History of Management (Video)
3,000–2,500 BCE: Pyramids and Early Management
Opening perspective: Henry Ford famously said, "History is more or less bunk." This module argues history is important to understand what today’s managers do.
Key idea: Management functions (planning, organizing, leading, controlling) existed in practice long before modern theory; someone had to perform these functions to coordinate large-scale work.
Example evidence: The Egyptian pyramids required meticulous planning and coordination by tens of thousands of workers over about two decades to complete a single pyramid. This implies early forms of management by planners and controllers, even if not labeled as such.
Significance: Establishes that organized, goal-directed activities across large groups have deep historical roots; foundational for later management theories.
1400s: Venice Arsenal and Early Management Systems
Observation: At the arsenal of Venice, ships were built in stages as they moved along canals, with materials and riggings added at each stop.
Analogy: This process resembles an assembly line where progression depends on coordinated steps and timing.
Systems used:
Warehouse and inventory systems to track materials.
Human resource management to manage labor (noting items like wine breaks as part of labor practices).
Accounting system to track revenues and costs.
Significance: Demonstrates early integration of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling functions in large-scale production and logistics; shows structured management concepts in practice before modern theories.
1776: Adam Smith and Division of Labor
Key work: Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations published, arguing for the economic advantages of the division of labor (job specialization).
Core idea: Breaking down jobs into narrow, repetitive tasks can dramatically increase individual productivity when combined into a system.
Contemporary relevance: Job specialization remains a popular method for organizing work in organizations (e.g., Chapter 5 in the companion text discusses its drawbacks).
Significance: Lays groundwork for efficiency-driven management approaches and raises early questions about limits and trade-offs of specialization.
1780s–Mid-1800s: Industrial Revolution and the Rise of Modern Management
Major shift: The Industrial Revolution brought large, efficient factories and the birth of the corporation.
Managerial needs: With mass production, there arose a need to forecast demand, secure materials, assign tasks, and coordinate work—functions fulfilled by managers.
Why this matters: The era established essential organizational aspects (hierarchy, control, job specialization) and affirmed management as a necessary component for enterprise success.
1911: Frederick W. Taylor and Scientific Management
Publication: Principles of Scientific Management introduced a theory of applying scientific methods to determine the “one best way” to perform a job.
Claim: This approach offered systematic, repeatable methods to improve efficiency and productivity.
Legacy: Taylor is widely regarded as the father of scientific management; his ideas influenced managers around the world.
Related figures: Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (time-and-motion studies; parent of the family depicted in Cheaper by the Dozen) and Henry Gantt (scheduling charts foundational to project management).
Note: Taylor’s work is profiled in Chapter 1’s "From the Past to the Present" box in the textbook.
Significance: Introduced a rigorous, methodical approach to work design and performance measurement that shaped 20th-century management practice.
1916–1947: Fayol and Weber—General Administrative Theory
Focus: Unlike Taylor’s emphasis on individual workers, Fayol and Weber examined organizational practices by focusing on what managers do and what constitutes effective management—the essence of general administrative theory.
Henri Fayol:
Identified five management functions (as summarized in the exhibit): planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling.
Also proposed 14 principles of management (referred to as foundational rules applicable across organizations).
Max Weber:
Known for the description and analysis of bureaucracy, which he viewed as an ideal, rational organizational form especially suitable for large organizations.
Significance: Broadens the scope of management theory from shop floor techniques to organizational structure, governance, and formalized authority systems.
Exhibit HM-1: Fayol's 14 Principles of Management
1. Division of Work: Specialization increases output by making employees more efficient. (Same idea as Adam Smith’s division of labor.)
2. Authority: Managers must be able to give orders; along with authority comes responsibility.
3. Discipline: Employees must obey and respect rules; effective leadership and clear expectations plus judicious penalties sustain discipline.
4. Unity of Command: Every employee should receive orders from only one superior.
5. Unity of Direction: Activities with the same objective should be directed by one manager using one plan.
6. Subordination of Individual Interests to the General Interest: Personal interests should not take precedence over organizational interests.
7. Remuneration: Workers must be paid a fair wage for their services.
8. Centralization: Refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision-making; finding the optimum balance between centralized and decentralized decision-making.
9. Scalar Chain: The line of authority from top management to the lowest ranks; communications should follow this chain, but cross-communication can be allowed when delays occur with mutual agreement and proper notification.
Order: People and materials should be in the right place at the right time.
Equity: Managers should be fair and kind to subordinates.
Stability of Tenure of Personnel: High turnover is inefficient; perform orderly personnel planning and ensure replacements are available.
Initiative: Employees should be allowed to originate and carry out plans.
Esprit de Corps: Promoting team spirit builds harmony and unity within the organization.
Significance: The 14 principles collectively address structure, behavior, and governance needed for effective management across organizations.
Page 2: Quantitative Approach
Core idea: Emphasizes the application of quantitative tools to management decisions.
Key tools and techniques:
Statistics: Data-driven decision-making and analysis.
Optimization models: Mathematical formulations to find best solutions under constraints.
Information models: Representations of information flows and decision processes.
Computer simulations: Use of computer models to test scenarios and predict outcomes.
Other quantitative techniques: Various numeric methods to assist planning, control, and decision-making.
Purpose: Provide managers with rigorous methods to augment human judgment and improve efficiency, effectiveness, and consistency in decisions.
Significance: Lays the foundation for operations research, management science, and data-driven management practices.
Page 2: Behavioral Approach
Core idea: Focuses on the actions, motivations, and behaviors of workers.
Key questions: How do you motivate and lead employees to achieve high levels of performance?
Emphasis: Human aspects of work, such as motivation, leadership, communication, group dynamics, and job satisfaction.
Significance: Introduces psychology and social dynamics as central to management effectiveness; complements the quantitative view by addressing how people actually behave in organizations.
Page 2: Contemporary Approaches (starting in the 1960s)
Shift in focus: Management research began examining factors outside the organization (the external environment) that affect managerial decisions and organizational performance.
Core idea: Environmental context, stakeholders, competition, technology, regulatory forces, and other external factors influence how organizations must adapt and compete.
Significance: Broadens management theory from internal processes to include the surrounding environment, leading to modern contingency, systems, and strategic-management perspectives.
Connections, Implications, and Takeaways
Historical thread: From ancient projects to modern theories, management has always involved coordinating planning, organizing, leading, and controlling across people and resources.
Practical implications:
The balance between specialization (division of labor) and potential drawbacks (e.g., monotony, lack of flexibility).
The trade-offs between centralization and decentralization in decision-making for efficiency vs. empowerment.
The importance of a coherent set of guiding principles (e.g., Fayol’s 14 Principles) to align organizational actions.
The value of quantitative tools for objective analysis, alongside a focus on human motivation and behavior.
The need to consider external environmental forces in strategic planning and organizational design.
Ethical and philosophical considerations:
Equity and fair remuneration as fundamental to humane workplaces.
Esprit de Corps and unity of command as means to promote trust and clarity.
Initiative and stability of tenure as factors affecting employee motivation and organizational resilience.
Real-world relevance: The annotated timeline and Classic Concepts boxes (e.g., Personal contributions and historical factors) help connect theory to contemporary management practices and workplace realities.
Note on notation and formulas
Numerical ranges and counts are represented in LaTeX within double-dollar blocks when needed, for example:
Time ranges: 3000-2500\ ext{BCE}
Large counts: 100{,}000
Durations: 20\ \text{years}
Conceptual formulas or equations are shown in LaTeX blocks, e.g., division of labor can be conceptually linked to productivity gains, but no explicit numerical formula is provided in the transcript beyond the descriptive statements.