Frank and Lilian Gilbreth
Frank B. and Lillian M.Gilberth (1868-1924) and (1878-1972) made their contribution to the scientific management movement as a husband and wife team. They emphasized method by focusing on identifying the elemental motions in work, the way these motions were combined to form methods of operation, and the basic time each motion took. They believed it was possible to design work methods whose times could be estimated in advance, rather than relying upon observation-based time studies. Frank Gilbreth, known as the Father of Time and Motion Studies, filmed individual physical labor movements. This enabled the manager to break down a job into its component parts and streamline the process. His wife, Lillian Gilbreth, was a psychologist and author of The Psychology of Work. In 1911 Frank Gilbreth wrote Motion Study and in 1919 the couple wrote Applied Motion Study. However, Lilian focused her attention on ways of promoting the welfare of the individual worker. To her, scientific management had one ultimate aim: to help the workers reach their full potential as human beings.
The Gilbreths
Frank Gilberth began work, as apprentice bricklayer and worked his way up the managerial ladder. One of Frank Gilbreth's first studies concerned bricklaying. (He had worked as an apprentice bricklayer.) He designed and patented special scaffolding to reduce the bending and reaching which increased output over 100 per cent. However, unions resisted his improvements, and most workers persisted in using the old, fatiguing methods.
The Gilbreths believed that there was one best way to perform an operation. However, this "one best way" could be replaced when a better way was discovered. The Gilbreths defined motion study as dividing work into the most fundamental elements possible, studying those elements separately and in relation to one another; and from these studied elements, when timed, building methods of least waste. Both Gilberths states that motion study would raise worker morale because of its obvious physical benefits and because it demonstrated management’s concern for the worker. They defined time study as a searching scientific analysis of methods and equipment used or planned in doing a piece of work, development in practical detail of the best way of doing it, and determination of the time required. The Gilbreths drew symbols on operator charts to represent various elements of a task such as search, select, grasp, transport, hold, delay, and others. They called these graphical symbols "therbligs" (Gilbreths spelled backwards). The Gilberths developed a three-position plan of promotion that was intended to serve as an employee development program as well as a morale booster. According to this plan, a worker would do his or her present job, prepare for the next highest one, and train his or her successor, all at the same time. Thus, every worker would always be a doer, a learner, and a teacher and would look forward to new opportunities.
Henry Gantt (1861-1919)
Henry Gantt developed the Gantt chart, which is used for scheduling multiple overlapping tasks over a time period. He focused on motivational schemes, emphasizing the greater effectiveness of rewards for good work (rather than penalties for poor work). He developed a pay incentive system with a guaranteed minimum wage and bonus systems for people on fixed wages. Also, Gantt focused on the importance of the qualities of leadership and management skills in building effective industrial organizations. Basically Gantt charts are bar graphs that help plan and monitor project development or resource allocation on a horizontal time scale. An example of a Gantt Chart is shown below, Figuremmmmmmmmmmm
Typically, Gantt charts indicate the exact duration of specific tasks, but they can also be used to indicate the relationship between tasks, planned and actual completion dates, cost of each task, the person or persons responsible for each task, and the milestones in a project's development.
Gantt charts are also used by supervisors and team leaders to schedule team members for various time dependent tasks such as visiting client companies for a sales organization or guard duty for the military. They can also show the activity load of departments or machines.
Basic Gantt chart Shapes
The basic shapes required to make a Gantt chart include tables, Gantt bars, milestone markers, and link lines.
Gantt bars indicate the duration of tasks.
Milestone markers signal a major turning point in the project such an
approval meeting or the release of a product. They can also mark the
beginning and end of tasks.
Links lines show the relationship between two tasks, often indicating that a
task can only begin when another ends.
The basic idea of the chart is to (1) list the individual tasks that make up an operation to be controlled, (2) plot the expected time required to complete each task, and (3) compare actual progress on each task with its expected time. While Gantt chart is simplicity itself, it radically changed the methods used for planning and controlling operations. Gantt charts are used by managers today, along with more sophisticated planning and controlling techniques.
Administrative Management
The administrative management approach focuses on principles that can be used by managers to coordinate the total activities of organizations. Major contributors include Henri Fayol, where he was executive of large enterprises.
