Classical School of Thought

Background The management evolution was marked by the attempt to move away from practices in management prevailing then, to a new scientific treatment of management, in this respect to imitate the enormous success science then was making in other areas of human knowledge. Classical one of the three well established schools of management. Branches of Classical School of management: 1. The Scientific Management 2. Administrative Management 3. Bureaucratic Management Robert Owen (1771-1858) he called the managers investment was in the workers or vital machines. Charles Babbage (1792-1871) he advocated on division of labors. Each worker would be trained in one particular skill and would be responsible for the assigned task.

A. Scientific Management due to the need of increase productivity, they had to find a way to increase the efficiency of workers, the reason to have a younger worker even at the age of six years old working in order to have an increase in production. Frederick Winslow Taylor known to be the father of the scientific management. A mechanical engineer who contributed the slogan, one best way of doing a job. Workers are being observed to each kind of work. The most productive worker will become the model for the other workers to follow. Taylor was able to report impressive movements in productivity, quality, worker morals and wages. He trained the best workers and laid off the poorest performers. Taylors ideas were used but opposition to them continued to grow. Increasing number of workers was convinced they would lose their jobs if this method were adopted. Experiments were made in three companies: 1. Midvale steel Taylor encouraged employee to pay more productive workers at a higher rate than the others. He called this differential rate system. 2. The Consulting Years, Simonds & Bethlehem Steel

Taylors principles rested on four basic principles: 1. The development of a true science of management so that the best method for performing each task could be determine. 2. The scientific selection of the workers so that each worker would be given responsibility for the task for which he is best suited. 3. The scientific education and development of the workers. 4. Intimate, friendly cooperation between management and workers.

The proponent of Scientific Management overlooked the human desire for job satisfaction. As the principle of Scientific Management were successfully applied, there was a growing tendency on the part workers to question traditional management practices. Thus, workers became more willing to go on strike over job condition rather than salary and to leave the job if they were unhappy in it. B. The Administrative Management this theory is a body of knowledge with primary emphasis on establishing broad administrative principles applicable to higher organizational levels. Henri Fayol (1841-1925) Father of administrative management. State that the scientific management concerned with increasing the productivity of the shop and the individual worker. The first one who investigated managerial behavior and systematized it. Believed that with scientific forecasting and proper methods of management, satisfactory results will be inevitable.

Fayols five primary elements defying administration: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Planning Organizing Commanding Coordinating Controlling

Fayol likewise developed the following comprehensive list of principles to provide guidelines for the manager: 1. Division of Work the principle of departmental specialization (grouping of related/similar tasks) of labor to concrete activities for more efficiency. 2. Authority & Responsibility authority is the right to give orders & the power to exact obedience. 3. Discipline absolutely essential for the smooth running of business; without it, no enterprise would prosper.

4. Unity of Command an employee should receive orders from one superior only. 5. Unity of Direction one head & one plan for a group of activities having the same objectives. 6. Subordination of Individual Interests to General Interests the interests of one employee or a group should not prevail over that of the organization. 7. Remuneration or Personnel compensation should be fair and as far as possible, afford satisfaction to personnel & the firm. 8. Centralization it is essential to the organization and is a natural consequence of organizing. 9. Scalar Chain is the chain of superiors ranging from the ultimate authority to the lowest rank. 10. Order the organization should provide an orderly place for every individual, a place for everyone and everyone in their place. 11. Equity equity and a sense of justice pervade the organization. 12. Stability of Tenure of Personnel time is needed for the employee to adapt to their work and to perform it effectively. 13. Initiative at all levels of the organizational ladder, zeal and energy are augmented by initiative. 14. Esprit de Corps this principle emphasizes the need for teamwork and the maintenance of interpersonal relationship.

Luther Gulick 1937, codified the executive tasks under the acronym POSDCORB. 7 Elements in Major Principles: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Planning Organizing Staffing Directing Coordinating Reporting Budgeting

Mooney and Reiley set their ideas around four major principles: a. b. c. d. Coordinative Principle which provided for a unity of action in the pursuit of common objective. Scalar Chain Principle which emphasized the hierarchical organizational form and authority. Functional Specialization Principle which organized tasks into departmental units. Staff principle which recognized the role of the line management in the exercise of authority.

Concepts that are currently applied in organizations: a. b. c. d. Pyramidal form The Scalar Principle The Concept of Unity of Command The Exception Principle

e. The Delegation of Authority f. Limited Span of Control g. Departmentalization Principles are currently being applied in the design of many organizations

C. Bureaucratic Management The Bureaucratic Model more of application of complex and big management firm. Max Weber father of bureaucratic management a German sociologists, who provided the third major pillar in the development of classical organization concepts. The term bureaucracy as developed by Weber and his followers is not used in the popularized, emotionally charged sense of red nape and inefficiency. Weber viewed bureaucracy as the most efficient model, that which could be used most effectively for complex organizations. Business, government, military, for example arising out of the need of modern society. the view of rational-legal authority was basic on position within the organization the authority is the sole basis for compliance.

Characteristics of Webers Bureaucratic Structure (an organized administrative staff): a. Each member of the administrative staff occupies a position with a specific delineation of power. b. Compensation is in the form of a fixed salary. c. Various positions are organized in a hierarchy of authority. d. Fitness for office is determined by technical competence. e. Organization is governed by impersonal rules and regulations. f. Keeping of official files and records which makes for the continuity in the organization. For Weber, bureaucracy is not just a particular organization, but a peculiar attitude if mind and peculiar values. In Webers pure bureaucracy, precision, speed, unambiguity, knowledge of file, continuity, discretion, unity, strictly subordination, reduction of friction and of material and personal costs. Weber suggests that the bureaucratic form is the most efficient instrument of large-scale administration that has ever been developed in the modern world. One of the most important characteristics of the Weberian model is its peculiar personnel policy. Weber emphasizes such factors as professional careerism, appointment (not election) of bureaucrats, promotion based on seniority, permanence of tenure, regular income, monetary renummeration, the full-time nature of bureaucratic positions, the separation of office and incumbent(no ownership of positions), etc., as characterizing pure bureaucracy on its personnel side-in

sum, Weber views the power of bureaucracy as resting upon expert training, a functional specialization of work, and an anti-methodically integrated functions. Degree of Bureaucratization: Richard Hall suggests that the degree of bureaucratization can be determined by measuring the following dimensions: a. b. c. d. e. f. A division of labor based on the functional specialization A well-defined hierarchy of authority A system of rules covering the rights and duties of positional incumbent A system of procedures for dealing with work situations An impersonality in interpersonal relations A system of promotion and selection for employment based on technical competence

Major Criticism of the Classical View Classical theory has been criticized for employing closed system assumptions about the organization. It fails to consider many of the environmental & internal influences. It makes unrealistic assumptions about human behavior. These criticisms largely paved the way for the evolution of the school of management thought that followed the human relations approach.