Management Guru's

Introduction

Management as a science would indicate that in practice? managers use a specific body of information and facts to guide their behaviors? but that management as an art requires no specific body of knowledge? only skill. Conversely? those who believe management is an art are likely to believe that there is no specific way to teach or understand management? and that it is a skill borne of personality and ability. (Appley:30-35) Those who believe in management as an art are likely to believe that certain people are more predisposed to be effective managers than are others? and that some people cannot be taught to be effective managers. There has been various contributors to the “art and science” of management. Few of them has been discussed below:

1. Frederick W. Taylor

The scientific management movement was the primary driver of this perspective. Scientific management? pioneered by Frederick W. Taylor? Frank and Lillian Gilbreth? and others? attempted to discover "the one best way" to perform jobs. Frederick W. Taylor used scientific processes to evaluate and organize work so that it became more efficient and effective. Scientific management's emphasis on both reducing inefficiencies and on understanding the psychology of workers changed manager and employee attitudes towards the practice of management. (DuBrin:55-56)

Frederick W. Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management included:

Managers must study the way that workers perform their tasks and understand the job knowledge (formal and informal) that workers have? then find ways to improve how tasks are performed.

Managers must codify new methods of performing tasks into written work rules and standard operating procedures.

Managers should hire workers who have skills and abilities needed for the tasks to be completed? and should train them to perform the tasks according to the established procedures.

Managers must establish a level of performance for the task that is acceptable and fair and should link tit to a pay system that reward workers who perform above the acceptable level.

2. Peter Drucker

One of the proponent of the management as art school of thought is Peter Drucker? famed management scholar who is best known for developing ideas related to total quality management. Drucker terms management "a liberal art?" claiming that it is such because it deals with the fundamentals of knowledge? wisdom? and leadership? but because it is also concerned with practice and application. Drucker argues that the discipline (i.e.? the science) of management attempts to create a paradigm for managers? in which facts are established? and exceptions to these facts are ignored as anomalies. (Drucker:35-57) He is critical of the assumptions that make up the management paradigm? because these assumptions change over time as society and the business environment change. Thus? management is more of an art? because scientific "facts" do not remain stable over time.

3. Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow believed that the human needs can be arranged in a hierarchical order. According to his theory there are two major groups of human needs: basic needs and meta needs. The basic needs are physiological (food? water? sleep) and psychological (affection? self-esteem). The meta needs include ...