General Principles of Management

AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN THE FIELD OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION

SCIENCE

GENERAL PRINCIPLESOF MANAGEMENT

Prepared By:

Anupama Saini

B-09

BLISc

Department of Library and Information Science

University of Delhi

A N U P A M A S A I N I

PREVIEW

Sr. No. Topic Slide No.

1 Concept of Management 3

2 Theory in Management 4

3 The Evolution of Management Theory

5

4 Classification of Management Theories

6

5 Classical Management Theory

7

(i) Scientific Management Theory

9

(ii) Administrative Management Theory

14

(iii) BureaucraticManagement Theory

19

Criticism of Classical Management Theory

23

Sr. No. Topic Slide No.

6 Neo-Classical Management Theory

24

(i) Human Relations School 25

(ii) Behavioural Schools 30

7 Modern Management Theory

37

(i) Systems Theory 39

(ii) Contingency Theory 42

(iii) Organisational Humanism

43

(iv) Management Science 44

8 Application of management Theories in the field of Library and Information Science

45

• The term ‘MANAGEMENT’ is derived from the verb which can mean: to

organise, to control, to handle, to carry out for a purpose etc.

• Management is both a science and an art. As a science it is concerned with

establishing philosophies, laws, theories, principles, processes and practices

which can be applied in various situations. However, management is not a

hard core science like physics or chemistry.

• It has more in common with the social sciences like psychology and

sociology. As an art, management is about carrying out organisational

functions through people.

• Management is as old as humanity itself, and is needed wherever there is

organised human activity.

• Management can be broadly defined as working with people to

determine, interpret and achieve organisational objectives by performing

the functions of planning, organising, staffing, leading and controlling.

• Management is a collection of processes such as decision- making,

problem-solving and action-planning. These processes involve the

management of resources viz. human, financial, material and time.

CONCEPT OF MANAGEMENT


• The chaos caused by the proliferation of management theories is aptly

called `the management theory jungle' (Koontz, 1961) and a strong need

for a unified and integrated theory of management was felt.

• A number of theoretical approaches with varying hypotheses, assumptions

and propositions have emerged.

• Lack of adequate concept formation is considered a serious drawback in

the development of a unified and integrated management theory.

• Since management is an applied science, it lacks coherent theoretical

concepts of its own. Management scholars have borrowed and applied

concepts from other disciplines.

• Thus, management theory has evolved in a symbiotic relationship to its

related and supporting disciplines like mathematics, statistics and

behavioural sciences, depriving the motivation to devise its own

conceptual framework independent of related disciplines.

• Moreover, management research has been kept psychologically and

philosophically closer to practice than to theory.

THEORY IN MANAGEMENT


THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THEORY


• Scientific Management

• Administrative Management

• Bureaucratic Management

Classical

Management

Theory

•Human Relations School

•Behavioural School

Neo-Classical

Theory

• Systems Theory

• Contingency Theory

• Organisational Humanism

• Management Science

Modern

Management

Theory

CLASSIFICATION OF MANAGEMENT THEORIES


• Evolution:-

o Classical management theory consists of a group of similar ideas on the

management of organisations that evolved in the late 19th

century and early

20th

century.

o The Classical school is sometimes called the traditional school of management

among practitioners.

o This school, evolved as a result of the industrial revolution, in response to the

growth of large organisations and in contrast to the handicraft system that

existed till then.

• Branches :-

1. Scientific management,

2. Administrative principles, and

3. Bureaucratic organisation.

1. CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT THEORY


• Rationale:-

o The predominant and common characteristic to all three branches is

the emphasis on the economic rationality of management and

organisation.

o Economic rationality assumes that people are motivated by economic

incentives and that they make choices that yield the-greatest

monetary benefit. Thus, to get employees to work hard, managers

should appeal to their monetary desires.

o These assumptions are based on a pessimistic view of human nature.

• Contributions of the classical school of management:-

I. Application of science to the practice of management

II. Development of the basic management functions and

III. Articulation and application of specific principles of

management.


Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-

1915) is considered to be the father

of scientific management.

“Scientific management means

knowing exactly what you want

men to do and seeing that they do it

in the best and cheapest way.”

- F.W. Taylor

1.1 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT THEORY


• Evolution:-

o Scientific management is the name given to the principles and practices,

that grew out of the work of Frederick Taylor and his followers and that

are characterised by concern for efficiency and systematisation in

management.

o Taylor was supported in his efforts by Henry Gantt, Frank and Lillian Gilberth

and Harrington Emerson. All these disciples of Taylor became famous in their

own right.

o Together with Taylor they revolutionised management thinking.

• Rationale:-

o Taylor believed that following the scientific method, would provide a way to

determine the most efficient way to perform work.

o He believed that scientific management practices would benefit both the

employee and the employer through the creation of larger surplus, and hence

the organisation would receive more income.


• Principles of Scientific Management propounded by

Taylor :-

Science, not rule of thumb

Harmony, not discord

Cooperation, not individualism

Development of each and every individual to his/her greatest efficiency

and prosperity

Maximum, not restricted output


• Contributions of the classical school of management:-

1. Introduction of functional foremanship to separate planning

functions from executive functions.

2. Standardisation and simplification of work.

3. Fatigue study, method study, time study and motion study.

4. Differential piece-wage system.


• Limitations:-

1. It may not always be true that economic incentives are strong

enough to motivate workers.

2. There is no such thing as `one best way' of doing a job so far as the

component motions are concerned and hence time and motion

study may not be entirely scientific. Two studies done by two

different persons may time the same job entirely differently.

3. Separation of planning and doing a job and the greater

specialisation inherent in the system tend to reduce the need for skill

and produce greater monotony of work.

4. Advances in methods and better tools and machines eliminated

some workers, causing resentment from them.


• Henry Fayol (1841-1925), a

French industrialist, is the chief

architect and the father of the

administrative management

theory.

• He is also known as father of

management thought.

1.2 ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT THEORY


• Evolution:-

o While pioneers of the scientific management tried to determine the best way to

perform a job, those in the administrative management explored the possibilities of

an ideal way to put all jobs together and operate an organisation.

o Thus, the emphasis of administrative or general management theory is on finding

`the best way' to run an organisation.

o In addition to Henry Fayol, other prominent exponents include Chester I Barnard

and Colnel Lyndall Urwick (a British management expert).

• Rationale:-

o Fayol focused on managerial levels and the organisation as a whole. His perspective

extended beyond the shop level and the physical production processes and was macro

in nature.

o He focused on the managerial activity and propounded that fundamental functions of

any manager consists of planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and

controlling.

o He emphasised that the process of management is the same at any level of an

organisation and is common to all types of organisations.


14 Principles of Administrative Management propounded

by Fayol :-

AN

UP

AM

A S

AI

NI

• Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick

adopted Fayol’s ideas and restated

the functions under the catchword

‘POSDCORB’ in 1937.

• It was developed as a means to

structure and analyse management

activities.

• It stands for seven functions to be

performed by management.


POSDCORB

• Limitations:-

1. Many of the principles of this school, including those of Fayol, are

contradictory and have dilemmas.

2. These principles are based on a few case studies and they are not

empirically tested.

3. These principles are stated as unconditional statements and valid under

all circumstances which is not practicable.

4. These principles result in the formation of mechanistic organisation

structures which are insensitive to employees' social and psychological

needs. Such structures inhibit the employees' self actualisation and

accentuate their dependence on superiors.

5. This school does not consider sociology, biology, psychology,

economics, etc. as relevant to be included within the purview.

6. These principles are based on the assumption that organisations are

closed systems. According to this school of thought employees tend to

develop an orientation towards their own departments rather than

towards the whole organisation.

7. The rigid structures created by these principles do not work well under

unstable conditions.A N U P A M A S A I N I

Max Weber, a German sociologist,

propounded the theory called

principle of bureaucracy – a theory

related to authority structure and

relations in the 19th

century.

