The following post will discuss the major theories of organizational behavior as well as when utilized how can they help or have helped managers. The theories we will be discussing are Scientific Management, General Administrative Theorist, the Quantitative approach, the Systems Approach and the Contingency Approach. In addition, this article will demonstrate how these concepts can be applied.

An organization or a group who ultimately share the same goals and objectives, such as a company or a corporation, is formed of a hierarchy of positions as well as specialized departments. Without a so-called chain of command, these businesses would not properly function.  Well, how could this be? If a group of people wanted to reach a goal, but everyone wanted to lead the group, the members would find themselves in a constant state of argument where they would literally go nowhere. Where throughout history as well as our present day the topics of organizational behavior is constantly being observed as well as studied.

Scientific Management, or the process of delegating the right individual, the right tools and equipment for the job, in which the employee followed a standard operation procedure (SOP) as well as monetary encouragement, that the job can be completed efficiently. Fredrick W. Taylor who strongly believed in the motto “one best way” developed this theory. He believed that if a standard procedure was developed for each task, an organization could maximize their production results.(Robbins & Coulter, 2007, p. 30)

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Example:

Before applying Scientific Management:  Let us say, that six men were hired to clean up after a small residential demolition job. Each man would have to pick up one piece of debris at a time and walk it over to the junk bin. This job took the workers 3 days to clear.

After applying Scientific Management: Instead of six two men are hired to clear the debris where one man was trained to operate a backhoe loader and the other as a ground guide. With the right equipment, the two cleared the site before the sun came down.

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General Administrative theory is a lot like the scientific approach except that it served more as an example of Utopian organization and does not include actual task procedure. This belief pertains to the separation of specialties into departments, based on skills as well as qualifications where each individual is only there to fulfill their obligations to the company and not to make friends. Two major contributors of this line of thinking is Max Weber and Henri Fayol. Although, many company’s today welcomes people as individuals, some organizations such as the Military is constructed mainly of strict uniform code  of conduct, chain of command as well as the division of specialties. (Robbins & Coulter, 2007, p. 32)

Quantitative Approach to Management is the process of applying mathematic solutions to the needs of a business. Today this approach is applied to payroll methods, scheduling, and inventory as other factors of quality control. (Robbins & Coulter, 2007, p. 34)

The System Approach is the theory that all departments of an organization has to pull their own weight in order to function properly and at the same time each departments success relates to the other. For example, in a car dealership a sales people sells car, the finance department processes loans and funding sources. If the sales people do not sell cars then the finance department can’t process loans and the dealership loses money and vice versus if the finance department doesn’t process the papers it doesn’t matter how many cars the sales people sell because without the loans going through they won’t be able to completely close a sale.  (Robbins & Coulter, 2007, p. 38)

The Contingency Approach is just that a backup plan, where certain situations call for a different solution. Meaning that even though the administrative approach worked for that department it may not work for the other or for this particular situation. This approach basically encompasses the ones mentioned above expect that instead of using one or the other, the situation is the bases of which approach should be utilized.(Robbins & Coulter, 2007, p. 39)

In conclusion, managing an organization includes multiple task, expectations from subordinates as well as the top of the food chain, per se. The job entails not only to promote efficiency, and deliver results but to also maintain the balance and flow of an organization. Where utilizing past developed approach such as the ones mentioned above, can assist management as well as be used as a base, where it can be improved to enhance both the methods as well as the production of a company.

References

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Chapter 2: Contingency Approach. In Management(9th ed., p. 39). Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Chapter 2: Scientific Management. In Management(9th ed., p. 30). Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Chapter 2: General Administrative Theory. In Management(9th ed., p. 32). Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Chapter 2: Quantitative Approach. In Management(9th ed., p. 34). Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Chapter 2: System Approach. In Management(9th ed., p. 38). Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall.