History of management by wren(part 1 of 2)
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History of Management Thought as compiled by Lorelyn T. Dumaug from Wren
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History of management by wren(part 1 of 2)
- 1. By Lorelyn T. Dumaug Based on The History of Management Thought, 5th edition, 2005 by Daniel A. Wren
- 33. Max Weber
- 41. Management Theory and Practice
Editor's Notes
- Tzu and Machiavelli Sun Tzu was an ancient Chinese military general , strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed, and who is most likely, to have authored the Art of War , an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy . Sun Tzu has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture , both as an author of the Art of War and through legend. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Sun Tzu's Art of War grew in popularity and saw practical use in Western society , and his work has continued to influence both Asian and Western culture and politics. The Art of War The Art of War presents a philosophy of war for managing conflicts and winning battles. The book is not only popular among military theorists, but has also become increasingly popular among political leaders and those in business management . Despite its title, The Art of War addresses strategy in a broad fashion, touching upon public administration and planning. An avid reader of The Art of War, Communist Chinese leader Mao Zedong partially credited his victory over Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang in 1949. The work strongly influenced Mao's writings about guerrilla warfare , which further influenced communist insurgencies around the world. Machiavelli Niccolò Machiavelli was a political philosopher, musician, poet, and playwright from Florence, Italy, who lived from 1469-1527. Machiavelli began his political career after the expulsion of the Medici (a powerful 13th to 17th century Florentine family who produced three Popes) in 1494, travelling to courts all throughout Europe on diplomatic business. He worked in many Italian city-states, as well as in Germany and in France. In 1500, he travelled to France and met with King Louis XII, obtaining terms for continuing the war on Pisa. It was during these travels that Machiavelli developed his political and military philosophies, which he would later publish in his book, The Prince . In 1512, when Pope Julius II restored the Medici family to power, Machiavelli was accused, along with twenty others, of conspiring to overthrow the Medicis. Machiavelli maintained his innocence, despite the imprisonment and torture he was forced to endure. While some scholars have described Machiavelli as a cruel man, others maintain that his support of dictatorship, as described in The Prince , does not truly demonstrate his beliefs or his character, as its tyranny directly contradicts sentiments expressed in his other works. Machiavelli was born in a tumultuous era— popes waged acquisitive wars against Italian city-states , and people and cities might fall from power at any time. Along with the pope and the major cities like Venice and Florence, foreign powers such as France , Spain , the Holy Roman Empire , and even Switzerland battled for regional influence and control Machiavelli was taught grammar, rhetoric and Latin. It is thought that he did not learn Greek, even though Florence was at the time one of the centres of Greek scholarship in Europe. In 1494, Florence restored the republic — expelling the Medici family, who had ruled Florence for some sixty years. In June 1498, shortly after the execution of Savonarola , Machiavelli, at the age of 29, was elected as head of the second chancery. In July 1498, he was also made the secretary of theDieci di Libertà e Pace. He was in a diplomatic council responsible for negotiation and military affairs, carrying out, between 1499 and 1512, several diplomatic missions, to the court of Louis XII in France; to that of Ferdinand II of Aragón, in Spain; in Germany; and to the Papacy in Rome, in the Italian states. Moreover, from 1502 to 1503, he witnessed the effective state-building methods of Cesare Borgia (1475–1507), son of Pope Alexander VI , who was then enlarging his central Italian territories. Despairing of the opportunity to remain directly involved in political matters, after a time Machiavelli began to participate in intellectual groups in Florence and wrote several plays that (unlike his works on politics/political theory) were both popular and widely known in his lifetime. Still politics remained his main passion and to satisfy interest he maintained a well-known correspondence with better politically connected friends, attempting to become involved once again in political life. In a letter to Francesco Vettori , he described his exile: When evening comes, I return home and go to my study. On the threshold, I strip naked, taking off my muddy, sweaty work day clothes, and put on the robes of court and palace, and, in this graver dress, I enter the courts of the ancients, and am welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I was born. And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me. And for the space of four hours I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no more at death; I pass indeed into their world. Machiavelli died in 1527 at the age of 58. Comparison Between Sun Tzu and Machiavelli The works of these two military strategists and political philosophers could not contrast more; one is offensive, the other defensive. One supports tyranny, the other focuses on the importance of non-violent warfare. One advocates deception and manipulation, the other emphasizes the importance of truly knowing and understanding one’s opponent. In Machiavelli’s The Prince , good political policy is described as a means to an end: an end which should serve only to satisfy the selfish interests of the monarch and not the needs of the people. In the book, Machiavelli details the failures of past European monarchs, citing their willingness to help others as one of their greatest flaws. He states: “He who causes another to become powerful ruins himself.” He also advocates cruelty over kindness, stating that commitments made in times of peace are not always kept in times of adversity, but those commitments which are made out of fear are almost always kept out of fear. The primary focus of the book is that a monarch should utilize the arts of manipulation and deception in order to fulfil his needs. Machiavelli claims that, historically, leaders who have abided by honesty have always fallen, and those who have resorted to deceit have almost always found great success. He states that all war tactics should be considered a means to an end: that no matter what cruel or inhumane process is needed in order to succeed, a good ruler should always continue on, knowing that the result is far more important than the process of obtaining that result, and the sufferers of that process should be considered casualties of war. He furthermore states that any ruler who treats his people with kindness and generosity will only spoil them, for this kindness will make the people greedy and unappreciative. While he does emphasize the importance of avoiding contempt or hatred from the people, this avoidance is, once again, only a means to an end; he does not believe a monarch should treat his people well out of kindness and love for humanity, but rather, for the strategy of avoiding conspirators. He states that the monarch should put forth the image of compassion, sympathy, and trustworthiness, but in reality, should be willing to do anything, no matter how savage or brutal, in order to maintain or advance his power. The Prince has been a very influential work in Western governments throughout history. Centuries after it was written, psychologists used the work to create the theory of Machiavellianism , a term used to describe characteristics of a person who resorts to deception and manipulation in order to advance his or her own personal agenda . In The Art of War , Sun Tzu discusses the importance of knowledge and understanding when engaging in warfare. He argues that the most important factor in waging a war is to know oneself and one’s enemy. Flawless knowledge of both sides, he states, is the only way to ensure success on the battlefield. He furthermore states that the most skillful war is one which is won without any fighting. The best type of warfare, Sun Tzu states, happens when one can outsmart the enemy without ever having to engage in violence. Like Machiavelli, Sun Tzu advocates deception, but without the cruelty and inhumanity Machiavelli describes; rather, Sun Tzu stresses the importance of subtlety, emphasizing that one should never reveal one’s true intentions, but rather, present an illusionary set of objectives in order to achieve one’s real goals. Sun Tzu states: “If you know both yourself and your enemy, you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories.” The Art of War has been one of the most influential war documents in history. It is said that the work has been the influence of Napoleon, the German General Staff, and even the planning of Operation Desert Storm. Historical figures such as Mao Zedung, Vo Nguyen Giap, and even General Macarthur, have cited The Art of War as an inspiration to their military strategies. The Art of War has also been used in many other non-warfare related contexts; many people say the philosophies described in the book can be utilized in their personal lives, for maintaining relationships, and can even be applied to the art of seduction. Even more recently, The Art of War has been applied to work in the corporate world; many Western businesses have used the philosophies of the book to advance their competitive needs in corporate warfare. \\ The importance of preparedness for war has always been a strong aspect of any sound society. The methods by which this readiness is executed, however, varies. Additionally, no writer lives in a vacuum: he or she is a product of his or her times. Given that Sun Tzu was most likely developing his military strategies in Asia during the time of such religious revelations as Buddhism and alongside philosophical contemporaries such as Confucius, it is easy to see why his work is reflective of the principles of knowledge, understanding, and non-violence when possible. Machiavelli, however, was writing during the era of European empire-building. During a time when each European nation was struggling to further its material wealth and land ownership, Machiavelli was travelling Europe and documenting his observations of those traits and practices which contributed to making a successful ruler. Undoubtedly, the times and philosophies of these two strategists have been repeated. We see the deceit, manipulation, selfishness, greed, and cruelty that Machiavelli describes in The Prince in the daily practices of government and military forces in the world. Many scholars argue that Machiavelli did not advocate these practices, but rather, simply documented them as the truths as he saw them at the time. Perhaps Machiavelli indeed did not endorse these tactics, but rather just documented what he saw. In any case, the works of these two military strategists have long lived as huge influences to governments, militaries, and even corporations, forever reminding us of the importance of historical influence on the dawn of the future. Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_tzu Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Rice and peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html Rice and Peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html Rice and Peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html
