Classical Schools of Management

 

Classical schools of management, which gave birth to classical management theory during the industrial revolution, are now regarded as one of the vital theories for the effectiveness of an organization. in early ages, managers were unaware from the techniques and principles which lead to the training of employees, motivating them and building a strong relationship among them. Thus, all these consequences lead towards the development of classical management theory that revolves around one single concept i.e. one best way to deal with all the complicated and difficult situations.
The classical school of management is a result of two core branches:

1. Classical Administrative School
2. Classical Scientific School

The classical administrative school of revolves around an overall organization. The focus is on developing the managerial areas and to work on them. Many theorists contributed in this school of theories, like Henry Chester, I. Barnard, Mary Parker Follett & Max Weber. The focus of all these theorists was on the working ad operation of an organization only to understand and transform it in an effective and well developed one.
All these theorists gave their own perception and contributed a lot to make an organization a better place to work. According to Max Weber a well organized & established organization is designed in a following way:[sky]

1. A well maintained hierarchy
2. Division of specialization & labor
3. Set of rules & regulations
4. Friendly relationship between managers and employees
5. Degree of competence
6. Set of records

According to Henri Fayol, an organization should be classified in the following manner:

1. Division of tasks/work
2. Set of responsibilities
3. Rules & discipline
4. Area of command
5. Proper direction
6. Direction towards interests
7. Salary/remuneration
8. Set of centralization
9. Order, equity and initiative

According to Mary parker Follett, an organization is only considered as an effective one if the power of leadership, ethics and decision-making is strong. According to Chester Barnard, four major factors are vital for an organization:

1. Communication should be easy
2. Employees accept the level of communication
3. Employees should firmly co-ordinate with each other
4. Employees should be confident enough

Thus, for an effective and innovative organization, communication, innovative skills and better co-ordination among employees is required. With the help of all these criteria’s, a workplace can generate effective outcomes and can prove itself the best one. employees working in an organization should try to work according to the designed set of rules and regulations in order to generate effective & potential outcomes.

References

Patrick J. Montana, Bruce H. Charnov (2008) "Management", Barron’s Educational Series, pg 536