Futuristic Management is still in the Past

Futuristic Management is still in the Past Jennifer Styers Queens University of Charlotte

Futuristic Management is still in the Past

Abstract This paper will touch on Chapter four in Daniels, Papa and Spikers text book Organizational Communication: Perspectives and Trends (2008), and the theory of Organization Theory in comparison to the Disney movie Wall-E. This research will examine Scientific, Classical and Transitional theories of management along with Human Resource development. This paper will show how Wall-E provides examples for these topics and how they are beneficial in the work place.

Futuristic Management is still in the Past

Robots carrying out everyday task that would eliminate jobs is very futuristic, but it is shown in Disneys movie Wall-E. If robots ruled the world completing our everyday task the use of Organizational theories such scientific and classical management theories, and Human Resource Development would be obsolete. Until that day however the movie can be used in comparison to the management theories that have been in place since the early twentieth century, these Scientific and Classical management theories can be seen throughout Disneys movie, and how they affect the organization. Wall-E (2008) is a lonely robot that was left on planet Earth to clean up the mess that human beings had made, with his only friend a cockroach (who are said would make it through nuclear war) by his side. Earth has been abandon by human life because of the mass amounts of pollution and trash that has been disposed improperly. One day to his surprise a ship lands in his area dropping of another robot named Eve who is looking for sustainable resources and life still on earth. Wall-E and Eve befriend one another creating a robot romance, until Wall-E shows Eve a plant that he had found before her arrival (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008) After giving Eve the plant she shuts down and waits until her ship has returned to take her back to the main ship. After the return of the ship Wall-E follows Eve into space where the audience seess how humans are living today. The human have become lazy having everyday jobs and task now being performed by robots instead of themselves, even simple things as putting on makeup and steering the ship that they are on are all electronically done. Those these task are being completed by robots we can still see how classical and scientific management theories affect their every day task. After a whirl wind drama of the plant being taken by robots, so humans would not return to earth, the ship is finally taken back over by the humans who now plan to return to earth to start cleaning up the mess that had been made (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008).

Futuristic Management is still in the Past

Classical and Scientific management theories according to Daniels, Papa, and Spiker (2008) who are Scholars in the Communication field and Authors of Organizational Communication: Perspectives and Trends were put into place by three people. Fredrick Taylor, Henri Fayol and Max Weber, these three theorists each had their own ideas on how an organization should be managed sufficiently to create the most productivity though different, they all have similarities on what they think is best (Daniels, Papa, & Spiker, 2008). The Research that Daniels, Papa and Spiker (2008) found, states that Fredrick Taylor theory was mainly scientific. He believed that there was a best way to do the job to achieve highest efficiency and that people should be assigned to a job scientifically. In his theory he also believed that management should plan the work and the workers should follow the plan. To him management could be in many different levels, a worker could report to one person for a task or have multiple people that the needs to report to. Taylor stressed that if everyone could work together then the organization could achieve high proficiency and profit (Daniels et al., 2008). Henri Fayol also has his own theory on basic principles of Organizational Structure in management. Daniels, Papa and Spiker (2008) introduce that Fayol believed that each worker should only have one job, and that only authority has the right to give orders. Unlike Taylor Fayol believed that for the highest efficiency workers should only receive orders from on superior, but they had the same thoughts with the groups working together as a whole. Fayol also thought that the interest of the organization was the most important, and that authority should have clear lines of command. For a productive workplace he stated that a person should be treated with kindness but that did not exclude sternness and forcefulness(Daniels et al., 2008). Brunsson and Karin authors of Some Effects of Fayolism (2008) suggest that Henri Fayols main goal is that an organization be efficient, effective, and prosperous(Brusson, Karrin, 2008).

Futuristic Management is still in the Past

Max Weber was one of the last theorists in the Scientific and Classical Theories of Management, Webers theory was one that was bureaucratic, like Taylor and Fayol precision was key and he wanted the highest proficiency in speed, certainty and continuity. Also like the other theorist before him he also said that there needed to be clear lines of authority, jobs should be designated by specialization, duties should be told to the employees, and there would be high expectations for work performance (Daniels et al., 2008). Berdayes and Vicente show in their article Traditional Management theory as Panoptic Discourse (2002) that Weber differed because he believed that organizations should be machine like, and he thought all control should be in managements hands (Berdayes, Vicente, 2002). In the film Wall-E (2008) there are visible examples of each theory. All of the robots in the movie have one task; each robot has a specific job that they carry out and that only. This is visible when Eve shuts down after receiving the plant from Wall-E or Wall-Es job of cleaning up the trash that is left on planet Earth. In Taylors Scientific Management theory he states that employees could listen to one foreman or multiple foremen, in the film the robots have a hierarchy inside themselves, some robots govern over others, but the head of the organization is the captain. There is a lack of compliance in the organization when the robots hide the fact that they have found natural plant life like they were told to hundreds of years ago of the old President of the United States. When the Capitan orders them help him go back to Earth they disobey, until the Capitan states that it is an order, showing that the robot has to listen to his authority (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008). The movie shows Fayols General Management theory by the robots job, like stated before each robot had a specific job and task that it was to do, whether this be putting make up on a human being, or cleaning up foreign contaminate each had a specific task. In Fayols theory

