Management Theory And Practices For Sustainable Operation

Compare Henry Fayol Theories with Elton Mayo and Max Weber's Theory

Discuss about the Management Theory and Practices for Sustainable Operation.

Management is referred to as a universal process concerning the skills and process being used. In other words, skills can be transferred from one environment and used in another effectively. Organizations, either profit making or non-profit making, focus on stability, security and sustainable operation. It's only through acceptable management practices that core organization activities can be achieved (Appleby, 1991, p. 34).

Management is referred to as an applied techniques which relate closely relates to other fields such as psychology, economics, political science, finance and sociology among others. Therefore, management ideas, as known as theories, are developed based on periods such as scientific management, early influences, human relations and modern influences (Wilkinson, 2006, p. 35).

Henry Fayol, Elton Mayo, and Max Weber are three renowned management theorists who have contributed immensely to the understanding of management concepts. Managers have for many occasions based their decisions based on the management theories and principles that were generated by these theorists. This paper will study the theories developed by each one of them as well as conducting the similarities and differences that exist among them (Brownlie, 2015, p. 76).

Fayol was a renowned French theorist and industrialist who was a qualified engineer in the mining sector. During his working days, he worked for a single company which led to his rising in rank to the top most management level. Through his management experience, Fayol developed a widely accepted administrative management theory. He believed that managers depend more on administrative management and less on technical knowledge of their organizations to be a success.  Fayol is the first practicing manager to develop management theories (Raczkowski, 2016, p. 48).

According to Fayol, an administrative manager should divide their activities into six groups namely;

• Commercial (selling, exchange, buying),
• Technical (manufacturing, production),
• Financial (creating and investing capital),
• Security (protecting employees and property),
• Accounting (stocktaking, costing, statistics, balance sheet).

Fayol states that management encompasses forecasting and planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. Fayol's principle of management does not treat management as an exclusive role of the managers but being part and parcel of all the stakeholders. He also maintained that the above mentioned, management activities are independent of each other and it is the responsibility of the management integrate them and achieve the enterprises' goals (Chandan, 2012, p. 113).

From Fayol's management principle, we can deduce that people are born as managers but this is a skill that is learned. Fayol created management ideas that can be applied in any organization.

Henry Fayol and Administrate Management Theories

In his book, The General Principles of Management, Fayol have listed fourteen principles that can be applied in administrative management. Although the list is not exhaustive, Fayol holds that they helped him all through his management career (Lowe, 2013, p. 67). The Fourteen principles are;

1. Division of labour which helps in developing familiarity and practice on a given task.
2. Authority principle which states that the orders given by the management should have some level of responsibility.
3. Discipline principle states that the management should behave in accordance with the agreements between.
4. There must be a unit of command i.e. an organization should have a uniform unit that gives directives.
5. Direction unity: there should be one plan and head governing activities within a group.
6. Incorporating interests by individuals to an organizational interest: The management should ensure that the individual's interest does not surpass that of the organization.
7. Remuneration offered should be fair to both the enterprise and the employees.
8. Centralization of the activities should be evident.
9. Order; operations should be at right place, in the right time and being executed by the right people.
10. Equity principle stating that the organization should combine both justice and kindness towards its employees.
11. Stability of tenure; the employees especially the managers should be given adequate time to adapt to the company practices.
12. Initiative principle states that each management level should be encouraged to have some level of innovation and taking initiatives towards achieving the organizational goals (Chandan, 2010, p. 43).
13. And, Esprit de corps principle which advocates for harmony and teamwork.

Although Fayol emphasized on a hierarchical aspect of organizational management, he understood the need of avoiding excessive mechanistic approach on the employees. Hence, he introduced both the Esprit de Corps and initiative principles to address both individual and groups need in an organization (Kwok, 2014, p. 97).

The difference between Fayol and the current management theorist is that while the former viewed the principles within the context of logical company structure, the following views that as adaptive mechanisms that are used by organizations to change the employees' behaviours. The modern theorists hold that organization should create a platform that meets both its needs and those of its employees (Chandler, 1993, p. 11).

One achievement by Fayol is his creation of 14 management principles that have been absorbed by modern organizations. Nevertheless, his principles have come under harsh criticisms because they are ineffective when an organization faces rapid change.

Max Weber was an academician and his interest on organizational management was based on the authority structure. He was interested in establishing why employees in organizations had the tendency of obeying those in authority over themselves. He named his management theory as bureaucracy after the publication of his work titled, "The Theory of Social & Economic Organization' in 1947 (Kotter, 1992, p. 113).  He used the word bureaucracy to describe a type of organization and exists practically in every public and business enterprise to a lesser or larger extent. The difference between Fayol and Weber is that whereas the former focussed on management issues, the latter focussed on organizational structure.

In his administrative management theory, Max Weber characterized his views on enterprise structure as shown below;

1. Division of labour: Here, the responsibility and authority are clearly defined and treated as official duties that have to be fulfilled by the employees.
2. Hierarchy of authority: In this type of organization, positions or offices are arranged in a hierarchical manner. There is a chain of command from the top most management level of the subordinate staff (Chowdhury, 2002, p. 23).
3. Formal selection structure: Under regular selection employees are recruited and selected based on their qualifications by examining their training or educational level.
4. Career managers structure: Manager is employed based on their field of qualification and is paid using fixed salaries.
5. Formal rules: under the former rules, the management has the responsibility of administering strict rules and organizational control which are applied uniformly (French, 2007, p. 79).

Based on the five organizational structures stated above, Weber came up with three types of legitimate authority applied in organizations namely;

1. Traditional authority- here, authority in an organization is accepted based on custom and tradition.
2. Charismatic authority- people are promoted to management level based on their loyalty and confidence.
3. Rational & Legal authority- people are given authority over others based on their position, and office held as guided by the company's rules and regulations.

However, Weber maintained that people should difference between power and authority hence the use of legitimate authority. Power is defined as forcing people to perform certain duties by using either reward of strength. Whereas, authority is defined as exercising acceptable rules on the subordinates. Therefore, Weber explains legitimate authority as an act of exercising power within the acceptable limits on the employees (Chung, 2008, p. 113).

Max Weber and Bureaucracy Theory

The key features of Weber bureaucracy theory are as shown below:

• Rules continuously govern the functions of an organization
• There is a specified level of competence among the application authority
• There is a hierarchical exercise of authority.
• Personnel is appointed based on the technical qualifications.
• The management is separated from the company owners.
• Official positions are outlined in the organizational rules and the office holders to note controls the positions.
• Actions, rules, and decisions are recorded in writing forms.

The above features govern the power to be exercised by the authority as dictated by the published practices and rules. Weber's bureaucratic management principle has been praised because it brings about efficiency in the application of authority to the subordinates (Davar, 2011, p. 45).

The Human relation theory that was published by Elton Mayo in 1941 focusses on the aspects of work satisfaction and job components in employees perspectives.

Mayo's theory popularly known as the Hawthorne Experiments are classified into three stages namely;

The experiment involved assessing the impact of single variables on the employees' performance. A section of women selected and divided into groups before being subjected to different in temperature, rest periods, working hours and the degree of illuminations. Their performance was recorded while working under these conditions (Cole, 1993, p. 56). 

The experiment found out that positive performance was not influenced by working conditions or incentives. However, factors such as esprit de corps that had been developed among the groups, and personal interest shown by the top management and the supervisors influenced the employees to perform. According to Mayo, when employees are subjected to situations develop their attitude and interest, then they are bound to perform (Davar, 2011, p. 127).

The second study by Mayo interviewed over 21,000 employees working in the plantation to assess their attitude. Some of the variables that were tested include supervision, working conditions, and morale survey. However, it was difficult to identify factors that led to employees' dissatisfaction (Cole, 2011, p. 38).

The study was used to assess who employees' attitudes change when working in groups. It was established that employees tend to develop different norms when working outside their departments. Therefore, the study stated that informal organization was important to employees' motivation.

In summary, Mayo's in his management theory found out that employees are not only motivated by money but the management and supervisors have an important ro0le to play to increase their productivity and morale. Teamwork and group spirit are important to meet the employees' satisfaction and organizational goals (Brownlie, 2015, p. 78).

Therefore, managers should understand why the employees behave in a certain manner. As well as identifying social and psychological factors that motivate them. Mayo's work became the basis of behavioral scientists such as Maslow, McGregor, and Argyris to conduct sophisticated studies on factors that motivate employees at their workplaces (Kwok, 2014, p. 76).

Conclusion

The three management theorists were concerned with different aspects of enterprise management. Fayol focussed on administrative management theory and came up with the fourteen principles of management as a guide to managers. Likewise, Max Weber with Bureaucracy theory focussed on the application of authority in the organization as a management tool. Lastly, mayo with his human relation theory focussed on how other factors part from money impact employees' performance. He established that management's interest had a major influence on the employees' behaviour. 

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