Principle of management - Essay Example

view of the various schools of thought in management and briefly touch upon the related principles that emerged since the industrial revolution and went on progressing through attempts to evolve into a discipline adequate to meet the challenges presented by rapid progress of the industry. The first school to emerge in management though is referred to as the classical management school. It developed during the days of the industrial revolution out of problems arising in managing the factory system of production.

In pursuit of seeking out the optimal way to organize factory production the theories emerged. The classical school of thought can be divided into two groups – the classical scientific school and the classical administrative school. The classical scientific school of thought developed primarily from the motivation to enhance productivity of factory units. The solution was to identify the best way in which the tasks could be accomplished through examining the work process in detail as well as perceiving the skills of the workers.

The main contributors to this school are Frederick Taylor, Henry Gantt, and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. The fundamental principles this school prescribed were: In contrast to the scientific school which focused upon raising individual productivity, the classical administrative school concentrated on the entire organization. Thus, the focus was much more on the development of overall managerial principles rather than on work methods. Max Weber, Henri Fayol, Mary Parker Follett, and Chester I. Barnard were the major contributors to this school of thought.

In the late 19th century, in contrast to the personal, family like industrial management system that was common practice in Europe, Max Weber proposed establishment of a non-personal and objective organization that would be referred to as a “Bureaucracy”. He suggested that such units should all feature a properly defined hierarchy, practice division of labor and