The Evolution of

Management and
Organization Theory
Lecture 5 –
Administrative
Processes in
Government
 The Origins of Public
Management
 The key to the city – harks back to an era
when the only way into a city was through
a locked gate.
 The profession of management began and
developed as the profession of arms.
– War is not possible without an effective
system of public administration.
– Military officers were the first public
administrators.
 The Origins of Public
Management
 The profession of management began and
developed as the profession of arms.
– First armies were mobs with managers.
– Gradually developed hierarchy, line and staff personnel,
logistics and communications.
 The continuing influence of ancient Rome.
– The transfer of managerial control from those of wealth
and power to those with professional expertise first
happened in the Roman army.
– The power of technical expertise would not be seen
again until Napoleon.
 The Origins of Public
Management
 The continuing influence of ancient Rome.
– Origins of merit system.
– Origins of civil service (to regulate pay).
– The core features of modern public administration
were first found in the Roman Empire.
– Depersonalization, separation of public and private
funds, hierarchy, functional specialization.
– The virtue of military service (as training in
administration).
 The Origins of Public
Management
 The military heritage of public administration.
– The history of the world can be viewed as the rise
and fall of public administrative institutions.
– Rome was effective because the army’s
organizational doctrine made it superior to its
competitors and because it was backed up by a
sophisticated administrative system of supply
backed by taxes.
 The Origins of Public
Management
 The military heritage of public
administration.
– The Roman empire only fell when its legions
degenerated into corps of mercenaries and
when its supply and tax bases were corrupted.
– Both victorious soldiers and successful
managers tend to be inordinately admired and
rewarded as risk takers.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 All organizations are guided by a doctrine
of management that reflects basic values.
 The first administrative doctrine (military):
Do this or die!
 Modern example (Henry Ford): All that
we ask of men is that they do the work
which is set before them. (Implication: or
be fired! Better than being shot.)
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 More sophisticated doctrines are needed
when meaningful and fulfilling work for its
employees is the central goal of an
organization.
 These doctrines are generally more
conducive to long-term organizational
effectiveness and productivity.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Doctrine and attitudes affect morale and
performance and more importantly
organizational culture.
 Organizational culture affects the overall
competence or incompetence of the
organization.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Each organization’s doctrine remains in
place until technological and situational
changes make the organization’s
adaptations less useful and render the
organization incompetent.
 Every major political revolution can be
said to be caused by the same thing – poor
public administration.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 The evolution of management principles.
– Authoritarian or traditional management is the
classical model of military governance applied to
civilian purposes.
– Managers under an authoritarian doctrine value order,
precision, consistency, and obedience.
– This authoritarian model has been gradually been
replaced with less centralized, more participatory
models.
– Why? Because they work better with sophisticated
workers.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Comparing military and civilian principles.
– No royal road to administrative wisdom. No
hard and fast principles. But:
– Nine principles of war (U.S. Army).
• Objective: Direct every, military operation toward
a clearly defined, decisive and attainable objective.
• Offensive: Seize, retain, and exploit the intiative.
• Mass: Concentrate combat power at the decisive
place and time.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Comparing military and civilian principles
(contd.)
– Nine principles of war (contd.)
• Economy of force: Allocate minimum essential
combat power to secondary efforts.
• Maneuver: Place the enemy in a position of
disadvantage through the flexible application of
combat power.
• Unity of command: For every objective, insure
unity of effort under one responsible commander.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Comparing military and civilian principles
(contd.)
– Nine principles of war (contd.)
• Security: Never permit the enemy to acquire an
advantage.
• Surprise: Strike the enemy at a time and/ or place
and in a manner for which he is unprepared.
• Simplicity: Prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and
clear, concise orders to ensure thorough
undestanding.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Comparing military and civilian principles
(contd.)
– Catheryn Seckler-Hudson’s 12 principles of
management.
• Policy should be defined and imparted to those
who are responsible for its achievement.
• Work should be subdivided, systematically
planned, and programmed.
• Tasks and responsibilities should be specifically
assigned and understood.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Comparing military and civilian principles
(contd.)
– Catheryn Seckler-Hudson’s 12 principles of
management.
• Appropriate methods and procedures should be developed
and utilized by those responsible for policy achievement.
• Appropriate resources in terms of availability and priority
should be equitably allocated.
• Authority commensurate with responsibility should be
delegated and located as close as possible to the point where
operations occur and decisions need to be made.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Comparing military and civilian principles
(contd.)
– Catheryn Seckler-Hudson’s 12 principles of
management.
• Adequate structural relationships through which to operate
should be established.
• Effective and qualified leadership should head each
organization and each subdivision of the organization.
• Unity of command and purpose should permeate the
organization.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Comparing military and civilian principles
(contd.)
– Catheryn Seckler-Hudson’s 12 principles of
management.
• Continuous accountability for utilization of resources and for
the production of results should be required.
• Effective coordination of all individual and group efforts
within the organization should be achieved.
• Continuous reconsideration of all matters pertaining to the
organization should be a part of regular operations.
 The Significance of
Administrative Doctrine
 Comparing military and civilian principles
(contd.)
– The military list is more policy oriented, more
leadership directed, than the civilian list.
– The military approach underlies the
reinventing government movement.
 What Is Organization Theory?
 A proposition or set of propositions that
attempts to explain or predict how groups
and individuals behave in differing
organizational arrangements.