1.3 BUREAUCRATIC MANAGEMENT THEORY


• Evolution:-

o According to Max Weber, bureaucracy is the formal system of

organization and administration designed to ensure efficiency and

effectiveness.

o He suggested an ideal model for management as bureaucratic approach.

• Rationale:-

o In the late 1800s, Max Weber criticized organizations for running their

businesses like a family. Weber believed this informal organization of

supervisors and employees inhibited the potential success of a company

because power was misplaced. He felt that employees were loyal to their

bosses and not to the organization.

o Weber believed in a more formalized, rigid structure of organization known

as a bureaucracy. This non-personal view of organizations followed a formal

structure where rules, formal legitimate authority and competence were

characteristics of appropriate management practices.


• Principles of Bureaucratic Management propounded by

Weber :-


• Limitations:-

1. Too much of red-tapism and paperwork not only lead to unpleasant

experiences, but also to inefficient operations.

2. Since employees are impersonally and are expected to rely on rules

and policies, they are unwilling to exercise individual judgment and

avoid risks. Consequently their growth, creativity, development,

and even initiative suffer considerably.

3. Machine like treatment makes employees, unconcerned about the

organisation, and exhibit indifference regarding the organisation and

job performance.

4. Bureaucracy expects conformity in behaviour rather than

performance.


1.4 CRITICISM OF CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT THEORY

1. The notion of rational economic person is often strongly

criticised. The assumption that people are motivated primarily by

economic reward might have been appropriate around 1900

A.D., and for a few people today.

2. Organisations have grown more complex and hence require more

creativity and judgment from employees.

3. All pervasiveness of principles of management is also questioned.

With changes in objectives, approaches, structures and

environment, organisations may have to have some changes in

principles.

4. The principles propounded by the classical theory are not

vigorously scientific and thus did not stand the test of time.


• Evolution:-

o As a reaction to schools of classical theory, which over emphasised the

mechanical and physiological characters of management, came up the schools

of neoclassical theory, with a more human-oriented approach and emphasis

on the needs, drives, behaviours and attitudes of individuals.

o Neo-classical theory evolved during the period of 1920s-1950s.

o Another impetus was the development of the concepts of industrial

psychology around the same time.

o Two important groups, namely, human relations school and behavioural

schools emerged during 1920s and 1930s under the neoclassical theory.

o The human relations movement of the 1940s and the 1950s filled many gaps

in knowledge.about business organisations, but it did little to fill major gaps

in management theory, or to create a new and viable theory of management.

2. NEO-CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT THEORY


Elton Mayo is considered as the

father of the human relations

movement.

2.1 HUMAN RELATIONSSCHOOL


• Evolution:-

o Apart from Elton Mayo, the other two important co-researchers of

this school are F.J. Roethlisberger and William J Dickson.

o Mayo, Roethlisberger and Dickson conducted studies, at the

Hawthorne, Illinois plant of Chicago Western Electric Company,

which became famous as the Hawthorne experiments or studies

later.

o They felt that, if the best work environment could be determined

(just as the best way to perform the job could be determined by

scientific management), then workers would be more efficient and

become less tired.

o They set up test groups, for which changes were made in lighting,

frequency of rest periods, and working hours and control groups,

for which no changes were made.


• Rationale:-

o They believed that organisations always involve interrelationships

among members and that it is the manager's role to see that

relationships are as conflict-free as possible, in order to accomplish

the organisation's objectives.

o They believed that the human aspect of business organisations had

been largely ignored.

o They felt that satisfaction of psychological needs should be the

primary concern of the management.

o Mayo and his colleagues arrived at two important conclusions:

(i) existence of strong informal groups ,

(ii) employees' behaviour at work is affected by pan economic

factors.


• Observations of Human Relations School propounded

by Mayo, Roethlisberger and Dickson :-


• Limitations:-

1. Human relations school emphasised only human variables as critical

and ignored other variables.

