A brief history of management

“The end justifies the means” N. Machiavelli

Ancient records in China and Greece already indicate the importance of organization and administration. Outstanding scholars have referred to management activities in the running of cities, states and empires. The Roman also effectively used many basic management ideas, e.g. the scalar principle and the delegation of authority. In the period 1400 to 1450, merchants in Venice, Italy, operated various types of business organizations, such as partnerships, trusts and holding companies. Concepts of the ideal state were considered by many 16^th century writers and philosophers. In Thomas More’s Utopia, for example, his comments upon the reform of the management of Britain were radical. In his best known work The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli of Florence puts forth ideas which are still relevant today. The management of change states today that if you want your plans to be carried out you need to rely on the consent of the majority of people – exactly what Machiavelli was teaching his student a few centuries before. The object of writing the Prince was to assist a young prince in acquiring techniques of leadership. Machiavelli suggested that the leader should inspire people to greater achievements, offer rewards and incentives, and take advantage of all opportunities. He considered that survival was the main objectives of any organization and no matter what measures were taken to achieve this end, they should be taken. Scientific management was developed in 19^th century. Frederic W.Taylor (1856-1917), an American engineer, was one of the main people to be associated with this movement. In 1911 he published his book Principles of Scientific Management in which he argued that work should be studied and analyzed in a systematic and throughout way. The foundations of the administrative management were laid by a French engineer Henry Fayol (1841-1925) in his book “Administration industrielle et generale”. Max Weber (1864-1920) was a German academic with a university training in law and some years of experience as a civil servant. He became a professor of economics and one of the founders of German sociology. In his own design for an organization, Weber describes the bureaucracy. The word was originally a joke and nowadays it has a distinctly negative connotation, but to Weber it represented the ideal type for any large organization. In his conception the real authority is in the rules and the power of the officials. We are looking at a model of the organization as a well-oiled machine, which runs according to the rules.

 

Present a short overview of how basic management ideas appeared in various moments of history.

V. DISCUSSION

1. Is management an art or a science? An instinct or a set of skills and techniques that can be taught?

2. What do you think makes a good manager? Which four of the following qualities taken from job advertisements for managerial positions do you think are the most important?

a. being a good communicator and team-builder

b. being a committed, innovative self-starter

c. having excellent organizational, planning and analytical skills

d. demonstrating problem solving skills

e. being able to direct and delegate work

f. being a strategic thinker with the ability to follow through

g. being able to prioritize effectively

h. being result-oriented

i. having leadership skills: being able to motivate, inspire and lead people

j. being decisive: able to make quick decisions

k. being friendly and sociable

l. being authoritative: able to give orders

m. being persuasive: able to convince people to do things

n. having good ideas

VI. VOCABULARY PRACTICE

A) Complete the following sentences with these words:

Achieved, board of directors, communicate, innovation, supervise, manageable, performance, resources, setting

1. Managers have to decide how best to allocate the human, physical and capital _________ available to them.

2. Managers, logically, have to make sure that the jobs and tasks given to their subordinates are _______.

3. There is no point in _______ objectives if you do not _________ them to your staff.

4. Managers have to _________ their subordinates, and to measure, and try to improve their _______.

5. Managers have to check whether objectives and targets are being _______.

6. A top manager whose performance is unsatisfactory can be dismissed by the company’s _______.

7. Top managers are responsible for the _______ that will allow a company to adapt to a changing world.

B) Choose the best alternative to complete each sentence:

1. You must keep staff _______, especially when things get difficult.

a. generated b. motivated c. frustrated d. electrified

2. Weigh up the _______ of each alternative before deciding.

a. checks and balances b. assets c. pros and cons d. profits

3. A good manager must be able to handle _______ situations.

a. sensible b. impressive c. touching d. touchy

4. He decided to let things _______, so he dropped the subject until later.

a. freeze b. ice over c. cool down d. flare up

5. It’s always difficult when a team is working _______ a deadline.

a. in b. at c. to d. opposite

6. Try to ensure that each employee’s _______ is not too great.

a. workload b. working place c. work-to-rule d. working part

7. Those who can’t manage their time efficiently always have high stress _______.

a. grades b. standards c. performances d. levels

8. I hope the project continues to run as _______ as it has so far.

a. calmly b. confidently c. smoothly d. wisely

9. After _______ many unforeseen obstacles they just managed to meet their deadline.

a. overtaking b. overcoming c. overwhelming d. overriding

10. What can we do to improve _______ in this department?

a. morale b. morality c. moral d. temperament

 

 

Basic Management Functions

 

Learning objectives: