Management is the system that relates other subsystem to attain the objective of the organization. Motivation is the process that account for a direction, intensity and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. There are different authors have given various theories of management and motivation such as Scientific Management by F W Taylor, Human Relation School by Elton Mayo, Two factor theory by Fredrick Herzberg, Theory x/y by Douglas McGregor and Hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow. The descriptions of these theories are given below:
Scientific Management: Frederick Winslow Taylor (F W Taylor) has given this theory and he has known as the father of scientific management. He was born in Philadelphia, USA. He was a very challenging man and would not allow anything to go without challenge. The main concern of scientific management is improving the performance of individual workers.
F W Taylor while at Midvale Steel Co. could identify a problem with the workers. He called that problem ‘soldering by workers’. Soldering means working at less than full capacity by the workers intentionally and managers would blame the workers for soldering. Then F W Taylor was trying to identify the reasons behind soldering and he could figure out the following reasons:
Ø Workers were afraid of losing their job and they thought if they work in their full capacity, some of them would loose their job.
Ø The wage system was developed faulty. Payment was made on the basis of hours not on the basis of output. So, workers were interested for attendance not for output.
Ø Taylor observed that method of working handed down from generation to generation was inefficient.
The above reasons of soldering led Taylor to conclude that it was management who was responsible for soldering not the workers. In other words, Taylor for the first time blames manager for soldering by workers.
Principles of Scientific Management
Scientific management is a way of doing things. Taylor suggested four principles and believed that manager who followed his guideline would improve the efficiency of their workers.
Ø Manager should scientifically study each part of a job and develop one best way of doing.
Ø Carefully select workers that are choose the right man for the right job and trained him well.
Ø Co-operate fully with the workers to ensure that they are following the one way of doing a work.
Ø Divide work and responsibility. So that management is responsible for planning and workers for doing.
In summary, scientific management theory by Taylor contributed in the field of management are
Ø Selecting the best worker
Ø Train him well
Ø Timing of jobs in small parts rather than in a overall way
Ø Determination of standard time (time study), standard motion (motion study), standard equipment (equipment study), differential piece rate plan
Ø Division of work according to function
Ø One best way of doing a work.
Criticism
Taylor scientific management was criticized for several reasons
Ø Taylor was extensively impersonal and he did not consider personnel. He treated people as like machine.
Ø Scientific management is an imbalanced approach where main focusing issue is production not procurement, accounting, finance etc.
Ø Scientific management was an industrial autocracy.
Ø One best way idea was challenged.
Examples of using scientific management theory in organizations
Scientific management was adopted by companies throughout the US, Britain and Europe. It was adopted rapidly by France but Britain and Germany was adopted slowly. In the case of Shovelers at the Bethlehem Steel Works, workers earned higher wages and the company saved between $75,000 and $80,000 per year through greater efficiency. In other case, Ford adopted Taylor’s methods and introduced mass production of cars. Ford set up subsidiaries in Britain, Germany and Japan and car companies competing with ford adopted this method including Toyota, General Motors, and Citron.
Human Relation School: Elton Mayo's has contributed the management theory helped pave the way for modern human relations management methods. He developed this theory in well-known Hawthorne experiments conducted near Chicago at Western Electric’s Hawthorne plant between 1927 and 1932. This study was a series of experiments that focused on behaviour in the workplace.
Illumination experiment: This was the first experiments where manipulating illumination for one group of workers and not change for other group of workers. And, the subsequent productivity of was compared with other group.
Result: Surprisingly, when illumination was increased for the experimental group, productivity went up in both groups. On the other hand, the productivity of both groups was continued even the lightening of experimental group was decreased.
Piece work incentive pay plan: It was another experiment for a group of nine men assembling terminal banks for telephone exchanges. It was predicted according to scientific management that each man would try to maximize his pay by producing as many units as possible.
Result: Mayo and his associates were disappointed when found that the group itself informally established an acceptable level of output for its members. The experimental workers produced at the accepted level. As they approached this acceptable level of output, workers slow down to avoid overproducing.
Interview program: This program involving several thousand workers, led by Mayo and his associates that human behaviour was much more important in the workplace than had been previously believed.
In conclusion, Elton Mayo developed a matrix which demonstrates the role that varying combinations of group norms and group cohesiveness play in team effectiveness. The following are the four combinations of Mayo theory and the effect of each on team dynamics:
Ø Groups with low norms and low cohesiveness are ineffective; since they have no impact.
Ø Groups with low norms and high cohesiveness have a negative impact, since few members encourage negative behavior.
Ø Groups with high norms and low cohesiveness have some degree of positive impact through individual member accomplishments.
Ø Groups with high norms and high cohesiveness have the greatest positive impact.
Examples
At Tesco plc. the Mayo theory is seen to be operating throughout the company. Communication is an extremely important factor in developing relationship with employees. Tesco plc. Follow one to one discussions with managers, through the company intranet or newsletters or through more formal structures such as appraisals.
Two factor theory: Psychologist Frederick Herzberg proposed the two-factor theory in 1959 which also called motivation-hygiene theory. The main theme of the theory is that there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. In other words, the opposite of “Satisfaction” is “No satisfaction” and the opposite of “Dissatisfaction” is “No Dissatisfaction”.
Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories-
a) Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors those are essential for existence of motivation at workplace. But, if these factors are absent at workplace, dissatisfaction will take place. These factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene factors are also called as maintenance factors as they are needed to avoid dissatisfaction. Herzberg proposed following Hygiene factors:
Ø Pay - The salary or wage structure should be reasonable and appropriate.
Ø Company Policies - The company policies should not be too rigid. They should be fair and clear. It should include vacation, breaks, flexible working hours, dress code etc.
Ø Supervision - The employees should be offered health care plans, employee help programmers, and benefits for the family members etc.
Ø Physical Working conditions - The working environment should be clean, safe and hygienic.
Ø Interpersonal relations - The relationship of the employees with his superiors, peers and subordinates should be acceptable.
Ø Job Security - The organization must provide job security to the employees.
b) Motivational factors- According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be regarded as motivators. The motivational factors ensure positive satisfaction. These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These factors are inherent to work. These factors are called satisfiers. The motivators symbolized the psychological needs that were perceived as an additional benefit. Motivational factors include:
Ø Recognition - The employees should be recognized and praised for their performance by the managers.
Ø Growth and promotional opportunities - There must be growth and advancement opportunities in an organization to motivate the employees to perform well.
Ø Sense of achievement - The employees must have a sense of achievement regarding the job.
Ø Meaningfulness of the work - The work itself should be meaningful and interesting that employee get motivated to perform.
Ø Responsibility - The managers should give them ownership of the work.
Criticisms: The theory is criticized by following matters:
Ø The two factor theory overlooks situational variables.
Ø The produces that Herzberg used is limited by its methodology
Ø The reliability of the theory is uncertain
Ø The theory ignore blue collar workers (manual labour)
Ø No overall measure of satisfaction was utilized.
Example: The two factor motivation theory is very important for any organization such as Unilever, Tesco, Hield because to motivate employee’s management must enrich the content of the actual work they ask employee’s to do.
Theory X and Theory Y: Douglas McGregor was established this theory in 1960. He proposed two different aspects of individual or human behaviour in workplace labeled negative theory X and positive labeled theory Y.
This theory was established considering some assumptions:
Assumptions of Theory X
Ø Most of the employee does not like work
Ø Employee intrinsically tries to escape from responsibility.
Ø They become lazy
Ø They tries to resist any change in the workplace
Ø Employee must be coerced, persuade or warned to perform job.
Ø Most of the employee required formal guideline.
The assumptions of theory Y
Ø Manger assume that workers like job
Ø They are creative and take responsibility
Ø Employees are not need any coercion for task
Ø The employee possesses sufficient capabilities and skills.
Ø They use self-control and self-direction for attaining organization goals.
Theory X indicates a pessimistic attitude of employees’ and behaviour in workplace. On the other hand, theory Y indicates an optimistic approach of the employees’ and behaviour in the workplace. McGregor believed that theory Y assumptions were more reliable and valid compared to theory X. So, he suggested that manager should develop ideas of participative decision making, good group relations, responsible and challenging jobs as organizational approaches. McGregor believed that it would maximize an employee’s job motivation.
Criticisms:
Ø Unfortunately, there is no evidence in favor of the assumptions either valid or not.
Ø There has no empirical support behind the theory.
Implication in the workplace: Theory X is not seen today in any organization because employees are more conscious and serious about their career. Organization like British Airways, Tesco, Unilever, British Telecom etc applies theory Y that the management of these organizations encourages employees in the workplace and organizations today give rewards for better performance of an employee.
Hierarchy of needs: Abraham Maslow was established the theory in 1943. Maslow hypothesized that each human should have hierarchy of five needs:
Physiological needs: The elements are hunger, shelter, sex, thirst and other bodily needs.
Safety needs: This includes job security, protection from emotional and physical harm, health security, family security etc.
Social needs: The elements are acceptance, affection, friendship, belongingness, care etc.
Esteem needs: It includes two factors internal and external factors. Internal factor includes autonomy, self-respect and achievement. External factor includes recognition, status and attention.
Self-actualization needs: This need includes achieving one’s potential, needs for growth and self-fulfillment.
It is to be noted that, Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders. Physiological and safety needs were presented in the lower order needs. On the other hand, social, esteem and self-actualization needs were described in the higher order needs. Maslow described that higher order needs are satisfied person internally and lower order needs satisfied person externally.
Criticisms:
Ø The set of standards are used commonly for each individual though different individual may be driven by different needs.
Ø There has no empirical support behind the theory.
Implications of the theory in the organization: Maslow’s theory is accepted widely especially among practicing manager like Tesco, British Petroleum, British Telecom etc. More or less management in every organization recognizes this theory because this theory is more realistic and reliable.
Ø Managers provide salaries to employee to purchase the basic necessities as far as the physiological needs concerned.
Ø Managers give employees job security, hygienic workplace, retirement benefits as far as the safety needs concerned.
Ø The management encourages group work, team work, arranging organizational events as far as the social needs concerned.
Ø Mangers provide reward and promotion for achieving the targets by the employees as far as the esteem needs concerned.
Ø Mangers give challenging job such as growth opportunities so that employees can utilize their skill at highest level as far as self-actualization needs concerned.
In conclusion, these management and motivation theories help managers to organize and control his subordinates in a useful manner.
