PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT (MAN-301) June 2014
PROFESSOR: DR. WILLIAM REED
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1

Question: Define and discuss the different theories of management, using practical examples from your experience or knowledge. Compare classical management theory to any contemporary management theory.

Over more than 200 years, since the Industrial Revolution of late 1700s, humans have evolved as a better managers by learning from their past (successes and failures) and improving their skills. Scholars have attempted to define this evolution of management into six major theories or schools of management. From oldest to more recent, they are the Classical Management theory, the Behavioral Management theory, Quantitative Management theory, Systems Management theory, Contingency Management theory, and Qualitative Management theory.
The oldest, Classical Management theory, came to an existence with a primary focus to find the “one best way” to perform and manage tasks. This theory was further dissected into two schools, classical scientific school that is based on the improvement of productivity at the factory floors, and classical administrative school that is based on the information flow and how organizations should be structured and operate. In US, elements of the classical scientific school are still observed today at places like auto manufacturers that have dissected each process and have aligned the staff to be perfect at each individual tasks. The efficiently at the production level did improve but employees were working more like machines ignoring their human emotional needs such as satisfaction, appreciation and opportunity to input their ideas. Even today, such practices are widespread in third world country as well as emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil. On the other hand, almost all governments around the world are still following the