Ortiz, Ken Aisa G.

2013-53478

APPLICATION OF THE THEORY OF ADMINISTRATION

As highly industrialized buildings and organizations became rampant, ways to properly

organized people and organization have been the concerns of many experts in various fields
including management. In response to this, various theories of management were formulated and
made known to the public. Some of these theories include the scientific management, systems
theory, chaos theory, theory X and theory Y, and contingency theory. The term "management"
refers to the activities involved in the four general functions: planning, organizing, leading and
coordinating of resources. Notice that the four functions are still recurring to different
organizations even those of the present. In this paper, well see if the theories in management are
still used today by focusing on one of those theories and on one agency of the government
namely the scientific management and the Department of Public Works and Highways,
respectively.

One of the early theories about management was the Scientific Management. Its most
famous proponent was Frederick Taylor, a mechanical engineer who believed that it was
managements task to design jobs properly and to provide incentives to motivate workers that
they may be motivated to be productive in their works and thus have higher output for the
organization. The theory of scientific management laid the foundation for the formation of many
other management systems and theories. Some of the relatively newer and modern theories
includes the contingency theory, systems theory and chaos theory. Contingency theory basically
the it depends approach since it says that there is no one best solution or method in completing
a task because approaches should be contingent, meaning it depends on the situation, therefore,
when managers make a decision, they must take into account all aspects of the current situation.
Systems theory, on the other hand, states that different systems affect a worker and in the same
way, workers also affect the systems around them. And finally, the chaos theory is simply a
theory that recognizes that events indeed, just as change, are inevitable and are rarely controlled.
 Some of those theories still make sense but there are also some aspects of such theories
that have already been debunk by other theories. But now, can we say that they are still being
practice now or have they already been forgotten by the managers of today and was
unfortunately been simply dismissed as obsolete?

If one would only look more closely to some of agencies and organizations, he would
realize that some still somehow apply the principles of the said theories. Lets look at an
executive department of the government and try to observe if one of the theories, specifically the
scientific management applies to it.

Scientific management, although relatively old, offers us some of the principles that we
may equally consider now as did people before. Frederick Taylor was highly interested in
efficiency, a concept that is still used today in Economics, in fact, the most fundamental concept
that economics hold. The latter is a field or a study that is dominating the systems in the in the
world in the present. The study and the use of economic principles have become more relevant
and pervasive as globalization, that is, the relationship and interactions between countries across
the globe, has been growing. Thus, Frederick Taylors sentiment for efficiency is still relevant
today.

Frederick Taylor believes that one could develop the one best way to complete a task
using the scientific methods. His four principles for his theory of scientific management includes
replacing working by rule of thumb, or simple habit and common sense, and instead use the
scientific method to study work and determine the most efficient way to perform specific tasks;
matching workers to their jobs based on capability and motivation, and train them to work at
maximum efficiency rather than simply assigning workers to just any job; monitoring worker
performance and providing instructions and supervision to ensure that theyre using the most
efficient ways of working; and lastly, allocating the work between managers and workers so that
the managers spend their time planning and training, allowing the workers to perform their tasks
efficiently and at the same time the management take over all the work for which they are better
fitted than the workmen.
 How does the idea of scientific management apply to an agency in the current setting of
the Philippine government, to one of its executive departmentsDPWH? Before answering such
question, let us first define DPWH? So what is DPWH?

The Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), is the executive
department of the Philippine government responsible for all safety of projects in the field of
public works. It is also responsible for the maintenance of the Philippine road network and
irrigation system. It is actually good to study DPWH because its history stretches back as far as
the history of the Philippine government itself. During the Spanish times, the Spanish used the
forced labor in the construction of the first roads in the Philippines. Those public works projects
were not only used in connecting towns and fortresses but also used in improving
communications. According to the research Ive made, As Spain was in its expansion program in
the islands, it resorted to a policy of attraction by way of public works construction. In order to
pursue their objective, the King of Spain designated the Spanish Governor General in the country
as Chief of Public Works assisted by Junta Consultiva through a Royal Degree in 1867.

It was in 1868 when the Bureau of Public Works and Highways (Obras Publicas) and
Bureau of Communications and Transportation (Communicationes y Meteologia) were organized
under a civil engineer known as Director General. As the primary engineering and
construction arm of the government, the DPWH is responsible for the planning, design,
construction and maintenance of infrastructures such as roads and bridges, flood control systems,
water resource development projects and other public works in accordance with national
objectives.

