Week 2

Models of Management

Read chapter two(2) in both core texts

 Learning outcomes
• Understand the evolution of management
thought
• Why study models of management?
• The competing values framework
– Rational goal
– Internal process
– Human relations
– Open systems
 Management evolution
• Many views of what constitutes
‘management’
• BUT definitely NOT a NEW phenomena
– Early civilization’s ability to organize large scale
activities – efficiently/effectively
Egyptians
Chinese
Mesopotamian
Where was Mesopotamia?
 NEW – we know not!
Historical information highlights that all these
feats required co-ordination ,

Although they all had captive labour forces, they

MUST have been sophisticated organization
through the implementation of;

MANAGEMENT
 Early Production Management
Techniques
• Traced back to MENCIUS (372-289 BC)
– Chinese philosopher

– Dealt with models and systems

– Highlighted the advantages of ‘division of labour’

– Putting the concepts re-discovery (Charles Babbage

1791 -1871) some 2000 years later; into perspective
Modern term ‘Management’
Derives from which country?
United States of
America
 Early twentieth century
• Related to business – entrepreneurial skills
• Related to industry evolution – railroads, steel works,
manufacturing industries generally
• Beginning of the teaching of management –the view that the
subject was important and therefore could and should, be
taught in business schools.
• Hence systemisation of techniques and knowledge based on
principles that managers had distilled from their own
experiences
• Empiricism - theory which believes that knowledge comes only
or primarily from sensory experience
(Psillos, Stathis; Curd, Martin, 2010)
 All useful BUT…
Why study models of management?
• [Models]…aim to identify main variables in any given
situation & relationship between variables
• More accurate they do so = more useful
Magretta (2002, p.10) suggests…

“Without a theory of some sort its hard to

make sense of what’s happening in the world
around you. If you want to know whether you
work for a well-managed organisation - as
opposed to whether you like your boss – you
need a working theory of management.”
 Why study models of management?
• Managers act in accordance with their mental
model of the situation
• Models simplify complex reality, so need to
recognise and use several (see Figure 2.1)
– Identify variables and relationships
– Illuminate the manager’s context – ‘situation’
– Develops awareness of other perspectives
 E.g. unitary, pluralist, and critical
Fig 2.1 Many variables, many models
 Development of views

The competing values framework

 Rational goal models

A response to the problem of organising factory

production efficiently
Taylor, F.W. (1856–1915)
‘scientific management’
• Use scientific methods to find the best way
• Select best person for the job
• Train the worker to follow defined procedures
• Provide financial incentives
• Move responsibility for planning from worker
 Evaluating scientific management
• Methods greatly increased productivity and were
widely adopted – industrial era
• Aspects of the approach are still common
– work measurement, bonus systems, etc.
• Can incur high human costs:
– repetitive tasks alienate many people
– reinforces power of managers over workers
– focus on the individual ignores their social needs
• Are the assumptions valid in context? What
alternatives? What are their limitations?
 Internal process models
Weber (1864 – 1920) developed the view of ‘management’
being a set of principles for organising large bureaucracy -
fairly

• Rules and regulations: to guide behaviour

• Impersonality: to protect against favouritism
• Division of labour: jobs are easy to learn
• Hierarchy: reflecting power to make decisions
• Authority: structure that ties system together
• Rationality: managers should use most efficient methods to
achieve objectives
 Internal process models
Fayol (1841-1925)
Principles for organising the whole business
• Stressed that these should be applied flexibly and in
proportion
• Included:
– Division of work
– Unity of command and direction
– Find the right degree of centralisation
– Stability of tenure
– Encourage initiative
Evaluating internal process models
• Rules, regulations, impersonal procedures widely used,
ensure consistency and seem fair

• Can be slow and inflexible

– Conditions change more quickly than rules
– Units of an organisation face different conditions
– Rules may become more important than adding value: become
an end in themselves
• Are the assumptions of the approach valid in context?
What are the alternatives? What could be the
limitations?
 Human relations models
A reaction to scientific management and
bureaucratic approaches

• Focus on people as social beings with many needs

• Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933)
– Observed creativity of group processes
– Advocated replacing bureaucracy with group networks
in which people solve problems
– Solving problems created integrative unity
 Elton Mayo and Hawthorne experiments

• Lighting experiment to test effects of light on

output
• Unexpected result stimulated a fuller study of the
effects of changing physical surroundings
• The relay assembly test room
– Selected women staff, repetitive, measurable task
– Regular changes to working time, rest breaks,
refreshments – and asked for views
– Results (next chart) led to the conclusion that they
had changed the social as well as the physical setting
 Other Hawthorne studies
• Bank Wiring Observation Room
• Make staff on payment by results system
– Produced less than they could have done
 showed the social pressures on members
to comply with output levels set by group

• Interview programme – sought employees

attitudes to work and life in general
– Showed close links between work and life outside
 implied supervisors should pay attention
to emotional needs of employees
Evaluating human relations models
• Influenced many management practices – HRM
practices stress teams and work–life balance
• Aim to integrate needs of individual with needs of
the organisation
• Critics claim that these practices reinforce unequal
power relations – power is still with the organisation
• Effects on performance unclear – other variables
• Assumptions? Context? Alternatives? Limitations?
Open systems models
 Organisations as open systems
Focus on links with the outside world on
which firm depends
• Subsystems add complexity – interact with
each other and the outside world (Figure 2.5)
• Socio-technical systems – need to align
technical and social systems (Figure 2.6)
Interacting subsystems
Socio-technical systems
 Evaluating open systems models
• Influenced many management practices which
stress response to external conditions
– market research, PR, strategic planning, alliances, etc.
• May emphasise need for change at the expense of
the need for stability and efficiency
• Practice depends on people interpreting events
– subjective judgements as much as rational analysis
• Assumptions? Context? Alternatives? Limitations?
 International context?
• Values that shape practice in one country may
not do so in another country
 Summary
• Understanding of the historic evolution
• Understanding of the why manage
• Competing values model offers alternative
perspectives on managing, and you can see
current examples of each approach
• Each depends on assumptions about the context
in which people are managing and working
• Enables constructive thinking about alternatives
to, and limitations of, current practice