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Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie, depicted here in later life. His legacy is a complicated one of hard work as an immigrant, a rise to power and wealth through hardnosed management, accusations of monopolistic business practices, and a dedication to philanthropy that caused him to avow that “no one should die rich.”(Jones, 2013, p. 43) -
Frederick Winslow Taylor
Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) is is called the father of Scientific Management. His experience from the bottom-most level in the organization gave him an opportunity to know at first the problems of the workers. Taylor’s principal concern was that of increasing efficiency in production, not only to lower costs and raise profits but also to make possible increased pay for workers through their higher productivity.(Jones, 2013, p. 40) -
Mary Parker Follett
Mary Follett was known as the mother of management thought. She argued that since workers did their jobs everyday, they should have a say as to how their jobs are completed, not just from managers. Managers should allow workers to have input in the job analysis process since the workers are the ones physically doing the job (Jones, 2013, p. 51). -
Max Weber
Max Weber developed the principle of bureaucracy while assisting the German's into becoming the world's power. He established five principles for his Administrative Management Theory (Jones, 2013, p. 45). -
Taylor's four principles of Scientific Management
Taylor's four principles of Scientific Management was nationally known and finally practiced in 1910 (Jones, 2014, p. 40). -
Fordism
Henry Ford's company was experiencing increasingly high amounts of worker turnover rates. In order to fix this problem, he decreased the work day to eight hours and doubled the wage. He was coined "Fordism" for the new dramatic approach to management (Jones, 2014, p. 41). -
Henri Fayol
Henri Fayol’s book Administration industrielle et Generale argues for chains of command, the separation of functions, and the importance of planning. (H, Editors, 2011) -
Hawthorne effect
The Hawthorne studies of factory-worker productivity begin at Western Electric’s Cicero, Illinois, plant.(H, Editors, 2011) -
The Hawthorne Studies
Elton Mayo becomes the first to question the behavioral assumptions of scientific management. The studies concluded that human factors were often more important than physical conditions in motivating employees to greater productivity. (Clark, 2010) -
Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People becomes the first managing- yourself blockbuster.
(H, Editors, 2011) -
Management as Science
Management as Science was developed in the early 20th century and focused on increasing productivity and efficiency through standardisation, division of labour, centralisation and hierarchy. A very ‘top down’ management with strict control over people and processes dominated across industries.( Business Matters,2013) -
Organization Development
Social scientist Kurt Lewin launches the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His contributions in change theory, action research, and action learning earn him the title of the “Father of Organization Development:” the systematic application of behavioral science knowledge at various levels (group, intergroup, and total organization) to bring about planned change.(Clark, 2010) -
Leadership/Management
Drucker writes The Practice of Management and introduces the 5 basic roles of managers. He writes:
The first question in discussing organization structure must be: What is our business and what should it be? Organization structure must be designed so as to make possible the attainment of objectives of the business for five, ten, fifteen years hence." (Clark, 2010) -
Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y principles influence the design and implementation of personnel policies and practices. (Clark, 2010) -
Functional Organisations
Due to growing and more complex organisations, the 1950’s and 1960’s saw the emergence of functional organisations and the Human Resource (HR) movement. Managers began to understand the human factor in production and productivity and tools such as goal setting, performance reviews and job descriptions were born.( Business Matters,2013) -
Management Grid
Robert Blake and Jane Mouton develop a management model that conceptualizes management styles and relations. Their Grid uses two axis. "Concern for people" is plotted using the vertical axis and "Concern for task" is along the horizontal axis. The notion that just two dimensions can describe a managerial behavior has the attraction of simplicity. (Clark, 2010) -
Strategic Planning
In the 1970’s we changed our focus from measuring function to resource allocation and tools like Strategic Planning (GE), Growth Share Matrix (BCG) and SWOT were used to formalise strategic planning processes. After several decades of ‘best practice’ and ‘one size fits all’ solutions, academics began to developing contingency theories. ( Business Matters, 2013) -
Competitive Advantage
As the business environment grew increasingly competitive and connected, and with a blooming management consultancy industry, Competitive Advantage became a priority for organisations in the 1980’s. Tools like Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma and Lean were used to measure processes and improve productivity. Employees were more involved by collecting data, but decisions were still made at the top, and goals were used to manage people and maintain control.( Business Matters, 2013) -
Process Optimisation
Benchmarking and business process reengineering became popular in the 1990’s, and by the middle of the decade, 60% of Fortune 500 companies claimed to have plans for or have already initiated such projects. TQM, Six Sigma and Lean remained popular and a more holistic, organisation-wide approach and strategy implementation took the stage with tools such as Strategy Maps and Balance Scorecards.(Business Matters,2013) -
Business Process Management (BPM)
This is actually a slow advance in process management that has the following roots: Record Management
Workflow - 1970
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) - 1990
Business Process Management (BPM) - 2000
(Clark, 2010)