H2 - machine
Classical management
Theorists wanted an organization to be a network with a clear chain of command, as this allowed
commands to travel down from the top in a pre-determined manner.
These principles apply to a centralizes bureaucracy and the modified divisionalized organization.
Achieving decentralization is achieved by MBO (management by objectives), PPBS (planning,
programming, budgeting systems) and MIS (management information systems(used for top-down
control)).
Classical theorists forgot the human aspect of the organisation.
Scientific management
Is managing by splitting up the labour process and improving it where possible. Five principles are
important (Taylor)
1. Shift all responsibility for the organisation of work from the worker to the manager.
2. Use scientific methods to get to the most efficient way of doing work
3. Select the best person to perform the job thus designed
4. Train the worker to do the work efficiently
5. Monitor worker performance to ensure procedures are followed and results are achieved
6. (gebruik zo nodig financiële prikkels)
Mechanistic approach
Works like charm when the conditions are just right. It can be very effective. However, it can also
cause: organizations that have difficulty adapting; mindlessness and unquestioning bureaucracy;
uncertainty with intrinsic motivation of workers and other motivations; dehumanisation
Taylor
Advantages of scientific management (over initiative and incentive):
Their hard work is almost permanent, not irregular
More responsibility goes to the managers: 4 new duties
o Deliberate gathering of all traditional knowledge regarding the labour process
o Scientific selection and then progressive development of workmen
o Bringing the science and scientifically selected and trained workmen together
o Create an equal division between the work given to workman and to management
H3 – organism
Within an organisation there are different needs
at play. The organisation can use these needs to
point themselves into a certain direction.
, Organisations are open system – Because there are so many interests at play, an organisation is a
very open system that is dependant on many environmental factors too.
Focus on:
environment
subsystems
pragmatic use of other systems to find similarities/differences to identify dysfunctions
Important concept about organizations as open systems
Homeostasis – self-regulation and the ability to maintain a steady state
Entropy – closed systems are entropic and deteriorate and run down
Structure, function, differentiation and integration
Requisite variety – be as diverse internally as you can expect your environment to be
Equifinality – many ways of arriving at a given end state
System evolution – depends on the ability to move to more complex forms of differentiation
and integration
Contingency theory
Key points
Organizations are open systems that need careful management to satisfy and balance
internal needs and to adapt to environmental circumstances
There is no one best way of organising. The appropriate form depends on the kind of task or
environment with which one is dealing
Management must be concerned, above all else, with achieving alignments and ‘good fits’
Different approaches to management may be necessary to perform different tasks within
the same organisation
Different types or ‘species’ of organisations are needed in different types of environments
The more volatile the environment is, the better an organisation needs to be able to adapt. (example
of electronic markets, very innovative markets need fluid organisations)
* Burns and Stalker for extra info on mechanistic and organistic organisations.
Promoting organizational health and development
There are questions that can be asked to determine in what state an organisation is.
What is the nature of the organisation’s environment?
What kind of strategy is employed?
What kind of technology (mechanical and nonmechanical) is being used
What kind of people are employed, and what is the dominant “culture” or ethos within the
organisation?
How is the organisation structured, and what are the dominant managerial philosophies?
These question all come down to the five inter-related subsystems of an organisation being:
Strategic
Technological
Human/cultural
Structural
Managerial
Variety of species (of organisations)
Machine bureaucracy – as described in chapter 2
Classical management
Theorists wanted an organization to be a network with a clear chain of command, as this allowed
commands to travel down from the top in a pre-determined manner.
These principles apply to a centralizes bureaucracy and the modified divisionalized organization.
Achieving decentralization is achieved by MBO (management by objectives), PPBS (planning,
programming, budgeting systems) and MIS (management information systems(used for top-down
control)).
Classical theorists forgot the human aspect of the organisation.
Scientific management
Is managing by splitting up the labour process and improving it where possible. Five principles are
important (Taylor)
1. Shift all responsibility for the organisation of work from the worker to the manager.
2. Use scientific methods to get to the most efficient way of doing work
3. Select the best person to perform the job thus designed
4. Train the worker to do the work efficiently
5. Monitor worker performance to ensure procedures are followed and results are achieved
6. (gebruik zo nodig financiële prikkels)
Mechanistic approach
Works like charm when the conditions are just right. It can be very effective. However, it can also
cause: organizations that have difficulty adapting; mindlessness and unquestioning bureaucracy;
uncertainty with intrinsic motivation of workers and other motivations; dehumanisation
Taylor
Advantages of scientific management (over initiative and incentive):
Their hard work is almost permanent, not irregular
More responsibility goes to the managers: 4 new duties
o Deliberate gathering of all traditional knowledge regarding the labour process
o Scientific selection and then progressive development of workmen
o Bringing the science and scientifically selected and trained workmen together
o Create an equal division between the work given to workman and to management
H3 – organism
Within an organisation there are different needs
at play. The organisation can use these needs to
point themselves into a certain direction.
, Organisations are open system – Because there are so many interests at play, an organisation is a
very open system that is dependant on many environmental factors too.
Focus on:
environment
subsystems
pragmatic use of other systems to find similarities/differences to identify dysfunctions
Important concept about organizations as open systems
Homeostasis – self-regulation and the ability to maintain a steady state
Entropy – closed systems are entropic and deteriorate and run down
Structure, function, differentiation and integration
Requisite variety – be as diverse internally as you can expect your environment to be
Equifinality – many ways of arriving at a given end state
System evolution – depends on the ability to move to more complex forms of differentiation
and integration
Contingency theory
Key points
Organizations are open systems that need careful management to satisfy and balance
internal needs and to adapt to environmental circumstances
There is no one best way of organising. The appropriate form depends on the kind of task or
environment with which one is dealing
Management must be concerned, above all else, with achieving alignments and ‘good fits’
Different approaches to management may be necessary to perform different tasks within
the same organisation
Different types or ‘species’ of organisations are needed in different types of environments
The more volatile the environment is, the better an organisation needs to be able to adapt. (example
of electronic markets, very innovative markets need fluid organisations)
* Burns and Stalker for extra info on mechanistic and organistic organisations.
Promoting organizational health and development
There are questions that can be asked to determine in what state an organisation is.
What is the nature of the organisation’s environment?
What kind of strategy is employed?
What kind of technology (mechanical and nonmechanical) is being used
What kind of people are employed, and what is the dominant “culture” or ethos within the
organisation?
How is the organisation structured, and what are the dominant managerial philosophies?
These question all come down to the five inter-related subsystems of an organisation being:
Strategic
Technological
Human/cultural
Structural
Managerial
Variety of species (of organisations)
Machine bureaucracy – as described in chapter 2