2. Every organisation is made of a -number of diverse social groups

with incompatible values and interests. These groups might.-

cooperate-in-some spheres and compete and clash in others. It is

practically impossible to satisfy every-body-and turn the

organisation into a big happy family.

3. This approach over-emphasises the importance of symbolic rewards

which may not be appreciated by recipient's `significant others' and

underplays the role of material rewards.

4. The human relations movement accepted many of the assumptions

of the scientific management thinkers, and it did not achieve a

major breakthrough in management theory.


• The term modern behaviourism refers to the current stage of

evolution of the behavioural school of management, which gives

primacy to psychological considerations, but treats fulfillment of

emotional needs mainly as a means of achieving other primary

economic goals.

• Important behavioural scientists, who contributed in development of

behavioural school of management, are Abraham Maslow, Douglas

McGregor, Frederick Herzberg and Chester Barnard.

• It is difficult to classify all these researchers as neoclassical theorists.

Many of them should be considered as contributors to modern

management theories in general, and social system theory and

modern humanism theory in particular.

2.2 BEHAVIOURAL SCHOOLS


• Motivation refers to the psychological

processes that stimulate excitement and

persistence of voluntary actions aimed

at some goal.

• Needs are psychological or

physiological insufficiencies that

provoke some type of behavioral

response. Needs theories attempt to

identify internal factors that motivate

an individual's behavior and are based

on the premise that people are

motivated by unfulfilled needs.

• One of the most popular needs theories

is Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of

needs theory. Maslow proposed that

motivation is the result of a person's

attempt at fulfilling five basic needs:

physiological, safety, social, esteem and

self-actualization.

2.2.1 HIERARCHY OF NEEDS : ABRAHAM MASLOW


• As the name of the theory indicates,

Maslow believed that these needs

exist in a hierarchical order.

• This progression principle suggests

that lower-level needs must be met

before higher-level needs.

• The deficit principle claims that a

once a need is satisfied, it is no longer

a motivator because an individual

will take action only to satisfied

unmet needs.

• If you look at this pyramid you can

see how Maslow's needs are

organized with basic physiological

needs, such as air, food, water and

sleep, at the bottom and the idea of

self-actualization, or when a person

reaches the full potential in life, at

the top.

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY


• Theory X and Theory Y are

theories of human motivation.

• These were created and

developed by Douglas

McGregor at the MIT Sloan

School of Management in the

1960s.

• Theory X and Theory Y have to

do with the perceptions that

managers hold of their

employees, which in turn

influence their management

style.

2.2.2 THEORY X AND THEORY Y : DOUGLAS MCGREGOR


Douglas McGregor

THEORY X & THEORY Y


• The two-factor theory (also known

as Herzberg's motivation-hygiene

theory and dual-factor theory)

states that there are certain factors

in the workplace that cause job

satisfaction, while a separate set of

factors cause dissatisfaction.

• It was developed

by psychologist Frederick Herzberg,

who theorized that job satisfaction

and job dissatisfaction act

independently of each other

2.2.3 TWO-FACTOR THEORY : FREDERICK HERZBERG

Frederick Herzberg


TWO FACTOR THEORY


• Evolution:-

o Modern management theory highlights, the complexity of the organisation as

well as individuals and the diversity of their needs, motives, aspirations and

potentials.

o As a result, one time status or universal management principles are

impracticable. The complexities require intricate managerial strategies for

dealing with people and organisation.

• Branches :-

1. Systems Theory

2. Contingency Theory

3. Organisational Humanism

4. Management Science

3. MODERN MANAGEMENT THEORY


• Rationale:-

o As against the rational economic man of the classical theory and the social

person view of neoclassical theory, the complex employee view is the

premises of modern management theory.

o The complex employee view holds that people are both complex and

variable. They have many motives, learn new motives through experience and

motives vary from organisation to organisation and department to

department.

o There is no single managerial strategy that works for all people at all times .

o This stage of management theory represents the work of revisionist researchers

combining streams of efforts in the behavioural sciences with those in

mathematics, statistics, and the use of computers.


