Organizational Communications
Session IV: Management Theories (Part 1)
Before beginning this section, print out the following questions and answer them as honestly as you can. Put aside your answers; we will use them later.
What do you think of people? What do you think of people as employees/workers?
Do you believe MOST people are basically good - want to do a good job, or do you think they are lazy, only want to work a minimum time for max pay?
What do you think motivates people? Why do people work? What are the primary and secondary motivations?
What makes someone decide to quit a job, leave a company? What has made you quit a job (other than a move to another geographical area or an involuntary termination?)
What makes a good supervisor/boss? What types of characteristics do you like in a supervisor/dislike in a supervisor?
Following are general notes on the subject of management theory. Theories are described in roughly historical order.
Information is from several sources, including course text
Frederick Winslow Taylor - industrial engineer
invented scientific management
developed experiments in breaking down the components of a manual task - timed each movement with a stop-watch
believed there could be a proven best way to perform each task in a factory, and that every employe could be trained to be "first-class" at some job
management responsibility to identify possibilities and provide opportunities for improvement
Principles of Scientific Management 1911 the principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity of each employee
management and workforce interdependent/common goal of higher prosperity
workers responsible for own improvement
Taylor developed: Four underlying principles of management:
1 development of a science of work to replace old rule-of-thumb methods / tie to wages earned
2 scientific selection and progressive development of the worker: train each to be "first class" at some task
3 bring together science of work and scientifically selected and trained workers for best results
4 equal division of work and responsibility between workers and management/interdependence
as Peter Drucker said, he was "the first man in history who did not take work for granted, but looked at it and studied it" (Kennedy, 1991, p. ??)
his theories of industrial engineering are now largely discredited (never accepted by labor unions)
many managerstoday continue to practice Taylorism w/o realizing it!
Henri Fayol -French mining engineer and manager - 1st to ask "what is management?" / analyze nature of managerial activity, formulate complete theory of management
key definitions of managerial activity - plan-organize-command-coordinate-control
linked strategy and organizational theory - emphasized need for management developmant and qualities of leadership
Fayol believed same principles of management could be applied to organizations of all kinds and sizes. Five key elements of industrial management:
1 forecast and plan - examine the future and draw up plan of action
2 organize - building up the structure, material and human, of the undertaking
3 command - maintaining activity among personnel
4 coordinate - binding together, unifying, harmonising all activity and effort
5 control - seeing that everything occurs in conformity w/established rule and
expressed command
Organization - strategic plan and definition of goals then structure to put plan into action - carried forward by controlled activity between manager and workforce, work of disparate departments harmonized by coordinated management - subject to checks on efficiency of working (staff separate from functional (line) departments)
Manager leadership qualities obtain best performance from workforce
manager also need to have knowledge of the business and of workers, and ability to instil sense of mission
Fayol's 14 general principles of management:
1 division of work/specialization
2 authority matching responsibility (leader possess and infuse into those around him courage to accept responsibility)
3 discipline - obedience, respect (defects usually from ineptitude of leaders)
4 unity of command - only one boss / no conficting lines of command
5 unity of direction - one head, one plan for group of activities with same objective
6 subordination of individual to general interest/reconcile conflicting interests/ put into effect by (1) firmness, good example (2) fair agreements (3) constant supervision
7 fair remuneration for effort
8 centralization/decentralization, depending on the business and its culture
9 scalar chain/ hierarchical principle /
10 order, material and social
11 equity in treatment of employees
12 stability of tenure among personnel
13 initiative on part of manager - thinking out a plan and ensuring its success
14 esprit de corps - talent needed to coordinate effort, encourage keenness, use each person"s abilities, reward each one"s merit without jealousy and discord
Max Weber modern organization as bureaucracy
Characteristics of a bureaucracy:
1. clear hierarchical system of authority
2. division of labor, specialization
3. complete system of rules regarding rights, responsibilities, duties of personnel
4. procedures for work performance
5. impersonality in human organizational relationships
6. selection and promotion of personnel solely on basis of technical competence
Benefits of bureaucracy - elminiate ambiguity, capriciousness
for better decision making, / tasks done faster, more efficiently
rational system of rules based on military discipline
Common themes
1 organization driven by management authority - employees instruments for carrying out management plan
organizational communications - a tool for managerial control/coordination of processes
communication concentrated near top of hierarchy - top-down flow
2 rational behavior model assumed - primary motivation is money
IF people are compensated in a fair manner, they will be more productive and more compliant with authority.