- Tzu and Machiavelli Sun Tzu was an ancient Chinese military general , strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed, and who is most likely, to have authored the Art of War , an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy . Sun Tzu has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture , both as an author of the Art of War and through legend. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Sun Tzu's Art of War grew in popularity and saw practical use in Western society , and his work has continued to influence both Asian and Western culture and politics. The Art of War The Art of War presents a philosophy of war for managing conflicts and winning battles. The book is not only popular among military theorists, but has also become increasingly popular among political leaders and those in business management . Despite its title, The Art of War addresses strategy in a broad fashion, touching upon public administration and planning. An avid reader of The Art of War, Communist Chinese leader Mao Zedong partially credited his victory over Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang in 1949. The work strongly influenced Mao's writings about guerrilla warfare , which further influenced communist insurgencies around the world. Machiavelli Niccolò Machiavelli was a political philosopher, musician, poet, and playwright from Florence, Italy, who lived from 1469-1527. Machiavelli began his political career after the expulsion of the Medici (a powerful 13th to 17th century Florentine family who produced three Popes) in 1494, travelling to courts all throughout Europe on diplomatic business. He worked in many Italian city-states, as well as in Germany and in France. In 1500, he travelled to France and met with King Louis XII, obtaining terms for continuing the war on Pisa. It was during these travels that Machiavelli developed his political and military philosophies, which he would later publish in his book, The Prince . In 1512, when Pope Julius II restored the Medici family to power, Machiavelli was accused, along with twenty others, of conspiring to overthrow the Medicis. Machiavelli maintained his innocence, despite the imprisonment and torture he was forced to endure. While some scholars have described Machiavelli as a cruel man, others maintain that his support of dictatorship, as described in The Prince , does not truly demonstrate his beliefs or his character, as its tyranny directly contradicts sentiments expressed in his other works. Machiavelli was born in a tumultuous era— popes waged acquisitive wars against Italian city-states , and people and cities might fall from power at any time. Along with the pope and the major cities like Venice and Florence, foreign powers such as France , Spain , the Holy Roman Empire , and even Switzerland battled for regional influence and control Machiavelli was taught grammar, rhetoric and Latin. It is thought that he did not learn Greek, even though Florence was at the time one of the centres of Greek scholarship in Europe. In 1494, Florence restored the republic — expelling the Medici family, who had ruled Florence for some sixty years. In June 1498, shortly after the execution of Savonarola , Machiavelli, at the age of 29, was elected as head of the second chancery. In July 1498, he was also made the secretary of theDieci di Libertà e Pace. He was in a diplomatic council responsible for negotiation and military affairs, carrying out, between 1499 and 1512, several diplomatic missions, to the court of Louis XII in France; to that of Ferdinand II of Aragón, in Spain; in Germany; and to the Papacy in Rome, in the Italian states. Moreover, from 1502 to 1503, he witnessed the effective state-building methods of Cesare Borgia (1475–1507), son of Pope Alexander VI , who was then enlarging his central Italian territories. Despairing of the opportunity to remain directly involved in political matters, after a time Machiavelli began to participate in intellectual groups in Florence and wrote several plays that (unlike his works on politics/political theory) were both popular and widely known in his lifetime. Still politics remained his main passion and to satisfy interest he maintained a well-known correspondence with better politically connected friends, attempting to become involved once again in political life. In a letter to Francesco Vettori , he described his exile: When evening comes, I return home and go to my study. On the threshold, I strip naked, taking off my muddy, sweaty work day clothes, and put on the robes of court and palace, and, in this graver dress, I enter the courts of the ancients, and am welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I was born. And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me. And for the space of four hours I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no more at death; I pass indeed into their world. Machiavelli died in 1527 at the age of 58. Comparison Between Sun Tzu and Machiavelli The works of these two military strategists and political philosophers could not contrast more; one is offensive, the other defensive. One supports tyranny, the other focuses on the importance of non-violent warfare. One advocates deception and manipulation, the other emphasizes the importance of truly knowing and understanding one’s opponent. In Machiavelli’s The Prince , good political policy is described as a means to an end: an end which should serve only to satisfy the selfish interests of the monarch and not the needs of the people. In the book, Machiavelli details the failures of past European monarchs, citing their willingness to help others as one of their greatest flaws. He states: “He who causes another to become powerful ruins himself.” He also advocates cruelty over kindness, stating that commitments made in times of peace are not always kept in times of adversity, but those commitments which are made out of fear are almost always kept out of fear. The primary focus of the book is that a monarch should utilize the arts of manipulation and deception in order to fulfil his needs. Machiavelli claims that, historically, leaders who have abided by honesty have always fallen, and those who have resorted to deceit have almost always found great success. He states that all war tactics should be considered a means to an end: that no matter what cruel or inhumane process is needed in order to succeed, a good ruler should always continue on, knowing that the result is far more important than the process of obtaining that result, and the sufferers of that process should be considered casualties of war. He furthermore states that any ruler who treats his people with kindness and generosity will only spoil them, for this kindness will make the people greedy and unappreciative. While he does emphasize the importance of avoiding contempt or hatred from the people, this avoidance is, once again, only a means to an end; he does not believe a monarch should treat his people well out of kindness and love for humanity, but rather, for the strategy of avoiding conspirators. He states that the monarch should put forth the image of compassion, sympathy, and trustworthiness, but in reality, should be willing to do anything, no matter how savage or brutal, in order to maintain or advance his power. The Prince has been a very influential work in Western governments throughout history. Centuries after it was written, psychologists used the work to create the theory of Machiavellianism , a term used to describe characteristics of a person who resorts to deception and manipulation in order to advance his or her own personal agenda . In The Art of War , Sun Tzu discusses the importance of knowledge and understanding when engaging in warfare. He argues that the most important factor in waging a war is to know oneself and one’s enemy. Flawless knowledge of both sides, he states, is the only way to ensure success on the battlefield. He furthermore states that the most skillful war is one which is won without any fighting. The best type of warfare, Sun Tzu states, happens when one can outsmart the enemy without ever having to engage in violence. Like Machiavelli, Sun Tzu advocates deception, but without the cruelty and inhumanity Machiavelli describes; rather, Sun Tzu stresses the importance of subtlety, emphasizing that one should never reveal one’s true intentions, but rather, present an illusionary set of objectives in order to achieve one’s real goals. Sun Tzu states: “If you know both yourself and your enemy, you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories.” The Art of War has been one of the most influential war documents in history. It is said that the work has been the influence of Napoleon, the German General Staff, and even the planning of Operation Desert Storm. Historical figures such as Mao Zedung, Vo Nguyen Giap, and even General Macarthur, have cited The Art of War as an inspiration to their military strategies. The Art of War has also been used in many other non-warfare related contexts; many people say the philosophies described in the book can be utilized in their personal lives, for maintaining relationships, and can even be applied to the art of seduction. Even more recently, The Art of War has been applied to work in the corporate world; many Western businesses have used the philosophies of the book to advance their competitive needs in corporate warfare. \\ The importance of preparedness for war has always been a strong aspect of any sound society. The methods by which this readiness is executed, however, varies. Additionally, no writer lives in a vacuum: he or she is a product of his or her times. Given that Sun Tzu was most likely developing his military strategies in Asia during the time of such religious revelations as Buddhism and alongside philosophical contemporaries such as Confucius, it is easy to see why his work is reflective of the principles of knowledge, understanding, and non-violence when possible. Machiavelli, however, was writing during the era of European empire-building. During a time when each European nation was struggling to further its material wealth and land ownership, Machiavelli was travelling Europe and documenting his observations of those traits and practices which contributed to making a successful ruler. Undoubtedly, the times and philosophies of these two strategists have been repeated. We see the deceit, manipulation, selfishness, greed, and cruelty that Machiavelli describes in The Prince in the daily practices of government and military forces in the world. Many scholars argue that Machiavelli did not advocate these practices, but rather, simply documented them as the truths as he saw them at the time. Perhaps Machiavelli indeed did not endorse these tactics, but rather just documented what he saw. In any case, the works of these two military strategists have long lived as huge influences to governments, militaries, and even corporations, forever reminding us of the importance of historical influence on the dawn of the future. Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_tzu Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Rice and peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html Rice and Peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html Rice and Peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html
- Tzu and Machiavelli Sun Tzu was an ancient Chinese military general , strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed, and who is most likely, to have authored the Art of War , an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy . Sun Tzu has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture , both as an author of the Art of War and through legend. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Sun Tzu's Art of War grew in popularity and saw practical use in Western society , and his work has continued to influence both Asian and Western culture and politics. The Art of War The Art of War presents a philosophy of war for managing conflicts and winning battles. The book is not only popular among military theorists, but has also become increasingly popular among political leaders and those in business management . Despite its title, The Art of War addresses strategy in a broad fashion, touching upon public administration and planning. An avid reader of The Art of War, Communist Chinese leader Mao Zedong partially credited his victory over Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang in 1949. The work strongly influenced Mao's writings about guerrilla warfare , which further influenced communist insurgencies around the world. Machiavelli Niccolò Machiavelli was a political philosopher, musician, poet, and playwright from Florence, Italy, who lived from 1469-1527. Machiavelli began his political career after the expulsion of the Medici (a powerful 13th to 17th century Florentine family who produced three Popes) in 1494, travelling to courts all throughout Europe on diplomatic business. He worked in many Italian city-states, as well as in Germany and in France. In 1500, he travelled to France and met with King Louis XII, obtaining terms for continuing the war on Pisa. It was during these travels that Machiavelli developed his political and military philosophies, which he would later publish in his book, The Prince . In 1512, when Pope Julius II restored the Medici family to power, Machiavelli was accused, along with twenty others, of conspiring to overthrow the Medicis. Machiavelli maintained his innocence, despite the imprisonment and torture he was forced to endure. While some scholars have described Machiavelli as a cruel man, others maintain that his support of dictatorship, as described in The Prince , does not truly demonstrate his beliefs or his character, as its tyranny directly contradicts sentiments expressed in his other works. Machiavelli was born in a tumultuous era— popes waged acquisitive wars against Italian city-states , and people and cities might fall from power at any time. Along with the pope and the major cities like Venice and Florence, foreign powers such as France , Spain , the Holy Roman Empire , and even Switzerland battled for regional influence and control Machiavelli was taught grammar, rhetoric and Latin. It is thought that he did not learn Greek, even though Florence was at the time one of the centres of Greek scholarship in Europe. In 1494, Florence restored the republic — expelling the Medici family, who had ruled Florence for some sixty years. In June 1498, shortly after the execution of Savonarola , Machiavelli, at the age of 29, was elected as head of the second chancery. In July 1498, he was also made the secretary of theDieci di Libertà e Pace. He was in a diplomatic council responsible for negotiation and military affairs, carrying out, between 1499 and 1512, several diplomatic missions, to the court of Louis XII in France; to that of Ferdinand II of Aragón, in Spain; in Germany; and to the Papacy in Rome, in the Italian states. Moreover, from 1502 to 1503, he witnessed the effective state-building methods of Cesare Borgia (1475–1507), son of Pope Alexander VI , who was then enlarging his central Italian territories. Despairing of the opportunity to remain directly involved in political matters, after a time Machiavelli began to participate in intellectual groups in Florence and wrote several plays that (unlike his works on politics/political theory) were both popular and widely known in his lifetime. Still politics remained his main passion and to satisfy interest he maintained a well-known correspondence with better politically connected friends, attempting to become involved once again in