So we have already defined both the scientific management and the Department of Public
Works and Highways. Now, do we see scientific management being applied in the DPWH? To
answer this question, let us check some of Taylors four principles of scientific management and
see if each applies to the said agency.

The first principle says suggest to develop a science for each element of a mans work,
which replaces the old rule-of thumb method. According to my research, DPWH is highly
perceived as one of the most corrupt agencies in the country. To rectify this problem of
corruption in the department, it engaged itself in a series of Integrity Assessment. DPWH are
among the first agencies to have implemented the electronic National Government Accounting
System. This clearly shows the utilization of science and technology in solving an issue or rather
a problem in the department. Furthermore, the department is even tasked to continuously develop
its technology for the purpose of ensuring the safety of all infrastructure.

The second principle suggests the scientific selection and then training, teaching, and
developing the workman, whereas in the past he chose his own work and trained himself as best
he could. If we look at its history, the Spanish used the forced labor in constructing roads and
bridges. Today, we see that forced labor is no longer existent but rather, there are already proper
processes not just in selecting the employees who will lead and guide the workers but even the
choice of the workers themselves. In fact, the DPWH has a selection criteria on the Evaluation of
applicants or candidates for appointment to Entry Level Positions. They even follow the
procedures according to the provisions of R.A. No. 7041 and its implementing guidelines.
Before, as mentioned above, in order to pursue their objective, the King of Spain only designated
the Spanish Governor General in the country as Chief of Public Works assisted by Junta
Consultiva through a Royal Degree in 1867. The king didnt employ any criteria but just simply
designated a specific person. Today, if well see the officials of the DPWH really have enough
qualifications to handle their respective positions. One is its director.

Engr. Melvin B. Navarro has a string of accomplishments and notable achievements. He

has an extensive experience that started in the University of Northern Philippines College as a
Instructor in 1980. He became the Project Manager of the Zambales District Engineering Office
(DEO) in 1993, appointed as OIC-Assistant District Engineer of the Olongapo City Sub-DEO in
1994 and as District Engineer of Bataan 2nd DEO in 1998. He also served the Internal Audit
Service as Director III from July 2004 to August 2007. He was designated in September 2007 as
one of the two Assistant Regional Directors of DPWH Regional Office I after his one-month stint
as ARD of the National Capital Region. Navarro was named Officer-In-Charge of the Planning
Service in June 2008 until he was again designated as OIC-Assistant Regional Director of
DPWH Region 1, became Regional Director of Cagayan Valley Region from November 21, 2012
and was transferred in Bicol Region from September 8, 2014 until his recent assignment in NCR.

The Department also conduct some trainings and seminars to further develop their
employees. In fact, they have successfully implemented the Training Oversight Committee
(TOC), which was formed through the issuance of Department Order, 145, series 2001, issued
last August 2001. TOC has been working hard to improve the quality of the training programs
and significantly increase the size of the budget by identifying new course offerings and increase
the size of the training programs.

Going back to the theory, the third principle states the cooperation of the workers with the
men so as to ensure all of the work being done in accordance with the principles of the science
which has been developed. In one of the DPWH employee reviews, one said, the employees
work 8 hours a day and 5 days a week. It is important that the workers should cooperate and do
their jobs properly. Teamwork of the workers are needed on this agency. Another said, it was
fun and a good learning experience working on DPWH even though it was an intership and
without salary I feel the nature of being part of the company through my supervisor and co
intern.

The Department of Public Works and Highways is one of the agencies in the executive
department of the Philippines. As such, it is undoubtedly a big organization which needs to apply
certain principles from management theories in order to be more effectively operate. There are a
lot of principles that could be applied and the theory of scientific management is obviously one. I
would like to emphasize here that even if the said theory is already a relatively old one or
perhaps may have even been considered as obsolete by some, it could still be applied, well, some
part of it, by the organizations that exist today.
SOURCES:

http://www.dpwh.gov.ph/bureau_services/cfms/director.htm
http://www.dpwh.gov.ph/officials/undersecretary/pacanan/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Public_Works_and_Highways_(Philippines)

http://www.strategicleadershipinstitute.net/news/the-historical-evolution-of-management-theory-
from-1900-to-present-the-changing-role-of-leaders-in-organizations-/

http://www.dpwh.gov.ph/pdf/issuances/do/11/do_043_s2011.pdf
http://www.indeed.com.ph/cmp/Dpwh/reviews