3 machinelike prescription for organizational design - machine analogy of organizations
Influence of these traditional management theories is still felt in business today:
time/motion studies - organization charts - job descriptions - policy manuals
(Do written policies help? do they motivate?)
subtle influence - even where no formal organization chart, one is assumed / communication flow is controlled - division of labor - chain of command - hierarchy (who"s the boss?)
Criticisms of these theories
assumptions about motivation are naive - behavior depends on complex factors
rigid, unadaptive org structures
bureaucracy - red tape, inefficiency, indifference - (not what Weber envisioned)
scientific theorists failed to understand social/psychological dynamics of org behavior and human communications
1920s, 30s - two transitional theories
Chester Barnard -challenged Taylor and Weber - attempted to correct shortcomings of their theories in 3 areas: individual behavior, compliance, and communication
Primary aim - to provide a comprehensive theory of cooperative behavior in formal organizations
1 said classical theorists had underestimated variability of individual behavior and impact of this behavior on organizational effectiveness
individual as basic strategic factor in all organizations
2 compliance - concept of "zone of indifference" - orders must be perceived in neutral terms to are carried out without conscious questioning of authority
incentives, inducements, rewards can be used to expand zone, but material incentives alone limited in power to effect compliance - also need to induce using status, prestige, personal power
3 made communication indispensable concept in analysis of organizational structure
decision-making processes hinge on communications
described characteristics and importance of communication in informal organization
****first function of an executive is to establish and maintain a system of communication
*****Barnard created a new theory of organizational structure, focusing on organization as communication system
1. organizations made up of individual humans with individual motivations
2. every large organization includes smaller, less formal groupings whose goals need to be harnessed to those of the parent body - management responsible for doing this
3. management efficiency vs. effectiveness -- to be effective, an organization's purpose or goals must be accepted by all the contributors to its system of effort - willingness to cooperate in common purpose essential to an organization"s survival
4. authority in organization only exists insofar as the people in that organization are willing to accept it
5. emphasis on value of communications - 3 basic principles for ensuring effectiveness of comms
a everyone should know what the channels of communication are
b everyone should have access to a formal channel of communications
c lines of communication should be as short and direct as possible
6. managers must establish, manage system to motivate employees towards the organization's goals or formulate those goals in a clearly communicable way
business organizations as effective instruments of social progress - driven by cooperation of individuals working to a common purpose rather than by authority
nature of leadership - real role of CEO was to manage the values of the organization
Mary Parker Follett -community organizer and activist, developed theory of administration,
principles of cooperative effort -
Basic concepts:
1. principle of reciprocal response - human interaction always involves mutual and simultaneous influence, with synergy (result is one that neither could have produced alone)
2. universal goal of integration - harmonious marriage of differences produces a new form, new entity, new result made from old and yet different from any of them
concern with ways of building, sustaining democracy through integration of different, competing interests through shared power
didn't advocate empowerment of workers just to make them feel better about themselves - joint power, i.e., "power-with" - necessary condition for integration of interests
vehicle for integration is employee representation, participation
explicit communication basis through concept of reciprocal response and theory that
participation requires CONFERENCE -
died in 1933 - her theory was basis for much of the development theories of 1960s
Human Relations Movement
1st seeds: 1927 - 1932 Hawthorne Studies at Western Electric Company's Hawthorne Plant in Illinois, in four phases over a period of years. Was basis for Human Relations school of management
Results challenged scientific management principles, suggested that interpersonal communications, group dynamics, attitudes & values of organization members were more important that work structure and organizational design in determining organizational effectiveness
Elton Mayo and others started studies to determine relationship between lighting conditions in work area and worker productivity / hypothesis was that productivity would be greater at some "ideal" level of lighting / wanted to find this optimum condition by experiment with light levels- what they found was unexpected - productivity increased regardless of what changes were made to lighting; when light increased, productivity up; when light constant, went up; when went down, productivity still continued to increase until workers literally could no longer see what they were doing
concern among researchers (from traditional scientific management area)
small group of workers to study systematically the relationships between various working conditions and productivity; still showed that productivity increased regardless of changes in work conditions // researchers finally concluded that relationship between researchers and workers accounted for results - observers showed personal interest in workers/ kept them informed/ listened sympathetically to concerns, opinions // totally different relationship than they had been used to (task-oriented, rule-bound, impersonal)
next set of experiments was interviews with thousands of employees to discover attitudes toward working conditions, supervisors, work in general
people who worked under similar conditions experienced these conditions in different ways and assigned different meanings to their experiences (for ex - one style of supervision could be satisfying to some, dissatisfying to others) ** what does this mean for you as business owner?
personal background, expectations of workers contributed to satisfaction. The meaning a person assigns to his position depends on whether or not that position is allowing him to fulfill the social demands he is making of his work / researchers concluded that employee attitudes depend on the social organization of the groups in which they work and their positions in these groups.
