Over the years, scholars, economists, and managers have come with many theories to explain various efficient methods of managing organizations. Organizations have striven to come up with one particular theory that can apply to all the organizations. The task has proven to be difficult because no two organizations are similar. Organization management methods have evolved over the years. The classical theories were among the first theories formulated by economists to guide organizations (Rainey, 2009). They viewed the organization as closed systems unaffected by external influences; they also believed that there was only one way to run an organization. Their main focus was on maximizing production in order to maximize profits. They proposed many theories that have continued to evolve over the years. Today, some organizations use one theory while other companies apply one theory, but supplement it with properties form other theories (Rainey, 2009). The earliest theories focused on the organizations as a whole. Later the theories started to focus on the human aspect of an organization. The human relations theories focused on the well-being of the employees to inspire their loyalty and maximize their capabilities for the benefit of the organizations. Experiments showed that if an employee felt special they were likely to utilize their capabilities.
However, even with the emergence of the new theories organization still utilize the classical theories. The most common theory in many companies today, is the theory of bureaucracy which was proposed by Max Weber. He proposed that an organization based on bureaucracy had strict specific obligations and authorities (Weber, 1946). The rules are fixed and every position within the organization has very specific roles to play which remain unchanged over time. The management was a full time career and are not assigned any other duties that require any expertise. It is also the duty of the administrators to know all the rules and to enforce them (Rainey, 2009). According to this theory the supervisors and managers make the decisions despite having experts in the specific fields who are better suited to the task. The decision making process in organizations using this model has often slow and cumbersome, especially when working on time sensitive projects (Weber, 1946). Organizations using this model often attract employees who are rule followers and who do not have any ambition other than rising through the ranks slowly over the length of their career; they have no problem holding the same position for a long time. Weber strongly advocated for impersonal working relationships within an organization arguing that it made the employees more efficient; This is one of the contentious issues about the theory of bureaucracy. Human relations proponents argue that managers show concern for employees’ personal lives are likely to inspire more loyalty for the organizations compared to impersonal managers. Strict rules and procedures have also garnered much opposition as compared to giving employees to work on projects as they saw fit. The argument was based on the fact that each project is different and that employees need to be left to explore their creativity within certain parameters.
Although this theory provides a form of an organization that is both desirable and effective it raises a few issues. How will the organization, motivate their employees to take the initiative if they are governed by strict rules, especially in today’s world? What happens if a supervisor is seen to discriminate an employee? By applying this theory, how can a manager improve the amount of time it takes to make decisions in a time sensitive project?
References
Rainey, H. (2009). Understanding The Study of Organizations. In H. Rainey, Understanding and managing public organizations (1st ed., pp. 22-54). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Weber, M. (1946). bureaucracy. In H. Gerth & C. Wright Mills, Essays in Sociology (1st ed., p. 77). New York: Oxford university press.