political life. In a letter to Francesco Vettori , he described his exile: When evening comes, I return home and go to my study. On the threshold, I strip naked, taking off my muddy, sweaty work day clothes, and put on the robes of court and palace, and, in this graver dress, I enter the courts of the ancients, and am welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I was born. And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me. And for the space of four hours I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no more at death; I pass indeed into their world. Machiavelli died in 1527 at the age of 58. Comparison Between Sun Tzu and Machiavelli The works of these two military strategists and political philosophers could not contrast more; one is offensive, the other defensive. One supports tyranny, the other focuses on the importance of non-violent warfare. One advocates deception and manipulation, the other emphasizes the importance of truly knowing and understanding one’s opponent. In Machiavelli’s The Prince , good political policy is described as a means to an end: an end which should serve only to satisfy the selfish interests of the monarch and not the needs of the people. In the book, Machiavelli details the failures of past European monarchs, citing their willingness to help others as one of their greatest flaws. He states: “He who causes another to become powerful ruins himself.” He also advocates cruelty over kindness, stating that commitments made in times of peace are not always kept in times of adversity, but those commitments which are made out of fear are almost always kept out of fear. The primary focus of the book is that a monarch should utilize the arts of manipulation and deception in order to fulfil his needs. Machiavelli claims that, historically, leaders who have abided by honesty have always fallen, and those who have resorted to deceit have almost always found great success. He states that all war tactics should be considered a means to an end: that no matter what cruel or inhumane process is needed in order to succeed, a good ruler should always continue on, knowing that the result is far more important than the process of obtaining that result, and the sufferers of that process should be considered casualties of war. He furthermore states that any ruler who treats his people with kindness and generosity will only spoil them, for this kindness will make the people greedy and unappreciative. While he does emphasize the importance of avoiding contempt or hatred from the people, this avoidance is, once again, only a means to an end; he does not believe a monarch should treat his people well out of kindness and love for humanity, but rather, for the strategy of avoiding conspirators. He states that the monarch should put forth the image of compassion, sympathy, and trustworthiness, but in reality, should be willing to do anything, no matter how savage or brutal, in order to maintain or advance his power. The Prince has been a very influential work in Western governments throughout history. Centuries after it was written, psychologists used the work to create the theory of Machiavellianism , a term used to describe characteristics of a person who resorts to deception and manipulation in order to advance his or her own personal agenda . In The Art of War , Sun Tzu discusses the importance of knowledge and understanding when engaging in warfare. He argues that the most important factor in waging a war is to know oneself and one’s enemy. Flawless knowledge of both sides, he states, is the only way to ensure success on the battlefield. He furthermore states that the most skillful war is one which is won without any fighting. The best type of warfare, Sun Tzu states, happens when one can outsmart the enemy without ever having to engage in violence. Like Machiavelli, Sun Tzu advocates deception, but without the cruelty and inhumanity Machiavelli describes; rather, Sun Tzu stresses the importance of subtlety, emphasizing that one should never reveal one’s true intentions, but rather, present an illusionary set of objectives in order to achieve one’s real goals. Sun Tzu states: “If you know both yourself and your enemy, you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories.” The Art of War has been one of the most influential war documents in history. It is said that the work has been the influence of Napoleon, the German General Staff, and even the planning of Operation Desert Storm. Historical figures such as Mao Zedung, Vo Nguyen Giap, and even General Macarthur, have cited The Art of War as an inspiration to their military strategies. The Art of War has also been used in many other non-warfare related contexts; many people say the philosophies described in the book can be utilized in their personal lives, for maintaining relationships, and can even be applied to the art of seduction. Even more recently, The Art of War has been applied to work in the corporate world; many Western businesses have used the philosophies of the book to advance their competitive needs in corporate warfare. \\ The importance of preparedness for war has always been a strong aspect of any sound society. The methods by which this readiness is executed, however, varies. Additionally, no writer lives in a vacuum: he or she is a product of his or her times. Given that Sun Tzu was most likely developing his military strategies in Asia during the time of such religious revelations as Buddhism and alongside philosophical contemporaries such as Confucius, it is easy to see why his work is reflective of the principles of knowledge, understanding, and non-violence when possible. Machiavelli, however, was writing during the era of European empire-building. During a time when each European nation was struggling to further its material wealth and land ownership, Machiavelli was travelling Europe and documenting his observations of those traits and practices which contributed to making a successful ruler. Undoubtedly, the times and philosophies of these two strategists have been repeated. We see the deceit, manipulation, selfishness, greed, and cruelty that Machiavelli describes in The Prince in the daily practices of government and military forces in the world. Many scholars argue that Machiavelli did not advocate these practices, but rather, simply documented them as the truths as he saw them at the time. Perhaps Machiavelli indeed did not endorse these tactics, but rather just documented what he saw. In any case, the works of these two military strategists have long lived as huge influences to governments, militaries, and even corporations, forever reminding us of the importance of historical influence on the dawn of the future. Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_tzu Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Rice and peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html Rice and Peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html Rice and Peas, June 27, 2011, http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/machiavelli%20tzu.html
- Chapter summary Laying Plans/The Calculations explores the five fundamental factors (the Way, seasons, terrain, leadership, and management) and seven elements that determine the outcomes of military engagements. By thinking, assessing and comparing these points, a commander can calculate his chances of victory. Habitual deviation from these calculations will ensure failure via improper action. The text stresses that war is a very grave matter for the state, and must not be commenced without due consideration. Waging War/The Challenge explains how to understand the economy of warfare, and how success requires winning decisive engagements quickly. This section advises that successful military campaigns require limiting the cost of competition and conflict. Attack by Stratagem/The Plan of Attack defines the source of strength as unity, not size, and discusses the five factors that are needed to succeed in any war. In order of importance, these critical factors are: Attack, Strategy, Alliances, Army, and Cities. Tactical Dispositions/Positioning explains the importance of defending existing positions until a commander is capable of advancing from those positions in safety. It teaches commanders the importance of recognizing strategic opportunities, and teaches not to create opportunities for the enemy. Energy/Directing explains the use of creativity and timing in building an army's momentum. Weak Points & Strong/Illusion and Reality explains how an army's opportunities come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of the enemy in a given area. Maneuvering/Engaging The Force explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations when they are forced upon the commander. Variation in Tactics/The Nine Variations focuses on the need for flexibility in an army's responses. It explains how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully. The Army on the March/Moving The Force describes the different situations in which an army finds itself as it moves through new enemy territories, and how to respond to these situations. Much of this section focuses on evaluating the intentions of others. Terrain/Situational Positioning looks at the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers, and barriers) and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offer certain advantages and disadvantages. The Nine Situations/Nine Terrains describes the nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to deadly, and the specific focus that a commander will need in order to successfully navigate them. The Attack by Fire/Fiery Attack explains the general use of weapons and the specific use of the environment as a weapon. This section examines the five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack, and the appropriate responses to such attacks. The Use of Spies/The Use of Intelligence focuses on the importance of developing good information sources, and specifies the five types of intelligence sources and how to best manage each of them.
- Chapter summary Laying Plans/The Calculations explores the five fundamental factors (the Way, seasons, terrain, leadership, and management) and seven elements that determine the outcomes of military engagements. By thinking, assessing and comparing these points, a commander can calculate his chances of victory. Habitual deviation from these calculations will ensure failure via improper action. The text stresses that war is a very grave matter for the state, and must not be commenced without due consideration. Waging War/The Challenge explains how to understand the economy of warfare, and how success requires winning decisive engagements quickly. This section advises that successful military campaigns require limiting the cost of competition and conflict. Attack by Stratagem/The Plan of Attack defines the source of strength as unity, not size, and discusses the five factors that are needed to succeed in any war. In order of importance, these critical factors are: Attack, Strategy, Alliances, Army, and Cities. Tactical Dispositions/Positioning explains the importance of defending existing positions until a commander is capable of advancing from those positions in safety. It teaches commanders the importance of recognizing strategic opportunities, and teaches not to create opportunities for the enemy. Energy/Directing explains the use of creativity and timing in building an army's momentum. Weak Points & Strong/Illusion and Reality explains how an army's opportunities come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of the enemy in a given area. Maneuvering/Engaging The Force explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations when they are forced upon the commander. Variation in Tactics/The Nine Variations focuses on the need for flexibility in an army's responses. It explains how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully. The Army on the March/Moving The Force describes the different situations in which an army finds itself as it moves through new enemy territories, and how to respond to these situations. Much of this section focuses on evaluating the intentions of others. Terrain/Situational Positioning looks at the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers, and barriers) and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offer certain advantages and disadvantages. The Nine Situations/Nine Terrains describes the nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to deadly, and the specific focus that a commander will need in order to successfully navigate them. The Attack by Fire/Fiery Attack explains the general use of weapons and the specific use of the environment as a weapon. This section examines the five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack, and the appropriate responses to such attacks. The Use of Spies/The Use of Intelligence focuses on the importance of developing good information sources, and specifies the five types of intelligence sources and how to best manage each of them.
- Some commentators justify his acceptance of immoral and criminal actions by leaders by arguing that he lived during a time of continuous political conflict and instability in Italy, and that his influence has increased the "pleasures, equality and freedom" of many people, loosening the grip of medieval Catholicism's "classical teleology ", which "disregarded not only the needs of individuals and the wants of the common man, but stifled innovation, enterprise, and enquiry into cause and effect relationships that now allow us to control nature ". [1 It was also in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning how to consider politics and ethics.
