MGB1010 · Introduction To Management
Management Theories
Management was built in layers, each a reaction to the one before. This chapter is a timeline read as an argument: scientific management (Taylor, the Gilbreths, Ford) engineered the task and forgot the person; administrative theory (Fayol's functions and 14 principles, Weber's bureaucracy) engineered the whole organisation; the human-relations school (Follett, Mayo and the Hawthorne studies) put the person back in; and the modern toolkit (systems, quantitative, contingency) refused to crown any single “best way.” The subject anchors the oldest school to a case everyone knows — McDonald's as living Taylorism — and asks you to critique it through Follett's voice. The quiz tests theorist-to-idea matching and the order of the schools; the written tasks reward naming the right theorist behind a practice and evaluating its blind spots.
What this chapter covers
- 01The four eras at a glance — the timeline as a conversation
- 022.1 Taylor's scientific management & the four principles
- 032.2 Ford's assembly line and the human cost
- 04The McDonald's case — Taylorism today
- 052.3 Fayol — functions + 14 principles (the POLC ancestor)
- 062.4 Weber's ideal-type bureaucracy
- 072.5–2.6 Follett, Mayo & the Hawthorne effect
- 082.7 The modern toolkit — systems, quantitative, contingency
Worked example: place the practice on the timeline, then critique it
- +1(a) School & originator. Standardisation, set times and de-skilled, low-discretion work is scientific management — Frederick Taylor (scaled by Ford's assembly line).
- +1(b) Match #1 — one best way / standardisation. Pre-measured shots and exact steam times are Taylor's “study the task scientifically to find the single most efficient method.”
- +2(b) Match #2 — de-skilling + scientific selection. The scripted greeting and minimal discretion are de-skilling; structured training echoes Taylor's “select and train.”
- +1(c) Critic — the human-relations school. Mary Parker Follett (or Mayo/Hawthorne) would critique the purely quantitative view of success and the removal of the human, relational side.
- +1(c) Grounds. De-skilled, monotonous work buys consistency but drives boredom and turnover — exactly Ford's trade-off; people are not the money-only machines scientific management assumed.
Key terms
- Scientific management
- Taylor's approach: study work scientifically (time-and-motion) to find the one best way, scientifically select and train workers, cooperate to ensure the method is used, and divide work so managers plan and workers do. The Gilbreths refined it with motion study; Ford scaled it with the assembly line.
- Fayol's 14 principles
- Henri Fayol's principles of good administration (e.g. unity of command — one boss per employee; scalar chain; division of work; esprit de corps). His functions of management — plan, organise, command, co-ordinate, control — are the direct ancestor of modern POLC.
- Bureaucracy (Weber)
- Max Weber's ideal-type: division of labour, an authority hierarchy, formal written rules, impersonality (rules applied to all equally) and merit-based careers. Designed to remove nepotism and arbitrary power; its later-felt weakness is rigidity — the “mechanistic” structure.
- Hawthorne effect
- Elton Mayo's finding at the Hawthorne plant that worker output rose with attention and social factors, not just physical conditions like lighting. Being studied and feeling part of a group lifted productivity — the launch of the human relations movement and organisational behaviour.
- Contingency approach
- The modern view that there is no one best way to manage; the right approach depends on the situation — size, technology, environment and how routine the task is. The timeline's closing move and a quiz favourite; you meet it again in Fiedler's leadership model.
Management Theories FAQ
What is the order of the management theory schools?
Classical scientific management (Taylor, Gilbreths, Ford) → classical administrative theory (Fayol, Weber) → behavioural / human relations (Follett, Mayo and Hawthorne) → the modern toolkit (systems, quantitative, contingency). Read it as a conversation: scientific management obsessed over the task and forgot the person, the administrators engineered the whole organisation, the behaviouralists put the human back in, and the moderns said “it all depends.”
How is McDonald's an example of scientific management?
Four ways the subject highlights: standardisation / one best way (exact pre-set product standards, identical in any country); time-and-motion engineering (set cook times, two-sided cooking, auto-portioning fry scoops); de-skilling and low discretion (the equipment only fits the fixed menu); and scientific selection and training. McDonald's buys consistency by removing worker discretion — the exact Taylorist bargain.
What is the difference between Fayol and Weber?
Both are classical administrative theorists who looked at the whole organisation from the top, but they differ. Fayol defined the functions of management (the POLC ancestor) and 14 principles of good administration. Weber described the ideal-type bureaucracy — hierarchy, formal rules, impersonality and merit. Fayol is about how to manage; Weber is about how to structure.
What did the Hawthorne studies prove and why does it matter?
Mayo's studies at Western Electric's Hawthorne plant found productivity rose with social attention, not just physical conditions — the Hawthorne effect. It was the first hard evidence that workers are not the rational, money-only machines scientific management assumed, and it launched the human relations movement and the field of organisational behaviour. It is the school that reacts directly against Taylor and Ford.
Exam move
Don't memorise the schools as isolated facts — learn them as one argument across time, because the evaluation questions reward that storyline. Nail theorist-to-idea matching (Taylor → scientific management; Fayol → 14 principles; Weber → bureaucracy; Mayo → Hawthorne; Follett → the human side) and the order of the schools. For Fayol's 14 principles, cluster rather than recite — structure, authority, people — and know that unity of command (one boss) is the most-quizzed. Above all, rehearse the McDonald's case both ways: label the practices as Taylorist and deliver the Follett critique, because that is the model answer for any “apply a classical theory to a real firm” written task.
