Taylor implements the guidelines and shows an interesting success in the Pig Iron experiment, after analyzing the current methodology he set the”one best way” to do the work, the output increase from 12.5 tons as daily average to 48 tons, he succeeded by applying a scientific combination of procedures, techniques, and tools. And so he increased the productivity.
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth “pioneers of motion study”, this started when Frank impressed from Taylor and he with his wife think how to optimize hand-and-body motions, they invented the microchronometer to record the worker hand and body motions and measure the time for these movements searching for wast moves. They invested this invention in the bricklaying experiment when they to reduce the number of motions from 18 to 2 in the exterior laying of the brick, which increases the productivity of laying the bricks. They also label 17 basic hand motions which they called thebligs to help them analyze the worker’s exact hand movement.
2. The General Administration Theory
The two most important contributors to general Administration theory were Henri Fayoland Max Weber the main approach for this theory is that it focuses on managers as they are responsible for the success of work by implementing good management practices.
Henri Fayol identifies the main functions for a manager which are: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling, He looks to the managementvfrom the other side of functions job accoding to his/her position and put 14 principals of management, these principals where the common ground for the manageres and organizations performation as work should be in divisions with one manager for each according to specialization so employees efficiency will incease, accordingly managers can give orders and employees should respect and obay, organizating is first important in all interest and in having one unified action plan, workers are involved, workers are paid for their job and treated equily, there are clear chain of command with organized roles and authories.
The experience of Fayol implemented in a French coal-mining firm, he started as junior engineer then became the general manager of Comambault company, he was looking for applicable solution for business management he started, the company expanded in many branches, the company was in dire financial straits and failed to pay dividends for four years, he worked hard to make the company viable by working closely to managers and the turn the company around by closing inefficient units and investing in research and technology.
Max Weber developed bureaucracy theory where an organization characterized by division of labor with a clearly defined hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations with impersonal relationships. He wants to formulate an ideal type of organization which still active up to now. He agreed on Taylor principals by isolating the personality of human and deal with him as anonymous for doing the job, Waber emphasized rationality, predictability, impersonality, technical competences and authoritarianism, the characteristics of his theory were division broken down according to defined tasks and authority giving according to position in the hierarchy, people are selected according to their qualifications, he proposed institutionalizing the organization by putting owner away from management positions, and unify rules for all employee with equal treatment.
Neoclassical Management Approach, Late 1700s-1950s
While classical approach deal with human as a production unit work like a machine to perform a specific measured task the neoclassical theory attempt to incorporate behavioral science, the shift in this theory is that the role of management to motivate people not to just control them, this theory does not drop the importance of production, structure and other elements but it focuses on the human factor, and their need to add value for working in an organization, they need interaction between each other, they need social environment which will avail a healthy environment to work in.
Neoclassical theory looks to the informal structure of an organization (workers, feels, relationships, values ... etc.), this theory does ignore the formal structure (management, processes, etc.) but pushes for integration between formal and informal structures, which will result in higher productivity by implementing this organizational Behavior approach. The most important contribution to the organizational behavior came out from Hawthorne studies, the theory developed through experiments on human attitudes and how it can affect productivity, the studies/experiments conducted at the Western Electric companies, they want to analyze the effect of lighting on employee’s productivity, the experiments show that maximum productivity achieved when light reduced to that of moonlight, but engineers concluded that the light is not the major factor but there was something else. Later experiments pay attention to group productivity, they concluded that the social norms were the key determinant of individual behavior, simply they work in a principle of all for one and one for all, It is not only about people interaction but also the workplace could be a social environment with informal groups. This approach results in focusing on employee’s satisfaction by motivating them and focusing on collaborations between workers and management.
In this theory, managers would have skills they will enable them to deal with workers in a way to create harmony, satisfaction and motivation which will lead to higher productivity. İn this era other contributors arose and have a tangible effect in developing different motivations theories like Fredrick, Herzberg and Abraham Maslow.