© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter Objectives
 Identify and understand the FIVE different approaches
to management
 Describe the general aim of the human relations
movement and explain the circumstances in which it
arose.
 Explain the practical significance of adopting a
contingency perspective.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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The Practice and Study of Management
 The systematic study of
 Cultural anthropology
management did not begin
in earnest until after 1900.
 The Egyptian pyramids
required managed effort
100k people over 20 years to
construct!
 Study of management
includes:
 Philosophy
 Stats
 Political science
 Economics
 Logistics
 History
 Computer science
 Psychology
 Sociology
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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No Universally Accepted Theory of
Management
 There are several approaches to the theory and
practice of management. We will look at FIVE:
 The universal process approach
 The operational approach
 The behavioral approach
 The systems approach
 The contingency approach
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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1. The Universal Process Approach
 Universal Process Approach
 Assumes all organizations require the same rational
management process


Core management process remains the same regardless of
the purpose of the organization.
The management process can be reduced to a set of separate
functions and related principles.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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2. The Operational Approach
 The operational approach is a production-oriented
field of management dedicated to improving
efficiency and cutting waste.
 Finding the best way to do every job to get it done
faster and more efficiently.
 Criticisms:
 Treat people like mindless machines
 Interested only in $$$
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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3. The Behavioral Approach
 The Human Relations Movement
 An effort to make managers more sensitive to their
employees’ needs
 People need to be the central focus of an organization
 Human Relations Movement:


Fear of unions forming
Success depends on motivated and committed employees
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Organizational Behavior
 Organizational Behavior (part of behavioral approach)
 A modern research-oriented approach seeking to
discover the causes of work behavior and to
develop better management techniques
 Lessons from the Behavioral Approach
 People are the key to productivity.
 Success depends on motivated and skilled individuals
committed to organizational objectives.
 Managerial sensitivity to employees is necessary to
foster the cooperation needed for high productivity.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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4. The Systems Approach
 A system is a collection of parts operating
interdependently to achieve a common purpose
 In the systems approach:
 The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
 Seeks to identify all parts of an organized activity and
how they interact.
 Greater appreciation for the whole picture
 Manager can’t become preoccupied w one area of
organization while ignoring others
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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5. The Contingency Approach
 A research effort to determine which managerial practices
and techniques are appropriate in specific situations.
(The term contingency refers to the choice of an alternative course of
action.)
 Contingency management has become synonymous with
situational management.
 Application of management tools and techniques must be
appropriate for the particular situation.
 Lessons from the Contingency Approach
 Approach emphasizes situational appropriateness rather
than rigid adherence to universal principles
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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