Abstract

Organised activities and management have existed for a thousand years. For instance, the construction of the Great Wall of China and the Egyptians pyramids, are just some of the examples of the organised activities. Several management theories have led to the transformation in the management practice. One of the roles of arguments is that it leads to the view of management from a human resources approach. Today manager does not operate in isolation where they sit in an office and only give orders for people to follow. Through the theories, there is a new crop of management that is more focused on building a team rather than just leading people.

The role of the Management Theories in Management practice

Organised activities and management have existed for a thousand years. For instance, the construction of the Great Wall of China and the Egyptians pyramids, are just some of the examples of the organised activities. During the Renaissance, Michelangelo was still a manager. To deliver on his quest to make the chapel he had to personality select the workers to train them and assign them to different teams, he also had a tail of all the employees. However, in the past hundred years, the management concept has experienced systemic investigation, acquired a collective body of knowledge and has become a formal disciple. Today management is not just the idea of controlling people but requires more profound sophistication. Several management theories have led to the transformation in the management practice.

One of the roles of theories is that it led to the view of management from a human resources approach. From this approach, the manager gets things done by working with people. Through the theoretical proposition that was developed by Henry Fayol, the focus was more on studying management that is focused on human behaviour. Some of the early advocates of this theory were Robert Owen, Mary Parker and Elton Mayo. The most important focus of this theory is to look at the organisation from the perspective of individual and group behaviour. From this perspective, there is a need to understand how own conduct has an impact on the organisation. Today this seems to be the approach that is used I various organisation. Today organisation are seen as a life system that should be organized and treated as one (Touboulic & Walker, 2015). The relationship between the manager and the employees should be based on how each operates and how these relationships eventually affect the organisation.

Today manager does not operate in isolation where they sit in an office and only give orders for people to follow. Preferably through the theories of management proposed by people like Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor, suggests that it is essential to make people feel important. The best way that a manager can achieve the highest level of productivity is to make people think they are the necessary though sincere appreciation of their efforts. Through the honest acknowledgement of the small effort that people make, it becomes easy to motivate them to achieve even bigger things. Managers of today have learnt that they have an essential role of offering clear, honest feedback to their employees (Nambisan et al., 2017). Besides, there is a focus on rewarding achievement in the business. Through such approaches, managers can rally employees to keep performing better.

The transformation of management theories has provided a better understanding of how people are operating within the organisation. These methods have helped to develop managers that are more understanding and ones that do not only lead by giving orders but instead by being an example to be emulated. The managers of today have realised that people do not work effectively when they are ordered around but instead when they feel motivated. The conception of motivating is not only limited to monetary rewards but also providing a good environment where people are free to express their opinions and exercise their creativity. Through the theories, there is a new crop of management that is more focused on building a team rather than only leading people.

References

Touboulic, A., & Walker, H. (2015). Theories in sustainable supply chain management: a structured literature review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45(1/2), 16-42.

Nambisan, S., Lyytinen, K., Majchrzak, A., & Song, M. (2017). Digital innovation management: Reinventing innovation management research in a digital world. Mis Quarterly, 41(1).