Henri Fayol
(1841-1925), known as the Father of Modern Management, was a French industrialist who developed a framework for studying management. He wrote General and Industrial Management. His five functions of managers were plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control. Fayol believed that the principles of management had universal application even in the non-profit making organization like military and old folks home. However, later he identified 14 general principles of management, were these principles acknowledge truths and flexibility guides that manager could apply. These principles were basically by which an organization might be effectively controlled.
1. Division of work. Fayol saw specialization as a natural human process, seen in every society. Repetition of the same function brings speed and accuracy, thus increasing output. If work is divided according to skill and technical expertise, each item of work can be given to the employee most able to deal with it.
2. Authority and responsibility. Fayol defined authority as 'the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience.' He emphasized the importance of linking authority to responsibility, which together required increasing judgment and morality at senior levels. He justified higher pay for commercial managers in comparison with senior civil servants since, in his view, the latter exercised authority without responsibility. In general, he concluded that 'responsibility is feared as much as authority is sought after, and fear of responsibility paralyses much initiative and destroys many good qualities.'
3. Discipline. Defined as obedience, application, energy, behavior and outward marks of respect. Fayol regarded discipline as essential for the smooth running of business without which an enterprise is unable to prosper. He attributed discipline to good leadership
4. Unity of command. 'For any action whatsoever, an employee should receive orders from one superior only. Such is the rule of unity of command (...) should it be violated, authority is undermined, discipline is in jeopardy, order disturbed and stability threatened.' We will find in our later discussion that many modern concepts of organization are totally contradictory to Fayol's principle. Fayol regarded 'dual command' as one of the greatest sins of management, leading to uncertainty and hesitation on the part of subordinates and conflict between managers.
5. Unity of direction. 'One head and one plan for a group having the same objective.'
6. Subordination of individual interests to the general interest. There should be no conflict of interest between individual ambition and the well-being of the organization as a whole. This principle requires a firm but fair hand from superiors who should set a good example. It requires constant supervision.
7. Remuneration of personnel. Fayol looked for some basic principles in the method of payment:
* it shall assure fair remuneration;
* it shall encourage keenness by rewarding well-directed effort;
* it shall not lead to over-payment going beyond reasonable limits.
This remains a contentious area.
8. Centralization. Part of the 'natural order', Fayol considered that an element of centralization must always be present. He regarded the debate between centralization and decentralization to be one which had no precise solution.
9. Scalar chain (line of authority). The unity of command can lead to excessively chains of authority which hinder communication. Hierarchic organizations regularly insisted that departments communicated with each other only through their heads. This meant that the volume of work handled by a department mushroomed as items went up and down the chain in a game of 'pass the parcel'. Fayol rightly condemned this as inefficient and advocated a 'gang plank' arrangement whereby juniors involved in regular interactions with other departments dealt directly with each other, cutting out the hierarchy. Unwittingly, Fayol provided a key to modern organizations which he could not have conceived. As will be seen later, electronic gang planks have become so efficient that networked organizations are possible which no longer have any requirement whatsoever for layers of management.
10. Order. 'A place for everyone and everyone in his place.' For Fayol, this presupposed the resolution of 'the two most difficult managerial activities: good organization and good selection.' He saw the basic problem as the balancing of an organization's requirements with its resources. The larger the business, the more difficult this became: 'when ambition, nepotism, favoritisms or merely ignorance, has multiplied positions without good reason or filled them with incompetent employees, much talent and strength of will and more persistence ... are required in order to sweep away abuses and restore order.'
11. Equity. In order to obtain commitment from employees, they must be treated equally and fairly.
12. Stability of tenure of personnel. A matter of proportion, but employees needs a period of stability in a job to deliver of their best.
13. Initiative. Being allowed to think through a problem and implement a solution is a rewarding experience which increases motivation. Fayol cautions managers against the personal vanity which prevents them from allowing this opportunity to their subordinates.
14. Esprit de corps. 'Dividing enemy forces to weaken them is clever, but dividing one's own team is a grave sin against the business.'
These Principles of Management. Fayol carefully choose the term principles of management rather than rules or laws:
“I prefer the word principles in order to avoid any idea of rigidity, as there is nothing rigid or absolute in administrative matters; everything is a question of degree. The same principle is hardly ever applied twice in exactly the same way. Because we have to allow for different and changing circumstances, for human beings who are equally different and changeable, and for many other variable elements. The principles too, are flexible, and cab be adapted to meet every need; it is just a question of knowing how to use them.”