- Assumptions The leaders are born and not made and posses certain traits which were inherited Great leaders can arise when there is a great need. Theory Much of the work on this theory was done in the 19th century and is often linked to the work of the historian Thomas Carlyle who commented on the great men or heroes of the history saying that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men”. According to him, a leader is the one gifted with unique qualities that capture the imagination of the masses. Earlier leadership was considered as a quality associated mostly with the males, and therefore the theory was named as the great man theory. But later with the emergence of many great women leaders as well, the theory was recognized as the great person theory. The great man theory of leadership states that some people are born with the necessary attributes that set them apart from others and that these traits are responsible for their assuming positions of power and authority. A leader is a hero who accomplishes goals against all odds for his followers. The theory implies that those in power deserve to be there because of their special endowment. Furthermore, the theory contends that these traits remain stable over time and across different groups. Thus, it suggests that all great leaders share these characteristic regardless of when and where they lived or the precise role in the history they fulfilled. Criticism Many of the traits cited as being important to be an effective leader are typical masculine traits. In contemporary research, there is a significant shift in such a mentality. Conclusion Prompted by the great man theory of leadership, and the emerging interest in understanding what leadership is, researchers focused on the leader - Who is a leader? What are the distinguishing characteristics of great and effective leaders? This gave rise to the early research efforts to the trait approach to leadership.
- Frederick Taylor (1856-1915), lead developer of scientific management Scientific management , also called Taylorism , was a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows . Its main objective was improving economic efficiency , especially labor productivity . It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management. Its development began with Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s within the manufacturing industries. Its peak of influence came in the 1910s; by the 1920s, it was still influential but had begun an era of competition and syncretism with opposing or complementary ideas. Although scientific management as a distinct theory or school of thought was obsolete by the 1930s, most of its themes are still important parts of industrial engineering and management today. These include analysis; synthesis; logic; rationality ; empiricism ; work ethic ; efficiency and elimination of waste; standardization of best practices ; disdain for tradition preserved merely for its own sake or merely to protect the social status of particular workers with particular skill sets; the transformation of craft production into mass production ; and knowledge transfer between workers and from workers into tools, processes, and documentation. Overview and context The core ideas of scientific management were developed by Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s, and were first published in his monographs Shop Management (1903) and The Principles of Scientific Management (1911). While working as a lathe operator and foreman at Midvale Steel , Taylor noticed the natural differences in productivity between workers, which were driven by various causes, including differences in talent, intelligence, or motivations. He was one of the first people to try to apply science to this application, that is, understanding why and how these differences existed and how best practices could be analyzed and synthesized, then propagated to the other workers via standardization of process steps. He believed that decisions based upon tradition and rules of thumb should be replaced by precise procedures developed after careful study of an individual at work, including via time and motion studies , which would tend to discover or synthesize the "one best way" to do any given task. The goal and promise was both an increase in productivity and reduction of effort. Scientific management's application was contingent on a high level of managerial control over employee work practices. This necessitated a higher ratio of managerial workers to laborers than previous management methods. The great difficulty in accurately differentiating any such intelligent, detail-oriented management from mere misguided micromanagement also caused interpersonal friction between workers and managers, and social tensions between the blue-collar and white-collar classes. Taylor's own early names for his approach included "shop management" and "process management". When Louis Brandeis popularized the term "scientific management" in 1910, Taylor recognized it as another good name for the concept, and he used it himself in his 1911 monograph. Legacy In political and sociological terms, Taylorism can be seen as the division of labor pushed to its logical extreme, with a consequent de-skilling of the worker and dehumanisation of the workers and the workplace. Taylorism is often mentioned along with Fordism , because it was closely associated with mass production methods in factories, which was its earliest application. Today, task-oriented optimization of work tasks is nearly ubiquitous in industry. The theory behind it has evolved greatly since Taylor's day, reducing the ill effects, although in the wrong hands it is sometimes implemented poorly even now. Soldiering Taylor observed that some workers were more talented than others, and that even smart ones were often unmotivated. He observed that most workers who are forced to perform repetitive tasks tend to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished . This slow rate of work has been observed in many industries in many countries and has been called by various terms (some being slang confined to certain regions and eras), including "soldiering", (reflecting the way conscripts may approach following orders), "dogging it", "goldbricking", "hanging it out", and "ca canae". Managers may call it by those names or "loafing" or "malingering"; workers may call it "getting through the day" or "preventing management from abusing us". Taylor used the term "soldiering" and observed that, when paid the same amount, workers will tend to do the amount of work that the slowest among them does. This reflects the idea that workers have a vested interest in their own well-being, and do not benefit from working above the defined rate of work when it will not increase their remuneration. He therefore proposed that the work practice that had been developed in most work environments was crafted, intentionally or unintentionally, to be very inefficient in its execution. He posited that time and motion studies combined with rational analysis and synthesis could uncover one best method for performing any particular task, and that prevailing methods were seldom equal to these best methods. Crucially, Taylor himself prominently acknowledged (although many white-collar imitators of his ideas would forget) that if each employee's compensation was linked to their output, their productivity would go up. Thus his compensation plans usually included piece rates . He rejected the notion, which was universal in his day and still prevalent even now, of the secret magic of the craftsman—that the trades, including manufacturing, were black arts that could not be analyzed and could only be performed by craft production methods. In the course of his empirical studies, Taylor examined various kinds of manual labor . For example, most bulk materials handling was manual at the time; material handling equipment as we know it today was mostly not developed yet. He looked at shovelling in the unloading of railroad cars full of ore ; lifting and carrying in the moving of iron pigs at steel mills; the manual inspection of bearing balls ; and others. He discovered many concepts that were not widely accepted at the time. For example, by observing workers, he decided that labor should include rest breaks so that the worker has time to recover from fatigue, either physical (as in shoveling or lifting) or mental (as in the ball inspection case). Workers were taught to take more rests during work, and as a result production "paradoxically" increased. Unless people manage themselves, somebody has to take care of administration, and thus there is a division of work between workers and administrators. One of the tasks of administration is to select the right person for the right job: the labor should include rest breaks so that the worker has time to recover from fatigue. Now one of the very first requirements for a man who is fit to handle pig iron as a regular occupation is that he shall be so stupid and so phlegmatic that he more nearly resembles in his mental make-up the ox than any other type. The man who is mentally alert and intelligent is for this very reason entirely unsuited to what would, for him, be the grinding monotony of work of this character. Therefore the workman who is best suited to handling pig iron is unable to understand the real science of doing this class of work. Implementations of scientific management usually failed to account for several inherent challenges: Individuals are different from each other: the most efficient way of working for one person may be inefficient for another. The economic interests of workers and management are rarely identical, so that both the measurement processes and the retraining required by Taylor's methods are frequently resented and sometimes sabotaged by the workforce. Workers are necessarily human: they have personal needs and interpersonal friction, and they face very real difficulties introduced when jobs become so efficient that they have no time to relax, and so rigid that they have no permission to innovate. Early decades: making jobs unpleasant Under Taylorism, workers work effort increased in intensity. Workers became dissatisfied with the work environment and angry. During one of Taylor's own implementations, a strike at the Watertown Arsenal led to an investigation of Taylor's methods by a U.S. House of Representatives committee, which reported in 1912. The conclusion was that scientific management did provide some useful techniques and offered valuable organisational suggestions, but it gave production managers a dangerously high level of uncontrolled power. After an attitude survey of the workers revealed a high level of resentment and hostility towards scientific management, the Senate banned Taylor's methods at the arsenal. Certainly Taylorism's negative effects on worker morale only added more fuel to the fire of existing labor-management conflict, which frequently raged out of control between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. Thus it inevitably contributed to the strengthening of labor unions and of labor-vs-management conflict (which was the opposite of any of Taylor's own hopes for labor relations. That outcome neutralized most or all of the benefit of any productivity gains that Taylorism had achieved. Thus its net benefit to owners and management ended up being small or negative. It would take new efforts, borrowing some ideas from Taylorism but mixing them with others, to produce more successful formulas. A central assumption of Taylorism was that "the worker was taken for granted as a cog in the machinery." The chain of connections between his work and automation is visible in historical hindsight, which sees that Taylorism made jobs unpleasant, and its logical successors then made them less remunerative and less secure; then scarcer; and finally (in many cases) nonexistent . They perceived themselves to be working in a vacuum in that respect, but historians can argue with them about the extent to which that was really true. Taylor was an early pioneer in the field of process analysis and synthesis (which is why many people, falling for the storytelling allure of the Great Man theory , tend to think that the whole field owes everything to him). But he did not have the field to himself for long. The world was ready for such development by the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And in fact many people started to work on it, sometimes independently, sometimes with direct or indirect influence on each other. Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management