• The classical theory emphasised the

`task', `structure' and `efficiency'

and the neoclassical theory

emphasized 'people'. Systems theory

has come up as via media with an

integrated and holistic approach to

management problems.

• Chester Barnard, George Homans,

Philip Selznick and Herbert Simon

are some of the advocates of the

systems theory.

3.1 SYSTEMS THEORY

Chester Barnard


• A system is an entity made up of two

or more interdependent parts that

interact to form a functioning

organism. An organisation, human

body, a flower and a tree are

examples of a system (anything and

everything is a system).

• A system can either be open or

closed. An open system interacts with

its environment.

• Traditional organisation theorists

regarded organisation as closed

systems, while modern view is to

treat it as an open system, having

constant interaction with its

environment.

SYSTEM’S THEORY

• An organisation is an open system that interacts regularly with external forces such as

government agencies, customers and suppliers. These external forces have an impact

on organisation practices.A N U P A M A S A I N I

• The open system concept is the

first part of the two parts of

systems theory.

• The second part is the impact of

changes within an organisation.

• The changes in one part of the

organisation affect all other parts

of the organisation.

• This interdependence

complicates the manager's job.

• The boundaries of open systems

are permeable or penetrable,

flexible and changeable

depending upon its activities.

• The function of the management

is to act as a boundary-linking pin

among the various subsystems

within the organisational system.

SYSTEM’S THEORY


• The contingency approach stresses the

absence of a single best way to manage and

emphasises the need for managerial

strategies based on all relevant facts.

• Wide range external and internal factors

must be considered and then the focus

should be on the action that best fits the

given situation.

• This approach, in a way attempts to

integrate the various schools of

management thought, otherwise it is

obvious that the principles and concepts of

various schools have no general and

universal applicability under all conditions.

• The contingency approach suggests that

managers should be able to identify which

technique, in a particular situation, will best

contribute to the attainment of

management goals.

• In other words, managers should develop a

sort of situational sensitivity and practical

selectivity.

3.2 CONTINGENCY THEORY

• Contingency approach is

most applied in the activities

of motivating, leading and

structuring the organisation,

employee development and

training, decisions of

decentralisation,

establishment of

communication and control

systems, and planning

information decision

systems.


• This school of thought is an extension

of behavioural schools of neoclassical

theory.

• Some of the researchers like Douglas

McGregor and Abraham Maslow,

mentioned under behavioural schools,

are the propounders of organisation

humanism or the modern behavioural

school.

• The underlying philosophy of this

school is ‘self-actualizing view.

• According to this view, employees are

primarily self-motivated and self-

controlled and react negatively to

externally imposed controls. If

allowed to become self-actualised,

employees will integrate the goals

with those of the organisation. Self-

actualization refers to reaching one's

potential i.e., ultimate use of personal

skills.

3.3 ORGANISATIONAL HUMANISM

• Hence, unnecessary rules, rigidly

designed jobs and inflexible

supervision should be avoided.

Employees should have greater

freedom and satisfaction at work.

• Self-actualised employees, are highly

motivated and produce organisational

benefits, that cannot be achieved in

the bureaucratic organisation.

• The best role for a manager is to

challenge employees, develop their

decision making skills, and allow them

to seek responsibility.

• Organisational humanism is criticized

on the ground that it is difficult to

believe that every employee seeks self-

actualisation at work.


• Management Science should not be confused with scientific management of

classic theory. However, the management science approach, also known as

quantitative approach, has evolved from the early application of some of the

scientific management techniques of classical theorists.

• Because of the complexities of organisations, today's managers are required to

have more and better information in order to make effective decisions.

• The management science approach proposes the use of quantitative technique

to aid decision making.

• Despite voluminous data to be analysed and sophisticated computations to be

done, a wide variety of quantitative tools have been developed and high-

speed computers deployed in the analysis of information.

• This approach gained momentum during the Second World War, when

interdisciplinary groups of scientists, called Operations Research Teams, were

engaged to seek solutions to many complex problems of war.

