Evolution of Management Principles Research Paper - 1

Evolution of Management Principles - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that the evolution of management theories began after the industrial revolution.   As production increased with the introduction of large-scale machines in the manufacturing plants, the need to think of better ways to optimize workforce and limited resources gave birth to the scientific theory of management. Adam Smith was the first management thinker who thought of the effects of industrial revolution. In his quest to look for the better way to improve production, he introduced the factory system where a worker is only assigned to perform only one or few tasks to perform compared to the old system of craft-style manufacturing where workers are tasks to do everything. As a result of the introduction of Adam Smith’s factory system, manufacturing production significantly improved with each worker producing 48,000 pins per day compared to a mere few thousand productions with the old system. This was a result of job specialization and division of labor for better organizational performance and increased efficiency. Friedrich Wilhelm Taylor introduced scientific management or quantification of production in the manufacturing plant. He viewed an organization as a machine where its several parts should efficiently work. Taylor’s management theory espouses that if the amount of time and effort each worker expands to produce a unit of output can be reduced by increasing specialization and division of labor, the production processes will become more efficient. Use work slides or some other form of a carrier so that when a workman complete his operation, he drops the part always in the same place – which place must always be the most convenient place to his hand – and if possible have gravity carry the part to the next workman for his operation. They also studied the effects of fatigue and what contributes to job stress that leads to poor performance. They isolated factors—such as lighting, heating, the color of walls, and the design of tools and machines—that result in worker fatigue. Their pioneering studies paved the way for new advances in management theory.