In: Operations Management
Classical organization theory deals with the systematic processes necessary to make bureaucracy more efficient and effective.” Two scholars (Weber and Taylor) are credited with the development of classical organization thought. What were the basic arguments articulated by each in their contributions to the development of classical organization theory? What are the implications of this thought to public administrators today?
Classical Organizational Theory
There are a number of reasons behind the significance of the theories and history of management for the managers. The managers can understand the existing development and can neglect any kind of mistakes committed in past. The proper organization of information and dealing problems in a more systematic manner is the features of these management theories. Among these theories, the classical organizational theory can be seen as one of these which has been developed from the requirement to come up with some guidelines in order to have proper management of bureaucracies in complex organizations. These theories were offered by the scholars such as Henry Fayol, Max Weber, and Fredrick W. Taylor.
A lot of sensitivity towards the abuse of power in the managerial positions was shown by Max Weber. In order to control this abuse of authority, an organizational system was proposed by Weber which will have the dominance of rules and regulations which are popularly known as bureaucracy. As per Symonds, in bureaucracy, a hierarchical organizational structure is observed in the efficient organization which is based on the formal authority and in these organizations, reasonable regulations governed and guided the individuals rather than they being regulated by the arbitrary actions taken by the members of the management. The fundamental principles were stated by Weber to promote the concepts such as division of labor and existence of clear chain command.
In case of Fredrick W. Taylor, he came up with the concept that for improving the productivity in a factory set up, it is important to find out the various methods which can be used to increase the efficiency of the manpower. The main question which was witnessed by the management was where there is a single best method of performing a certain job while responding to these questions. The principles which were mainly focused on the essence of scientific management were developed by Taylor. In the opinion of Dzimbiri, Taylor was of the opinion that the success of the principles depends on the complete mental revolution of both the manpower and the management.
Despite the classical organizational theories were developed during the 20th century but their implementation and significance in the contemporary management practices are still quite high.