Management Theory and It's Applications

Management Theory and It's Applications

People often assume Management is the way an organization control things. However that is not all. Management actually defines the way organizations plan to achieve their objectives with the highest efficiency through the use of people and other resources such as raw materials. It involves planning, organizing, controlling and directing. There are four main management schools of thought:

Four main schools of thought

One of the first classical management approach was  "Scientific Management". Fredrick Taylor has always been associated with this type of management. He emphasised the need to figure out the best way to do tasks, to select the best individual for a specialized task and to train that individual in the task and lastly he stated that money is the only motivational factor for the worker. Henry Ford was one of the users of this approach. He also emphasised the on specific roles for each person and also the fact that workers were motivated by money. He was known to pay more than the average wage for a worker in Motor Car assembly. He applied the concept of division of labour by creating an assembly line(1914). This sped up the car making process from 700hr/car to 93min/car. A dramatic change in my opinion. He enforced the concepts developed by Taylor along with his initiation of the assembly line achieved the objectives he wanted.

Ford Model T: First car to be mass produced on Henry Ford's assembly line concept

However, the scientific management practice if fairly criticized in the modern world. This is because in terms of motivation only money was considered, whereas in the modern world factors other than money also matter such as appreciation of work, hygienic environment, opportunities for promotion and also more importantly the support offered by the work place.

Pie chart representing the level of motivation each factor may provide

In the modern society organizations usually apply the different types of management systems together. Let's have analyze the management structure of google. Google is a company that provides internet based services. They are most famous for their search engines! We all use it and we all find it highly efficient. In fact  "blogger" is a google product. By Fortune magazine google was ranked first in the best companies to work for in 2007, 2008 and 2012. What makes google so special? Why is it such a successful company? These are the questions we will assess. Google has known to have quite a liberal environment. They pay high attention to employee satisfaction. They provide recreational facilities within their offices for the employees, also bowling alleys, pub style lounges and even an indoor garden in their UK office. They also have a policy known as "70/20/10". This basically suggests that google employees spend 70% of their time focusing on the core business, 20% on related project and 10% on completely new business ideas. This is such an important tool that google has hired people to manage the "70/20/10" rule. According to google this ensures maximum efficiency of an employee as well as allowing them their space to come up with new ideas. This suggests that google ensures that its objectives are maintained as well as maintain employee satisfaction. In this way google integrates the classical and human relations approach to management (systems approach). It also has been a very successful approach. Google reached its peak revenue of $50billion in the fiscal year ending 2012, it was ranked as the best employer to work for the same year and is the largest internet based search provider in the world. 

Google recreational center in Pittsburgh

Bowling Alley in Google Headquarter, California

In this blog I have discussed what management structures are and how different application result in different outcomes. No matter what the organization may be, having an efficient yet "friendly" management structure is very important. Establishing the right one is a skill learned through experience and time. Hope you enjoyed the blog. Take Care.

Khizer Ghafoor

IBM G4