Management Principles and History

Study Notes

Many modern management techniques trace back to ancient civilizations.
Egyptian pyramids required 100,000 workers over 20 years around 5000 BCE.
Sumerians recorded management practices on clay tablets circa 3000 BCE.
Early Babylonian laws (Akkadian and Hammurabi) enforced strict business controls.
Hierarchical delegation in the Hebrew Old Testament emphasizes organizational structure (Exodus 18:25-26).
Chinese dynasties had early concepts of organization and efficiency as of 2250 BCE.
Pharaohs centralized control of Egypt after initiating decentralized control around 2000 BCE.
Hannibal's Alps crossing (218 BCE) and Qin Shi Huang Di's burial complex exemplified remarkable organizational feats.

Transition from agrarian society increased interest in structured management.
The Industrial Revolution (late 19th to early 20th century) led to factory systems.

Includes Classical, Scientific, Bureaucratic, Administrative, Humanistic, Quantitative, Systems, Contingency, and Learning Organizations.

Initial management schools focused on organizational efficiency and scientific approaches.
Key contributors: Max Weber (Bureaucratic), Henri Fayol (Administrative), Frederick Taylor (Scientific).

Frederick Taylor, father of Scientific Management, emphasized efficiency and financial motivators.
Four principles include developing a science of management, scientific selection of workers, proper education of employees, and cooperation between management and labor.

Max Weber outlined organizational authority structures emphasizing clear roles, hierarchy, and rule-based governance.

Henri Fayol's 14 Principles include division of work, authority correlating with responsibility, discipline, unity of command, and remuneration equity.

Emerged in the 1930s with a focus on individual concerns within organizations.
Chester Barnard emphasized effectiveness and the social responsibilities of management.

Prioritizes individual motivation and quality of life at work; suggests happier employees yield better performance.
Conducted Hawthorne Studies revealed social factors significantly affect productivity.

Focus on job design to meet higher-level employee needs.
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs outlines the progression from basic needs to self-actualization.

Developed post-WWII for sophisticated management tools using mathematical and statistical methods.
Subfields include Management Science, Decision Theory, and Operations Research.

Views organizations as interrelated systems affected by external environments, integrating biological and behavioral sciences into management.

Emerged in the 1970s; emphasizes situational adaptations in management techniques.
Advocates against a one-size-fits-all approach and recognizes the uniqueness of each organization.

Introduced by Peter Senge in the 1990s, focuses on continuous employee learning and open communication.
Core principles encompass personal mastery, challenging mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking for organizational effectiveness.