During the twentieth century, the dynamics that exist within individual organizations came to be studied, analyzed and evaluated. Over the course of that century, this analysis led to the conclusions that organizations can be managed in order to achieve specific goals, and that organizations have cultures and standards of behavior similar to the cultures of societies at large. Tools have developed that help managers and employees achieve these goals, and that help change cultures when those cultures no longer support the organization's mission. Even the relationship between manager and employee has changed over the last 100 years so that there is greater equity between the two in many organizations. This research considers various approaches to organizational development, and their application in today's business environment.
Frederick Taylor developed an approach to management that relied on engineering models. Scientific management requires 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 (Klein, Dansereau & Hall, 1994). This practice remains in place in some traditional organizations, such as aerospace, where "best practice" standards are commonly implemented. However, many organizations have discarded or never implemented scientific management because of its significant shortcomings. the approach requires considerable time and effort in developing work standards, monitoring the work process, and calculating appropriate rates of pay. The costs associated with these activities may well offset the benefits gained from the activities. Another problem is that there may be strong work resistance to attempts by management to measure effort and productivity. This resistance may be shown in slowdowns in producti...