- Frederick Taylor (1856-1915), lead developer of scientific management Scientific management , also called Taylorism , was a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows . Its main objective was improving economic efficiency , especially labor productivity . It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management. Its development began with Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s within the manufacturing industries. Its peak of influence came in the 1910s; by the 1920s, it was still influential but had begun an era of competition and syncretism with opposing or complementary ideas. Although scientific management as a distinct theory or school of thought was obsolete by the 1930s, most of its themes are still important parts of industrial engineering and management today. These include analysis; synthesis; logic; rationality ; empiricism ; work ethic ; efficiency and elimination of waste; standardization of best practices ; disdain for tradition preserved merely for its own sake or merely to protect the social status of particular workers with particular skill sets; the transformation of craft production into mass production ; and knowledge transfer between workers and from workers into tools, processes, and documentation. Overview and context The core ideas of scientific management were developed by Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s, and were first published in his monographs Shop Management (1903) and The Principles of Scientific Management (1911). While working as a lathe operator and foreman at Midvale Steel , Taylor noticed the natural differences in productivity between workers, which were driven by various causes, including differences in talent, intelligence, or motivations. He was one of the first people to try to apply science to this application, that is, understanding why and how these differences existed and how best practices could be analyzed and synthesized, then propagated to the other workers via standardization of process steps. He believed that decisions based upon tradition and rules of thumb should be replaced by precise procedures developed after careful study of an individual at work, including via time and motion studies , which would tend to discover or synthesize the "one best way" to do any given task. The goal and promise was both an increase in productivity and reduction of effort. Scientific management's application was contingent on a high level of managerial control over employee work practices. This necessitated a higher ratio of managerial workers to laborers than previous management methods. The great difficulty in accurately differentiating any such intelligent, detail-oriented management from mere misguided micromanagement also caused interpersonal friction between workers and managers, and social tensions between the blue-collar and white-collar classes. Taylor's own early names for his approach included "shop management" and "process management". When Louis Brandeis popularized the term "scientific management" in 1910, Taylor recognized it as another good name for the concept, and he used it himself in his 1911 monograph. Legacy In political and sociological terms, Taylorism can be seen as the division of labor pushed to its logical extreme, with a consequent de-skilling of the worker and dehumanisation of the workers and the workplace. Taylorism is often mentioned along with Fordism , because it was closely associated with mass production methods in factories, which was its earliest application. Today, task-oriented optimization of work tasks is nearly ubiquitous in industry. The theory behind it has evolved greatly since Taylor's day, reducing the ill effects, although in the wrong hands it is sometimes implemented poorly even now. Soldiering Taylor observed that some workers were more talented than others, and that even smart ones were often unmotivated. He observed that most workers who are forced to perform repetitive tasks tend to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished . This slow rate of work has been observed in many industries in many countries and has been called by various terms (some being slang confined to certain regions and eras), including "soldiering", (reflecting the way conscripts may approach following orders), "dogging it", "goldbricking", "hanging it out", and "ca canae". Managers may call it by those names or "loafing" or "malingering"; workers may call it "getting through the day" or "preventing management from abusing us". Taylor used the term "soldiering" and observed that, when paid the same amount, workers will tend to do the amount of work that the slowest among them does. This reflects the idea that workers have a vested interest in their own well-being, and do not benefit from working above the defined rate of work when it will not increase their remuneration. He therefore proposed that the work practice that had been developed in most work environments was crafted, intentionally or unintentionally, to be very inefficient in its execution. He posited that time and motion studies combined with rational analysis and synthesis could uncover one best method for performing any particular task, and that prevailing methods were seldom equal to these best methods. Crucially, Taylor himself prominently acknowledged (although many white-collar imitators of his ideas would forget) that if each employee's compensation was linked to their output, their productivity would go up. Thus his compensation plans usually included piece rates . He rejected the notion, which was universal in his day and still prevalent even now, of the secret magic of the craftsman—that the trades, including manufacturing, were black arts that could not be analyzed and could only be performed by craft production methods. In the course of his empirical studies, Taylor examined various kinds of manual labor . For example, most bulk materials handling was manual at the time; material handling equipment as we know it today was mostly not developed yet. He looked at shovelling in the unloading of railroad cars full of ore ; lifting and carrying in the moving of iron pigs at steel mills; the manual inspection of bearing balls ; and others. He discovered many concepts that were not widely accepted at the time. For example, by observing workers, he decided that labor should include rest breaks so that the worker has time to recover from fatigue, either physical (as in shoveling or lifting) or mental (as in the ball inspection case). Workers were taught to take more rests during work, and as a result production "paradoxically" increased. Unless people manage themselves, somebody has to take care of administration, and thus there is a division of work between workers and administrators. One of the tasks of administration is to select the right person for the right job: the labor should include rest breaks so that the worker has time to recover from fatigue. Now one of the very first requirements for a man who is fit to handle pig iron as a regular occupation is that he shall be so stupid and so phlegmatic that he more nearly resembles in his mental make-up the ox than any other type. The man who is mentally alert and intelligent is for this very reason entirely unsuited to what would, for him, be the grinding monotony of work of this character. Therefore the workman who is best suited to handling pig iron is unable to understand the real science of doing this class of work. Implementations of scientific management usually failed to account for several inherent challenges: Individuals are different from each other: the most efficient way of working for one person may be inefficient for another. The economic interests of workers and management are rarely identical, so that both the measurement processes and the retraining required by Taylor's methods are frequently resented and sometimes sabotaged by the workforce. Workers are necessarily human: they have personal needs and interpersonal friction, and they face very real difficulties introduced when jobs become so efficient that they have no time to relax, and so rigid that they have no permission to innovate. Early decades: making jobs unpleasant Under Taylorism, workers work effort increased in intensity. Workers became dissatisfied with the work environment and angry. During one of Taylor's own implementations, a strike at the Watertown Arsenal led to an investigation of Taylor's methods by a U.S. House of Representatives committee, which reported in 1912. The conclusion was that scientific management did provide some useful techniques and offered valuable organisational suggestions, but it gave production managers a dangerously high level of uncontrolled power. After an attitude survey of the workers revealed a high level of resentment and hostility towards scientific management, the Senate banned Taylor's methods at the arsenal. Certainly Taylorism's negative effects on worker morale only added more fuel to the fire of existing labor-management conflict, which frequently raged out of control between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. Thus it inevitably contributed to the strengthening of labor unions and of labor-vs-management conflict (which was the opposite of any of Taylor's own hopes for labor relations. That outcome neutralized most or all of the benefit of any productivity gains that Taylorism had achieved. Thus its net benefit to owners and management ended up being small or negative. It would take new efforts, borrowing some ideas from Taylorism but mixing them with others, to produce more successful formulas. A central assumption of Taylorism was that "the worker was taken for granted as a cog in the machinery." The chain of connections between his work and automation is visible in historical hindsight, which sees that Taylorism made jobs unpleasant, and its logical successors then made them less remunerative and less secure; then scarcer; and finally (in many cases) nonexistent . They perceived themselves to be working in a vacuum in that respect, but historians can argue with them about the extent to which that was really true. Taylor was an early pioneer in the field of process analysis and synthesis (which is why many people, falling for the storytelling allure of the Great Man theory , tend to think that the whole field owes everything to him). But he did not have the field to himself for long. The world was ready for such development by the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And in fact many people started to work on it, sometimes independently, sometimes with direct or indirect influence on each other. Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management
- Early decades: making jobs unpleasant Under Taylorism, workers work effort increased in intensity. Workers became dissatisfied with the work environment and angry. During one of Taylor's own implementations, a strike at the Watertown Arsenal led to an investigation of Taylor's methods by a U.S. House of Representatives committee, which reported in 1912. The conclusion was that scientific management did provide some useful techniques and offered valuable organisational suggestions, but it gave production managers a dangerously high level of uncontrolled power. After an attitude survey of the workers revealed a high level of resentment and hostility towards scientific management, the Senate banned Taylor's methods at the arsenal. Certainly Taylorism's negative effects on worker morale only added more fuel to the fire of existing labor-management conflict, which frequently raged out of control between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. Thus it inevitably contributed to the strengthening of labor unions and of labor-vs-management conflict (which was the opposite of any of Taylor's own hopes for labor relations. That outcome neutralized most or all of the benefit of any productivity gains that Taylorism had achieved. Thus its net benefit to owners and management ended up being small or negative. It would take new efforts, borrowing some ideas from Taylorism but mixing them with others, to produce more successful formulas. A central assumption of Taylorism was that "the worker was taken for granted as a cog in the machinery." The chain of connections between his work and automation is visible in historical hindsight, which sees that Taylorism made jobs unpleasant, and its logical successors then made them less remunerative and less secure; then scarcer; and finally (in many cases) nonexistent . Wikipedia, June 27, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management
- George Elton Mayo (26 December 1880 - 7 September 1949) was an Australian psychologist , sociologist and organization theorist . He lectured at the University of Queensland from 1911 to 1923 before moving to the University of Pennsylvania , but spent most of his career at Harvard Business School (1926 - 1947), where he was professor of industrial research . On 18 April 1913 he married Dorothea McConnel in Brisbane, Australia . They had two daughters, Patricia and Gael. Mayo is known as the founder of the Human Relations Movement , and is known for his research including the Hawthorne Studies and his book The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilization (1933). The research he conducted under the Hawthorne Studies of the 1930s showed the importance of groups in affecting the behavior of individuals at work. Mayo's employees, Roethlisberger and Dickson, conducted the practical experiments. This enabled him to make certain deductions about how managers should behave. He carried out a number of investigations to look at ways of improving productivity, for example changing lighting conditions in the workplace. What he found however was that work satisfaction depended to a large extent on the informal social pattern of the work group. Where norms of cooperation and higher output were established because of a feeling of importance, physical conditions or financial incentives had little motivational value. People will form work groups and this can be used by management to benefit the organization. He concluded that people's work performance is dependent on both social issues and job content. He suggested a tension between workers' 'logic of sentiment' and managers' 'logic of cost and efficiency' which could lead to conflict within organizations. Disagreement regarding his employees' procedure while conducting the studies: The members of the groups whose behavior has been studied were allowed to choose themselves. Two women have been replaced since they were chatting during their work. They were later identified as members of a leftist movement. One Italian member was working above average since she had to care for her family alone. Thus she affected the group's performance in an above average way.
- George Elton Mayo (26 December 1880 - 7 September 1949) was an Australian psychologist , sociologist and organization theorist . He lectured at the University of Queensland from 1911 to 1923 before moving to the University of Pennsylvania , but spent most of his career at Harvard Business School (1926 - 1947), where he was professor of industrial research . On 18 April 1913 he married Dorothea McConnel in Brisbane, Australia . They had two daughters, Patricia and Gael. Mayo is known as the founder of the Human Relations Movement , and is known for his research including the Hawthorne Studies and his book The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilization (1933). The research he conducted under the Hawthorne Studies of the 1930s showed the importance of groups in affecting the behavior of individuals at work. Mayo's employees, Roethlisberger and Dickson, conducted the practical experiments. This enabled him to make certain deductions about how managers should behave. He carried out a number of investigations to look at ways of improving productivity, for example changing lighting conditions in the workplace. What he found however was that work satisfaction depended to a large extent on the informal social pattern of the work group. Where norms of cooperation and higher output were established because of a feeling of importance, physical conditions or financial incentives had little motivational value. People will form work groups and this can be used by management to benefit the organization. He concluded that people's work performance is dependent on both social issues and job content. He suggested a tension between workers' 'logic of sentiment' and managers' 'logic of cost and efficiency' which could lead to conflict within organizations. Disagreement regarding his employees' procedure while conducting the studies: The members of the groups whose behavior has been studied were allowed to choose themselves. Two women have been replaced since they were chatting during their work. They were later identified as members of a leftist movement. One Italian member was working above average since she had to care for her family alone. Thus she affected the group's performance in an above average way.
