Classical School of Organization and Management - Essay Example

ical School Of Organization and Management ical school of organization and management developed mainly during the Industrial Revolution and after the Great depression. The school of thought aimed at solving the emerging problems that were previously unheard of; the emerging factories attracted laborers from different corners of Europe of which many were non-English speaking immigrants. This together with the surging labor dissatisfaction made the stakeholders to look for solutions, which resulted in test solutions. Consequently, the classical management theory evolved out of the combined and rigorous efforts to find the best suitable method for performing, streamlining, and managing tasks. There emerged two sections in this school of thought namely classical scientific and classical administrative (Lacey, 2005, p.96). Classical scientific evolved out of the desire and necessity to hike the productivity level and enhance increased efficiency. Managers had for along time been in search of a method or technique to increase the output of their shops and the input of the individual worker. The most emphasis was placed on looking for the best way to get more work covered and done by critically analyzing and examining how the various work processes were really met and by radically scrutinizing the skills of the workforce. This theory has its major proponents like Frederick Taylor. Taylor advocated for the development of precise procedures after organizations had studied their specific tasks. Through his careful calculation, he was able to astonish managers by reporting that workers of a steel plant called Bethlehem Steel could have unloaded iron from rail cars four times more, if the right tools for the task were provided, the appropriate movements and correct steps followed. He introduced shovels that were more efficient and increased working hours for workers; consequently, the shoveling workers were reduced by almost four times of the initial workers. To motivate and commend workers for coping with the new standards, he increased their payments. The results were impressive as productivity at the company shot up at once. Other managers quickly adopted his method. Another proponent of the theory and close partner of Taylor was Henry Gantt, who came up with the Gantt chart. His method of increasing productivity was realized in form of bar graph. At each stage of production, he used graph to measure the level of planning and the resultant magnitude of completed task force. He emphasized on basing the effects on time rather than on quantity, volume, or weight. His method has been in use in the contemporary modern world in planning and control since its inception. A team of a husband and wife going by the names Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, pioneered and advanced the study of job motions. Frank in his earlier career as an apprentice bricklayer had keen interest in standardization module in the workplace and method study. Through his keen study, he observed that workers were of different capacities. He also observed that some were slow and inefficient while others were industrious and very productive. In the process of laying bricks, he observed that each worker had a different motion of laying bricks. Using his observation, he spotted and isolated the essential basic movements necessary to accomplish a task and ended up eliminating the unnecessary motions. Employing these desired motions, workers upped their output from 1000 to 2700 bricks per a working scheduled time. His was the first study to isolating the best and most efficient methods of accomplishing a given task. As a couple, they used a motion-picture camera and a split-second clock to study and analyze work motions (Brown, 1990, p.34). The efforts of these proponents together with those of others developed the concepts of the scientific management. This method mainly emphasizes on the need of: developing new standard methods for doing each job, shaping workers by selecting, training, and developing workers rather than letting them assigning themselves tasks and training themselves. Cooperation and collaboration between the management and workers is also encouraged to ensure the devised processes and procedures are applied accordingly in the execution of tasks. Work should be equitably divided between the management and the workers. Classical administrative school, focused on the total organization as opposed to the scientific module that as discussed focused on the productivity of individuals. Much of the focus is directed towards the development of managerial principles. Some of the renowned proponents of this theory include Max Weber and Mary Parker. After a close study of the functioning of institutions and the way information flowed within the organizations, these proponents stressed the importance of comprehending how an organization operated and functioned. Max Weber proposed that an organization should have a set of elaborate policies and rules that guide its operations. He had been dissatisfied that most firms of the time placed the individual manager before the organization. Loyalty was to the individual and not to the organization, which made the management of the time personal. He believed that authority did not rest on the individual rather the individual was given the authority by the organization hence could be passed from individual to individual. This was the idea of bureaucracy. In bureaucracy, he saw great opportunity and it is through his model that huge corporation like Ford, have been created. He believed that management should be conventional, exhibiting similar characteristics like hierarchy of command that is fashioned in a way that those in higher positions have the jurisdiction of supervising and directing the junior staff. Division of labor and specialization must be enhanced so that efficiency and effectiveness is realized as employees engage in the tasks they are best qualified for. Rules and regulations should be established and standardized and managers should retain a formal relationship with their junior staff. Records of an organization must also be kept covering all ventures and activities going on in the organization, workers should be employed and promoted based on merit rather than acquaintances. Having worked as a mining engineer, Henri Fayol, employed his management experience and expertise to develop fourteen principles of management. These form the basic reference for many modern day managers. Managers use these principles across board in organizing departments, supervising, and managing staff. Some of these principles are the employment of the division of work strategy, he argues that better work and high productivity are realized where there is division of work and specialization yet the effort is the same. On Authority and responsibility, he said that managers have the official authority based on their position and authority from personal traits and qualification. Discipline is paramount in all organizations and sanctions should be imposed on those that violate the codes of conduct and ethics (Szilagyi, 1988, p.9). Largely, the classical school of thought is still applicable to date. Many of the contemporary companies employ some, if not the majority, of the theories developed by the classical school of thought. Weber and Fayol’s, points have been the major influencer in the modern business organizations. Frank Gilbreth concept has been used in isolating and singling out the most efficient method of accomplishing a task. The application of the concepts of classical school of thought has made companies to lean to one side, for example, some companies have resulted in heavily relying on information and technology as their best method of accomplishing their tasks. Companies like Group 4 Security (G4S) have turned to the use of technology like the surveillance cameras (Gene, 1995, p.86). Specialization and division of labor has made companies to become diverse having many departments under different managers. Banks like Barclays Bank have different departments, like marketing department, loans department, customer care department and so forth due to the division of labor and specialization. However, specialization has discouraged the diversification of individual talents, as people tend to lean on this area of specialization. A person in a bank working under human resource department is unable to move to the department of loans as she/lacks the right training. The use of computers as the best possible means of realizing results has resulted in loss of jobs. There is also the erosion of ethical values as organizations focus so much on results than the means of attaining them, at times human beings becoming the means of attaining the goals. Although bureaucracy as proposed by Weber has been successful for many companies, in the competitive, dynamic and radical global market of the modern era, organizations such as General Electric and Xerox have discarded the concept. They have ended up throwing away the organization chart consequently replacing it with ever changing constellations of teams, projects and alliances with the goal of unleashing without limitations and barriers to the employees creativity and imagination. The reliance on these methods of the past has created some of the challenges facing the UK management. The UK management challenges are complex as they emanate from different angles. Management challenges have replicated since the globe was hit by the economic crunch. The size and complexity of all organizations have also grown over time. Globalization and information technology have also posed major challenges. In the financial services, four overarching challenges have been stressed. These are regulatory issues, human capital, innovation, and growth of business models. The advancement in technology has brought revolutionizing efficiency gains in many sectors and speeded up the globalization process; however, the new technologies have diminished personalization and the relationship between institution and their most valuable asset, the customer. The major management challenge in the UK has been on how to blend the application of the new technologies with the desire to maintain the traditional form of face-to-face relations with the customer (Dubrin, 2008, p.50). Reference List Brown, D., 1990. Decentralization and school-based management. Bristol, Falmer Press. Dubrin, A., 2008. Essentials of management. Mason, Cengage Learning Gene, B., and Thakur, M.1995. Management today: theory and practice. New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill Company. Lucey, T., 2005. Management Information Systems. London, Thomson Szilagyi, A., 1988. Management & Performance. New York, Scott, Foresman and Company Read More