Management Theories Summary

Frederick W. Taylor | Scientific Management

  • Sought the "one best way" to perform tasks through systematic study.
  • Four principles:
    • Develop a science for each work element.
    • Scientifically select, train, and develop workers.
    • Cooperate with employees to implement scientific principles.
    • Equally divide work and responsibility between management and workers.

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth | Motion Study

  • Employed motion study to simplify work and boost productivity.
  • Motion study: break down tasks into separate motions, eliminate unnecessary ones.
    • Reduce motions in a task.
    • Focus on incremental study of motions and time.
    • Increase efficiency to raise profit and worker satisfaction.
  • Designed workspaces for worker comfort and efficiency, contributing to ergonomics and human factors engineering.
  • Employed disabled workers.

Henry Gantt | Gantt Chart

  • Gantt chart: Shows tasks needed to be completed at specific times to finish a project.
  • Recommended worker training and development.
  • Incorporated benchmarks for efficient project completion.

Max Weber | Bureaucratic Management

  • Bureaucracy: control based on knowledge, expertise, or experience for efficient goal achievement.
  • Seven elements:
    1. Qualification-based hiring.
    2. Merit-based promotion.
    3. Chain of command.
    4. Division of labor.
    5. Impartial application of rules and procedures.
    6. Recorded in writing.
    7. Managers separate from owners.

Henri Fayol | Administrative Management

  • Five functions of managers.
  • Fourteen principles of management.
  • Belief that management can be taught.

Mary Parker Follett | Human Resources Management

  • Integrative conflict resolution: both parties work together to find an alternative that meets the needs of both.
    • Integration of understanding human behavior for effective management.
    • Emphasized the correlation of individuals and groups within an organization.
    • Elevated the importance of resolving conflicts through integration and collaboration rather than domination or compromise.
  • Coined the term "power with" (collaborative) vs. "power over" (authoritarian).
  • Decisions should involve those affected.

Elton Mayo | Hawthorne Studies

  • Paying attention to workers and their social interactions affected their work.
  • Worker feelings impact work.
  • Group dynamics influence performance.
  • Understood the effect of group social interactions, employee satisfaction, and attitudes on individual and group performance.

Chester Barnard | Cooperation and Acceptance of Authority

  • Organization: consciously coordinated activities of two or more people.
  • Employee cooperation depends on perception and acceptance of executive authority.
  • Emphasized clear communication and reconciling individual/organizational goals.