Chapter 2:
MANAGEMENT LEARNING PAST TO PRESENT

CHAPTER 2 TAKEAWAY QUESTIONS

1. What can be learned from classical management thinking?
2. What are the insights come from the behavioral management approaches?
3. What are the foundations of modern management thinking?

CHAPTER 2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

• State the underlying assumption of the classical management approaches. • List the principles of Taylor’s scientific management. • List three of Fayol’s “principles” for guiding managerial action. • List the key characteristics of bureaucracy and explain why Weber considered it an ideal form of organization. • Identify possible disadvantages of bureaucracy in today’s environment. • Explain Follett’s concept of organizations as communities. • Define the Hawthorne effect. • Explain how the Hawthorne findings influenced the development of management thought. • Explain how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs operates in the workplace. • Distinguish between Theory X and Theory Y assumptions, and explain why McGregor favored Theory Y. • Explain Argyris’s criticism that traditional organizational practices are inconsistent with mature adult personalities. • Define system, subsystem, and open system. • Apply these concepts to describe the operations of an organization in your community. • Define contingency thinking, knowledge management, and a learning organization. • List characteristics of learning organizations. • Describe evidence-based management and its link with scientific methods.

CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW

Historical records indicate that people have been “getting things done through others” since at least biblical times. In all likelihood, prehistoric people also practiced management in order to secure shelter, direct hunting expeditions, and cultivate the land.