Bureaucratic Management
Bureaucratic management is an approach that emphasizes the need for organization to operate in a rational manner rather than relying on the arbitrary whims of owners and managers. The bureaucratic management approach is based mainly on the work of prominent German sociologist Max Weber.
Max Weber
Behavioral Management
The classical theorists generally viewed individuals as mechanisms of production. As a result, they were primarily interested in finding ways for organization to use these productive mechanisms more efficiently. In contrast, the behavioral management is a perspective that emphasizes the importance of attempting to understand the various factors that effect human behavior in organizations.
Hawthorne Studies
, known as the Father of the Hawthorne Studies, identified the Hawthorne Effect or the bias that occurs when people know that they are being studied. The Hawthorne Studies are significant because they demonstrated the important influence of human factors on worker productivity.
There were four major phases to the Hawthorne Studies: the illumination experiments, the relay assembly group experiments, the interviewing program, and the bank wiring group studies. The intent of these studies was to determine the effect of working conditions on productivity. The illumination experiments tried to determine whether better lighting would lead to increased productivity. Both the control group and the experimental group of female employees produced more whether the lights were turned up or down. It was discovered that this increased productivity was a result of the attention received by the group. In the relay assembly group experiments, six female employees worked in a special, separate area; were given breaks and had the freedom to talk; and were continuously observed by a researcher who served as the supervisor. The supervisor consulted the employees prior to any change. The bank wiring groups involved fourteen male employees and was similar to the relay assembly group experiments, except that there was no change of supervision. Again, in the relay and bank wiring phases, productivity increased and was attributed to group dynamics. The conclusion was that there was no cause-and-effect relationship between working conditions and productivity. Worker attitude was found to be important. An extensive employee interviewing program of 21,000 interviews was conducted to determine employee attitudes toward the company and their jobs. As a major outcome of these interviews, supervisors learned that an employee's complaint frequently is a symptom of some underlying problem on the job, at home, or in the person's past.
Human Relation Approach
However flawed the studies, the Hawthorne research set the stage for intense interest in the social dimension of human behavior in organizations. The key to productivity from a managerial point of view appeared to lie in showing greater concern for workers so that they would feel more satisfied with their jobs and be willing to produce more. Emphasis was placed on building more collaborative and cooperative relationships between supervisors and workers. Consequently, managers now needed social skills in addition to technical skills. They also required a better understanding of how to make workers feel more satisfied with their jobs. While the Hawthorne studies provided some clues, managers needed more definitive guidance. Two major theories, Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor, were among those who came forward with ideas that managers found helpful. Basically, behavior management theories draws on the fields of psychology, sociology and anthropology in order to better understand human behavior in a work environment.
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow carried out his investigations into human behavior between 1939 and 1943. Maslow's famous "Hierarchy of Needs" was introduced in the late 1960's.
Abraham Maslow developed a theory of personality that has influenced a number of different fields, including education. This wide influence is due in part to the high level of practicality of Maslow's theory. This theory accurately describes many realities of personal experiences. Many people find they can understand what Maslow says. They can recognize some features of their experience or behavior which is true and identifiable but which they have never put into words.
Maslow is a humanistic psychologist. Humanists do not believe that human beings are pushed and pulled by mechanical forces, either of stimuli and reinforcements (behaviorism) or of unconscious instinctual impulses (psychoanalysis). Humanists focus upon potentials. They believe that humans strive for an upper level of capabilities. Humans seek the frontiers of creativity, the highest reaches of consciousness and wisdom. This has been labeled "fully functioning person", "healthy personality", or as Maslow calls this level, "self-actualizing person."
Maslow has set up a hierarchic theory of needs. All of his basic needs are instinctual, equivalent of instincts in animals. Humans start with a very weak disposition that is then fashioned fully as the person grows. If the environment is right, people will grow straight and beautiful, actualizing the potentials they have inherited. If the environment is not "right" (and mostly it is not) they will not grow tall and straight and beautiful.
Maslow has set up a hierarchy of five levels of basic needs. Beyond these needs, higher levels of needs exist. These include needs for understanding, esthetic appreciation and purely spiritual needs. In the levels of the five basic needs, the person does not feel the second need until the demands of the first have been satisfied, nor the third until the second has been satisfied, and so on. Maslow's basic needs are as follows:
Physiological Needs
These are biological needs. They consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, sex
and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because
if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in
the person's search for satisfaction.
