Management Theory

Management is a professional activity aimed at achieving the goals set by the optimal use of labor and material resources on the basis of the principles, methods and functions of the economic mechanism of management theory.

In its essence, this term is synonymous with the word "management". However, "management" is a narrower concept and applies only to the management of various social and economic processes on an enterprise or organization scale. This concept includes:

• Marketing and market forecasting;
• The production of goods with minimal costs and obtaining the maximum profit from their sale;
• The analysis of information and the drawing up of a plan to achieve the intended goal;
• Personnel management, which implies knowledge of the basics of psychology and sociology.

The main skill of a born manager is the ability to successfully solve problems. In a small firm, the manager's functions are usually performed by the director himself. But if the firm reaches medium and large sizes, then the manager (manager, organizer, manager) comes to his aid. And often it happens that it is thanks to their professional skills that the manager solves many problems even better than the director.

The theory of management is the science of the methods and principles of such management. For a better understanding of this scientific discipline, it is useful to consider its historical development. The evolution of management theory began more than a hundred years ago. There are five main schools of management thought that can be distinguished:

• A school that emphasizes the scientific methods of management (from 1885 to 1920).

• Classical school (1920 - 1950).

• School that studied the impact of human relations (from 1930 to 1950).

• Behavioral school, also called the school of behavioral sciences (from 1950 to the present day).

• Mathematical school or quantitative approach (from 1950 to the present).

The school of scientific management is based on the principles and ideas of Frederick Taylor. This theory of management pays much attention to the scientific study of each type of labor activity, the specialization of labor and the introduction of a differential system of payment. Taylor believed that, using observation, measurement, logic, it is possible to significantly improve manual operations. Other well-known representatives of this direction are Henry Gantt, the wife of Lillian and Frank Gilbret.

The founder of the classical school was Henri Fayol. Its representatives for the first time separated management from production, allocating it to an independent type of activity. This theory of management focused on improving and developing the principles of the enterprise management process as a whole. A. Fayol developed 14 universal principles of management, and M. Weber formulated the basis for a bureaucratic approach to management.

The doctrine of "human relations" became the cornerstone of the next school of management - a school that viewed the organization as a specific "social system". The founders of this school (Elton Mayo, Abraham Maslow, Fritz Rothlisberger) noticed that the productivity of labor is influenced by human needs. According to their opinion, the manager should strive for informal leadership and win "people's favor".

Unlike the supporters of the school of human relations, who focused on the needs of the individual, representatives of the behaviourist school (F. Herzberg, K. Arjiris, D. McGregor, R. Laynckert) examined and studied the behavior of people in the group both formal and Informal. In these two schools, theories of motivation in management are being developed.

In a mathematical school, management is a specific logical process that can be described by an appropriate mathematical model. Therefore, attention is directed to economic and mathematical methods, the use of statistics and the computerization of the management of the organization. Among the founders of this school are the most famous G. Smoi, D. Woodward, D. March, G. Ackoff, N. Lowre, D. Thompson.

The interconnection of the above schools leads to the creation of highly effective management. Each direction is like a string of control rope, which, intertwining with each other, creates the highest strength. Modern management theory has absorbed and continues to deepen and develop all the best achievements and ideas of each school.