Question

1)Explain the concept of scientific management.

2)Summarize the work of Frederick W. Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and Henry Gantt.

3)Explain the concept of bureaucratic management.

4)Summarize the work of Max Weber and Henri Fayol.

Answer 1

1)Scientific management is managing an individual's task effectively. The scientific management gave certain ideas like employee training and implementing certain methods to improve productivity.The main aim of scientific management is to improve economic efficiency particularly productivity of labor.It aimed at applying science to management.

2)The change Taylor introduced to improve industrial production were specialization of work and training given to workers to increase productivity,he believed in the theory of 'a fair day's pay for a fair day's work,'and also in work and bonus plan.Like Taylor ,Gilbreths also believed in workers productivity specially in efficiency of worker generated through movement and motion.They both were from classical school of management and believed in increasing productivity through scientific methods.Taylor emphasised productivity and profitability while Gilbreths emphasised welfare and motivation . To study work processes the Gilbreths used film . They believed that a worker while building a wall will first unload the bricks and then pick up each brick to build the wall.They watched the videos and concluded that the bricklayer would have to use less effort if the bricks were adjusted upward as the work progressed. Henry Gantt was also from a classical school.He was an associate of Taylor and believed in breaking work into specific elements .He stressed on terminal element which must be completed as a part of bigger task and all terminal elements created summary elements .

3)Scientific management is managing individual task efficiently and bureaucratic management is managing government departments and large businesses effectively.

4)Max Weber and Henri Fayol were the most important of this theory.Weber believed in the system where industry is controlled privately for profit.This is called industrial capitalism.He saw that capitalism in US was good as it encouraged innovation and competition. However he did not like capitalism in Germany where few powerful people controlled the economy.People enjoyed authority because of social status.He believed that if authority was given to the most efficient and qualified person , based on rational authority which he called bureaucracy, will be more efficient .Weber's rules of bureaucracy still guides multinational companies, armies, hospitals across the globe.

Fayol did experiments with many management structures and came to the conclusion that successful organisations with successful managements would help in bringing satisfaction of employees and also motivate workers.He believed in four functions of management,namely foresight,organising, commanding and controlling.