-
"Wealth of Nations"
Published by Adam Smith in 1776, this book talks about the advantages of divison of labor. His research showed that divison of labor, or job specialization, increased productivity. Today, companies are trying to combine division of labor with variety in the workplace to maximize productivity (Staats, 2012, p. 1141). -
Andrew Carnegie
Born in 1835, Andrew Carnegie became a very successful businessman. First working his way up to Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the age of 30, and later creating the Carnegie Steel Company. He was very hard on his employees which lead to the awareness of todays managers in the ways of increasing performance in employees while also keeping them satisfied. -
Henri Fayol
Born in 1841, Henri Fayol was the CEO of Comambault Mining (Jones, 2014, p. 46). He is famous for his 14 principles of management that are still the basis of many managment principles and theories still used today. -
Frederick W. Taylor
Born in 1856, Frederick W. Taylor is best known for defining the techniques of scientific management (Jones, 2014, p. 39). He is considered by many as the "Father" of management thought and was one of the first people to study the behavior and performance of people at work. -
Max Weber
"Born in 1864, Max Weber wrote at the turn of the 20th century, when Germany was undergoing its industrial revolution (Jones, 2014, p. 45)." He developed the five principles of bureaucracy to help Germany manage its growth while striving to become a world power and increase their efficiency and effectiveness. -
The Gilbreths
"Born in 1868, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth refined F.W. Taylor's analysis of work movements and made many contributions to time-and-motion study (Jones, 2014, p. 42)." They would do things such as film a worker performing a task and then by increasing the efficiency of each individual's task, they would tremendously increase the entire operation as a whole. -
Mary Parker Follett
Born in 1868, Mary Parker Follett was one of the first management thinkers to focus on the way managers should behave in the workplace. Her idea that the workers should be in control of the work process itself rather than managers, who should behave more like coaches instead of supervisors, was very radical for its time (Jones, 2014, p. 51). -
Scientific management theory
This theory looks directly at how the relationships between the employees of the company and their tasks can be altered to produce maximum efficiency (Jones, 2014, p. 39). This theory was developed by Frederick Taylor and describes the most efficient ways to increase performance in the workplace in four principles; Studying the way workers perform, write rules and standard operating procedures, select workers who match the needs of the task, and establish a level of performance. -
Administrative management theory
This theory is the study of how to make an organizational structure that leads to the best possible performance by your employees (Jones, 2014, p. 45). The purpose is to achieve organizatinal goals in the most efficient way. Includes the Theory of Bureaucracy by Max Weber and Henri Fayol's Principles of Management. -
The Assembly Line
In 1913 Henry Ford created the assembly to streamline and forever change the way companies mass produce goods. His methods of management and his ability to manage a large scale workforce became known as Fordism in 1914. He did such things as reduce work hours and increase wages to maintain employee happiness and allowed for Ford Motor Company to flourish (Wilson, 2010, p. 760). -
Behavioral management theory
Behavioral management theory consists of ways should behave to motivate their employees and create the most effective and efficient workforce that is committed to achieving organizational goals (Jones, 2014, p. 51). Includes a lot of the work from Mary Parker Follett, who many consider the "mother" of management thought. -
Management science theory
Management science theory includes four different types of management techniques: quantitative, operations, total quality, and management information systems (Jones, 2014, p. 55). These tehniques provides tools for management to increase their overall performance. -
Hierarchy of Needs
This theory describes the various needs of an individual in humanity. Starting at the bottom, it is often portrayed as a pyramid. This pyramid can be directly correlated to managers and can show them core values in basic humanity that will make employees more productive, such as providing a safe work environment. "Needs identified by Maslow, in their hierarchial order include physiological, safety, social, self-esteem, and self-actualization (Gambrel, 2003, p. 143). -
Organizaitonal environment theory
This theory is mostly about how the set of forces outside a managers control effect their ability to do their best work. Examples include the availability of raw materials and the customers themselves. A way to measure the success of a manager is to look at how effective they are at obaining these valuable resources (Jones, 2014, p. 56). -
Contingency Theory
This theory states that are is no one best way to organize and that the organization structure of an organize is completely dependent on it's external environment (Jones, 2014, p. 57). This theory focuses mostly on an organzations ability to gain resources and states that the best way to go about this is to allow an organization's departments to control how they go about obtaining the resources. The entire system of an organization is directly dependent on the environment (p. 57). -
Theory X
Developed by Douglas McGregor in the 1960s, this is a assumption about employees in their work environment. "In this view, workers must be directed to perform in the 'one best way' because they're motivated only by money and will do as little as possible" (Funkhouser, 2013). -
The Open-Systems View
An open system is one that takes the resources from the environment, turns them into goods and services, and sends them back into the environment where they are purchased by customers (Jones, 2014, p. 56). There are three stages to an open system. The input stage; where the organization acquires the goods. The conversion stage; where the organization turns the inputs into finished goods. The output stage; where the organization sells the finished goods and services. -
Theory Y
Developed by Douglas McGregor in the 1960s this theory is an assumption that employees are hard workers and will do the best they can for whatever organization they work for. This assumption helps managers create a very postive work environment and gives a lot of credit to the employees, referring to them as creative, responsible, and hard working (Sahin, 2012, p. 159) -
Equal Pay Act
"This equal employment opportunity act requires that men and women be paid equally if they are performing equal work (Jones, 2014, p. 137)." The Equal Pay Act is very important for women in the workforce and allowed for women to take a major step forward, especially in the business world. Studies show there are still unequal practices between men and women, but they are not as prevalent as before. -
Title VII
"This equal employment opportunity law prohibits discrimination in employment decisions on the basis of race, religion, sex, color, or national origin; covers a wide range of employment decisions, including hiring, firing, pay, promotion, and working conditions (Jones, 2014, p. 137)." This law directly attacked unethical practices in the workplace. Management now must make decisions about employment purely based on who is best qualified. -
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
"This equal employment opportunity law prohibits discrimination against workers over the age of 40 and restricts mandatory retirement (Jones, 2014, p. 137)." This law effected the way in which management, especially human resources management, hired employees. This law truly made the hiring process the candidate who was best qualified for the job and downgraded the value of potential for prospective employees. -
Prenancy Discrimination Act
"This equal employment opportunity law proibits discrimination against women in employment decisions on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical decisions (Jones, 2014, p. 137)." Management must now be able to handle the effects pregnancy and childbirth have on business operations. The business must be prepared for an employee to take an extended leave of absence. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
"This equal employment opportunity law prohibts discrimination against disabled individuals in employment decisions and requires that employers make accommodations for disabled workers to enable them to perform their jobs (Jones, 2014, p. 137)." This law created a change in the way management spent extra funds and also required the buildings of offices to be accessible to people with a variety of disabilities. -
Civil Rights Act
"This equal employment opportunity law prohibits discrimination and allows for the awarding of punitive and compensatory damages, in addition to back pay, in cases of intential discrimination (Jones, 2014, p. 137)." This very important act not only outlines the penalties against discrimination in the workplace but also makes it very clear for the expecations of management. -
Family and Medical Leave Act
"This equal employment opportunity law requires that employers provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave for medical and family reasons, including paternity and illness for a family member (Jones, 2014, p. 137)." The burden of employees taking time off often falls to management. They must be able to make sure that employee's work is completed on time and be able to handle any disputes concerning earnings.
