Political Science

Many management gurus have proposed their theories for the application in the organizations for ameliorating their efficiency and effectiveness. Nevertheless, the trends and challenges for the companies keep on changing so they require modified or specific management theories to be applied. This paper would discuss the management theories of three popular management gurus, moreover how those theories would be compared and analyzed with respect to what actually can be more prolific or best suited for todays organizations and why.

Starting from the scientific management theory put forward by Frederick Winslow Taylor, which might be thought from the employees perspective and psychology, was the theory that explained that the employees dont enjoy doing work  especially more tasks  and want to be directed, controlled, specialized, and rewarded for their specific tasks. The exact definition of Scientific Management is that it involves partitioning work into smallest elements and standardizing tasks to achieve maximum efficiency (McShane  Travaglione, 2003 pg 196).

Frederick Taylor advocated vertical job specialization so that detailed and extensive procedures along with other work practices are developed by the engineers, enforced by supervisors, and executed by the managers or employees. Also, horizontal job specialization is also applied in this theory in a way by narrowing down the role of supervisors to an extent where one person manages operational efficiency, another manages inspection, and the other plays the role as a disciplinarian. Or in other words, the theory divides a larger task into different components where each employee is supposed to perform the work in which heshe actually specializes. Another aspect that is of considerable importance is of training, which must be provided to the employee to make them expert and skillful enough in their relevant field. The reason being that the expertise in a particular field results in the high efficiency and productivity by the employee, and that all the organizations actually want to have. But on the flipside, it has certain problems attached with too such as, job boredom, discontentment pay, high turnover, absenteeism, lower quality, and lower motivation.

The theory proposed by Elton Mayo explained that its not just money or monetary rewards that motivate the employees. In fact, the social needs are more significant than the monetary rewards that must be met, especially at the workplace. The fulfilling of such social needs is totally dependent on the manager of employees because they are the ones who must take interest in the working of their subordinates, treat them patiently and kindly, directing and supporting them, and making sure that the employees get enough coordination and interaction among them (tutor2u.net, n.d).

Mayo conducted an experiment where he tried to check the working and productivity level of the employees in different working settings and later he came up to the conclusion about the factors that motivate the employees. Three of those factors included better communication among the employees and the managers, high involvement by the managers in their subordinates working lives, and engaging the workers to work in groups or teams. The theory instructs the managers to have a participative and supportive leadership style along with developing good relationships with the employees and among employees in order to have a positive impact over the working and productivity level.

Another management guru is Mary Parker Follett, who is known today for her dedicated work for management and her constructive conflict theory. For her, the word conflict is nothing bad because conflict cannot be avoided by us at any cost. Instead, we must use conflict to favor us in different ways, though it sounds a bit confusing. The uses that she proposed from the conflict can be of two types. The first benefit or use that can be gained from conflict is the understanding of the issue because there isnt any such thing as right or wrong. If two parties are having a conflict then it would be inappropriate to say that one is right and the other is wrong. In fact, both parties can be right because of their perception and vision of a particular situation or happening. Hence, asking what is the thing that makes people differ from my opinion or statement would be better and would create a mutual understanding between the conflicting parties that satisfies each of those parties. Conflict management is not a victory or a compromise, rather is the incorporation of interest (Graham, 2003 pg 4). In short, backing conflict and finding best solution out of it would be beneficial for the creation of better understanding of needs, desires, norms, likes and dislikes, and the overall personality of an employee with whom others work. The understanding would help others to act in ways that result in positive outcomes, hence avoiding conflict in futures.

After discussing the three major theories by three popular management gurus, it can be deduced that the theory proposed by Elton Mayo would be best suited for todays organizations. The reason I believe it to be relevant is because not everyone wants to indulge in conflicts and learn from it, or to have the lust for money and keep on doing the same task again and again. The theory of scientific management would not be best suited because it doesnt fulfill the needs and wants of people who have high need for achievement, high social needs, high need for self-esteem, and the quality of being and extrovert. These days, because of high competition, employees try to become social, establish good relationships and contacts, perform multiple tasks, become innovative and think outside the box, achieve more and more, and finally directed and supported by the managers or mentors to build up the motivation and willingness.