What is the best management practice that the Industrial Revolution teaches us?
What is the best management practice that the Industrial Revolution teaches us?
Introduction
Ways (1966) stated, “What industrialisation was to the nineteenth century, management is to the 20th”. The twentieth century was the management century, though this did not mean there was no management prior to 1900, only during the last one hundred years had it been recognised, researched and formalized by management thinkers. The Industrial Revolution asked for high quantity and effective productivity, the traditional craft workshops were not suitable for that situation. Then managers tried to organise people in new ways.
This document looked back to the last century to discover the trend of management development during Industrial Revolution and find the best practice which still gives enterprises inspiration today.
1 The managerial world overview
1.1 Why management developed fast the last century
Industrial Revolution was the time when new manufacturing process like mechanised production, new chemical manufacturing took place of the old handcraft industry(Thomas, 1948:86).Especially during the Second Industrial Revolution, the fast development in steel, electricity and chemistry industry spread throughout European countries as well as United States. The owners and managers of new factories found it was hard to face the challenge which came with the transition from the crafts production. All of these changes asked for new kinds of production organisation which can be suitable for the new industrial circumstance. Then the systematic study of management was firstly considered by those engineers and managers who began to find new ways to deal with the quality and quantity in the mechanised mass production.
1.2 Main management theories
Studying how management developed during the Industrial Revolution, there are two different groups of managers that can be identified. On the basis of managers’ behaviour, they can be divided into conventional
Introduction
Ways (1966) stated, “What industrialisation was to the nineteenth century, management is to the 20th”. The twentieth century was the management century, though this did not mean there was no management prior to 1900, only during the last one hundred years had it been recognised, researched and formalized by management thinkers. The Industrial Revolution asked for high quantity and effective productivity, the traditional craft workshops were not suitable for that situation. Then managers tried to organise people in new ways.
This document looked back to the last century to discover the trend of management development during Industrial Revolution and find the best practice which still gives enterprises inspiration today.
1 The managerial world overview
1.1 Why management developed fast the last century
Industrial Revolution was the time when new manufacturing process like mechanised production, new chemical manufacturing took place of the old handcraft industry(Thomas, 1948:86).Especially during the Second Industrial Revolution, the fast development in steel, electricity and chemistry industry spread throughout European countries as well as United States. The owners and managers of new factories found it was hard to face the challenge which came with the transition from the crafts production. All of these changes asked for new kinds of production organisation which can be suitable for the new industrial circumstance. Then the systematic study of management was firstly considered by those engineers and managers who began to find new ways to deal with the quality and quantity in the mechanised mass production.
1.2 Main management theories
Studying how management developed during the Industrial Revolution, there are two different groups of managers that can be identified. On the basis of managers’ behaviour, they can be divided into conventional