Management Theory and Practice Essay

Management Theory and Practice
Adam Cates
The Functions of Modern Management MGT 601
Gary Shelton
February 23, 2015

Abstract
This paper is a brief summary of the classic management theory and its origination dating back to the late 1700’s during the industrial revolution. It describes the basic 5 functions, roles, and skill sets of managers, and the abilities that they need to possess to perform their duties. I summarize these roles, functions, and skills to highlight how managers function within their roles at their individual organizations. I also touch base on the impact that technology has had on these managerial positions. All of their skills and functions have been amplified significantly with all of the computer operating systems and time-saving programs that are out there right now. The technological advances have been instrumental in streamlining the processes that managers have to go through within the course of their day-to-day operations.

Management Theory and Practice There are many different theories and ideas that people use as the basis for their methods and how they manage companies. They possess and utilize different management styles and skills to achieve different company objectives and goals. Just as every organization plans out its mission, goals, or practices and processes that owners feel will meet their needs, managers do the same thing. They adapt a style, theories, ideas and principles that they can put in place to manage the day-to-day operations of an organization (Nelson, 2013). Not only are they managing a number of individuals, they are managing many different personalities. Of all of these concepts and ideas that are available to implement, the classical management theory is the basis of them all. Classical management theory began in England’s industrial revolution in the late 1700’s when they invented steam-powered machinery (Plunkett, 2013). With the birth of this new resource, owners needed to plan, organize, lead, control, and staff all different types of operations (Plunkett, 2013). These are considered to be the functions of the manager. The classical management theory is focused on finding the one best method to manage and perform tasks (Plunkett, 2013). This early era of classical management theory was comprised of 2 different styles; the classical scientific school, and the classical administrative school (Plunkett, 2013). The classical scientific school focused primarily on the manufacturing process, and what happens on the factory floor, whereas the classical administrative school focused on how information was processed, and how companies, and individuals within the company should operate (Plunkett, 2013). The foundation of the classical management theory is that it was created at a very early stage in the world’s development (Plunkett, 2013). Businesses were able to start operating year round with the beginning of the industrial revolution. The invention of the use of steam power in machinery made it possible to stop using wind or running water as power sources (Plunkett, 2013). This made it easy to put the primary focus of management on the factory floors to manage how laborers were doing their jobs. The biggest credit to the foundation of this theory is that it proved that being better organized was almost as productive as the production of products themselves (Plunkett, 2013). This organization put just as much focus on the operations and processes towards accomplishing projected goals as the production itself. This later developed into the inception of top management, middle management, and first line managers (Plunkett, 2013). This theory exposes the skills of the manager, as well as reveals the role that they will play (Moyce, 2014). A role is defined as a set of particular expectations for a manager’s behavior (Plunkett, 2013). There are about ten expected roles that managers can take on, but they are

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