Robbins 5e Ch02

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    Robbins, Barnwell: Organisation Theory 5e 2007 Pearson Education Australia

    PowerPoint to accom pany

    Stephen Robbins

    Neil Barnwell

    Organisation TheoryCONCEPTS AND CASES

    5e

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    Robbins, Barnwell: Organisation Theory 5e 2007 Pearson Education Australia

    Chapter two

    The evolution of organisationtheory

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    Robbins, Barnwell: Organisation Theory 5e 2007 Pearson Education Australia 3

    Aims of this lecture

    Explain why and how organisation theory has

    evolved over time

    Identify the main phases in the evolution of

    organisation theory

    Discuss current trends in approaches to

    organisations

    Introduce the concept of paradigm proliferation

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    Robbins, Barnwell: Organisation Theory 5e 2007 Pearson Education Australia 4

    Early contributions

    The evolution of organisation theory has been

    influenced by current challenges facing

    organisations and by the interests of researchers

    Even in ancient times, organisations had clear

    hierarchies of management and division of labour

    The division of labour is a person concentrating on

    one job rather than a range of tasks

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    Robbins, Barnwell: Organisation Theory 5e 2007 Pearson Education Australia 5

    1900 to 1930s - earlymanagement theories

    In this period the emphasis was on raising

    efficiency by improving productivity

    Leading thinkers were practising managers

    Frederick Taylor promoted scientific management

    where jobs were standardised, production

    systematised and production methods

    systematically examined

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    Robbins, Barnwell: Organisation Theory 5e 2007 Pearson Education Australia 6

    1900 to 1930scontinued:

    Henri Fayol developed his principles of

    organisation which addressed the problems of

    managing large organisations

    His principles included the division of work, unity of

    command, a clear hierarchy of management and

    commitment to the organisation

    Max Weber described the principles of bureaucracy

    which considered to be an ideal way to manage

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    Ralph Davis emphasised the importance of rational

    planning in an organisation

    The classical theorists of this period consideredthat organisations (and people) were easily

    understood and the challenge for management was

    developing appropriate management techniques

    1900 to 1930scontinued:

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    1930s to 1960s BehaviouralSchool

    High rates of industrial disputation and worker

    discontent led to attempts to better understand the

    attitudes and values of workers

    Many organisational behaviour theories relating to

    motivation and leadership emerged during this

    period

    Awareness of worker attitudes was raised by Elton

    Mayo and his Hawthorne studies

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    1930s to 1960scontinued:

    Chester Barnard viewed the organisation as a

    cooperative system and urged that management

    should incorporate peoples needs when organising

    tasks

    Douglas McGregor proposed Theory X and Theory

    Y in relation to management

    Warren Bennis suggested that bureaucracy was

    dead and was being replaced by more flexible work

    systems

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    1930s to 1960scontinued:

    The sociotechnical systems approach emphasised

    the interaction of motivation, challenging jobs and

    the quality of working life

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    1950 to 1970 The unmanageableorganisation

    During this period the ability to effectively manage

    large organisations was questioned

    Scholars such as Herbert Simon questionedwhether rational and optimal decision making took

    place

    The problems of managing large organisations were

    brought to a wide audience by Parkinson and

    Laurence Peter

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    1960 to 1980 The study ofcontingency

    Researchers during this period attempted to find

    the best way to manage

    They found that approaches to structuring werecontingent upon a number of variables

    Their research methodology was based upon

    studying samples of organisations for dominant

    traits

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    1960 to 1980continued:

    Woodward proposed that the organisations

    technology had a major influence upon structuring

    The Aston group suggested that size exerted amajor influence

    Miles and Snow studied the influence of strategy

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    From 1980 Paradigmproliferation

    Paradigm proliferation refers to the emergence of

    many new approaches to organisational study.

    Many of these have little relationship to each other

    March and Simon proposed that there were limits to

    rationality in organisations

    Pfeffer suggested that organisations should be

    viewed as political arenas

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    Paradigm proliferationcontinued:

    Critical theory and post modernism highlight the

    negative aspects of organisational experience

    The symbolic-interpretive perspective proposes thatthe organisation be studied as a social construct

    Organisational economics applies economic theory,

    transactions costs and agency theory to

    organisations

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    The study of gender in organisations investigates

    the different experiences of men and women as

    both workers and managers

    The emergence of popular management writers and

    the reflections of exCEOs brings current

    experience to organisational problems and acts as a

    counterpoint to academic theorising

    Paradigm proliferationcontinued:

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    Discussion questions

    Discuss whether the scientific management

    approach still applies today.

    Discuss whether there is an ideal way to manage.

    How would the study of organisations by managersand academics differ? How would this likely affect

    their writing on organisations?

    What factors have contributed to paradigm

    proliferation?

    What should be the main focus of organisational

    theory; the workers or the organisations output?