Post for Week 5

During week 5 we looked at Management Theory and how it affects productivity. Firstly, what is management? Management is the process of coordinating people and resources in order to achieve the goals of an organisation. Management includes planning, organising, leading and controlling. We then looked at classical management theory, which shows that there are many different management theories and they may only apply to certain types of businesses, some may be based on moral and ethical values while others could depend on the stakeholder’s interests.

The first management theory we looked at was that of Frederick Winslow Taylor’s ‘Scientific Management’ which was mainly based on efficiency and productivity. He believed that the best candidate should be selected to do a job, there should be little waste of resources and that rewards were the greatest incentive for productivity.  This was more of a traditional method of management, as if we looked at the modern methods of management we can see that other factors come into place with regards to efficiency. Nowadays employers have to consider staff morale, work environment and other personal factors. This method of management may have been effective back then but they would not be able to produce maximum efficiency in modern times.

The next theorist we looked at was Henri Fayol who looked at a more centralised version of management which had more of a disciplinary effect. His theories included division of labour and believed that giving authority and responsibility to employees provided good motivation. This is also more of a classical method of management as some of it may not be as effective today, however this sort of management could still be seen in nations such as China where in some firms employee welfare is not a concern.  The next theorist we looked at was Webber whose theory of bureaucracy was mainly related to the functionalism of large organisations and the hierarchy of command needed to create maximum efficiency http://www.businessmate.org/Article.php?ArtikelId=30 .

Webber’s theories are still being used today by many large organisations, however with some input of the Hawthorne effect created by Elton Mayo (a more modern management theory), which recognised the importance of human relations. He believed in the importance of human relations and also believed in the effect of team work. Team work today plays a large part in a company’s efficiency and this can be referred back to Elton Mayo who conducted a number of experiments with six females to see the effect of human relations.

We then looked at Fordism created by Henry Ford which is also a more modern method of management.  Fordism, named after Henry Ford, is a notion of a modern economic and social system based on an industrialized and standardized form of mass production for maximum efficiency. Finally we looked at Eric Trist who also believed in the social system. He developed the socio-technical system which states that Management needs to be aware that while technical advancement is key to business success - its acceptance by a work force may result in damage to social interaction at work. 
A good example of a firm using the modern way of management today is Google who have tried to create a conducive environment for their employees in order to enhance creativity, as they are a type of firm that requires their staff to be creative.  

Ford and Taylor Scientific Management - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PdmNbqtDdI