Management Process Chapter One

Rules

formal written instructions that specify actions that should be taken under different circumstances to achieve specific goals.

Hawthorne effect

Workers productivity is affected more by observation or attention received than by physical work setting. - A managers behavior or leadership approach can affect performance.

Theory Y

According to Theory Y, workers do not naturally dislike work; the work setting itself determines whether or not work is seen as a source of satisfaction or punishment. b. Given the chance or opportunity, workers will do what is good for the organization. c. Workers will exercise self-control when they are committed to organizational goals. d. It is the manager's task to create a work setting that encourages commitment to organizational objectives. e. A manager's role is not to control employees, but to provide support and advice.

Theory X

According to the assumptions of Theory X, managers believe the average worker in lazy, dislikes work and will try to do as little as possible. b. Workers have little ambition and wish to avoid responsibility. c. The central principle is that managers should closely supervise and control workers and control behaviour with rewards and punishment.

Human relations movement

Advocates behavior and leadership training of supervisors to elicit worker cooperation and improve productivity

Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor proposed that two different sets of assumptions about how work attitudes and behaviours dominate the way managers think and affect how they behave in organizations.

The Work of Mary Parker Follett.

Mary Parker Follett's writing about management was a response to her concern that Taylor was ignoring the human side of the organization. 2. Follett proposed that knowledge and expertise, and not managers' formal authority, should decide who would lead at any moment. a. She believed that power should be fluid and should flow to the person who can best help achieve organizational goals. b. Follett advocated a horizontal view of power and authority, rather than viewing the vertical chain of command as being essential to effective management.

The Hawthorne Studies and Human Relations.

Most managers ignored Follett's work and continued to follow Taylor and to increase efficiency they studied ways to improve characteristics of the work setting. 2. A series of studies was conducted from 1924-1932 at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric company.

Max Webers A bureaucratic system of administration is based on five principles:

Principle 1: In a bureaucracy, a manager's formal authority derives from the position he or she holds in an organization. i. Authority is the power to hold people accountable for their actions. ii. Authority gives managers the legal right to direct and control their subordinates' behavior. iii. In a bureaucratic system, obedience is owed to a manager because the manager occupies a position of authority and responsibility. Principle 2: In a bureaucracy, Weber believed that positions should be occupied by people based on their performance rather than on social level or personal contacts. Principle 3: Weber argued that the extent of each position's formal authority and their responsibilities, and their relationship to other positions in an organization, should be clearly specified. i. When tasks and authority are clearly specified, managers and workers clearly know what is expected of them. ii. All employees are more accountable for their actions when each person knows exactly his or her responsibilities. Principle 4: Weber stated that to exercise authority effectively in an organization when positions are arranged hierarchically, so employees know whom to report to and who reports to them. Principle 5: Weber argued that it is very important that managers create a well-defined system of rules, standard operating procedures, and norms so that they can effectively control behavior within an organization.

F.W. Taylors Four Principles to increase efficiency

Principle 1: Study the way workers perform their tasks, gather all the informal job knowledge possessed by workers, and experiment with ways of improving the way tasks are performed to increase efficiency. Principle 2: Codify the new methods of performing tasks into written work rules and standard operating procedures. Principle 3: Carefully select workers so that they possess the skills and abilities that match the needs of the task and train them to perform the tasks according to the rules and procedures established in Principle 2. Principle 4: Establish a fair or acceptable level of performance for a task and then develop a pay system that provides a higher reward for performance above the acceptable level. F.W. Taylor

Implication of Hawthorne Studies

The behaviour of managers and workers is as important as the technical aspects of the task.

Authority

The power to hold people accountable for their actions and to allocate organizational resources

Informal Organization

The system of behavioral rules and norms that emerge in a group when trying to manage or change behavior in organizations. Groups often develop elaborate procedures and norms that bind members together. The Hawthorne studies showed the importance of understanding how the feelings, thoughts, and behavior of work group members and managers affect performance.

Scientific Management

The systematic study of relationships between people and tasks (for the purpose of redesigning the work process) to increase efficiency Frederick W. Taylor defined the techniques of scientific management, the study of relationships between people and tasks for the purpose of redesigning the work process to increase efficiency. a. Taylor believed that by increasing specialization and the division of labor, the production process would become more efficient. b. This process of evaluation could best be determined using scientific management techniques rather than informal "rule of thumb" knowledge.

Bureaucracy

a formal system of organization and administration designed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Max Weber

Rules, SOPs, and norms

provide behavioral guidelines that increase the performance of a bureaucratic system.

Organizational behavior

the study of the factors that have an impact on how individuals and groups respond to and act in organizations.

Norms

unwritten, informal codes of conduct that prescribe how people should act in particular situations and are considered important by most members of a group or organization

Standard operating procedures (SOPs)

very specific sets of written instructions about how to perform a particular task.