Brenda Sue Ard
AB/140 Section 13
Unit 2- Management Theories
Janice Kurth

The four management theories, which are behavioral, system, contingency and classical approach all have one purpose. The purpose of the four systems being how we go about getting the most out of our workers so we can make the most money. We must remember that employees are not just people that we see for eight hours a day. We as managers must see them as individuals and not just employees. All four of these approaches are good tools for managers but when it comes to one being better than the other is I believe it depends on each individual person or organization.
Out of the four theories, I would have to say the classical approach seems to be the least concerned with its human needs and too mechanistic. Although I can appreciate Taylors viewpoint the classical approach just seems to time consuming and needs to focus more on the laborers. I do agree with Taylor that by matching each employee’s ability with a certain task will result in a better output. The behavior approach tries to understand employee’s behavior and motivate them toward achievement. The contingency theory just kind of goes with the flow and depends on the individual and environmental situation. The system approach is a set of sections or parts that work together to achieve a common goal. The contingency and behavioral approach focuses more on the laborers whereas the system and classical approach focus on the grand scheme of things.
I was a little torn when deciding which system was the most important. I was undecided between the system and the behavioral approach. However, I believe from my personal experience that the behavioral approach is the most important to gaining the most output from employees. A manager’s attitude toward their employee will either make or break that relationship. A positive