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Is the Classical approach to management obsolete? By XIAO YI

With the initiation of industrial revolution, plenty of factories needed to expand with larger groups of people. In order to manage such huge factories, a number of theories were put forward which are called classical organisation theories now. Three of the more important theories are Henri Fayols principles of management, Max Webers bureaucracy and Frederick W Taylors scientific management. The essay will look at each theory separately. However, these theories were created in mind with the

organisation in the early 20th century, this could lead people to doubt whether these theories are outdate, and this assignment will critically argue classical theories are still relevant nowadays.

Classical organisation theory focused on how a large number of workers and managers could be organized more effectively into an overall structure. (Moorhead, 2001). Essentially, classical theory is regarded as a rational perspective of management and organisations to deal with the growing scale of firms.

First, one of the earliest approaches to management was known as scientific management which was developed by Frederick W Taylor. Taylors scientific management was based on ideological position which is the scientific investigation of work, it is concerned with the relationship between managers and employees and the individual remunerate at work. There are four principles within Taylors theory, which includes one best way to accomplish the task, appropriate choice of workers for the job, training employees and intrinsic difference between management and workers. (Miller, 1999)

In accordance with Taylors scientific management, it is clear that it contributed some significant impacts on organisation function, it leads to efficient production and wages
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reflect work-rate in the company; besides, there is still a great deal of evidence of scientific management practice nowadays. Kanigel, who is Taylors biographer, said: its (Frederick Taylors) ideas that determine how many burgers McDonalds expects its flippers to flip or how many calls the phone company expects its operators to assist. However, this theory treats people as another resource to gain more output from employees which is not humanisation. (Griffin, 2001)

Second, another theorist was Max Weber, who was a sociologist, considered the ideal form of organisation for modern industrial society known as bureaucracy. This theory is based on the most efficient manner for the principles of rational-legal authority of managing organisations. And bureaucracy is represented by numerous features, which include system of rules, specialisation, clear hierarchy of authority from the proper role in organisation rather than the individual, and a paid staff who is not production staff and who manages the administrations. (Crowther & Green, 2004).

Furthermore, Weber developed this idea from identifying three sources of authority which are charisma, tradition and rational-legal, but the theory of bureaucracy underlines rational-legal authority but ignores the role of charismatic power. As Miner (1982) states: Bureaucratic systems dominate through knowledge, and this fact gives them their rationality. The result is a climate of formal impersonality without hatred or passion and hence without affection or enthusiasm. It is a closed system that rationality is the leading power and individuality is discouraged. Nevertheless, this ideal type of

organisation has still been applied in the development of various proposals in recent years.

In addition, Koontz and ODonnell (1976) note Henri Fayol as father of modern operational-management theory, and two prominent aspects of Fayols theory are the elements and principles of management. First of all, the elements of management sort

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out things that managers should do, which measured five fundamental elements of management, consist of planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling. It is found that communication is not involved in Fayols theory, whereas these five elements cannot be acted without communication. Thus, communication could be

considered as an implied and central part of this theory. (Miller, 1999)

Another feature of theory is the principles of management that would give managers ideas of how to manage the workforce in the organisation. It includes such characteristics as job specialisation, authority and discipline, unity, centralisation, hierarchy, remuneration and so on. According to Fayols theory, it structures an effective organisation, and all the individuals know their positions within the company. Employees can be encouraged

to work strictly for the goals rather than own interests by rewarding them.

In fact, Fayols theory is quite idealistic and assumes compliant labour, it is demonstrated that this theory does not sufficient describe or clarify the manners in which organisations actually function. However, in spite of the limitations of this theory as an illustrative mechanism, it still influences some thoughts in contemporary society and the evaluation in the business world. Also, it sounds very plausible which was built upon Fayols experience.

The theorists that have been described in this essay include Fayol, Weber and Taylor, who have been dead beyond 50 years. Hence it is argued that if classical management theories are obsolete. Essentially, these theories provide many approaches and practices to management that are still relevant nowadays. In order to obtain the largest profit, the organisation generally attempts to find one best way to accomplish tasks. For

example, if people have dinner in a restaurant, the organisation has determined one best way to serve customers with delicious food and well-service, and the process is followed thoroughly. Additionally, it is clear that strict hierarchy is exited in military

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organisations; the concepts of authority, unity of command and discipline are the basis of managing in the military, if it organises without rules and hierarchy, people could cause unexpected damage by making an unaware mistake. Thus, the influence of classical theory is widely seen in the features of many contemporary organisations.

To sum up, organisation theory is not a set of facts; it is a way of thinking about and analysing organisations more accurately. Besides, it is recognised that different

structures of organisations may be appropriate in different situations. However, classical approaches to management played a significant role in the development of management proposals and are still useful and pertinent in some places.

Word count: 977

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References:
Crowther, D.and Green, M. (2004) Organisational Theory. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Daft, L. R. (2004) Organization Theory and Design. 8th ed. United States: South-Western.

Griffin, M. (2001) Organizational Behavior: Managing people and organizations. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Griffin, W. R. (2008) Fundamentals of Management. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Koontz, H.and ODonnell, C. (1976) Management: a systems and contingency analysis of managerial functions. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Miller, K. (1999) Organizational communication: Approaches and Processes. 2nd ed. United States: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Miner, B. J. (1982) Theories of Organizational Structure and Process. Charlottesville: Dryden Press.

Perrow, C. (1986) Complex Organizations: A Critical Essay. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

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