History and Theory of Classical Management

 Summary of history and theory of classical management 

Management is incredibly popular in today’s society and has enormous demand in terms of the educational sector. How does the administrative study come to be on the table and what effects has it made in the organization and business world?

In order to understand deeply how classical management impacts our world today, we need to go back to the beginning of this theory which was cohesively taken place during the late 1700s to 1800s. Before that period, work usually occurred at home by the farm managed by family members. When the industrial revolution took place, machinery and factories were introduced which forced people to commute to work and perform their tasks under the company’s authority. Due to the rise of employees, it must position managers to oversee the operation and development of the company. Three men are named the fathers of management because they were the origins who came up with the theory of classical management. “Bureaucracy” is a term from Max Weber, a German economist, and sociologist who pointed out the legal-rational approach to management. He stated that authority should be given out by those who are in official positions and have the knowledge and competence as their assets. He was against the monarchy system and favoritism which were the causes in his time. Creating rules and standards is important in Weber's belief. “Scientific management” is a theory coming from Frederick Taylor who is an American mechanical engineer. He approached micro tasks by applying science to work. He advised us to study “time” and “motion” related to any tasks. Identify the time it takes and how many motions it contributes to complete one task, then come up with the “one right way” to accomplish it faster and more efficiently. These two individuals focused on a big and detailed picture consecutively within the company, that is when Henri Fayol came to the discussion. Fayol is a French engineer and theorist of  “Administration management”. He mainly approached the middle way which is the “14 principles” and “5 functions” of management; planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. He believed that managers should be trained with systematic principles.

Centralization of authority, division of labor, and getting the best out of people are the common characteristics of their theories. Those principles and rules were very effective during those days and most people still believe them to be important in today’s world for some industries. Because of globalization and technology nowadays, some companies do not operate and manage according to these theories 100 percent of the time because they do not produce tangible products but they acknowledge them as basic learning and be flexible to their working environment.

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