History of Management Thought

F. M. Taylor & Scientific Management Launch a radical revolution focusing on productivity after the industrial revolution in energy and machinery The study of time and motion for enhancing efficiency and decomposing the complexity vertically Develop the working SOPs, procedures and train the workers with the basic and necessary skills Establish the reward system for efficient experiment and adjustment The problems of inequality and labor exploitation after productivity improvement

Weber’s Bureaucratic Theory The ideal efficient machine design of organizational structure—embedding the proper command line with authority and responsibility as well as work settings Align work to job impersonally (not only an income inflow but a social status) Focus on the information flow for decision beyond the material flow and behavior for work process (Taylor’s emphasis) Rule and norm guide the behavior toward performance, but also like cumbersome “red tapes” for quick response.

Mary Parker Follett Work design should be centralized around the work authorities, not the supervisors or managers. Specialization should be assembled through horizontally cross-function cooperation as well as vertical coupling (Taylor’s emphasis)

The Hawthorne Studies, Elton Mayo and Human Relations Originated the study of impact caused from work setting, however, the interference was found between observer and interviewee The Hawthorne effect is the attitude of workers toward their managers affecting the workers’ performance. Organizational morale, human relations, social dynamics, and other informal relationship between managers and workers indeed affect the organizational performance Focus on the effect of soft dimension in human interactions in contrast to Taylor’s hard dimension in work design

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y Theory X: The philosophy of “ 性惡說 ” –Lazy, little ambition, avoiding responsibility –Authoritarian style, control by means of “the carrot and stick” Theory Y: The philosophy of “ 性善說 ” –Initiative, self-control, commitment, empowerment –Participative style, work settings determine the release of human potential Focus on the means of motivation –Supervision vs. supporting Differences in organizations and labor markets – the quasi rents possessed by the employees?

Theory Z? William Ouchi (professor of management at UCLA, Los Angeles), 'Theory Z: How American management can Meet the Japanese Challenge‘, 1981 Essentially combine all that's best about theory Y and modern Japanese management, which places a large amount of freedom and trust with workers, and assumes that workers have a strong loyalty and interest in team-working and the organization. Places more reliance on the attitude and responsibilities of the workers, whereas McGregor's XY theory is mainly focused on management and motivation from the manager's perspective.