- Mayo is known as the founder of the Human Relations Movement , and is known for his research including the Hawthorne Studies and his book The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilization (1933). The research he conducted under the Hawthorne Studies of the 1930s showed the importance of groups in affecting the behavior of individuals at work. Mayo's employees, Roethlisberger and Dickson, conducted the practical experiments. This enabled him to make certain deductions about how managers should behave. He carried out a number of investigations to look at ways of improving productivity, for example changing lighting conditions in the workplace. What he found however was that work satisfaction depended to a large extent on the informal social pattern of the work group. Where norms of cooperation and higher output were established because of a feeling of importance, physical conditions or financial incentives had little motivational value. People will form work groups and this can be used by management to benefit the organization.
- Mayo is known as the founder of the Human Relations Movement , and is known for his research including the Hawthorne Studies and his book The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilization (1933). The research he conducted under the Hawthorne Studies of the 1930s showed the importance of groups in affecting the behavior of individuals at work. Mayo's employees, Roethlisberger and Dickson, conducted the practical experiments. This enabled him to make certain deductions about how managers should behave. He carried out a number of investigations to look at ways of improving productivity, for example changing lighting conditions in the workplace. What he found however was that work satisfaction depended to a large extent on the informal social pattern of the work group. Where norms of cooperation and higher output were established because of a feeling of importance, physical conditions or financial incentives had little motivational value. People will form work groups and this can be used by management to benefit the organization.
- Mayo is known as the founder of the Human Relations Movement , and is known for his research including the Hawthorne Studies and his book The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilization (1933). The research he conducted under the Hawthorne Studies of the 1930s showed the importance of groups in affecting the behavior of individuals at work. Mayo's employees, Roethlisberger and Dickson, conducted the practical experiments. This enabled him to make certain deductions about how managers should behave. He carried out a number of investigations to look at ways of improving productivity, for example changing lighting conditions in the workplace. What he found however was that work satisfaction depended to a large extent on the informal social pattern of the work group. Where norms of cooperation and higher output were established because of a feeling of importance, physical conditions or financial incentives had little motivational value. People will form work groups and this can be used by management to benefit the organization.
- Weber and Bureaucracy Bureaucratic Form According to Max Weber — His Six Major Principles, The purpose of a bureaucracy is to successfully implement the actions of an organization of any size (but often associated with large entities such as government, corporations, and non-governmental organizations ), in achieving its purpose and mission, and the bureaucracy is tasked to determine how it can achieve its purpose and mission with the greatest possible efficiency and at the least cost of any resources. In the 1930s Max Weber, a German sociologist, wrote a rationale that described the bureaucratic form as being the ideal way of organizing government agencies. Max Weber's principles spread throughout both public and private sectors. Even though Weber's writings have been widely discredited, the bureaucratic form lives on. Busting Bureaucracy, June 29, 2011, http://www.bustingbureaucracy.com/excerpts/weber.htm
- Max Weber's principles spread throughout both public and private sectors. Even though Weber's writings have been widely discredited, the bureaucratic form lives on. 1. A formal hierarchical structure Each level controls the level below and is controlled by the level above. A formal hierarchy is the basis of central planning and centralized decision making. 2. Management by rules Controlling by rules allows decisions made at high levels to be executed consistently by all lower levels. 3. Organization by functional specialty Work is to be done by specialists, and people are organized into units based on the type of work they do or skills they have. 4. An "up-focused" or "in-focused" mission If the mission is described as "up-focused," then the organization's purpose is to serve the stockholders, the board, or whatever agency empowered it. If the mission is to serve the organization itself, and those within it, e.g., to produce high profits, to gain market share, or to produce a cash stream, then the mission is described as "in-focused." 5. Purposely impersonal The idea is to treat all employees equally and customers equally, and not be influenced by individual differences. 6. Employment based on technical qualifications (There may also be protection from arbitrary dismissal.) The bureaucratic form, according to Parkinson, has another attribute. 7. Predisposition to grow in staff "above the line." Weber failed to notice this, but C. Northcote Parkinson found it so common that he made it the basis of his humorous "Parkinson's law." Parkinson demonstrated that the management and professional staff tends to grow at predictable rates, almost without regard to what the line organization is doing. The bureaucratic form is so common that most people accept it as the normal way of organizing almost any endeavour. People in bureaucratic organizations generally blame the ugly side effects of bureaucracy on management, or the founders, or the owners, without awareness that the real cause is the organizing form. Busting Bureaucracy, June 29, 2011, http://www.bustingbureaucracy.com/excerpts/weber.htm Busting Bureaucracy, June 29, 2011, http://www.bustingbureaucracy.com/excerpts/weber.htm
- Max Weber's principles spread throughout both public and private sectors. Even though Weber's writings have been widely discredited, the bureaucratic form lives on. 1. A formal hierarchical structure Each level controls the level below and is controlled by the level above. A formal hierarchy is the basis of central planning and centralized decision making. 2. Management by rules Controlling by rules allows decisions made at high levels to be executed consistently by all lower levels. 3. Organization by functional specialty Work is to be done by specialists, and people are organized into units based on the type of work they do or skills they have. 4. An "up-focused" or "in-focused" mission If the mission is described as "up-focused," then the organization's purpose is to serve the stockholders, the board, or whatever agency empowered it. If the mission is to serve the organization itself, and those within it, e.g., to produce high profits, to gain market share, or to produce a cash stream, then the mission is described as "in-focused." 5. Purposely impersonal The idea is to treat all employees equally and customers equally, and not be influenced by individual differences. 6. Employment based on technical qualifications (There may also be protection from arbitrary dismissal.) The bureaucratic form, according to Parkinson, has another attribute. 7. Predisposition to grow in staff "above the line." Weber failed to notice this, but C. Northcote Parkinson found it so common that he made it the basis of his humorous "Parkinson's law." Parkinson demonstrated that the management and professional staff tends to grow at predictable rates, almost without regard to what the line organization is doing. The bureaucratic form is so common that most people accept it as the normal way of organizing almost any endeavour. People in bureaucratic organizations generally blame the ugly side effects of bureaucracy on management, or the founders, or the owners, without awareness that the real cause is the organizing form. Busting Bureaucracy, June 29, 2011, http://www.bustingbureaucracy.com/excerpts/weber.htm Busting Bureaucracy, June 29, 2011, http://www.bustingbureaucracy.com/excerpts/weber.htm
- Weberian bureaucracy Bureaucratic administration means fundamentally domination through knowledge – Max Weber As the most efficient and rational way of organizing, bureaucratization for Weber was the key part of the rational-legal authority, and furthermore, he saw it as the key process in the ongoing rationalization of the Western society. Weber's ideal bureaucracy is characterized by hierarchical organization, delineated lines of authority in a fixed area of activity, action taken on the basis of and recorded in written rules, bureaucratic officials need expert training, rules are implemented by neutral officials, career advancement depends on technical qualifications judged by organization, not individuals. The decisive reason for the advance of bureaucratic organization has always been its purely technical superiority over any other form of organization – Max Weber In order to counteract bureaucrats, the system needs entrepreneurs and politicians.
- Weberian bureaucracy Bureaucratic administration means fundamentally domination through knowledge – Max Weber As the most efficient and rational way of organizing, bureaucratization for Weber was the key part of the rational-legal authority, and furthermore, he saw it as the key process in the ongoing rationalization of the Western society. Weber's ideal bureaucracy is characterized by hierarchical organization, delineated lines of authority in a fixed area of activity, action taken on the basis of and recorded in written rules, bureaucratic officials need expert training, rules are implemented by neutral officials, career advancement depends on technical qualifications judged by organization, not individuals. The decisive reason for the advance of bureaucratic organization has always been its purely technical superiority over any other form of organization – Max Weber In order to counteract bureaucrats, the system needs entrepreneurs and politicians.
- Weberian bureaucracy Bureaucratic administration means fundamentally domination through knowledge – Max Weber As the most efficient and rational way of organizing, bureaucratization for Weber was the key part of the rational-legal authority, and furthermore, he saw it as the key process in the ongoing rationalization of the Western society. Weber's ideal bureaucracy is characterized by hierarchical organization, delineated lines of authority in a fixed area of activity, action taken on the basis of and recorded in written rules, bureaucratic officials need expert training, rules are implemented by neutral officials, career advancement depends on technical qualifications judged by organization, not individuals. The decisive reason for the advance of bureaucratic organization has always been its purely technical superiority over any other form of organization – Max Weber In order to counteract bureaucrats, the system needs entrepreneurs and politicians.
- Organizational theory is a set of ideas and studies as to how people interact in groups. A basic understanding of organizational theory is key if you are running a business because you will likely have employees. It is important to understand the principles of how they act around one another, how they act with you, what motivates them and what kind of incentives they should have. Understanding organizational theory is the first step towards understanding your employees and yourself.
- Organizations that create small amounts of high-value products or services (such as computer programs, legal advice or copywriting) tend to focus more on the people making the product and less on the product itself. This is because each individual person contributes more value in these situations; small-batch companies can do more with less. They have smaller staff, fewer managers and a higher level of specialization
- Some companies create large amounts of products and services. Rather than sell small amounts of products for a large amount of money they do the opposite (relative to cost). These companies follow a different principle of organization. The lower levels of these companies will have large amounts of less-skilled people who earn less pay, and more managers.