Futuristic Management is still in the Past

he has a step according to Daniels, Papa and Spiker (2008) called Esprit de Corps, this means Management should strive to promote a sense of unity, harmony and cohesion (Daniels et al., 2008). The robots had great cohesion, though they all had different task they worked together, when one was done cleaning the next robot would move in to do the next step of the process of whatever was suppose to be happening (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008). Wall-E (2008) could be more than Weber bargained for, if he wanted machine like then Wall-Es organization is it. Though futuristic the organization in the film is showing what it would be to be machine, the robots complete the same task day in and day out at high proficiency levels, they do these jobs better than humans could do. The captain dose not even steer the ship, he has a robot that is in the shape of a ships steering wheel to do that for him. Weber also states in his theory that he wants every worker to have a job title; the robots are given names cleverly in the movie such as Eve who finds plant life on Earth, and Ship for the steering wheel (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008). The one thing that these theorists did not care about was the emotions and feelings of the workers, their relationships with one another and management. Mary Parker Follett was a theorist who was a part of Transitional Theories. Daniels, Papa and Spiker introduce that Follett thought that Human interaction had to reciprocal and that differences create creativity (Daniels et al., 2008). Author Nancy Smith tell in her book The Collected Paper of Mary Parker Follett (1994) that Mary Parker Follett believed that conflict was inevitable, she didnt believe that domination nor compromise was the answer to conflict, that creativity was the only way (Smith, 1994).

Futuristic Management is still in the Past

Folletts Transitional Theory sparked events such as Human Relations Movement and Human Resource Development. Daniels, Papa and Spiker (2008) Talk about Human Resource Development in their Chapter of Organizational Theory, they say Work is meaningful, workers are motivated by mutually set goals, and workers should be self directed and that this will increase efficiency and that management needs to create a successful environment. Within Human Resource Development Maslows Need Hierarchy is included. This hierarchy states the five needs that and organization and people need. There is a Physiological need for basic requirements to sustain life such as food and oxygen, safety is needed for security and protection from danger, there is a social need of love and affection along with acceptance. Esteem is need for recognition and status and self- actualization is needed to realize ones full potential (Daniels et al., 2008). Management soon realized that using these needs and the practices of Human Resource Development made their work place, a better place and motivated their workers to work harder and fulfill their full potential. In Wall-E (2008) we see that the Robots do have feelings though machines. Wall-E has been left on Earth for hundreds of years not having a companion other than a cricket; he creates a close bond with Eve because she is the first person that he meets. Also the robots who have feelings because, the cleaning robot gets frustrated that there is so much to clean when Wall-E comes on board. Also the group of misfit robots who have been recalled, were angry at the authority because they were not able to perform a task, though they were able to work together in a time of need (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008). To think of an organization to be machine like seems to be outdated, and wrong, that there couldnt be a way that these practices are still happening today. However they are, there are still many organizations that use Scientific and Classical Management theories though outdated

Futuristic Management is still in the Past

there are still parts of the theories that are beneficial in the work place. Having workers do one task that they are good at can be efficient for the company, however if the worker does not get variety in the work, work will become boring and dull for the employee. One profession that still does base itself off of Scientific and Classical management theories is the field of accounting. Authors Lee Parker and Neil Lewis Talk about the relevance of Classical management in the realm of accounting in their article Classical Management Control in Contemporary Management and Accounting (1995). They talk about how accounts run like machines in their every day task having to repeat many of their steps in work and how Scientific control creates the best efficiency (Lewis, Parker, 1995) Most organizations use Human Resource Development to their advantage, and is required in many offices having a Human Resource department. Today management has to be careful with the conditions that the employees are working in and the way they have been treated. When the theories of Classical and Scientific Management were put out, they relevant for that time because of the mass amounts of factory jobs and industrial work, at that time the thought was the quicker the better. Now organizations know that quality of the work and quality of the employee is key and it is something that organizations strive for. Wall-E is a great example of we dont want the world to be or our organization, for human beings cant be machine like; it cant happen because of feelings emotions and communication that needs to happen. For a successful organization and work place, the needs of the workers need to be met, and communication needs to be able to flow through the organization. With the help of Transitional theories and Human Resource Development this has been made possible.

Futuristic Management is still in the Past

References Berdayes & Vicente. (2002). Traditional Management Theory as Panoptic Discourse: Language and the Constitution of Somatic Flows. Culture and Organization, 8, 35-49. Brunsson & Karin. (2008) Some Effects of Fayolism. International Studies of Management and Organization, 38, 30-47. Daniels, T. D., Papa, M. J., Spiker, B. K. (2008) Organizational Communication: Perspectives and Trends. United States of America: Sage Publications, Inc. Lewis, N. & Parker, L. (1995) Classical Management control in contemporary management and accounting: the persistence of Taylor and Fayols world. Accounting, Business and Financial History, 5, 211-236. Smith, N. J., (1994) Dynamic Administration: The Collected Paper of Mary Parker Follett. Educational Studies, 25, 199. Stanton, A. (Producer/ Director). (27 June 2008). Wall-E. United States: Pixar.