Scientific Management (cont’d)
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
Focused on increasing worker productivity through the reduction of wasted motion
Developed the microchronometer to time worker motions and optimize performance.
How Do Today’s Managers Use Scientific Management?
Use time and motion studies to increase productivity
Hire the best qualified employees
Design incentive systems based on output
General Administrative Theorists
Henri Fayol
Believed that the practice of management was distinct from other organizational functions
Developed fourteen principles of management that applied to all organizational situations
Max Weber
Developed a theory of authority based on an ideal type of organization (bureaucracy)
Emphasized rationality, predictability, impersonality, technical competence, and authoritarianism.
Understanding Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior (OB)
The study of the actions of people at work; people are the most important asset of an organization
Early OB Advocates
Robert Owen
Hugo Munsterberg
Mary Parker Follett
Chester Barnard
Quantitative Approach to Management
Quantitative Approach
Also called operations research or management science
Evolved from mathematical and statistical methods developed to solve WWII military logistics and quality control problems
Focuses on improving managerial decision making by applying:
Statistics, optimization models, information models, and computer simulations
The Hawthorne Studies
* A series of productivity experiments conducted at Western Electric from 1927 to 1932.
* Experimental findings
* Productivity unexpectedly increased under imposed adverse working conditions.
* The effect of incentive plans was less than expected.
* Research conclusion
* Social norms, group standards and attitudes more strongly influence individual output and work behavior than do monetary incentives.
The Systems Approach
System Defined
A set of...