During the industrial revolution in the late 1700’s and late 1800’s, rapid change occurred. The way work was done changed tremendously. People moved from farms to factories, and machines came into play. Aside from work getting done quicker, transportation and roads were connecting cities in the US more than ever. All this sparked the industrial revolution. Companies were looking for ways to maximize productivity and organize larger teams. This brought forth many theories in organization. In this short paper I will delve into the top four theories and analyze them briefly. In his book “Organizational Theory”, Lægaard (2007) explains that although there are four different theories, they do share a few commonalties. Among them are “transparency to enable consequences of organizational choices to be assessed, adjustability…, and a top-down approach”.
Taylor first saw the inefficiencies of workers doing full processes on their own, and in their own way. After time and motion studies, he saw that tasks broken in small steps, but in the right way, the results can be a whole lot better. Figuring out the smartest and simplest way, coupled by the best person to do it, breeds a scientifically perfect management theory. In Taylors own words (1914), “The principal object of of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee”. He later explains that maximum prosperity would be the outcome of developing employees to their maximum efficiency and getting the highest possible quality of work, hence making everyone more money.
Henry Fayol took a strong top-down, yet systematic approach to organization. Fayol believed managers need the training to lead and drive the process, and leave work for the workers. He believed managers need to plan ahead, build a roadmap, create and coordinate groups of employees, and control them. Strong hierarchy was a tremendous part of Fayol’s theory, and he was sure that that would keep a company workforce strong. Weber believed organization should be like government, with a legal rational approach. He felt that ones responsibility and authority should be grounded to the specific job they had at the time. This theory also extended to hiring employees, the selection had to be based on exact technical qualifications the job entailed. It also extended to the performance, as clear rules described the work performance.
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Herbert Simon argued with Taylor’s approach to organization. He felt that as much as an individual is out for their best interest, they don’t always know their basic interests. Simon explained that there is a drastic difference between the decisions a person makes to join an organization vs. the ones they make once they are part of one. He called this man the “Administrative man”. According to Simon, people are okay making a decision that is “good enough”, even if it is not the best. For example, when people go shopping, they settle on a nice suit, even if it isn’t their dream one. Organizations simplify decisions by restricting the ends toward which activity is directed. Value premises, which are the assumptions of desirable outcomes, are combined with factual premises to make decisions. The more precise the value premises, the greater effect they have on decisions. The top makes ‘what’ decisions, the bottom ‘how’ decisions.
In my opinion, Taylor’s theory has been the most influential theory. From the car factories to the warehouses, efficiency has come from scientific management. Knowing the strengths of an employee and figuring out the smartest way to get a job done is what makes factories move quickly without any issues. In present day HR process, Taylor’s theory is prevalent as well. Human Resource departments look for experience in the specific job they are hiring for. In conclusion, Taylor’s scientific management has served to shape the behaviors witnessed in today’s organizations, and many current organizational theories stem from the original theory of Fredrick Taylor.
REFERENCES
- Taylor, F. W. (1914). The principles of scientific management.
- Lægaard, Jørgen (2007). Organizational Theory.