Safety Needs
When all physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer controlling thoughts and behaviors, the needs for security can become active. Adults have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure (such as widespread rioting). Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe.
Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness
When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.
Needs for Esteem
When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.
Needs for Self-Actualization
When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense, lacking something, in short, restless. If a person is hungry, unsafe, not loved or accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know what the person is restless about. It is not always clear what a person wants when there is a need for self-actualization.
The hierarchic theory is often represented as a pyramid, with the larger, lower levels representing the lower needs, and the upper point representing the need for self-actualization. Maslow believes that the only reason that people would not move well in direction of self-actualization is because of hindrances placed in their way by society. He states that education is one of these hindrances. He recommends ways education can switch from its usual person-stunting tactics to person-growing approaches. Maslow states that educators should respond to the potential an individual has for growing into a self-actualizing person of his/her own kind.
Figure:-------The human hierarchy of needs proposed by Maslow.
Douglas McGregor & William Ouchi
In 1960 Douglas McGregor defined contrasting assumptions about the nature of humans in the work place. These assumptions are the basis of Theory X and Theory Y teachings. Generally speaking, Theory X assumes that people are lazy and will avoid work whenever possible. Theory Y, on the other hand, assumes that people are creative and enjoy work. Although "X" and "Y" are the standard names given to McGregor's theories, it is also appropriate to mention here that other names for these management theories have been used as well, and are sometimes interchanged with "X" and "Y". For instance, sometimes it refers to Theory X as "Autocratic Style", and Theory Y as "Participative Style".
Theory X:
Theory X basically holds the belief that people do not like work and that some kind of direct pressure and control must be exerted to get them to work effectively. These people require a rigidly managed environment, usually requiring threats of disciplinary action as a primary source of motivation. It is also held that employees will only respond to monetary rewards as an incentive to perform above the level of that which is expected.
From a management point of view, autocratic (Theory X) managers like to retain most of their authority. They make decisions on their own and inform the workers, assuming that they will carry out the instructions. Autocratic managers are often called "authoritative" for this reason; they act as "authorities". This type of manager is highly tasked oriented, placing a great deal of concern towards getting the job done, with little concern for the worker's attitudes towards the manager's decision. This shows that autocratic managers lose ground in the work place, making way for leaders who share more authority and decision making with other members of the group.
Theory Y:
A more popular view of the relationship found in the work place between managers and workers, is explained in the concepts of Theory Y. This theory assumes that people are creative and eager to work. Workers tend to desire more responsibility than Theory X workers, and have strong desires to participate in the decision making process. Theory Y workers are comfortable in a working environment which allows creativity and the opportunity to become personally involved in organizational planning.
Some assumptions about Theory Y workers are emphasized in one of the texts, namely that this type of worker is far more prevalent in the work place than are Theory X workers. For instance, it is pointed out that ingenuity, creativity, and imagination are increasingly present throughout the ranks of the working population. These people not only accept responsibility, but actively seek increased authority.
According to Theory Y, in which the "participative" leadership style is discussed, a participative leader shares decisions with the group. Also mentioned, are subtypes to this type of leader, namely the "Democratic" leader who allows the members of the working group to vote on decisions, and the "Consensual" leader who encourages group discussions and decisions which reflect the "consensus" of the group.
William Ouchi - Theory Z:
Another theory which has emerged, and deals with the way in which workers are perceived by managers, as well as how managers are perceived by workers, is William Ouchi's "Theory Z". Often referred to as the "Japanese" management style, Theory Z offers the notion of a hybrid management style which is a combination of a strict American management style (Theory A) and a strict Japanese management style (Theory J). This theory speaks of an organizational culture which mirrors the Japanese culture in which workers are more participative, and capable of performing many and varied tasks. Theory Z emphasizes things such as job rotation, broadening of skills, generalization versus specialization, and the need for continuous training of workers.
Much like McGregor's theories, Ouchi's Theory Z makes certain assumptions about workers. Some of the assumptions about workers under this theory include the notion that workers tend to want to build co-operative and intimate working relationships with those that they work for and with, as well as the people that work for them. Also, Theory Z workers have a high need to be supported by the company, and highly value a working environment in which such things as family, cultures and traditions, and social institutions are regarded as equally important as the work itself. These types of workers have a very well developed sense of order, discipline, and moral obligation to work hard, and a sense of cohesion with their fellow workers. Finally, Theory Z workers, it is assumed, can be trusted to do their jobs to their utmost ability, so long as management can be trusted to support them and look out for their well being.
