Management Theories

Understanding how individuals and groups within organizations act and react with each other in everyday situations can be key to helping managers become more effective both in directing their own activities, the activities of their subordinates, and in working with others within the company. However, there is no one approach to management which is optimum for all organizations. Organizational culture, education of managers and employees and the environment of the surrounding culture are all variables which affect the type of management seen in any particular group or company. This research examines some of the management techniques which have been used in the past as well as techniques which are currently in use.

Early twentieth century industrialists took an engineering approach to management called scientific management. This approach was developed by Frederick Taylor and called for the careful analysis of tasks and time-and-motion studies in conjunction with piece-rate pay schemes in order to improve productivity. Adherents of this approach searched for the "one best way" to perform a specific task, and introduced standard parts and procedures. Taken to the extreme, the scientific management approach seeks a single best way to solve a given situation (Klein, Dansereau & Hall, 1994, p. 204).

One significant shortcoming of this approach is that much time and effort must be put toward developing work standards, closely monitoring ma

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. In this way, what might be considered a similar situation at two different companies, such as low manufacturing productivity, might have two entirely different solutions when the various factors at each company are taken into account. Where the scientific management approach would seek to improve the ergonomics of the situations and the human relations approach would seek to enhance the morale of the employees, the contingency approach would take these and other factors into account and create solutions specifically tailored to that company at that time (Bobko & Russell, 1994, p. 195). Motivation in Organizations There are a number of different approaches to work motivation, most of which can be broken down into either content theories or process theories. Content theories focus on what motivates people to perform, and are concerned with identifying the different rewards that people seek in their work. Process theories focus on how rewards control behavior. These theories are concerned with the dynamics, or process aspects, of work motivation (Gordon, 1991, p. 403). One of the first attempts at developing a motivational theory focused on the principle of hedonism, which finds that people will seek pleasure and avoid pain

Category: Business - M