Management Theories for Small Business Owner

Small business owners and managers can enjoy learning about the theorists whose work has given rise to several of the leadership methods also because the best (and worst) practices wont to guide and grow firms of all sizes.

By setting these techniques within a bigger historical perspective, business executives may choose which ideas best match their organization and choose components from each philosophy to construct a toolset of effective management tactics that are employed for them and their workforce.

Here’s a fast review of 5 theorists you ought to realize and their remarkable work.

 

Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management

Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915) was among the primary to research worker productivity and the way best to reinforce it.

Taylor, who had a background in engineering, conducted controlled experiments that led him to formulate four principles of scientific management referred to as “Taylorism.”

These principles advocate that the scientific approach be utilized to seek out the foremost effective approach to finish a task within the workplace instead of simply counting on the judgment or personal discretion of workers.

Taylor supported standardization and specialization by advocating that workplace tasks be weakened into a sequence of smaller steps.

He decided that managers should assign people to employment that best fit their abilities, train them extensively and supervise them to ensure that they performed successfully.

Henri Fayol’s Principles of Administrative Management

Henri Fayol (1841-1925), an engineer and senior executive in France, is taken into account to be one among the foremost prominent contributions to modern management theory.

Unlike Taylor, who boosted efficiency by examining workers’ behaviors, Fayol employed a top-down strategy.

Fayol evaluated a corporation through the prism of the managers and therefore the problems they might experience.

He thought that management has six vital functions: to anticipate, plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control.

Fayol proposed 14 principles of administration that outline how managers should organize and have interaction with people. The Bureaucratic Management of Max Weber

Max Weber (1864–1920) was a German sociologist who pioneered the bureaucratic management philosophy, which emphasizes the hierarchical organization of companies with well-defined governing principles.

Weber’s principles for developing a perfect bureaucratic system include a transparent division of labor, a hierarchical chain of command, a separation of the owner’s personal and organizational assets, meticulous record-keeping and documentation, strict and consistent regulations and rules, and therefore the selection and promotion of employees supported qualifications instead of personal relationships or personal appearance.

While Weber acknowledged that bureaucracy posed a threat to individual liberties, he continued to look at it because of the most effective and rational method of constructing organizations.

Today, bureaucratic management is usually viewed as impersonal and caught up by bureaucratic procedure, although it had been crucial in universalizing the formation of standards and processes that are at the guts of the bulk of recent businesses.

Human Relations hypothesis of Elton Mayo

Elton Mayo (1880–1949) was a psychologist and Harvard scholar born in Australia who helped create the groundwork for the human relations movement.

Mayo conducted studies within the 1920s at the Hawthorne plant in Chicago to extend production among unhappy employees.

He altered working conditions, like lighting, temperature, break periods, and workday duration, but discovered that no matter the modification, production increased.

This led Mayo and his colleagues to conclude that increases in worker performance weren’t a result of improvements in their environment, but rather as a result of the researchers listening to them and making them feel valued as members of a cohesive group participating within the study. Douglas McGregor’s X and Y Theories

Douglas McGregor (1906–1964) was an American social psychologist who popularized his X and Y theories in 1960 with the publication of his book “The Human Side of Enterprise.”

He observed that there are two fundamentally distinct management styles that are determined by managers’ assessments of their team members’ motivations.

Theory X is authoritarian in nature and is usually utilized by managers who believe their staff is apathetic or dissatisfied with their jobs.

Theory Y may be a participative management style that managers employ once they feel that employees are self-motivated, accountable, and dedicated to owning their job.

While Theory X promotes micromanagement, Theory Y promotes a more collaborative and decentralized work environment.

McGregor’s preferred theory Y is usually followed by smaller organizations and startups where employees in the least levels are involved in decision-making and creativity is fostered.

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