Historical Evolution of Ethics in Organization and Management

Running head: ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Historical Evolution of Ethics in Organization and Management
Name:
University:
Course:
Tutor:
Date:
Historical Evolution of Ethics in Organization and Management
The current competitive world requires application of ethical considerations in organization and management. Organizations through proper managerial skills have the capacity to survive in a competitive environment (Mau, 2001). The man issue under consideration in this paper is thus to discuss the historical evolution of organization and management theory through today. Understanding the meaning of management is an important consideration in discussion about the various aspects concerned with ethical considerations. Management in respect to business and organization activities refers to the concept of organizing people through application of various leadership qualities to accomplish a particular goal in an efficient and effective manner (Vosburgh, 2007). There are various attributes concerned with management such as planning, leading, organizing, controlling, staffing, and directing. One major considerable aspect about management is its relationship with organization. In this case, organization refers to systems in which managerial practices are conducted in order to achieve set goals. In this context then, management is defined as human action which is deployed in an organization in form of human resource to enhance production of specific outcome within a system.
Management is considered to be a science through specific models such as planning, controlling, and organizing functions. In another context, management qualifies to be an art in respect to various practices which influences the function of management. There are major considerable influencing functions of management based on knowledge in respect to psychology, culture, organization theory and sociology. The historical aspect of management and organization theory was viewed from scientific and engineering perspectives (Mau, 2001). The four management and organization theory include scientific management, human relations movement, administrations and bureaucracy theories.
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT THEORY
The scientific management theory by Fredrick Taylor focused on what managers are supposed to do in order to perform their duties in an effective and efficient manner. The theory was developed during the period of industrial revolution whereby Taylor applied science as a means of solving injustices and inefficiencies of that particular time. The scientific management theory was an era of modern management in late 19th and early 20th centuries (Darling, 2004). Fredrick developed a new system of scientific management from the old system of personal management. In the old system of personal management, a brilliant person known as captain was expected to take over the affairs of an organization. After thorough research, Taylor emerged with a new scientific model which was believed to have the capacity of outperforming the personal management concept. Fredrick was very much concerned with introduction of a new concept of management through actual timed observations (Foss, 2005). He decided to overthrow management by rule of thumb to a new management policy which was deemed to be the best practice.
In the new managerial practice, Taylor advocated for systematic training of workers in order to perform effectively. According to Taylor, his new development aimed at creating a good relationship between workers and management a way of supporting effective performance of employees. One considerable aspect introduced by Taylor in his theory was segregation of duties attribute whereby the managers would perform science and instruction while workers provide labor (Jordan, 2001). In this aspect, each individual was responsible for the worker he or she was best suited. The best principle adopted by Taylor was the aspect of breaking complex task into small subtasks hence making performance of work to be easy. The concepts of subdividing complex tasks into subtasks, training or workers and development of cooperation between workers and management were the main basic principles that led to success of the theory (Slobin, 2007). The success of scientific management theory is seen in its applicability in industrial engineering, quality control, and personnel fields. The theory also led to improvement in productivity through application of proper managerial attributes.
Human relations movement theory
The human relations movement also known as the Hawthorne works experiments by Eltano Mayo started in 1920`s. The Hawthorne experiments disapproved the provisions by Taylor about the improved production enhanced by scientific considerations. The Hawthorne works experiments aimed at determining the various effects of lighting in respect to productivity of workers (Courtney, 2002). However, the experiments showed that there was no clear relationship between lighting and productivity of employees. Due to lack of correlation, the theory started to explore on other factors which would influence the productivity of workers. The theory emphasized on individuals and their capacity in respect to effective production in the organization. It was believed that the prosperity of the organization depended on the well being of the workers. This could be achieved through understanding the needs of the workers such as good working conditions (Darling, 2004).
The experiments were carried on a group of women exposed on various factors and environment. Major considerable factors included rest breaks, free meals and more hours in a work day or week. It was discovered that during each change, the productivity f the women increased. The results were compared with original working state of the women and a record maintained (Slobin, 2007). The human relations movement theory disapproved Taylor`s scientific theory in three basic ways. First, it was shown that team work and social dynamics were the main driving forces in respect to productivity of the women compared to performance of work the one best way preferred by Taylor. Second, the gr...