- Classical theory is closely related to large batch production, and indeed came about in the early 20th century when most organizations were manufacturing companies. It follows a scientific method: examining every factor involved in production, adjusting one at a time, and assessing whether it increases or decreases productivity. Classical theory is extremely effective on paper because it reduces people to economic actors; it assumes their performance is directly related to how much money they make, when the reality is that people are much more complex. However, classical organizational theory is important because it forms a framework on which other theories can be built.
- Neoclassical theory is a more modern, versatile theory of organization. It recognizes the fact that workers often behave irrationally, responding to non-economic incentives such as increased lighting or a better sense of a connection between their labor and the finished product.
- Centralization vs Decentralization Centralized organizations are essentially bureaucracies. Everyone has to report to a superior before they make decisions, and everything is eventually run by the head office. A decentralized organization, on the other hand, is one that lets managers make their own decisions and focuses on results rather than following a set-in-stone process. Both of these can work, depending on the needs and culture of the organization in question, so it is important to understand the benefits and drawbacks of both of them. E-how, June 29, 2011, http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8509180_principles-organizational-theory.html
- Centralization vs Decentralization Centralized organizations are essentially bureaucracies. Everyone has to report to a superior before they make decisions, and everything is eventually run by the head office. A decentralized organization, on the other hand, is one that lets managers make their own decisions and focuses on results rather than following a set-in-stone process. Both of these can work, depending on the needs and culture of the organization in question, so it is important to understand the benefits and drawbacks of both of them. E-how, June 29, 2011, http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8509180_principles-organizational-theory.html
- Centralization vs Decentralization Centralized organizations are essentially bureaucracies. Everyone has to report to a superior before they make decisions, and everything is eventually run by the head office. A decentralized organization, on the other hand, is one that lets managers make their own decisions and focuses on results rather than following a set-in-stone process. Both of these can work, depending on the needs and culture of the organization in question, so it is important to understand the benefits and drawbacks of both of them. E-how, June 29, 2011, http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8509180_principles-organizational-theory.html
- Organizational culture is “a cognitive framework consisting of attitudes, values, behavioral norms, and expectations shared by the organization’s members.” Organizational cultures help to establish a sense of identity for employees within the organization and therefore can facilitate comfort and a greater likelihood of internalizing organization goals. Organizational culture also provides a status quo and maintains stability in processes, communication and role interaction. Culture is enforced in a number of ways, such as by ceremony, symbols and language. Ceremonies that commemorate employees demonstrating “excellence” as evidenced by exemplifying organizational values demonstrate in front of a large audience those values to be celebrated while also reinforcing them. Symbols, such as mission statements or encouragement slogans can constantly reinforce the vision the organization wants each individual to be guided by. Special language can also help to define a culture and allow an individual to identify with it. The presence of culture demands uniformity. Managers must consider the consequence of paradigm shifts and plan in detail implementing changes. Implement new paradigms require the complete support of the administration, and should be able to address the needs of the employee working body.
- Organizational culture is “a cognitive framework consisting of attitudes, values, behavioral norms, and expectations shared by the organization’s members.” Organizational cultures help to establish a sense of identity for employees within the organization and therefore can facilitate comfort and a greater likelihood of internalizing organization goals. Organizational culture also provides a status quo and maintains stability in processes, communication and role interaction. Culture is enforced in a number of ways, such as by ceremony, symbols and language. Ceremonies that commemorate employees demonstrating “excellence” as evidenced by exemplifying organizational values demonstrate in front of a large audience those values to be celebrated while also reinforcing them. Symbols, such as mission statements or encouragement slogans can constantly reinforce the vision the organization wants each individual to be guided by. Special language can also help to define a culture and allow an individual to identify with it. The presence of culture demands uniformity. Managers must consider the consequence of paradigm shifts and plan in detail implementing changes. Implement new paradigms require the complete support of the administration, and should be able to address the needs of the employee working body.
- Organizational culture is “a cognitive framework consisting of attitudes, values, behavioral norms, and expectations shared by the organization’s members.” Organizational cultures help to establish a sense of identity for employees within the organization and therefore can facilitate comfort and a greater likelihood of internalizing organization goals. Organizational culture also provides a status quo and maintains stability in processes, communication and role interaction. Culture is enforced in a number of ways, such as by ceremony, symbols and language. Ceremonies that commemorate employees demonstrating “excellence” as evidenced by exemplifying organizational values demonstrate in front of a large audience those values to be celebrated while also reinforcing them. Symbols, such as mission statements or encouragement slogans can constantly reinforce the vision the organization wants each individual to be guided by. Special language can also help to define a culture and allow an individual to identify with it. The presence of culture demands uniformity. Managers must consider the consequence of paradigm shifts and plan in detail implementing changes. Implement new paradigms require the complete support of the administration, and should be able to address the needs of the employee working body.
- This definition continues to explain organizational values , described as "beliefs and ideas about what kinds of goals members of an organization should pursue and ideas about the appropriate kinds or standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve these goals. From organizational values develop organizational norms, guidelines, or expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular situations and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another."
- Strong/weak cultures Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. In such environments, strong cultures help firms operate like well-oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there. Conversely, there is weak culture where there is little alignment with organizational values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and bureaucracy. Research shows that organizations that foster strong cultures have clear values that give employees a reason to embrace the culture. A "strong" culture may be especially beneficial to firms operating in the service sector since members of these organizations are responsible for delivering the service and for evaluations important constituents make about firms. Research indicates that organizations may derive the following benefits from developing strong and productive cultures: Better aligning the company towards achieving its vision, mission, and goals High employee motivation and loyalty Increased team cohesiveness among the company’s various departments and divisions Promoting consistency and encouraging coordination and control within the company Shaping employee behavior at work, enabling the organization to be more efficient Where culture is strong—people do things because they believe it is the right thing to do—there is a risk of another phenomenon, Groupthink . Innovative organizations need individuals who are prepared to challenge the status quo—be it group-think or bureaucracy, and also need procedures to implement new ideas effectively.
- Strong/weak cultures Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. In such environments, strong cultures help firms operate like well-oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there. Conversely, there is weak culture where there is little alignment with organizational values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and bureaucracy. Research shows that organizations that foster strong cultures have clear values that give employees a reason to embrace the culture. A "strong" culture may be especially beneficial to firms operating in the service sector since members of these organizations are responsible for delivering the service and for evaluations important constituents make about firms. Research indicates that organizations may derive the following benefits from developing strong and productive cultures: Better aligning the company towards achieving its vision, mission, and goals High employee motivation and loyalty Increased team cohesiveness among the company’s various departments and divisions Promoting consistency and encouraging coordination and control within the company Shaping employee behavior at work, enabling the organization to be more efficient Where culture is strong—people do things because they believe it is the right thing to do—there is a risk of another phenomenon, Groupthink . Innovative organizations need individuals who are prepared to challenge the status quo—be it group-think or bureaucracy, and also need procedures to implement new ideas effectively.
- Characteristics of healthy organizational cultures Organizations should strive for what is considered a “healthy” organizational culture in order to increase productivity, growth, efficiency and reduce employee turnover and other counterproductive behavior. A variety of characteristics describe a healthy culture, including: Acceptance and appreciation for diversity Regard for and fair treatment of each employee as well as respect for each employee’s contribution to the company Employee pride and enthusiasm for the organization and the work performed Equal opportunity for each employee to realize their full potential within the company Strong communication with all employees regarding policies and company issues Strong company leaders with a strong sense of direction and purpose Ability to compete in industry innovation and customer service, as well as price Lower than average turnover rates (perpetuated by a healthy culture) Investment in learning, training, and employee knowledge
- Characteristics of healthy organizational cultures Organizations should strive for what is considered a “healthy” organizational culture in order to increase productivity, growth, efficiency and reduce employee turnover and other counterproductive behavior. A variety of characteristics describe a healthy culture, including: Acceptance and appreciation for diversity Regard for and fair treatment of each employee as well as respect for each employee’s contribution to the company Employee pride and enthusiasm for the organization and the work performed Equal opportunity for each employee to realize their full potential within the company Strong communication with all employees regarding policies and company issues Strong company leaders with a strong sense of direction and purpose Ability to compete in industry innovation and customer service, as well as price Lower than average turnover rates (perpetuated by a healthy culture) Investment in learning, training, and employee knowledge
- Characteristics of healthy organizational cultures Organizations should strive for what is considered a “healthy” organizational culture in order to increase productivity, growth, efficiency and reduce employee turnover and other counterproductive behavior. A variety of characteristics describe a healthy culture, including: Acceptance and appreciation for diversity Regard for and fair treatment of each employee as well as respect for each employee’s contribution to the company Employee pride and enthusiasm for the organization and the work performed Equal opportunity for each employee to realize their full potential within the company Strong communication with all employees regarding policies and company issues Strong company leaders with a strong sense of direction and purpose Ability to compete in industry innovation and customer service, as well as price Lower than average turnover rates (perpetuated by a healthy culture) Investment in learning, training, and employee knowledge
- Characteristics of healthy organizational cultures Organizations should strive for what is considered a “healthy” organizational culture in order to increase productivity, growth, efficiency and reduce employee turnover and other counterproductive behavior. A variety of characteristics describe a healthy culture, including: Acceptance and appreciation for diversity Regard for and fair treatment of each employee as well as respect for each employee’s contribution to the company Employee pride and enthusiasm for the organization and the work performed Equal opportunity for each employee to realize their full potential within the company Strong communication with all employees regarding policies and company issues Strong company leaders with a strong sense of direction and purpose Ability to compete in industry innovation and customer service, as well as price Lower than average turnover rates (perpetuated by a healthy culture) Investment in learning, training, and employee knowledge
- Characteristics of healthy organizational cultures Organizations should strive for what is considered a “healthy” organizational culture in order to increase productivity, growth, efficiency and reduce employee turnover and other counterproductive behavior. A variety of characteristics describe a healthy culture, including: Acceptance and appreciation for diversity Regard for and fair treatment of each employee as well as respect for each employee’s contribution to the company Employee pride and enthusiasm for the organization and the work performed Equal opportunity for each employee to realize their full potential within the company Strong communication with all employees regarding policies and company issues Strong company leaders with a strong sense of direction and purpose Ability to compete in industry innovation and customer service, as well as price Lower than average turnover rates (perpetuated by a healthy culture) Investment in learning, training, and employee knowledge