One of the most important tenets of this theory is that management must have a high degree of confidence in its workers in order for this type of participative management to work. While this theory assumes that workers will be participating in the decisions of the company to a great degree, apart from it the employees must be very knowledgeable about the various issues of the company, as well as possessing the competence to make those decisions. However, that management sometimes has a tendency to underestimate the ability of the workers to effectively contribute to the decision making process. But for this reason, Theory Z stresses the need for enabling the workers to become generalists, rather than specialists, and to increase their knowledge of the company and its processes through job rotations and continual training. In fact, promotions tend to be slower in this type of setting, as workers are given a much longer opportunity to receive training and more time to learn the intricacies of the company's operations. The desire, under this theory, is to develop a work force, which has more of a loyalty towards staying with the company for an entire career, and be more permanent than in other types of settings. It is expected that once an employee does rise to a position of high level management, they will know a great deal more about the company and how it operates, and will be able to use Theory Z management theories effectively on the newer employees.
Conclusion x, y z
With respect to overall management style, McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y managers seem to have a much more formal leadership style than do Ouchi's Theory Z managers. McGregor's managers seem to both have different views of the workers, while their views of the tasks remains the same in both cases: that is, one of specialization, and doing a particular task. Albeit that Theory Y suggests that the workers would become very good at their particular tasks, because they are free to improve the processes and make suggestions. Theory Z workers, on the other hand, tend to rotate their jobs frequently, and become more generalists, but at the same time become more knowledgeable about the overall scheme of things within the company. Several parallels indeed exist between these two theorists. Namely McGregor's Theory Y and Ouchi's Theory Z both see the relationship between managers and workers in a very similar light. For instance, they both see managers as "coaches", helping the workers to be more participative in their endeavor to be more productive. They both are more group oriented than the Theory X assumptions, which seem to be more individual oriented. One of the most notable similarities between McGregor's Theory Y and Ouchi's Theory Z appears in the form of the type of motivation that makes the workers perform in a way that enables them to be more productive. While the Theory X worker is said to require coercion, threats, and possibly even disciplinary action, Theory Y and Theory Z workers are, again, self motivated. This allows them to focus on the task, and also their role within the company. Their desire is to be more productive and enable the company to succeed. Theory X workers, on the other hand, seem to have just enough self motivation to show up at work, punch the time clock, as it were, and do only that which is necessary to get the job done to minimum standards.
Quantitative Management
The quantitative management viewpoint focuses on the use of mathematics, statistics, and information aids to support managerial decision making and organizational effectiveness. This approach takes many of the basic concepts of scientific management but updates the techniques that we use to put them into practice. The main three branches have evolved: management science, operations management, and management information systems.
Management Science
Management Science is an approach aimed at increasing decision effectiveness through the use of sophisticated mathematical models and statistical methods. The increasing power of computers has greatly expanded the possibilities for using the mathematical and statistical tools of management science in organizations. Example of this approach is linear programming, queuing, or waiting line, models, and routing, or distribution, models.
Operations Management
Operations Management is the function, or field of expertise, that is primarily responsible for managing the production and delivery of an organization’s product and services. It includes area such as inventory management; work scheduling, production planning, facilities location and design, and quality assurance. Operation management is often applied to manufacturing setting in which various aspects of production needs to be managed, including designing the production process, purchasing raw materials, scheduling employees to work, and storing and shipping the final products. Operations management applies to delivering services as well.
Management Information System
Management Information System refers to the field of management that focuses on designing and implementing computer-based information systems for use by management. Such systems turn raw data into information that is useful to various levels of management. Making full use of computers, can provide facts and assist decision- making, reducing many variables to quantifiable terms, and so removing guesswork and intuition. This approach places great stress on the importance of management accounting to provide the logic of cost/benefit analysis and budgeting techniques in order to make planning more scientific and less a matter flair. Likewise, mathematical models are used to predict likely futures and assist the running of the firm. In many industries, computer-based information systems are becoming a powerful competitive weapon because organizations are able to handle large amounts of information in new and better ways. The idea behind quantitative management is to make management more scientific.
Contemporary Management
Contemporary Management represents major innovations in ways of thinking about management. There are three important contemporary management is the systems, excellence and contingency theories.