The Classical / Mechanistic Theory

      The classical / Mechanistic theory

Max weber: His primary concern was with organizations

He was primarily concerned with organizational structure

He defined the bureaucratic organization as the best organization structure.

Bureaucratic organization is structured alond hierarchial lines with executive leadership at the top, bureaucrats lines with the executive leadership at the top , bureaucrats at the middle and employees at the bottom.

Federick taylor: The father of scientific management

He was mainly preoccupied with the operational efficiency of organizations

He saw man as an economic  man to be induced to work effectively through wage incentives established by time and motion study.

He believd that the average man had to be motivated to work because of his laziness/

To him the best incentive to work his money, since money satisfies the material needs of man.

His main concern was in increasing the efficiency in production,lowering costs, raising profits and increasing workers pay through higer productivity.

He emphasized standard practices, standards of performance, breaking complex jobs into simple and routine ones and the development of specialized tools to increase the efficiency of operators

Taylor advocated the following principles:

1. that all managers must be trained to use scientific principles

2. Managers should select and train workers

3. managers should divide work responsibility evenly between themselves and their surbodinates.

4. Managers should coperate with workers  to ensure the application of scientific principles work.

                        HENRY GANTT  (associate of taylor at the midvale steel plant)

He is best known for his gantt chart

His chart is a graphic means of comparing production performance with standards and production goals.

He developed a piece rate by which a worker who exceeds the standard performance would receive a bonus based on a percentage   of his hourly rate.

         Frank & Lillian Gilberth (Husband and wife)

They studied motions involved in repetitive work to determine the body movements that could be eliminated to increase efficiency.

They classified bodily movement s into 17 basic elements, e.g search, find, select etc.

They believed that the aim of scientific management is to aid workers in achieving their full potential as human beings.

Their work was based on study of motion, fatigue and time series.

Henri Fayol (1841- 1825)

He was the founder of the classical management school because he was first to systemise it.

His work is a major contribution to management thought

He divided business operations into 6 activities which are :
1. Technical: Poducing and manufacturing products
2  Commercial: Buying raw materials and selling the products
3. Financial: Acquiring and using capital
4. Security: Protecting employees and property
5. Accounting: Recording and taking stock of costs, profits and liabilities, keeping balance sheets and compiling statistics
6. Managerial: He further divided managing in terms of five functions:

(a) Planning: devising a course of action that will enable organizations to achieve its aims

(b) Organising: mobilizing material and human resources to implement plans

(c) Commanding: motivating workers and making them do their work

(d) Co-ordinating: ensuring that resources and activities of organization are working harmonirously to achieve desired goals.

(e) Controlling: monitoring plans to ensure its proper implementation

Fayol believed that first level managers need only specific technical skill and very little managerial ability but general managers need more managerial skills and less technical skills. He believed management could be taught and therefore called for the introduction of management training and schools. He believed that managerial ability could be applied to the home, church, military, politics and industry.

He is mostly remembered for his propose 14 principles which  would help in guiding the reasoning of managers in solving difficult problems.The 14 principles are:

1. Division of Labour: The more people specialize, the more efficiently they perform their duties

2. subordination of individual to the general interest

3.Equity: Managers should be friendly and fair to surbodinates

4. Stability of tenure of personnel: High turnover rate is not good for efficient functioning of the organization

5.Initiative: In performing assigned tasks, surbodinates should be give the freedom to conceive and carry out their plans.

6.Espirit de corpe (unity of effort through harmony of interest): There should be team work and unity in the organization.

7. Authority: Authority and responsibility should be commensurate. To be able to give orders and get things done, managers need:
(i) Formal authority - which gives right to command
(ii) Personal authority- Which comples obedience, such as integrity and intelligence

8. Discipline: Members of an organization should respect the organizations rules and agreements. Discipline entails
-Good leadership
- Fair agreements and
- judicious penalty for offenders


9. Unity of command: no employee should have more than one supervisor. Having more than one supervisor may lead to
-conflict in instructions
-confusion of authority

10. unity of direction: each group of activities with similar objectives should be under one head

11. Centralisation: While managers retain responsibility, enough authority should be given to surbodinates to enable them do their work.


12. Scalar chain (line of  authority): There should be a flow of authority from the top to the bottom in the organizations hierarchy

13. Order: People and materials should be in the right place. Each worker should be placed in the work he is most suited for.

14.Renumeration: renumeration or compensation for work done should be fair.


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