output would increase.
Taylor’s solutions to the problems were based on his own experience. When he was with Bethlehem Steel, Taylor criticized management and workers. He conducted many experiments to find out how to improve their productivity. He felt that managers used not the right methods and the workers did not put much effort into their job. They were always ‘soldiering’ – taking it easy. He wanted both groups to adopt a new approach to their work. The new way was as follows:
1. Each operation of a job was studied and analyzed;
2. Using the information, management worked out the time and method for each job, and the type of equipment to be used;
3. Work was organized so that the worker’s only responsibility was to do the job in the prescribed manner;
4. Men with the right physical skills were selected and trained for the job.
The weakness of his approach was that it focused on the system of work rather than on the worker. With this system a worker becomes a tool in the hands of management. Another criticism is that it leads to de-skilling – reducing the skills of workers. And with educational standards rising among factory workers, dissatisfaction is likely to increase. Finally, some people think that it is wrong to separate doing from planning. A worker will be more productive is he/she is engaged in such activities as planning, decision-making, controlling and organizing.
1. Give some information about F.W Taylor and his contribution to management.
2. Speak for and against his principles.
TEXT 4
MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES
Management by objectives (MBO) is a system which was first described by Peter Drucker in 1954. Since then, MBO has attracted enormous interest from the business world, and its principles have been applied in many of the world’s largest companies.
P. Drucker emphasized that an organization and its staff must have clear goals. Each individual must understand the goals of the enterprise he/she works for, and must make contribution to them. It is also vital that the individual knows what his/her manager expects of her. An individual must know what sort of results he/she is expected to achieve.
If an organization uses MBO approach, it must pay careful attention to planning. A special feature of MBO is that the subordinate participates with the manager in developing objectives.
Various kinds of MBO systems are used in organizations. Here is an example of how a programme might work in a company. The programme consists of several stages. First, the subordinate’s job is defined. Next, his/her current performance is evaluated. Then, new objectives are developed by the subordinates and their managers. Finally, the programme is put into action. Later, there are periodic reviews of the person’s performance, and his/her progress is checked.
The subordinates and the manager discuss the objectives and make plans for achieving them. The manager may help in some way, perhaps by providing more training for the subordinate or buying more modern machines. From time to time, the subordinate and the manager meet to discuss progress. It is vital that the manager receives feedback from the subordinate on performance and achievements.
There are many benefits of MBO. The system helps the subordinates to see clearly their role in the organization. They have a say in how their job is performed, and what goals should be. Workers feel more responsible and motivated. MBO is a good technique for assessing and individual’s performance. People are judged on results, rather than on the personal feelings and prejudices of the managers.
The main limitations of the system are that it is time-consuming and may create a lot of paperwork. In practice, MBO programmes are often fully supported by managements. This could be because managers are not always skilled at interviewing and giving guidance.
1.Who is the ‘father’ of MBO?
2. What are the principles of the system?
3. How does the programme work?
4. What are the benefits and limitations of the system?
TEXT 5
Read the text. What is the main idea of the text? Divide it into logical parts. Define the key-sentence of each part.
No school, professor or book can make you a manager. Only you can do this, and you can become a manager only by managing. Of course, you can learn the skills that are extremely helpful, particularly in such clearly defined areas as accounting, statistics, law, and finance. But this will not make you a manager. Experience is the only teacher. Experience is, however, is not the uniformly effective teacher. An old aphorism criticizes the person who has worked for 20 years but has only reexperienced the first year 20 times. Learning is not automatic. What schools can do, and what books can do is to provide you with some insights and intellectual tools to be applied against your experience. Most of you are practical people; certainly most managers are. You are concerned about doing things than about thinking about them. You are more concerned with action than with contemplation. Most business students and managers are uneasy about theory. It is abstract and difficult, too unrelated to real problems, it seems, ‘too academic’ and just ‘too theoretical’. But theory is very important because you and all men and women of action are also theorists. No matter how pragmatic you consider yourself, no matter how rooted in reality a manager views himself, you and he operate on theories. You all possess your own theories about motivation, authority, objectives and change. You will need them – and you will have them whether you know it or not. You will be a better manager if you are aware of your assumptions and you examine them periodically and modify them when necessary. Nothing is as practical as a good theory. A great deal of management theory and practice must be described as ‘common sense’. For the objectives of management may be defined as the formulation of priorities and plans.
TEXT 6
MANAGEMENT AS A PROFESSION
The criteria necessary for professional status include three major components:
– An acceptable level of competence in a specified field of knowledge.
– The placing of the interests of society before personal interests in carrying out functions of the profession.
– A code of conduct as behavior imposed upon members and usually enforced internally.
If we examine the field of managementin light of thesecharacteristics, what shall we find out?
Thereis no question that management as a discipline has developed a body of knowledge, which is becoming more and more sophisticated part of the curriculum in many academic institu–tions. Research in the field, particularly in the quantitative and behavioral areas, shows promise of making even more signi–ficant advances in the future. More and more academic institu–tions offering business programs are devoting their primary attention to graduate education in the area of management, with a particular emphasis on both theoretical and practical research. A growing number of business schools are making efforts to integrate faculty move closely with members of the business community so as to apply research findings to actual business problems.
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