Comparison of Business Management Theories

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT THEORIES

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Comparison of Business Management Theories

Business management is usually defined as the process of getting people to do things in the right manner. This means that there must be a leader to control and influence these people or human resources. Thus, the management primarily determines the success of a business. While there are many different styles of managers and management techniques, the management theories are equally important. Four main theories of management namely, classical-scientific, behavioural, political, and contingency exist in business management (McNamara, n.d.). These theories have styles, outcomes, similarities and differences when put into practice in a business environment. This essay compares two of these management theories, the classical-scientific and the behavioural management theories and gives examples from the modern world showing their implementation and practise.

Frederick Taylor developed the classical-scientific theory of management in the early 20th Century when most of the workforce was not educated, and democracy was not fully developed (McNamara, n.d). This theory relied heavily on measurements and specification of activities and results for all tasks in an organization (McNamara, n.d.). It is from this management theory that many different management skills and styles that form the foundation of management today emerged. These include the hierarchical structure, with the directors and the CEO at the top charged mainly with planning, organising and controlling (McNamara, n.d.). The second tier in the pyramid is the middle-level management, which coordinates the activities of supervisors as well as developing policies and plans as well employee hiring. At the third level are supervisors, who act as a connection between the workers and the top management (McNamara, n.d.). Another management tool developed from the classical-scientific theory is the division of labour that is widely practised to date. The idea behind labour division is to break tasks into smaller tasks and assign different tasks to different people. Another classical scientific management style is the rewarding and punishing of workers based on their performance at the work place, where bonuses were given for targets met and deductions made for targets not met. (McNamara, n.d.). Consequently, this management style is limited in its levels of success because of the poor worker relations associated with it. While the classical scientific management theory shaped management, some of its concepts are limited in their achievement because they do not account for workers’ needs. Consequently, this led to the creation of the behavioural theory by Max weber (McNamara, n.d.).

The behavioural theories of management look more at work relations and human resource management instead of regulating the power of workers. The behavioural methods entail improved communication between top management and workers as opposed to the classical scientific theories where employees did not interact with the top administration (McNamara, n.d.). The flat structure model adopted by the behavioural management theory contrasts the hierarchical model, and the participative or democratic leadership contrasts the autocratic and authority leadership styles (McNamara, n.d.).  The behavioural theory also utilises the concept of multi-skilling, which is similar to the division of labour in the classical scientific theory, except that workers perform many different tasks and become proficient in them. Additionally, the behavioural theory concepts underscore that managers should build employee relations, which in turn improve the workers’ efforts towards work (McNamara, n.d.). Consequently, the workers enjoy being part of the team and knowing that their groups’ standards and social needs are taken care of by management. Despite the differences in these management theories, different companies use them successfully.