 What Is Organization Theory?
 Classic organizational theory.
– Organizations exist to accomplish production-related
and economic goals.
– There is one best way to organize for production, and
that way can be found through systematic, scientific
inquiry.
– Production is maximized through specialization and
division of labor.
– People and organizations act in accordance with
rational economic principles.
 What Is Organization Theory?
 Theory derived from organizational
structures and procedures during the
industrial revolution.
 Adam Smith and the pin factory.
– The Wealth of Nations, 1776.
• Laissez-faire.
– Economic rationale for the factory system.
– All formal organizations are force multipliers.
 The Origins of Scientific
Management
 The basic problem with the traditional
hierarchical organization was that it was
dependent upon the proper enculturation of
individual supervisors at every level for its
success.
 Changes in the environment can make
hierarchical organizations less competent.
 The Origins of Scientific
Management
 Origin of the staff concept to overcome
limitations of a single mind and fleeting
time.
 The general staff concept has been adopted
by industrial and governmental
organizations.
 The Origins of Scientific
Management
 The influence of Frederick W. Taylor (1911).
– Father of the scientific management movement.
– Scientific management principles.
• Replacing traditional, rule of thumb methods of work
accomplishment with systematic, more scientific methods of
measuring and managing individual work elements;
• The scientific study of the selection and sequential development
of workers to ensure optimal placement of works into work
roles;
• Obtaining the cooperation of workers to ensure full application
of scientific principles; And.
• Establishing logical divisions within work roles and
responsibilities between workers and management.
 The Origins of Scientific
Management
 Henri Fayol’s general theory of management (six
principles, 1916, 1949).
– Technical (production of goods)
– Commercial (buying, selling, exchange).
– Financial (raising and using capital).
– Security (protection of property and people).
– Accounting.
– Managerial (coordination, control, organization,
planning and command of people).
 The Origins of Scientific
Management
 Fayol (contd.).
– Dominant principle was management.
• Division of work.
• Authority and responsibility.
• Discipline.
• Unity of command.
• Unity of direction.
• Subordination of individual interest to general interest.
• Remuneration of personnel.
 The Origins of Scientific
Management
 Fayol (contd.).
– Dominant principle was management (contd.).
• Centralization.
• Scalar chains (supervisors).
• Order.
• Equity.
• Stability of personnel tenure.
• Initiative, and.
• Esprit de corps.
 The Period of Orthodoxy
 Interwar period a period of orthodoxy in
public administration.
– Work of government could be divided
between decision-making and execution.
– Administration was a science with
discoverable principles.
 The Period of Orthodoxy
 Paul Appleby’s polemic.
– Politics and administration inextricably entwined.
 Luther Gulick (1937, POSDCORB).
– Planning (outline and methods).
– Organizing (structure).
– Staffing (personnel).
– Directing (decision-making).
– Coordinating (task management).
– Reporting (communication and record-keeping).
– Budgeting (fiscal planning, accounting, and control).
 The Many Meanings of
Bureaucracy
 First, “the bureaucracy is the totality of
government offices or bureaus that constitute the
permanent government of the state.
 Second, “the bureaucracy” refers to all of the
public officials of a government, both high and
low, elected and appointed.
 Third, bureaucracy is often used as a general
invective to refer to any inefficient organization
encumbered by red tape.
 The Many Meanings of
Bureaucracy
 Fourth, bureaucracy refers to a specific set
of structural arrangements (Max Weber).
– Bureaucrats are free as individuals, but not as
employees.
– Hierarchy.
– Clearly specified functions.
– Freedom of hiring.
– Appointment by merit.
 The Many Meanings of
Bureaucracy
 Fourth, bureaucracy refers to a specific set
of structural arrangements.
– Due compensation and due process.
– Sole occupation.
– Advancement by merit or seniority.
– Non-proprietary rights in position.
– Strict controls.
 Neoclassical Organization
Theory
 The neoclassical theorists gained their reputation
by attacking the classical theories.
– Important source of the power and politics,
organizational culture, and systems theory.
 Herbert Simon.
– Bounded rationality and satisficing.
– Programmed and unprogrammed decision-making.
– Management information systems.
 Neoclassical Organization
Theory
 The impact of sociology.
– Philip Selznick – Organizations are made up
of individuals whose goals and aspirations
may not coincide with the organization’s.
Modern Structural Organization
Theory
 Basic assumptions
– Organizations are rational institutions whose primary
purpose is to accomplish established objectives
through control and coordination.
– There is a “best” structure for any organization in light
of objectives, environment, products or services, and
the technology of the production process.
– Specialization and division of labor increase the
quality and quantity of production.
– Most problems result from structural flaws.
Modern Structural Organization
Theory
 Mechanistic and organization systems.
– Mechanistic – traditional bureaucracy, best in
stable conditions.
– Organic – less rigidity, more participation, and
more reliance on workers, best in dynamic
conditions.
 Systems Theory
 Systems theory views an organization as a
complex set of dynamically intertwined
and interconnected elements, including
inputs, processes, outputs, feedback loops,
and the environment. Any change in one
element causes changes in other elements.
 Systems Theory
 Cybernetics – Norbert Wiener (1948).
 Systems Theory
 The learning organization.
– Built on the doctrines of participation
– Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
– New component technologies (the five disciplines).
• Personal mastery.
• Mental models.
• Building shared vision.
• Team learning.
• Systems thinking.