[FDNMANP] Chapter 2: History of Management Theory and Practice

social construction of reality

occurs when something is perceived to be an objective reality, and people allow it to shape their thinking and actions, even though its meaning has been subjectively created by humans and must be constantly recreated by humans in order to continue to exist

Pre-humankind
Hunting and Gathering
First Agricultural Revolution
Advent of Money
Capitalism and Industrial Revolution

Five Eras of Pre-contemporary Management

13.7 billion BCE

Period of Pre-humankind

40000 BCE

Period of Hunting and Gathering

10000 BCE

Period of the First Agricultural Revolution

1500 BCE

Period of the Advent of Money

Capitalism

an economic system based on rewarding entrepreneurs for profitably combining resources in ways that create valued goods and services

Organizing
Leading
Planning
Controlling
Triple Bottom Line
Social and Ecological Thought

Six Eras of Contemporary Management Thought

1910-1930

Period of Organizing Era

Scientific management

focuses on determining the best way to perform specific jobs via designing the best ways to perform a job, selecting people with the required abilities, training them to improve their efficiency, and developing reward systems that will optimize productivity

Bureaucratic organizing

emphasizes the design and management of organizations on an impersonal rational basis via methods like clearly defined lines of authority and responsibility, keeping formal records, and rule-based decision-making

1930-1950

Period of Leading Era

Mary Follett

“authority should not always belong to the person who formally holds the position of manager, but rather that power should be fluid and flow to workers whose knowledge and experience makes them best suited for a particular task or situation”

Lillian Gilbreth

studied ways to reduce job stress, championed the idea that workers should have standard workdays, promoted child-labor laws and protection from unsafe work conditions

Hawthorne effect

giving workers special treatment increases their productivity

Theory X managers

assumes that people are inherently lazy, dislike work, will avoid working hard unless forced to do so, and prefer to be directed rather than accept responsibility for getting their work done.

Theory Y managers

assume that work is as natural as play, that people are inherently motivated to work, and that people will feel unfulfilled if they do not have the opportunity to work and thereby make a contribution to society

1950-1970

Period of Planning Era

Management science

uses the tools of mathematics, statistics, and other quantitative techniques to inform management planning, decision-making, and problem solving

systems approach

recognizes that the elements that comprise and affect organizations are inter-related in complex ways—where each element may be both a determinant and a consequence of different elements—and offers conceptual tools to understand and address complex problems that cannot be solved by intuition, straightforward mathematics, or simple experience

Bounded rationality

tendency for managers to make sub-optimal decisions because they lack complete information and have limited cognitive ability to process information

Contingency theory

suggests that the best way to manage a specific organization depends on, and is determined by, identifying the optimal fit between its structure, culture, environment, technology, and strategy

Strategic choice theory

suggests that, based on their values and beliefs, members of an organization’s dominant coalition make three complementary strategic decisions regarding the organization’s: performance standards, domain, and structure

1970-1990

Period of Controlling Era

Controlling era

emphasized on the symbolic role of management and how essence of leadership was to create the “meaning” that guides, inspires and motivates organizational members and engages their values

Scripts

learned guidelines or procedures that help people interpret and respond to what is happening around them

Institutionalization

evident when certain practices or rules have become “valued” in and of themselves

Self-fulfilling prophecies

shape and control people’s actions by channeling behavior in a scripted direction rather than in alternative (possibly more positive) directions

1990-2010

Period of Triple bottom line era

Natural Resource Based View

describes how profits can be enhanced by reducing costs associated with negative social and ecological externalities

Stakeholder theory

points to importance of looking beyond shareholders

Corporate social responsibility

refers to managers’ obligations to act in ways that enhance societal well-being even if there are no direct benefits to the firm’s financial well-being by doing so creating “shared valued” can increase competitive advantage/profits

2010-present

Period of Social and Ecological Thought era