Evolution of Military Management

Evolution of management principle from classical to present.
Student name
School name
Evolution of management principle from classical to present.
The today`s state of affairs and the benefits that organizations are enjoying today was not always the same. What is viewed today as a formal study of management and as a set of coherent principles of organization that can now be controlled and made more effective and efficient started centuries ago, but since then a lot of studies have been made and management has greatly evolved. Today we have several management branches within the management thoughts which can be separated into five major theoretical schools. These schools include; classical school, behavioral school, management science and contingency school (Gibson, 1999). The developments of sophisticated and modern principles of management have made the management of organization very effective and have greatly reduced human error. Many managers use many of the practice, principals and techniques developed from earlier concept and experience.
Management is a phenomenon that is universal and that is largely used almost in all the fields like business, politics, cultural or social because it is management which helps and directs various efforts towards a definite purpose. According to Harold Koontz, "Management is an art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals and can co-operate towards attainment of group goals" (Koontz, 1961, pp.130). According to F.W. Taylor, "Management is an art of knowing what to do, when to do and see that it is done in the best and cheapest way" (Gibson,1999, pp. 277)
An early perspective of management thought shows that the early theory of organization emerged mainly for military and catholic churches. The first known management ideas were recorded in 3000-4000 B.C. in 2900 B.C during the Egyptian ruler Cheops. One pyramid that he made required work to done by 100,000 men for over twenty years. This pyramid occupied 13 acres of land and measured 481 meters in height. Stones and other materials for constructing this pyramid had to be moved thousands of kilometers (Roy, 2007). This kind of work couldn`t have been completed without the adherences of principles of sound management. Planning the activities, controlling workers, motivating them coordinating events couldn`t be done without and expect to have that work complete within twenty years
The classical management theories are the early management theories which consist of three well established theories of classical management namely: Taylor`s theory of scientific management, Fayol`s administrative theory and Weber`s theory of bureaucracy. All these early management theories are characterized by rational economic view, scientific management, administrative principles and bureaucracy organization. Rational economic view assumed that people are primarily motivated by economic gain for example employees in a certain organization will be motivated by increase in their wages and remuneration as well as promotions. On the other hand F.W Taylor and others emphasized on only one best way of production. Administrative theorists headed by Henry Fayol looked at the best way to combine jobs and people into an efficient organization. Bureaucratic organizations which were led by Max Weber looked at ways of eliminating managerial inconsistencies due to abuse of power which contributed to ineffectiveness. This being an era of industrial revolution and factory system of production there was need for adherence to principles governing organization production, based on specialization, division of labor, the relationship between men and machines and managing people in an organization in order to achieve large scale production.
After the classical theory another school of thought known as neo-classical theory or the human relation approach theory was developed between 1920s and 1950s and preceded the classical. This school of thought felt that employees in an organization do not basically respond rationally to rules, chain of authority and economic incentives alone but they are also guided by social needs, drives and attitudes. The psychological theory asserts that the behavior of an individual or a group will change to meet the expectation of the observer if they are aware that their behavior is being observed (Adair, 1984). During the early development it was seen that a lot of emphasis was on development of techniques and technology and therefore human factors were not given much attention. Neoclassical theory is based on several assumptions and therefore there is no complete agreement on what is meant by neoclassic economist and as a result a lot of approaches emerges to explain various problems ranging from neoclassic theory of labor to neoclassic theory of demographic changes (Roy, 2007).
Management science/ research operation is an advanced thought that emerged after the neoclassic theory. It emphasized on the operation and the use of qualitative techniques, mathematical approaches and scientific methods to aid managers to take decisions. Management science is an interdisciplinary branch of applied mathematics that is, decision ...