Management theories have played a fundamental role in shaping an organization’s operations. Some ideas have deep historical roots, and their applications in the contemporary world are still essential.
In today’s article, we will dive deep into several management theories and check whether they are still relevant in the current business landscape.
Classical Management Theories
Classical management theories include scientific task analysis, time and motion studies, selection and training, and incentive systems. All these theories are still in practice under the current management systems.
Organizations still focus on breaking a large project into smaller parts and getting it done through experts who can put their best work into each work. As per scientific task analysis, Fredrick Taylor emphasized breaking complex procedures, which a company can complete by taking manageable steps.
In today’s landscape, the organization prefers staff outsourcing, where they give the work to those with expertise in that domain and complete the tasks they are most capable of in-house.
In terms of incentive structure, companies still incentivize employees who tend to do better work. As per the monetary rewards, the management still entices employees to stay in the organization. As per classical management theorists, financial rewards would encourage workers to put more into the process, benefitting the company as they will receive the maximum output.
Specific changes are taking place in the current landscape, which previously companies didn’t care about, are the new concepts of work-life balance and the idea of minimum wage. These are the latest legislations and trends in the workplace, where an employee sees the monetary benefit and focuses on mental balance and work satisfaction.
Human Relations and Behavioral Theories
Human relations are a significant part of management, emphasizing employee motivation, hierarchy, satisfaction and group dynamics. Theories like Maslow’s Hierarchy and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory are some of the initiators which help an organization understand the employees‘ demands and wishes.
Putting these theories in the current context, we can find that the core human motivations still govern organizations, and based on Malow’s idea of needs, once financial security is attained, a person craves social acceptance and respect in society and organization.
Most successful companies in the current era provide perks and designation posts, which signifies the importance of a proper role and how it will get accepted in society. Employees who feel comfortable with the post’s name will most likely not feel inferior in front of others.
Here comes business consulting in Thailand or from other locations who can help companies put suitable names for each post. Through that, it ensures that their employees get the proper societal respect.
Now, every blue-collar job also has a different name, which helps the company’s employee gain credibility in their social sphere.
Other Theories Which Are Still Relevant
There are other theories, such as contingency theories, which help the management to decide and take steps by keeping in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and the administration needs to be creative.
Here comes the idea of KPI, where a company tracks the score of all individuals, and based on that, it can reward individuals based on performance.
These similarities show that management theories are still a very relevant part of the business world and have some guiding principles that a company might follow to get better results.
John Smith 