Foundations of Management

In the Evolution Management video I learned there are four different theories, or approaches to Management. These theories are the classical approach, the behavioral approach, the systems approach, and the contingency approach. While all of these theories are good in their own way, there is one that I feel is more important than the rest, and that is the contingency approach. I am going to talk a little bit about these theories and explain why I feel this way.
The classical approach has been around the longest. It began in the late 1800’s, and continued into the early 1900’s. The approach was to “emphasize the manager’s role in the formal hierarchy of authority”. This approach focused on the tasks, machines and the systems needed to perform the tasks at hand. The classical approach is made up of two components, scientific and administrative approaches. The scientific approach focuses on the best way to do the job, and the administrative approach emphasizes the flow of information.
The behavioral approach is a “view of management that stresses understanding the importance of people’s needs and attitudes within formal organizations.” This approach began in the 1920’s by a group of researchers from MIT and Harvard. They were led by Professor Elton Mayo and began their experiments at Western Electrics Hawthorne Plant in Cicero Il. In their findings they learned that good social relationships and employees being valued by their coworkers and supervisors made them feel good, thus producing more output.
The third approach is the systems approach, this theory “views organizations as sets of interrelated parts to be managed as a whole with the purpose of achieving a common goal.” This theory was used in the mid 1900’s, and used “systems organizations” that consisted of tracking inputs, transformation processes, outputs and then feedback. During this time W. Edwards Deming was accredited with his theory and the 14 points theory, resulting from comparing