Classical School of

Thought
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
MANAGEMENT
 Management existed for almost thousands of years.
Remarkable proofs are:
1. The great wall of China (1368-1644)
2. The pyramids of Egypt (2630–2610 BC)
3. The Colosseum (AD 80)

 Management have played a vital role for these ancient

structures to be built.
CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

 Developed during the Industrial Revolution when new

problems related to the factory system began to
appear. Managers were unsure of how to train
employees or deal with increased labor dissatisfaction,
so they began to test solutions. As a result, the classical
management theory developed from efforts to find the
“one best way” to perform and manage tasks.
CORE IDEAS OF CLASSICAL SCHOOL
OF THOUGHT
Application of science to the practice of
management.
Development of basic management
functions.
Articulation and application of specific
principles of management.
CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
BRANCHES

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
BUREAUCRATIC MANAGEMENT
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
-Main objective was to scientifically determine the best
method of work in order to improve productivity.
AROSE BECAUSE OF:
Managers of organizations began seeking ways
to better satisfy customer needs.
Managers began to focus on increasing the
efficiency of the worker-task mix.
Managers need to increase productivity and
efficiency.
5 PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC
MANAGEMENT
1. Replace the rule of thumb work methods with methods based on
scientific study tasks
2. Scientifically select, train and develop each worker rather than
passively leaving them to train themselves
3. Cooperate with the workers to ensure that the scientifically
developed methods are being followed
4. Establish a different pay-rate system
5. Divide work nearly equally between managers and workers
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS:
FREDERICK TAYLOR (1856-1915)
Often called the “father of
scientific management.”

 Taylor believed that organizations should

study tasks and develop precise
procedures.
 Believed that decisions based upon
tradition and rules of thumb (principles of
repetition) should be replaced by
precise procedures developed after a c
areful study of an individual artwork i.e.
 He carried out Times and motion studies
at Bethlehem Steel Company and
developed a better method
for performing that job that reduced on t
he amount of time spent doing work.
HENRY GANTT (1861-1919)

 An associate of Taylor’s
 Developed the Gantt chart, a bar graph that measures
planned and completed work along each stage of
production. Based on time instead of quantity, volume,
or weight, this visual display chart has been a widely
used planning and control tool since its development in
1910.
 Example of Gantt chart:
FRANK GILBRETH (1868-1924)
LILLIAN GILBRETH (1878-1972)
 a husband‐and‐wife team, studied job motions.
 In Frank's early career as an apprentice bricklayer, he
was interested in standardization and method study. He
watched bricklayers and saw that some workers were
slow and inefficient, while others were very productive.
He discovered that each bricklayer used a different set
of motions to lay bricks. From his observations, Frank
isolated the basic movements necessary to do the job
and eliminated unnecessary motions. Workers using
these movements raised their output from 1,000 to 2,700
bricks per day. This was the first motion study designed to
isolate the best possible method of performing a given
job. Later, Frank and his wife Lillian studied job motions
using a motion‐picture camera and a split‐second clock.
When her husband died at the age of 56, Lillian
continued their work.
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT

Concentrates on the total organization.

The emphasis is on the development of
managerial principles rather than work methods.
It focused more on what managers do and
what constituted good management practice.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR:
HENRI FAYOL (1841-1925)
 Father of Modern Management, was a
French industrialist who developed a
framework for studying management.
 Was the first to identify the specific
management function: PLANNING,
ORGANIZING, LEADING and
CONTROLLING.
 He developed 14 universal principles of
management.
14 UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF
MANAGEMENT
1. Division of work: Concept of specialization of work.
2. Authority: Formal (positional) authority versus personal authority.
3. Discipline: Based on obedience and respect.
4. Unity of command: Each employee should receive orders from only one
superior.
5. Unity of direction: One boss and one plan for a group of activities having
the same objective.
6. Subordination of individual interests to the general interest: A plea to
abolish the tendency to place individual interest ahead of the group
interest.
7. Remuneration: The mode of payment of wages was dependent on many
factors.
14 UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF
MANAGEMENT
8. Centralization: The degree of centralization desired depended on the
situation and the formal communication channels.
9. Scalar chain (line of authority): Shows the routing of the line of authority
and formal communication channels.
10. Order: Ensured a place for everything.
11. Equity: Resulted from kindness and justice.
12. Stability of tenured personnel: Called for orderly personnel planning.
13. Initiative: Called for individual zeal and energy in all efforts.
14. Esprit de corps: Stressed the building of harmony and unity within the
organization
HENRI FAYOL’S ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY

 The management process can be separated into interdependent

functions (department)
 Management is a continuous process.
 Management is a largely, though not an entirely, coherent (logical)
process
 The functional approach is useful because it specifies what
managers should do.
 Fayol’s major functions of management are recognized as the main
objectives of modern managers
BUREAUCRATIC MANAGEMENT

 Is a form of management that has a pyramidal

command structure. The bureaucratic organization is
very organized with a high degree of formality in the
way it operates. Organizational charts generally exist for
every department, and decisions are made through
an organized process.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR:
MAX WEBER (1864-1920)
 German “Sociologist and the Father of Modern Sociology
 Developed the concept of bureaucracy as a formal system of organization and
administration designed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness

 Max Weber disliked that many European organizations were managed

on a “personal” family‐like basis and that employees were loyal to
individual supervisors rather than to the organization. He believed that
organizations should be managed impersonally and that a formal
organizational structure, where specific rules were followed, was
important. In other words, he didn't think that authority should be based
on a person's personality. He thought authority should be something that
was part of a person's job and passed from individual to individual as
one person left and another took over. This nonpersonal, objective form
of organization was called a bureaucracy.
WEBER’S THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY

 Bureaucracy allows for the optimal form of authority –

”rational authority”

THREE TYPES OF LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY:

1. Traditional authority - past customs; personal loyalty
2. Charismatic authority - personal trust in character and
skills
3. Rational authority - rational application of rules or laws
WEBER’S THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY
- Application in the modern workplace.
 Large organizations guided by countless rules and regulations
 Existence of task relationships (departments)
 Presence of a clear hierarchy of authority in most
organizations
 Use of authority in many organizations to get things done.
 presence of a vision (direction) in many organization
 Existence of separation of management and ownership in
many large organizations
 Centralization of power in the managers in many
organizations
REFERENCES:

 https://www.cliffsnotes.com
 https://www.academia.edu
 https://en.wikipedia.org
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT -Goerge Santayana

END.