CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT THEORY: CHARACTERISTICS AND AUTHORS - DUDAS - 2025

The classical theory of management or classical approach is a model that focuses on the structure of organizations and their functions in order to achieve greater productivity. Unlike the schools of human relations and the neohuman relationshipist, it does not focus on people but on the structural functioning of the organization itself.

Its greatest exponent was Henri Fayol (1841-1925), a French mining engineer and economist born in Constantinople (now Istanbul). After experiencing the Industrial Revolution, Fayol saw that the rapid growth of industry brought with it great problems of efficiency and productivity, which is why he postulated the classical theory of management.

Origin

With the Industrial Revolution, two phenomena occurred in the industry:

- The companies reached very high levels of growth, which made their administration very complicated. Thus, long-term production planning emerged.

- The need to increase the productivity and efficiency of increasingly large companies became burning. It was then that the division of labor emerged.

This panorama was the spark that ignited the need for a true science of administration: a large number of organizations of different sizes, inefficient, not very productive, with dissatisfied employees, in a very competitive market and with great losses.

That is why, at the beginning, Fayol and other classical authors wanted to create an administrative science with laws or principles that could solve these problems in the same way that scientific laws do.

Characteristics and principles of classical theory

Like any other type of science, management must be based on a number of principles. Fayol preferred to call them principles rather than laws since, according to him, they should be flexible, like any administration. These are its 14 principles:

Division of work

Specialization is essential as a method to increase productivity in companies. It will be better if the workers are dedicated to a single task, as this will make them more productive.

Authority

Managers have to command and order employees, a task that they will achieve to a greater or lesser extent according to their level of leadership.

Discipline

All company workers have to comply with the laws and agreements that are implemented in the organization.

Steering unit

Coordination and planning is very important to achieve the same common goal. The different departments must serve as support for those who need it, in order to achieve this goal.

Unity of command

Each employee must have a single boss who orders his specific objectives.

Subordination of individual interest to the common good

The general interests must prevail over the particular interests of each individual.

Remuneration

The salary must be fair and equitable for all members of the organization.

Centralization

Authority must be concentrated in the highest management of the organization.

Hierarchy

There must be a hierarchy that divides the different levels of authority, from the highest management to the lowest level of the company.

Order

Each worker has to occupy the position that best suits him according to his abilities (human order), and everything has to be in its place (material order).

Equity

Managers must act fairly but firmly, and treat all employees equally.

Staff stability

Stable staff is preferable to improve efficiency. Turnover wastes time and therefore productivity.

Initiative

Employees should be encouraged to develop their own ideas without asking permission and with the possibility of making mistakes.

Team spirit

The organization must encourage teamwork. All sectors of the company must work together and support each other to achieve the aforementioned common objectives.

Authors

In addition to Henri Fayol, there were other important exponents who supported and contributed their ideas to classical theory, among whom are Lyndall Urwick and Luther Gulick.

Lyndall Urwick (1891-1983)

Urwick was a British business consultant and thinker, a fervent follower of Fayol and his classical management theory.

His greatest contribution was to integrate the initial ideas of Fayol and other theorists into a deep and comprehensive theory of managerial administration. Urwick's basic principles are summarized in four:

Specialization

Based on the division of labor, each worker must have only one function.

Authority

The organization and its members must recognize a single authority.

Administrative breadth

Each boss has to supervise and command a number of subordinates, depending on their position and responsibility.

Differentiation

All responsibilities, work and orders must be communicated not only orally, but also in writing.

Luther Gulick (1892-1983)

Luther Gulick Halsey was an American political scientist born in Osaka (Japan), an expert in the field of public administration. He became part of the team of advisers to former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

According to Gulick, there are eight administration functions in an organization, represented by the initials POSDCORB:

Plan (P)

All actions within the company must be thought and planned in advance in order to achieve the objectives of the company.

Organize (O)

The company must have an organizational structure that allows a hierarchy of tasks and functions, in order to facilitate coordination.

Advise (S)

From English staffing, it refers to the possibility of training as a resource to improve the employment situation. In this way, workers will be better trained and more productive.

Lead (D)

Making decisions and executing them is essential, all through effective leadership that keeps things running smoothly.

Coordinate (CO)

Unite all areas of the organization in order to achieve the common goal of the organization.

Inform (R)

From English reporting, it refers to the existence of good communication of all the existing information through written documents and records.

Budgeting (B)

Finally, the B of the English word budgeting refers to the fact that there is an elaborate accounting and a control of taxation.

References

1. Chiavenato, Idalberto. Introduction to the General Theory of Administration. Mc Graw Hill.
2. John Sheldrake (2003) Management Theory.
3. Luther H. Gulick (1937). Notes on the Theory of Organization in Papers on the Science of Administration. Eds. Luther H. Gulick and Lyndall F. Urwick. New York: Harcourt. 7
4. Lyle C. Fitch (1996). Making Democracy Work: The Life and Letters of Luther Halsey Gulick, 1892-1993. Berkeley: Institute of Governmental Studies Press
5. Charnov (2002). Administration. Mexico: Continental Editorial Company.