?ifference between Scientific Management and Administrative Management Essay Example
?ifference between Scientific Management and Administrative Management Essay Example

?ifference between Scientific Management and Administrative Management Essay Example

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  • Pages: 2 (501 words)
  • Published: May 13, 2017
  • Type: Paper
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The concept of scientific management was developed by Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) in late 19th century. The core idea of scientific management was to increase the efficiency of workers through rationalization and standardization of work. The main concepts and techniques used to achieve increased efficiency were division of labour, time and motion studies, work measurements and piece-rate wages.Administrative Management The concept of administrative management was introduced by Henry Fayol (1841-1925) and focused on the management process and principles of management. He created a functional approach to management and argued that management is a universal process that consists of planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling.

Scientific and Administrative Management – Similarities

Both Scientific and Administrative management shared a common goal - to increase the efficiency of the organisation. As well as a common goal both management theories shared the following principles:

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  • Work was divided into specialised task easy enough to learn and to be performed efficiently (division of labour).
  • Managers were responsible for assigning the tasks to employees and for guiding them to achieve organisational goals (unity of direction).
  • Payment for work was related to one’s efficiency and ability to meet the set targets (remuneration).
  • Managers and workers shared the common goal which was the foundation for cooperation between them (espirit de corps).
  • Managers were responsible for the employee work and efficiency of the organisation.
  • Managers were obliged to threat employees fairly.
  • Scientific and Administrative Management – Differences

    The main difference between Taylors and Fayol’s approaches was that Taylor wanted to achieve increased organization efficiency by modifying the way in which workers carry out their tasks and Fayol on the contrary by modifying the way the organization is managed. Fayol introduce

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centralization, the unity of command as well as clear lines of authority and communication while preserving some employee initiative. Taylor at the other hand was trying to strip the workers from any creativity and force them to follow instructions handed out to them by multiple managers.

Fayol was also trying to ensure stable operation of organisation by introducing the concepts of securing resources, subordination of individual interests to the general interest, discipline and stability of tenure. In comparison Taylor completely neglected those areas.

Scientific and Administrative Management – Disadvantages:

  • Simplistic view on motivation and assumption that only financial reward motivates the employee.
  • Oversimplified and repetitive tasks combined with constant pressure on achieving high efficiency were causing worker’s dissatisfaction and dehumanization.
  • Workers were not allowed to prove their skills in other areas or to form innovative ways of performing assigned tasks.
  • The influence of external environment on the organization was completely overlooked.

Scientific and Administrative Management – Contributions:

  • Definition of management as a process consisting of planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling.
  • Professionalization of management.
  • Development of a rational approach to solving organization problems.
  • Scientific selection and training of employees.
  • Importance of work design (encouraging managers to seek the optimal process design).
  • Piece-rate (the amount of income is related to employee’s productivity).
  • Reward system (rewards for achieving organizational goals).
  • Time and motion study.
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