Management: concept, theories, roles and skills
Management is getting things done through people by planning, organising, leading and controlling. Its thought moved from classical to behavioural, systems and contingency approaches.
Schools of management thought
| Approach | Key thinkers | Core idea |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific management | F. W. Taylor; Frank and Lillian Gilbreth; Henry Gantt | One best way found by time and motion study; standard tools; differential piece rate; functional foremanship |
| Administrative (process) | Henri Fayol; Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick | Management is a universal process with principles that can be taught |
| Bureaucratic | Max Weber | Hierarchy, written rules, impersonality, merit-based careers; rests on legal-rational authority |
| Human relations | Elton Mayo, F. J. Roethlisberger (Hawthorne studies, 1924-32) | Social needs, attention and informal groups shape output |
| Behavioural science | Maslow, McGregor (Theory X and Y), Herzberg, Argyris, Likert | Motivation, leadership and group behaviour studied scientifically |
| Quantitative (management science) | Operations research teams from the Second World War | Mathematical models for decisions: linear programming, queuing, simulation |
| Systems | Chester Barnard; Ludwig von Bertalanffy; Katz and Kahn | The organisation is an open system: inputs, transformation, outputs, feedback |
| Contingency (situational) | Joan Woodward; Burns and Stalker; Lawrence and Lorsch | No one best way: the right practice depends on the situation |
Taylor and Fayol: confusable twins
Functional foremanship breaks Fayol's unity of command, since a worker takes orders from several foremen.
Fayol's 14 principles
- Division of work; authority and responsibility; discipline.
- Unity of command (one boss for each person) and unity of direction (one head and one plan for each objective).
- Subordination of individual interest to the general interest; remuneration.
- Centralisation; scalar chain, with a 'gang plank' for urgent contact across the chain.
- Order; equity; stability of tenure of personnel.
- Initiative; esprit de corps (union is strength).
Mintzberg's ten managerial roles (1973)
| Group | Roles |
|---|---|
| Interpersonal (3) | Figurehead, leader, liaison |
| Informational (3) | Monitor, disseminator, spokesperson |
| Decisional (4) | Entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator |
Katz's three skills and the level that needs them most
| Skill | Meaning | Most needed at |
|---|---|---|
| Technical | Knowledge of methods, tools and procedures | Lower (first-line) level |
| Human | Working with and through people | All levels, about equally |
| Conceptual | Seeing the organisation as a whole and its links with the environment | Top level |
NET asks you to match thinkers with ideas (Taylor, Fayol, Weber, Mayo, Barnard), sequence the Hawthorne phases, and classify Mintzberg's roles or Katz's skills by level.
Typical MCQ: “Liaison is one of Mintzberg's informational roles. True or false?” False. Liaison is interpersonal, with figurehead and leader. Trap: it sounds like information-sharing, but the informational roles are monitor, disseminator and spokesperson.
Typical MCQ: “Which of Katz's skills is needed roughly equally at all levels?” Human skill. Trap: conceptual skill peaks at the top and technical skill at the bottom.
Typical MCQ: “Who gave the acceptance theory of authority?” Chester Barnard (The Functions of the Executive, 1938): authority works only if subordinates accept it. Trap: Weber's authority is legal-rational and flows from the position.
Mintzberg is 3-3-4: interpersonal, informational, decisional. Katz runs T-H-C from the shop floor to the boardroom: technical, human, conceptual.