classical management theory

the body of theory mainly associated with French mining engineer and manager Henri Fayol (1841-1925) but also with English army Colonel Lyndall Urwick (1891-1983). Common to all members of this school was an attempt to extrapolate from their practical experiences in management roles in large organizations a set of rules about how to manage effectively and efficiently Fayol defined MANAGEMENT in terms of forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. To this end, management should function according to a set of principles which were valid whatever the ORGANIZATION'S environment and goals. These included the principle of UNITY OF COMMAND, a clear HIERARCHY and JOB SPECIALIZATION. Fayol's analysis could be viewed as the first attempt to generate a theory of management and can be seen as a prescriptive version of Weber's ideal type of BUREAUCRACY. Compare CONTINGENCY THEORY.

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References in periodicals archive

Classical management theory was based on the notion that there was "one best way" to organize tasks toward maximum productivity and efficiency.

Fostering better public management through education: a call for institutional reconsideration of the tenure criteria; A former practitioner reflects on how her first-hand experience in the City of Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation and various Illinois agencies has shaped the way she performs as a professor of public management

BPR is characterized as sharing the naivety of classical management theory concerning organizational politics when dealing with implementation.

The Re-engineering Revolution. Critical Studies of Corporate Change

Reading classical management theory and hearing the original message is somewhat like examining an old Master's painting -- copied interpretations show the excellence of the work, but only the original is a masterpiece.

Messages From the Management Past: Classic Writers and Contemporary Problems

Henri Fayol (a sire of "Classical Management Theory")

And the winners are[ldots]

Classical management theory shows the importance of good cash management by demonstrating that money is always made at the margins.

Importers and exporters can manage profits and control costs better by improving international cash management

It was under these conditions that classical management theory and the scientific management movement established the basic principles of industrial organization that became the foundation of most modern U.S.

Managing continuous improvement and culture change

Management in this kind of theory is presented as gender neutral, either as a mere collection of functions (classical management theory) or as a more or less appropriate relationship to one's workforce (theories of human relations or management 'style').

In classical management theory, managing relationships was just a matter of aligning people with the correct abstract principles.

Comment: Gender Blindness or Gender Suppression? A Comment on Fiona Wilson's Research Note

So-called classical management theory supposedly was overtaken by other schools of thought as a "modern" management theory developed.

The editor's chair