Critiques of Management Theories Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Critiques of Management Theories - Assignment Example This paper therefore gives an account of certain management theories by providing a detailed critique on each and how they affect organizational management. Additionally, the theories are going to be discussed in correspondence to the contributions of Frederick Taylor and Max Weber, and how they would have perceived each of these theories. Before getting into the main discussion of these management theories, foremost of all, Taylor’s and Weber’s contributions will thus be looked at briefly as discussed below. Frederick Taylor’s contributions to organizational management are considered very instrumental in changing the perceptions and approach to management. Taylor came up with what is known as scientific management. The theory is credited for the belief that it would improve the working environment by motivation employees through remuneration and maintaining that managers should concentrate on activities that promote worker’s cooperation. Weber on the othe r hand developed principles that came to be known as ideal bureaucracy which mostly insisted on the division of labor and specialization, positive relationship and competency as the key tools for effective management (Rainey, 2011). The Hawthorne Studies The Hawthorne studies were an analysis which was conducted between 1927 and 1932 at Western Electric’s Hawthorne Company in Cicero, Illinois. Several research teams engaged in the study including Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger from Harvard faculty members and William Dickson the head of Hawthorne’s employee relations research division. The study was focused on the effects of different levels of lighting on the productivity by controlling the lighting in the area in which the employees work. These were known as the physical and environmental influences of the workplace. The lighting or illumination studies also focused on the psychological aspects such as how lighting manipulates group pressure, leadership and team work. The employee’s group productivity was assessed and compared with that of another employee group whose lighting was left unaltered. The findings were that as illumination was increased in the experimental employee group, productivity also improved. This was suggested that it was due to the impact of the motivational effect on the workers as they were pleased by the attention from the researchers and as a result of the interests being shown in them during the study. Regardless of the experiment, one reasonable conclusion is that the productivity of the other group not exposed to lighting continued to increase considerably. The illumination studies after a while was therefore short-lived, but its evaluation effect is still practiced to date. These findings thus become the contributing factors to the strengths and weaknesses of the Hawthorne effect. The strength of this study is that it is surely a tool that gives a framework which can be used to increase the productivity o f workers within an organizational set-up through the motivation of workers, appreciating their work input and output, and maintaining quality working environments. This can be applied in today’s hospitals and healthcare systems, by improving the working conditions and work environments of medical staff and other personnel. Additionally, it enhances motivation on medical workers when consistent positive changes are made in the working environment, thereby enhancing work behavior and quality service delivery from hospitals and the health care systems. On the contrary, the weaknesses of the study are that as much as it