Management
Discuss about the Essay on relationship between scientific management and modern theory and practice.
Management is one of an important aspect in business. Managing the nature of the business activities helps the managers to predict the outcomes towards the achievement of success. Herein lays the appropriateness of effective planning by the managers, which results in the achievement of positive outcomes. This planning helps in systematizing the activities according to their priorities (Jaros?aw, Wies?aw and Tadeusz 2014). According to the business critics, scientific management has proved to be the best way for managing. This essay attempts to shed light on the aspect of scientific management through the consideration of theory and practice.
Scientific Management is an essential subject for ensuring the systematic progress of the business activities. Here, the focus is on improving the efficiency. Frederick Winslow Taylor founded the concept on the scientific engineering process and management issues. Since then, scientific management is also known as Taylorism. Most of the themes of scientific Management have become obsolete (López 2014). However, workplace is one such place, where some of the themes can be found. These include logical reasoning, rationality, work ethics, standardization, mass production, knowledge transfer and documentation.
Founded by George Elton Mayo in 1930, human relations movement attempted to explore the satisfaction received by the workers through the enhanced productivity. The aim was to study the behavioural approach of the workers towards the allotted tasks and the responsibilities. Division of the staffs into groups helped in studying the behaviours in an efficient and effective manner. Within the behaviour, psychology of the staffs is a vital aspect in terms of the treatment, which they received in the workplace (Rz?dkowski, G?a?ewska and Sawi?ska, 2015). Mention can be made of Hawthorn’s studies, which reflects motivation as an important aspect towards luring the staffs. Herein lays the importance of the role played by the managers and the employers, enhancing the workplace relations.
The basic perspective of the movement is psychological in terms of assessing the role of the management. This is in terms of regulating the human resources, the workers. In this regulation, societal aspects gain prominence as compared to the organizational structures. Typical example can be psychological disturbances faced by the employees regarding the continuous poor performance. This example reflects incapability of both the managers and the staffs in terms of executing the allocated duties and responsibilities (Jaros?aw, Wies?awand Tadeusz 2014). Moreover, it distorts the structure, as the managers fail to provide motivation to the workers. Taunts and mocking adversely affects the psyche of the workers, affecting their performance. Herein lays the need for communication between the hierarchies, the second emphasis of Mayo.
Scientific Management
Two-way communication proves effective in terms of gaining an understanding of the issues, which the managers and the employees are facing. Counselling is one of the means, which ensures the security of the responses provided by the workers. Moreover, it relates to the ethics, a crucial parameter for catering to the wellbeing of the workers. This ethics can be considered as the third area focused by Mayo for excavating the relationship between the employee and the management (Krupa and Ostrowska 2016). Adopting appropriate leadership skills enhance the personality of the managers. Setting short-term goals improves the focus of the staffs on the business activities. Exposing determinant attitude towards these goals improves the decision making process of the staffs.
According to the modern perception of business, competition is an essential issue, which the companies and organizations need to adhere. In this, the aim of the managers is to secure the market position. Along with this, initiatives are taken towards regulating the performance of the employees. Herein lays the appropriateness of the theoretical considerations, which helps in carrying out the activities in a proper manner (Gould 2016). One of the primary theories is Tuckman’s theory of team development, which helps in creating a strong and efficient team. Here, good practices relates to the recruitment of candidates flexible in working under the pressures. This is because the companies go through time and financial constraints for completion of the process.
Motivational theories also find their predominance in a modern workplace. A typical example of this is the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which reflects the provision of motivation according to the needs of the staffs. Within this, most important is the psychological needs, as they affect the individual sentiments of the workers. Along with this, the needs of self-esteem are also important in terms of catering to the professional development of the staffs (Akhtar et al. 2018). Here, practices relate to the provision of training programs to the staffs for enhancing their preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge about the basic management issues. Along with the motivational theories, leadership theories are crucial in terms of enhancing the personality of the managers. Mention can be made of Great Man Theory, where evaluation results in radical transformation of the managers.
Management is essential in terms of regulating the performance of the staffs. Theoretical considerations enliven the knowledge of the managers regarding maintaining the workplace relations. One of the typical examples of scientific management is the development of strategies, which helps the personnel to complete the tasks according to their priority (Aven 2015). For this, teamwork is essential, where focus needs to be placed on maintaining the human relations. Perceiving this in the form of a movement is a struggle towards reducing the instances of conflicts, discriminations and harassments. Here, one of the good practices is the ethical code of conduct, which enhances the bondage between the employees and the managers.
Human Relations Movement
Scientific management and human relations can be correlated. Herein behavioural theory can be brought into the discussion. This is in terms of studying the approach of the staffs towards the allocated duties and responsibilities (Tjosvold2017). Here, practices relates to experiments regarding behavioural approaches and studies related to the organizational behaviour. Utilizing the results for seeking new means of motivation is an innovative means towards managing the workforce.
