the body of principles known as Scientific Management Theory. In 19th century the efficiency of the workers was very weak and slow and decisions taken by the management were also illogical. Thus, Scientific Management introduced a system of complete mental revolution in the work place so the quarrels between the management and the workers would decrease and hence increase productivity which would further increase the profits. As the objectives of both the parties, the management and the workers, is to increase the productivity by improving the efficiency in the workplace. Scientific Management also aimed at developing the performance standards and introducing an incentive plans based on work standards. In 20th century, Scientific Management had great impact on the Management practice. It also contributed its management theory to the Human Resource Management and industrial engineering areas and it has also lended its efficiency techniques to the non industrial areas, ranging from fast food services to training surgeons.

Objectives of scientific managment

The four objectives of management under scientific management were as follows-

The development of science has replaced the old rule of thumb methods for each element of a man’s work.

Instead of allowing the workers to choose their own tasks and train themselves as best as they could,the scientific management trains and develops them in a specific task.

To ensure that work is carreid out in accordance with scientifically devised procedures,a development of hearty cooperation between workers and management is done.

The division of work between workers and the management in almost equal shares,each group taking over the work for which it is best fitted instead of the former condition in which responsibility largely rested with the workers. Self evident in this phlosophy are organisations arranged in a hierachy,systems of abstract rules and impersonal relationships between staff.

Taylors 4 main principals of scientific management are as follows-

To encourage co-operation between the workers and the management so that the organizational goals are achieved.

Scientific Management aims at selecting and training the workers scientifically so that they can take their complete responsibility of performing their job efficiently.

By applying the scientific method of working one can accomplish the best way for performing each task.

To promote education and development of workers scientifically.

George Elton Mayo

George Elton Mayo (1880-1949) who is also known as the founder of Human Relation Movement was an Australian born American sociologist and psychologist. He was also known for his famous Hawthorne studies work which focused on social relations, motivation and satisfaction of employees in the production process. Mayo established that external factors like lightning, temperature and so on were of lesser importance than the social factors like feelings of belonging or relationship in work group, to understand the level of productivity of workers. Mayo enriched the theories of management by bringing in this idea into larger social organization. He was the first man to question the behavioral assumptions of scientific management. His studies suggested that physical conditions weren’t that important as compared to the human factors to motivate the employees in the production process.

The behavioural school of management thought

The behavioral school of management thought developed, in part, because of perceived weaknesses in the assumptions of the classical school. The classical school emphasized efficiency, process, and principles. Some felt that this emphasis disregarded important aspects of organizational life, particularly as it related to human behaviour. Thus, the behavioral school focused on trying to understand the factors that affect human behaviour at work.

Human relations

The Hawthorne Experiments began in 1924 and continued through the early 1930s.

Major conclusions of the Hawthorne studies-

workers’ attitudes are associated with productivity.

the workplace is a social system and informal group influence could exert a powerful effect on individual behaviour.

the style of supervision is an important factor in increasing workers’ job satisfaction.

The studies also found that organizations should take steps to assist employees in adjusting to organizational life by fostering collaborative systems between labour and management

According to the human relations school, the manager should possess skills for diagnosing the causes of human behavior at work, interpersonal communication, and motivating and leading workers. The focus became satisfying worker needs. If worker needs were satisfied, wisdom held, the workers would in turn be more productive. Thus, the human relations school focuses on issues of communication, leadership, motivation, and group behavior.

Elton Mayo’s Hawthorn experiments

Elton Mayo’s team conducted a number of experiments involving six female workers. These experiments are often referred to as the Hawthorne experiments or Hawthorne studies as they took place at The Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company in Chicago.

Over the course of five years, Mayo’s team altered the female worker’s working conditions and then monitored how the working conditions affected the workers morale and productivity. The changes in working conditions included changes in working hours, rest brakes, lighting, humidity, and temperature. The changes were explained to the workers prior to implementation.

At the end of the five year period, the female worker’s working conditions, reverted back to the conditions before the experiment began. Unexpectedly the workers morale and productivity rose to levels higher than before and during the experiments.

The combination of results during and after the experiment led Mayo to conclude that workers were motivated by psychological conditions more than physical working condition. He also concluded that workers were motivated by more than self interest.

Differences between the Scientific School of Management Thought with those of the Behavioral School of Management Thought

The contrast and comparison will be based on the views and thoughts of the workers and also the way in which they handle and control their workforce in the workplace along with the different ways through which they get their things done from the people. A good on job relations and social needs helps an individual to work better even under high pressure. An organization is also based on mutual understanding and cooperation. Management should be mainly concerned about the psychological needs of the individuals. The rate of productivity can also be affected by the involvement of the informal groups. As in the market it is said that every product has its price and so its the managers job to find out how to hook the workers. The work in the organization should be arranged in such a way that the power of conveying the orders of how the things should be done should be in the hands of the management whereas the execution should be done by the workers.

Conclusion

Scientific school of thought

Behavioral school of thought

1

The Scientific School of Thought allows a leader to set a defined criterion to be enforced on the workers to carry out their duties which shows them as the only person incharge.

Behavioral School of Thought promotes the idea of cooperation and coordination amongst the employees. This is also used in providing assistance and opportunities in the personal development of the workers. By doing this the workers see themselves as a goodwill agent in the organization.

2

Taylor believed that monetary incentive is the only reason which stimulates a worker to perform better at work and so the Scientific School of Thought called their workers as an economic man.

Mayo understood that workers feel more secured when there is a good communication and a enormous sense of acceptance in the organization and so the Behavioral School of Thought called their worker as a social man with good group satisfaction.

3

The Scientific School of Thought intended the growth of the organization excluding the welfare of the worker’s individual growth by practicing external control on top of the workers performance.

Behavioral School of Thought believed in maintaining the organizational growth as well as the commitment towards the individual growth of the workers.

4

The Scientific School of Thought gives more importance to the individual workers in an organization.

Behavioral School of Thought focuses on relationships such as the informal groups in an organization.

5

The Scientific School of Thought treats the workers as machines by using the ‘differential system’ to motivate the workers.

The Behavioral School of Thoughtstates that a satisfied worker is more motivated and equally effective in its work.

6

A worker working in the Scientific School of Thought are believed to be a mechanical passive who works only for monetary rewards and they believed that the best way to achieve the goals is by maintaining as much rationality as possible .

The Behavioral School of Thought believed that communication and cooperation between the members of an organization can be facilitated by the existence of such informal groups.