Approaches to Management
Management
“Management is a set of activities directed at an organisation’s resources, with the aim of achieving organisational goals efficiently and effectively.”(Davidson, Simon, Gottschalk, Hunt, Wood & Griffin (2006) p.5). Management has been practiced for thousands of years by many different civilisations. As a result there are many different approaches to management, two of which are, the behavioural and contemporary management perspectives. The behavioural perspective recognises the importance of behavioural process in the workplace and emphasises individual attitudes and behaviours, and group processes. The Hawthorne studies are famously associated with this perspective and along with studies on technology and social systems lead to the development of the human relations movement and emergence of organisational behaviour. The contemporary perspective seeks to derive value for the organisation by integrating the various approaches to management. Facilitating this integration are the systems and contingency theories as well as knowledge management and learning.
The Hawthorne Studies were a series of psychology experiments conducted on the workers of the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric in Cicero, Illinois between 1925 – 1932. Elton Mayo a Harvard professor used these studies to examine the relationship between productivity and work conditions. One study involved manipulating the level of lighting in the workplace and comparing the subsequent effect on productivity. Two groups were established, a control and experimental. Bizarrely as the illumination of the experimental group was increased the productivity of both groups went up, and continued to increase even when the level of lightning was decreased. This unexpected behaviour can be attributed to the concept of sympathetic supervision. That is the act of measurement, itself, can upset the measurement. The psychological stimulus of being singled out and involved made them feel important resulted
“Management is a set of activities directed at an organisation’s resources, with the aim of achieving organisational goals efficiently and effectively.”(Davidson, Simon, Gottschalk, Hunt, Wood & Griffin (2006) p.5). Management has been practiced for thousands of years by many different civilisations. As a result there are many different approaches to management, two of which are, the behavioural and contemporary management perspectives. The behavioural perspective recognises the importance of behavioural process in the workplace and emphasises individual attitudes and behaviours, and group processes. The Hawthorne studies are famously associated with this perspective and along with studies on technology and social systems lead to the development of the human relations movement and emergence of organisational behaviour. The contemporary perspective seeks to derive value for the organisation by integrating the various approaches to management. Facilitating this integration are the systems and contingency theories as well as knowledge management and learning.
The Hawthorne Studies were a series of psychology experiments conducted on the workers of the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric in Cicero, Illinois between 1925 – 1932. Elton Mayo a Harvard professor used these studies to examine the relationship between productivity and work conditions. One study involved manipulating the level of lighting in the workplace and comparing the subsequent effect on productivity. Two groups were established, a control and experimental. Bizarrely as the illumination of the experimental group was increased the productivity of both groups went up, and continued to increase even when the level of lightning was decreased. This unexpected behaviour can be attributed to the concept of sympathetic supervision. That is the act of measurement, itself, can upset the measurement. The psychological stimulus of being singled out and involved made them feel important resulted
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