Management has been of concern to organized society throughout civilized history, although its systematic study as a separate branch of human knowledge is fairly recent. The epoch of management inquiry and research has largely developed during this century, and many schools of thought have tried to formulate the underlying principles of management.

Ancient Civilizations

As early as 3000 B.C., the Sumerians kept records on clay tablets; many of those records applied to the management practices of the priests in Ur. Early Babylonia implemented a system of very strict control of business enterprises with its Codes of Akkadian and Hammurabi: Nebuchadnezzar, for instance, used color codes to control production on the Hanging Gardens, and these checks were performed every week and cumulated yearly. Reward was for piecework, which established norms for performance. The Hebrews' understanding of hierarchy and the importance of delegation is reflected in the Old Testament, particularly in Exodus, chapter 18, which indicates that Moses "chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons; the hard causes they brought into Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves."

The Egyptians And their Pyramids

Construction of the pyramids, around 5000 B.C., was accomplished by about 100,000 men working for 20 years on only one of the larger structures. Around 2000 B.C. the principle of decentralized control was illustrated by the vesting of control in the individual states of Egypt (only later did the pharaoh establish central control over all). The Egyptians also employed long-range planning and staff advisers. Interpretations of early Egyptian papyri, extending as far back as 1300 B.C., indicate that the bureaucratic states of antiquity recognized the importance of organization and administration.

The Chinese Dynasties

Similar records exist for ancient China. Confucius's parables include practical suggestions for proper public administration. Claude George points out that one could find, in the China of 3000 years ago, "concepts that have a contemporary managerial ring: organization, functions, cooperation, procedures to bring efficiency, and various control techniques." The staff principle, later perfected by military organizations, was also used very effectively by Chinese dynasties as far back as 2250 B.C.

The Greek

Although the records of early Greece do not give much insight to the principles of management, the very existence of the Athenian commonwealth, with its councils, popular courts, administrative officials, and board of generals, indicates an appreciation of the managerial function. Socrates's definition of management as a skill separate from technical knowledge and experience is remarkably close to current understanding of the function. The Greek influence on scientific management is also revealed in their writings- for example, Plato wrote about specialization.

The Roman Empire

It is known that in ancient Rome the complexity of the administrative job evoked considerable development of management techniques. It is thought that the secret of the Roman Empire's success lay in the ability of the Romans to organize.

Many ancient leaders were skillful organizers. Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 B.C., with his Carthaginian troops and equipment, was a remarkable organizational feat, as were the efforts of Qin Shi Huang Di, the "First Emperor" of China who organized hundreds of thousands of slaves and convicts to create his burial complex at Xian and to connect portions of the Great Wall, at about that same time.

Many of the techniques that we employ today in modern organizations can be traced to ancient origins. For instance, the first record of motion studies appeared in the time of Cyrus, the Persian king, about 600 B.C. These records indicate that flute and pipe governed the motions, with songs for each task. They introduced rhythm, standard motion, and work tempo.

The most efficient formal organization in the history of Western civilization has been that of the Catholic Church. This is due not only to the appeal of its objectives but also to the effectiveness of its organization and management techniques. The scalar chain of command was introduced early in the organization of the Church, as was the concept of specialization.

The Arsenal of Venice, probably the largest industrial plant in the world of the sixteenth century, was an outstanding example of organizational efficiency. It appeared in the time of Machiavelli, whose writings emphasized the principle that authority developed from the consent of the masses. His ideas, particularly as set forth in The Prinee, have application to our current study of leadership and communications.

Some of the most important principles and practices of modern business management can be traced to military organizations. The principles of unity of command, staff advisers, and division of work all evolved from early military order, probably as early as Cyrus and certainly refined by Alexander the Great. Although such organizations were fairly simple until recent times, they have gradually improved their techniques of direction. Among the most important of these has been the staff principle. The "general staff," for example, organized under a chief of staff, furnished specialized advice and information and supplied auxiliary services that have come to be essential features of military and business enterprise. The line of command concept also had its origin in the armies of antiquity and medieval times, and the scalar principle is still a very important part of military organizations today.

The development of technology during the Industrial Revolution produced a factory system that brought workers into a central location and into contact with other workers. It was during the development of effective and efficient management control of those newly founded organizations that many management concepts began to emerge. Adam Smith in his writings, and particularly in The Wealth of Nations, described the "division of work" and "time and motion studies" as they should be employed in organizations. Other writers of that period, including Robert Owen, Charles Babbage, and Charles Dupin, wrote on the problems of management in factories. Many of the principles that were later reemphasized and further refined in both the scientific management approach and the human relations approach were actually first developed by those writers during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For instance, Charles Babbage, a mathematician, stressed the importance of distinguishing mental from physical work, and wanted to improve efficiency by encouraging managers to use time study techniques, to centralize production, to inaugurate research and development, etc. He contributed much to the scientific management approach and was a pioneer in developing the principles that today are used in computers.

Various methods have been used in the study of administration in this century. The first systematic approach was legalistic, being devoted to a study of the organization, powers, and activities and limitations of the public authorities. Later, a more scientific approach was used, concerned chiefly with administrative organization as the instrument of management. An attempt was made to determine, on the basis of empirical evidence, rules for efficient and effective administrative organization and operation. More recently, behavioral scientists have been using the methods of psychology, sociology, and anthropology in an effort to secure a better understanding of group behavior, leadership, and decision making. These pioneering contributions (some call them "schools") are referred to differently in different texts, but the content of each is readily recognized.

No student can afford not to be familiar with the contributions of the major pioneer thinkers in the field. This is not to say that their ideas should be accepted without question; however, their ideas are the basis for the development of management as we know it today, and their contributions provide insight into the essence of management.

   THE SEMINAL WORKS

Classical Organization Theory
Henry Fayol
Max Weber

Scientific Management
Fredrik W Taylor
Henry L. Gantt
Frank & Lillian Gillberth

Standardization
Harrington Emerson

Bridging Classical & Behavioral
Mary Parter Follett
Chester Barnard
Philip Selznick

Industrial Psychology
Hugo Munsterberg

Mass Production
Henry Ford

Human Relations
Elton Mayo

Public Administration
Lyndall Urwick

Contingency Theory
Paul Lawrence & Jay Lorsch

Divisionalization
Konosuke Matusushita
Alfred Sloan Jr.

Corporate Mission
Thomas Watson

Quality Control
Walter Shewhert
 

Operation Research
P M S Blackett

Theory X, Theory Y
Douglas Megreger

Decentralization
Management by Objectives
Customer Orientation
Peter Drucker

Quality Control
Edward Deming
Joseph Juran

JIT, Kanban
Talichi Ohno

Humanism
Abraham Maslow

Decision Theory
Herbert Simon
Howard Raiffa
Robert Schialer

Corporate Strtegy
H Iger Ansoff
Theodore Levitt

System 4
Rensis Likert

Product Portfolio Management
Boston Consulting Group

Managerial Grid
Blake & Mouton

Positioning
Al Ries & Jack Trout

Theory Z
William Ouchi

Corporate Culture
Terrence Deal & Allan Kennedy

Info. Based Management
Peter Drucker

Learning Organization
Robert Mayes
Steven Wheelwright
Klm Clark

7S Framework
Mckinsey & Co.

Excellence
Peters & Waterman

Competitive Strategy
Michael Porter

Key Success Factors
Kenichi Ohmae

Service Niche
Jan Carlzon

Marketing Warfare
Al Ries & Jack Trout

Globalization of Markets
Theodore Levitt

Zero Defect
Phillip Croshy

World Class Manufacturing
Richard Schonberger