• Tools such as linear programming, queuing theory, simulation models, CPM,

PERT, inventory-control and quality control tools are extensively used in this

approach.

3.4 MANAGEMENT SCIENCE


• The library is a social

institution. The aim of a library

is to ensure maximum use if its

reading materials by users.

• Hence, a librarian, besides

being a scholar, should also

understand the basic principles

of business management. He is

a manager of an enterprise and

should have adequate

managerial acumen.

• In the following slides,

application of some of the

general management principles

to library have been discussed.

APPLICATION OF MANAGEMENT THEORIES IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE FIELD


APPLICATION OF MANAGEMENT PROCESS IN LIBRARIES


• Planning is about systematically making decisions about the library goals.

Planning

• Organizing is about assembling and coordinating human, financial, physical,

informational, and other resources needed to achieve library goals.

Organising

• Staffing is about identifying the requirement of the workforce, recruitment,

selection, placement, promotion, appraisal, training and development of the

personnel.

Staffing

• Directing is about functions that involve efforts on the part of the librarian to

stimulate high performance by employees

Directing

• Controlling about monitoring various library operations and services.

Controlling

APPLICATION OF SOME MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES IN LIBRARIES


Unity of Command

•There should be

unity in planning and

its implementation

devices.

•The staff should be

headed by a

Librarian, who, in

turn, is guided by a

Library

Board/Committee.

Discipline

• Every library frames

a set of rules for

regulating its services

to members and the

maintenance of its

operations.

•Rules are framed

keeping in mind the

library objectives and

members interests.

•As far as possible

rules should be

explicit, free from

any ambiguity.

Delegation of

Authority

• In order to achieve

proper co-ordination

and strategic

leadership, authority

is delegated in

libraries.

• For example, the

deputy librarians are

delegated the work

of surveillance in the

library and reporting

their observations to

the librarian.



Departmentalisation

•To ensure

specialisation and

division of work,

assignment of jobs is

done after proper job

analysis.

•Consequently, various

departments are

established in a

library like acquisition

department,

processing

department, reference

services department,

etc.

Limited Span of

Control

• For efficient

administration of the

library, it is ensured

that there should be

as few people to be

controlled directly by

each other as

possible.

•Hence, more than

one deputy librarians

are appointed in big

libraries.

Parity of Responsibility

and Authority

•While devolving

responsibility upon an

official in a library,

care should be taken

that he/she is

bestowed with

corresponding

powers.

•Hence, a librarian has

the maximum

amount of authority

as he/she is

responsible for the

efficient functioning

of the entire library.



Leadership

•The librarian should

have qualities of a

leader so that the

subordinates derive

inspiration from

him/her.

•He/she should be

well-qualified, hard-

working, intelligent,

pro-active,

motivating and

inspiring.

Order

• To maintain the

operations of the

library efficiently, there

should be order in the

placement of men and

material.

•All the departments

should be arranged

logically to save the

time of the user. The

various information

resources should be

kept in classified order.

• The people should be

assigned jobs as per

their qualifications.

Coordination

•After establishing the

various departments,

it becomes very

essential that proper

co-ordination

between departments

is ensured.

•This can be achieved

by holding regular

meetings of the

respective

department heads

and meetings within

the departments as

well.



Scalar Chain

•There must be a clear

line of formal

authority running

from top to bottom of

a library.

•The diagram on the

right is an example of

how a scalar chain

sort of organisation

structure works in a

library.

Davis, Keith, and Newstrom, John W. Human Behaviour at Work:

Organisational Behaviour. New York: McGraw Hill Book

Company, 1989.

Evans, G. Edward. Management Techniques for Libraries. New York:

Academic Press, 1976.

Griffin, Ricky. Fundamentals of Management. Boston, MA: Houghton

Mifflin, 2005.

Stueart, Robert D., Morner, Claudia J., and Moran, Barbara B. Library

and Information Center Management. North Carolina: Libraries

Unlimited, 2012.

REFERENCES


Education

General Principles of Management