- Charles Handy Charles Handy (1985) popularized the 1972 work of Roger Harrison of looking at culture which some scholars have used to link organizational structure to organizational culture. He describes Harrison's four types thus: A Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the center like a web. Power and influence spread out from a central figure or group. Power desires from the top person and personal relationships with that individual matters more than any formal title of position. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy ; swift decisions can ensue. In a Role Culture , people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power derives from a person's position and little scope exists for expert power. Controlled by procedures, roles descriptions and authority definitions. Predictable and consistent systems and procedures are highly valued. By contrast, in a Task Culture , teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure . It is all a small team approach, who are highly skilled and specialist in their own markets of experience. A Person Culture exists where all individuals believe themselves superior to the organization. Survival can become difficult for such organizations, since the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue the organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm. Wikipedia, June 29, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture
- Charles Handy Charles Handy (1985) popularized the 1972 work of Roger Harrison of looking at culture which some scholars have used to link organizational structure to organizational culture. He describes Harrison's four types thus: A Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the center like a web. Power and influence spread out from a central figure or group. Power desires from the top person and personal relationships with that individual matters more than any formal title of position. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy ; swift decisions can ensue. In a Role Culture , people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power derives from a person's position and little scope exists for expert power. Controlled by procedures, roles descriptions and authority definitions. Predictable and consistent systems and procedures are highly valued. By contrast, in a Task Culture , teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure . It is all a small team approach, who are highly skilled and specialist in their own markets of experience. A Person Culture exists where all individuals believe themselves superior to the organization. Survival can become difficult for such organizations, since the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue the organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm. Wikipedia, June 29, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture
- Charles Handy Charles Handy (1985) popularized the 1972 work of Roger Harrison of looking at culture which some scholars have used to link organizational structure to organizational culture. He describes Harrison's four types thus: A Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the center like a web. Power and influence spread out from a central figure or group. Power desires from the top person and personal relationships with that individual matters more than any formal title of position. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy ; swift decisions can ensue. In a Role Culture , people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power derives from a person's position and little scope exists for expert power. Controlled by procedures, roles descriptions and authority definitions. Predictable and consistent systems and procedures are highly valued. By contrast, in a Task Culture , teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure . It is all a small team approach, who are highly skilled and specialist in their own markets of experience. A Person Culture exists where all individuals believe themselves superior to the organization. Survival can become difficult for such organizations, since the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue the organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm. Wikipedia, June 29, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture
- Charles Handy Charles Handy (1985) popularized the 1972 work of Roger Harrison of looking at culture which some scholars have used to link organizational structure to organizational culture. He describes Harrison's four types thus: A Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the center like a web. Power and influence spread out from a central figure or group. Power desires from the top person and personal relationships with that individual matters more than any formal title of position. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy ; swift decisions can ensue. In a Role Culture , people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power derives from a person's position and little scope exists for expert power. Controlled by procedures, roles descriptions and authority definitions. Predictable and consistent systems and procedures are highly valued. By contrast, in a Task Culture , teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure . It is all a small team approach, who are highly skilled and specialist in their own markets of experience. A Person Culture exists where all individuals believe themselves superior to the organization. Survival can become difficult for such organizations, since the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue the organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm. Wikipedia, June 29, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture
- Charles Handy Charles Handy (1985) popularized the 1972 work of Roger Harrison of looking at culture which some scholars have used to link organizational structure to organizational culture. He describes Harrison's four types thus: A Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the center like a web. Power and influence spread out from a central figure or group. Power desires from the top person and personal relationships with that individual matters more than any formal title of position. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy ; swift decisions can ensue. In a Role Culture , people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power derives from a person's position and little scope exists for expert power. Controlled by procedures, roles descriptions and authority definitions. Predictable and consistent systems and procedures are highly valued. By contrast, in a Task Culture , teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure . It is all a small team approach, who are highly skilled and specialist in their own markets of experience. A Person Culture exists where all individuals believe themselves superior to the organization. Survival can become difficult for such organizations, since the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue the organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm. Wikipedia, June 29, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture
- Industrial/Organizational Psychology Overview Guion (1965) defines I–O psychology as "the scientific study of the relationship between man and the world of work:... in the process of making a living" (p. 817). Blum and Naylor (1968) define it as "simply the application or extension of psychological facts and principles to the problems concerning human beings operating within the context of business and industry" (p. 4). I–O psychology has historically subsumed two broad areas of study, as evident by its name, although this distinction is largely artificial and many topics cut across both areas. It has roots in social psychology; organizational psychologists examine the role of the work environment in performance and other outcomes including job satisfaction and health. Sometimes, I–O psychology is considered a sister field or branch of organizational studies , organizational science, organizational behavior, human resources, and/or management, but there is no universally accepted classification system for these related fields. Common research and practice areas for I–O psychologists include: Job performance Job analysis /competency modeling Personnel recruitment and selection Student/educational selection and assessment Judgment and decision making Performance appraisal /management Individual assessment (knowledge, skills, and ability testing, personality assessment, work sample tests, assessment centers) Psychometrics Compensation Training and training evaluation Employment law Work motivation Job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction , commitment , organizational citizenship , and retaliation) Occupational health and safety Work/life balance Human factors and decision making Organizational culture /climate Organizational surveys Leadership and executive coaching Ethics Diversity Job design Human resources Organizational development (OD) Organizational Research Methods Technology in the workplace Group/ team performance Wikipedia, June 30, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_organizational_psychology
- Industrial/Organizational Psychology Overview Guion (1965) defines I–O psychology as "the scientific study of the relationship between man and the world of work:... in the process of making a living" (p. 817). Blum and Naylor (1968) define it as "simply the application or extension of psychological facts and principles to the problems concerning human beings operating within the context of business and industry" (p. 4). I–O psychology has historically subsumed two broad areas of study, as evident by its name, although this distinction is largely artificial and many topics cut across both areas. It has roots in social psychology; organizational psychologists examine the role of the work environment in performance and other outcomes including job satisfaction and health. Sometimes, I–O psychology is considered a sister field or branch of organizational studies , organizational science, organizational behavior, human resources, and/or management, but there is no universally accepted classification system for these related fields. Common research and practice areas for I–O psychologists include: Job performance Job analysis /competency modeling Personnel recruitment and selection Student/educational selection and assessment Judgment and decision making Performance appraisal /management Individual assessment (knowledge, skills, and ability testing, personality assessment, work sample tests, assessment centers) Psychometrics Compensation Training and training evaluation Employment law Work motivation Job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction , commitment , organizational citizenship , and retaliation) Occupational health and safety Work/life balance Human factors and decision making Organizational culture /climate Organizational surveys Leadership and executive coaching Ethics Diversity Job design Human resources Organizational development (OD) Organizational Research Methods Technology in the workplace
- Common research and practice areas for I–O psychologists include: Job performance Job analysis /competency modeling Personnel recruitment and selection Student/educational selection and assessment Judgment and decision making Performance appraisal /management Individual assessment (knowledge, skills, and ability testing, personality assessment, work sample tests, assessment centers) Psychometrics Compensation Training and training evaluation Employment law Work motivation Job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction , commitment , organizational citizenship , and retaliation) Occupational health and safety Work/life balance Human factors and decision making Organizational culture /climate Organizational surveys Leadership and executive coaching Ethics Diversity Job design Human resources Organizational development (OD) Organizational Research Methods Technology in the workplace Group/ team performance
- Common research and practice areas for I–O psychologists include: Job performance Job analysis /competency modeling Personnel recruitment and selection Student/educational selection and assessment Judgment and decision making Performance appraisal /management Individual assessment (knowledge, skills, and ability testing, personality assessment, work sample tests, assessment centers) Psychometrics Compensation Training and training evaluation Employment law Work motivation Job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction , commitment , organizational citizenship , and retaliation) Occupational health and safety Work/life balance Human factors and decision making Organizational culture /climate Organizational surveys Leadership and executive coaching Ethics Diversity Job design Human resources Organizational development (OD) Organizational Research Methods Technology in the workplace Group/ team performance
- Common research and practice areas for I–O psychologists include: Job performance Job analysis /competency modeling Personnel recruitment and selection Student/educational selection and assessment Judgment and decision making Performance appraisal /management Individual assessment (knowledge, skills, and ability testing, personality assessment, work sample tests, assessment centers) Psychometrics Compensation Training and training evaluation Employment law Work motivation Job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction , commitment , organizational citizenship , and retaliation) Occupational health and safety Work/life balance Human factors and decision making Organizational culture /climate Organizational surveys Leadership and executive coaching Ethics Diversity Job design Human resources Organizational development (OD) Organizational Research Methods Technology in the workplace Group/ team performance
- Common research and practice areas for I–O psychologists include: Job performance Job analysis /competency modeling Personnel recruitment and selection Student/educational selection and assessment Judgment and decision making Performance appraisal /management Individual assessment (knowledge, skills, and ability testing, personality assessment, work sample tests, assessment centers) Psychometrics Compensation Training and training evaluation Employment law Work motivation Job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction , commitment , organizational citizenship , and retaliation) Occupational health and safety Work/life balance Human factors and decision making Organizational culture /climate Organizational surveys Leadership and executive coaching Ethics Diversity Job design Human resources Organizational development (OD) Organizational Research Methods Technology in the workplace Group/ team performance
- A learning organization is the term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself. [1] Learning organizations develop as a result of the pressures facing modern organizations and enables them to remain competitive in the business environment. [2] A learning organization has five main features; systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision and team learning.
- A learning organization is the term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself. [1] Learning organizations develop as a result of the pressures facing modern organizations and enables them to remain competitive in the business environment. [2] A learning organization has five main features; systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision and team learning.