management-concepts-and-practices

Que:3 Discuss the contribution of Elton Mayo and Fredrick Taylor to management thought.

Ans: Contribution of Elton Mayo to Management Thought George Elton Mayo was one of the few theorists who considered the human relations issues and their impact on work performance. George Mayo and his other colleagues conducted experiments, called as Hawthorne experiments. Hawthorne experiments are acknowledged all over the world, as these experiments have changed the viewpoint of managers towards workers of the organisation. Hawthorne experiments gave a positive turning point in the history of the human relations movement. These experiments gave a different perspective to the concept of human behaviour and its function in an organisation. Mayo was mainly responsible for executing these studies and spreading the importance of these studies. Thus, he is known as the "Father of Human Relations Movement”.

These experiments were quite similar to the scientific management school of thought that gave emphasis to scientific research for improving the efficiency of processes with the help of better methods and equipment. In case of Hawthorne studies, the major emphasis was on improving the lighting of the working area. The National Research Council conducted experiments to study the relationship between lighting and productivity.

Contribution of Fredrick Taylor to Management Thought F. W. Taylor was named as the “Father of Scientific Management”. He was a scientist and conducted many researches on the efficient utilisation of workmen. In one of his researches, he found out that improper use of scientific methods by workmen and managers led to the wastage and inefficiency in factories. Therefore, he further developed 'Scientific Management Theory'.

Scientific Management was used widely by the managers in the early 1900s. It was defined as the way of conducting business activities using pre-defined standards, information based on systematic observations, experiments and reasoning. In simple words, it is a classical management study which focuses on scientific approaches so as to improve the efficiency level of the workers in an organisation.

In this theory, he advocated that the efficiency of a factory can be attained by proper surveys, analysis and measurement. The concept of scientific management opposed the rule of thumb and is considered to solve several management problems by applying scientific methods.


BU,Bhopal MBA 1 SEM 2014