Final intensive study with small group of employees - purpose: observe effects of work group's social processes on productivity / results: work group norms exert substantial influence over performance standards. Norms related to output - right amount determined by group (assumed) - even though paid incentives, faster workers were encouraged to slow down/ production reports were falsified to show regular rate of production/ informal system controlled and regulated group members' behavior and protected from outside (management) interference
Implications of the Hawthorne studies: serious flaws in research methods
new research methods indicate different results (called the reaction of workers reassertion rather than release from oppressive supervision )
significance: led to recognition of worker attitudes in work productivity, led to emergence of human relations school of management
Elton Mayo (1880-1949)- Harvard Business School - Mayo involved in Hawthorne Studies - he interpreted the results as support for more people-oriented approach to management
Most important finding: identify roots of work satisfaction as non-economic
connect satisfaction with interest taken in worker's performance by supervisor (i.e., communication/interaction with supervisor); reversed emphasis on monetary reward
The vital importance of management-worker communication...laid the foundation for the work of many later management thinkers and writers (Kennedy lists: Peters/Waterman, Chris Argyris, Herzberg, Maslow)
Mayo's theory: workers ruled by logic of sentiment managers motivated by logic of cost and efficiency Thus, without understanding and compromise, conflict was inevitable. (Kennedy)
believed workers valued spontaneous cooperation and creative relationships among those with whom they worked, and would perform accordingly
human instinct of association outweighs merely individual interest and logic of reasoning
Mayo not against scientific management (believed observation- skill-experiment and logic should be regarded as the three stages of advancement, against what he called the "rabble hypothesis" of society- as horde of unorganized individuals each acting in own selfish interest
Discussion (How do these conclusions relate to you as a small business owner?)
8 principal conclusions from Mayo's research
1. work is a group activity
2. the social world of the adult is primarily patterned about work activity
3. the need for recognition, security, and a sense of belonging is more important in determining a worker's morale and productivity than the physical conditions under which he works
4. a complaint is not necessarily an objective recital of facts; it is commonly a symptom manifesting disturbance of an individual's status position
5. the worker is a person whose attitudes and effectiveness are conditioned by social demands from both inside and outside the work plant
6. informal groups w/in the work plant exercise strong social controls over the work habits and attitudes of the individual worker
7. the change from an established to an adaptive society...tends continually to disrupt the social organization of a work plant and industry generally
8. group collaboration does not occur by accident; it must be planned for and developed. If group collaboration is achieved, the work relations within a work plant may reach a choesion which resists the disrupting effects of adaptive society.
Mayo's discovery of importance of peer group in work -led to conclusion that within each formal organization existed many informal ones which could be encouraged in greater productivity by being led to do it themselves through interest and respect on the part of their managers. (Kennedy)
AMore profoundly, Mayo believed that by creating such an atmosphere of spontaneous cooperation in industry, society at large could help to combat the postwar collapse in traditional values...one of the most important tasks facing a manger. The whole Human Relations movement, as engendered by Mayo's work, became concerned with discovering, through scientific research, how to harness the motivation and commitment of individuals to corporate goals. (Kennedy)
Mayo's contribution to management thinking was seminal
AIt revealed the importance, in hard bottom-line terms, of human emotions, reactions and respect to the business of managing others. It also pioneered the whole concept of proper management-worker communication--again a new idea because of the respect for the individual it required between bosses and workers. (Kennedy)
Management, Mayo demonstrated once and for al, could only succeed in leading an organization's employees if the workers, in their informal groups, accepted that leadership without reservation. (cf. Barnard "zone of indifference") Mayo said that results of Hawthorne Studies showed that "the relation of working groups to management was one of the fundamental problems of ...industry. Organizing teamwork--developing and sustaining cooperation--had to be a major preoccupation of management. Above all, management needed to think less about what "we" wanted to get across to "them" than to listen to what "they" wanted to know and would be receptive to. (Kennedy)
New theories of human resource development (note the use of the term human resource - recognition of the employee as a vital resource to be used in attaining business goals)
New studies of employees as major factor in organization - question of motivation - why do employees work? what motivates them?