The aspect of human resource management can also be brought into the discussion. This is because of its functionality relating to the management of the workforce. This is through the means of assessing their approach towards effective and judicious utilization of the organizational resources (Aven 2015). This assessment, in turn, helps in estimating the time till when the organization can fulfil the identified and the specified objectives. Herein lays the appropriateness of the human relations. Here, the focus is on the unity and cooperation between the hierarchies.
Perceiving from the aspect of decision-making, human relations relate with the aspect of scientific management. Making strategies, towards arranging meetings, results in the achievement of positive outcomes. Inclusion of the staffs in the decision making process acts as a valuation for the efforts put in by the employees towards carrying out the allocated duties and responsibilities (Gould 2016).
Elton Mayo is then proponent of the Hawthorne experiment. In Hawthorne plants in Chicago, great level of discontent had been observed among the workers. The number of dissatisfied workers have been nearly 30,000. The time was the early 20s of the twentieth century. The discontent seemed quite odd since the phone parts manufacturing company have been quite progressive in employee management (Fisher &Bendix, 2017). Elton Mayo conducted a research with light, break duration and working hours. A large section of women workers faced issues with either more or less light. Further studies also revealed that regardless of the duration and exposure level of lighting, a positive impact on the employees had been observed. The same thing had been true for rest of the periods; breaks, either short or long led an enhancement of productivity.
The primary observation of the research conducted in the Hawthorne research was that the giving attention to the workers enhance the productivity of the companies. The workers who had participated in the research felt cared for, when their opinions were given prominence. Their passion for performance naturally increased and they could associate them with the organisational goals. Again, the visit of senior officers in the workplace made the employees feel that they belonged to the most essential section of the organisation. Hence it can be concluded that personal attention can direct influence and aggravate the performance of the employees (Lee, 2016). Their enhanced sense of belonging would increase the bonding between the employees also. Hence, collaboration would foster in a workgroup. This is an essential motive of the human relations movement. Collaboration among employees is an essential component of this movement. The experiment leads to the conclusion that the discontent of the workers were linked to their sentiment and thus they involved in conflict with the management. The managers in the company had only focused upon cost reduction and enhancement of the company’s efficiency.
The work regime of the employees in an organisation is not only manoeuvred by rules, regulations or procedures. Attention towards the employees, respecting them, and engaging social or interpersonal conflicts are also important (Jung & Lee, 2015). Such activities foster in the employees a sense of emotional attachment with the company and they tend to give their best effort to the fulfilment of the organisational goals. This is achieved by hitting the soft side of the employees. The soft side of a person is controlled by sentiments or irrational logic. This can eliminate rational thinking. Rational logic leads to the cultivation of doubts in the minds of the employees regarding the role of the employers. However, if they are taken care of, their sense of belonging changes and they consider the workplace to be a part of their family.
The complexity of the human behaviour makes every individual’s perspective different. As an outcome, their sense of material satisfaction are also different (Follett, 2016). Therefore along with allowances, personal attachment and involvement with the employees is also necessary. Otherwise a section of the employees would think that their wants have been addressed to. On the other hand, the other section would suppose that they have been left unattended.
References
Akhtar, P., Khan, Z., Frynas, J.G., Tse, Y.K. and Rao?Nicholson, R., 2018. Essential micro?foundations for contemporary business operations: Top management tangible competencies, relationship?based business networks and environmental sustainability. British Journal of Management, 29(1), pp.43-62.
Aven, T., 2015. Implications of black swans to the foundations and practice of risk assessment and management. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 134, pp.83-91.
Fisher, L.H. and Bendix, R., 2017. The Perspectives of Elton Mayo. In The Anthropology of Organisations (pp. 11-18). Routledge.
Follett, M.P., 2016. 7 Management thought and human relations. A History of Management Thought, p.175.
Gould, A.M., 2016. The Philosophical Foundations of Management Thought. Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, 71(3), pp.571-574.
Jaros?aw, D., Wies?aw, K. and Tadeusz, K., 2014. The Prisms of Management. Foundations of Management, 6(2), pp.43-50.
Jung, C.S. and Lee, S.Y., 2015. The Hawthorne studies revisited: Evidence from the US federal workforce. Administration & Society, 47(5), pp.507-531.
Krupa, T. and Ostrowska, T., 2016. Hierarchical Decision-Making Problems–Modeling and Solutions. Foundations of Management, 8(1), pp.311-324.
Lee, J.Y., 2016. Testing Human Relations Hypothesis of the Hawthorne Studies. Seoul Journal of Business, 22(2).
López, J.A.P., 2014. Foundations of management. EdicionesRialp.
Rz?dkowski, G., G?a?ewska, I. and Sawi?ska, K., 2015. The Gompertz Function And Its Applications In Management. Foundations of Management, 7(1), pp.185-190.
Tjosvold, D., 2017. Cross-cultural management: foundations and future. Routledge.
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