History of management thought

http://polaris.umuc.edu/~tgrodsky/admn601/managethought.html


History
of
Management
Thought

The
Evolution
of
Management
Theory


Upon
completing
this
chapter,
you
should
be
able
to:

Explain
the
setting
in
which
management
theory
first
developed.

Describe
the
ways
in
which
a
theory
can
be
useful.

Distinguish
the
scientific
management
school,
the
classical
organization
theory
school,
the
 behavioral school,
and
the
management
science
school
of
management
theory.

Understand
the
historical
context
in
which
the
systems
approach,
the
contingency
approach,
and
 the dynamic
engagement
approach
to
management
theory
have
developed.
 THE
APOSTLE
OF
MASS
PRODUC'TION

Henry
Ford
and
the
Model
have
long
been
symbols
of
the
industrial
age.
Even
the
subsequent
growth
 and success
of
Ford’s
rival,
General
Motors,
was
due
in
large
part
to
GM’s
need
to
find
an
innovative
 response to
the
Model
T.
In
large
measure,
the
managerial
approach
of
Henry
Ford,
as
well
as
his
 preferences in
managerial
theory,
is
a
paradigm
of
much
that
was
constructive
and
much
that
was
 imperfect‐‐in early
approaches
to
management

The
son
of
a
poor
Irish
immigrant,
Henry
Ford
was
born
in
1863
and
grew
up
on
a
farm
in
rural

Michigan.
He
was
fascinated
by
machinery
and
was
quite
skilled
in
repairing
and
improving
almost
 any machine.
He
started
the
Ford
Motor
Company
in
1903,
and
by
1908,
the
Model
T
was
built.

In
the
part
of
the
century
when
automobiles
were
introduced,
they
were
a
symbol
of
status
and
 wealth, the
near
exclusive
province
of
the
rich.
Ford
intended
to
change
that:
the
Model
T
was
to
be
 for the
masses‐‐a
car
that
virtually
anyone
could
afford.
He
understood
that
the
only
way
to
make
 such a
car
was
to
produce
it
at
high
volume
and
low
cost.
Ford
focused
his
factory
efforts
on
 efficiency, mechanizing
wherever
possible,
and
breaking
down
tasks
into
their
smallest
components.

One
worker
would
perform
the
same
task
over
and
over,
producing
not
a