This paper will examine the differences between the four Contemporary Approaches to management: sociotechnical systems theory, quantitative management, organizational behavior, and systems theory. The first theory, Sociotechnical Theory was developed in the early 1950’s and reintroduced in the 1980’s and 1990’s. It suggest that organizations are effective when their employees have the right tools, training, and knowledge to productively do their jobs and bring quality product to its customers. It is a teamwork based system that believes that workers should be given the freedom to correct problems early on to create less waste. The next approach is Quantitative Management. This approach was also adopted after WWII in the 1940’s and 1950’s. It was brought about because in WWII military planners applied mathematical techniques in defense and logistic problems. This approach is supposed to help managers make decisions based on mathematical formulas. Managers had to use other management techniques along with Quantitative Management, such as experience, intuition, and judgment because not every problem can be solved using a mathematical technique. Also some managers were not trained using these techniques. Organizational Behavior uses psychology and sociology to explain the behavior of people on the job. Also created in the 1950’s and reexamined in the 1960’s using Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X assumes that workers are lazy, irresponsible, and need constant supervision and motivation. They call this the self-fulfilling prophecy. If employees are treated this way they will act that way. Theory Y assumes that employees want to work, can direct and control themselves, if managers use Theory Y their employees will be more productive and achieve superior performance. The final theory is Systems Theory. This theory
