The Human Relations movement purports that:
Administrators work through and with people; hence they must be sensitive to the human
factor.
Formal and informal organizations coexist and complement each other; the administrator
should exploit informal organizations.
The organizational structure should allow for free interplay since administration is a shared
responsibility.
Economic incentives (wages) are not the only significant motivators; other non-economic
factors such as words of appreciation and promotions are also effective.
Workers use informal organizations as a protection against arbitrary decisions.
Informal leaders are very important and should be used as supervisors because people may
take instructions from them more easily.
Individuals are active human beings, not mere passive parts of a machine.
From the summary above, it is evident that the Human Relations Movement was a shift from
organizational emphasis to employee motivation. It had several effects:
i) Decentralization of responsibilities by the administrator granted workers some degree of
autonomy in planning how to run organizations.
ii) Managers made it easy for workers to cooperate in achieving organizational aims.
iii) Workers were given opportunities to enhance personal growth and development.
iv) The movement had an employee-oriented approach. It was concerned with people and
their needs. Workers were recognized as human beings.
The Behavioural Science Movement
The Scientific Management movement ignored social relations while the Human Relations
movement tended to ignore formal structures. The Behavioural Science movement is an
outgrowth of human relations studies. According to Okumbe (1998), the movement views
workers' motivation in terms of factors like interpersonal relations, management style, workers’
needs and values, and the working environment.
The Behavioural Science movement is an integrated approach to management. It takes into
consideration ideas from Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Political Science and
Economics. It is often referred to as the interdisciplinary approach to administration.
, This movement helps administrators to understand that the way people behave in organizations
cannot be explained by human interactions alone, but also by factors such as organizational
structure, job design, technology and management style.
This movement has the following important effects on educational settings:
It sees administrators emerging from different disciplines and not necessarily educational
institutions;
It reveals that today, those who train as school administrators are also expected to have
some knowledge of Social Sciences like Economics and Government.
When applied to an educational setting, the Behavioural Science Movement would therefore
imply that the number of pupils admitted in a school should be based on the availability of inputs
e.g. staff, buildings, and teaching materials. Parents and the community are also important
factors that may affect the outcome of the various activities in the school.
Key Administrative Processes
The processes of administration can be traced historically from the contributions of Henri Fayol
(1841-1925). He considered the elements of management to be planning, organizing,
coordinating, controlling, and commanding. Gulick and Urwick (1937) discussed manager's
work in terms of the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating,
reporting, and budgeting. These processes are usually referred to by the use of an acronym
POSDCORB.
(i) Planning
The term planning could be used to refer to the rational means for projecting and assessing
resources and objectives. It is a process of directing focus to the preparation of future activities
for an organization (Bennars, Otiende, and Boisvert, 1994). Planning is part and parcel of
educational administration because it helps in the formulation of educational philosophies and
policies, general goals, and objectives.
Basic Planning Process
Formal planning encompasses certain specific steps (Bateman and Snell, 2004). These are:
Administrators work through and with people; hence they must be sensitive to the human
factor.
Formal and informal organizations coexist and complement each other; the administrator
should exploit informal organizations.
The organizational structure should allow for free interplay since administration is a shared
responsibility.
Economic incentives (wages) are not the only significant motivators; other non-economic
factors such as words of appreciation and promotions are also effective.
Workers use informal organizations as a protection against arbitrary decisions.
Informal leaders are very important and should be used as supervisors because people may
take instructions from them more easily.
Individuals are active human beings, not mere passive parts of a machine.
From the summary above, it is evident that the Human Relations Movement was a shift from
organizational emphasis to employee motivation. It had several effects:
i) Decentralization of responsibilities by the administrator granted workers some degree of
autonomy in planning how to run organizations.
ii) Managers made it easy for workers to cooperate in achieving organizational aims.
iii) Workers were given opportunities to enhance personal growth and development.
iv) The movement had an employee-oriented approach. It was concerned with people and
their needs. Workers were recognized as human beings.
The Behavioural Science Movement
The Scientific Management movement ignored social relations while the Human Relations
movement tended to ignore formal structures. The Behavioural Science movement is an
outgrowth of human relations studies. According to Okumbe (1998), the movement views
workers' motivation in terms of factors like interpersonal relations, management style, workers’
needs and values, and the working environment.
The Behavioural Science movement is an integrated approach to management. It takes into
consideration ideas from Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Political Science and
Economics. It is often referred to as the interdisciplinary approach to administration.
, This movement helps administrators to understand that the way people behave in organizations
cannot be explained by human interactions alone, but also by factors such as organizational
structure, job design, technology and management style.
This movement has the following important effects on educational settings:
It sees administrators emerging from different disciplines and not necessarily educational
institutions;
It reveals that today, those who train as school administrators are also expected to have
some knowledge of Social Sciences like Economics and Government.
When applied to an educational setting, the Behavioural Science Movement would therefore
imply that the number of pupils admitted in a school should be based on the availability of inputs
e.g. staff, buildings, and teaching materials. Parents and the community are also important
factors that may affect the outcome of the various activities in the school.
Key Administrative Processes
The processes of administration can be traced historically from the contributions of Henri Fayol
(1841-1925). He considered the elements of management to be planning, organizing,
coordinating, controlling, and commanding. Gulick and Urwick (1937) discussed manager's
work in terms of the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating,
reporting, and budgeting. These processes are usually referred to by the use of an acronym
POSDCORB.
(i) Planning
The term planning could be used to refer to the rational means for projecting and assessing
resources and objectives. It is a process of directing focus to the preparation of future activities
for an organization (Bennars, Otiende, and Boisvert, 1994). Planning is part and parcel of
educational administration because it helps in the formulation of educational philosophies and
policies, general goals, and objectives.
Basic Planning Process
Formal planning encompasses certain specific steps (Bateman and Snell, 2004). These are:
