Most ideas representative of general administrative theories are Essay

Most ideas representative of general administrative theories are relevant to modern global organizations - Essay Example Administration is only one of these functions. Hence it is more realistic to talk of management theories instead of the administrative theories as the former encompasses the latter. Broadly speaking, management theory attempts to emphasize management functions with a view to generate broad administrative principles that would serve as guideline for the realization of organizational activities. There has been numerous attempts made by scholars of various disciplines to construct a 'general management theory'. However, neither of these attempts seems to favor one another and it has almost become impossible to find out two scholars sharing a common view. Suojanen (1963).The earliest writings on the subject came from such eminent scholars like Henri Fayol, Mooney and Reiley, and Gulick and Urwick (1937). The greatest development that has occurred in the management literature in recent years is the classification of various views of management in a coherent and logical way. This scientific classification of diverse approaches to the subject has been done by Koontz (1961), widely known as the 'management theory jungle'. Koontz (1961) classified the major schools of management theory into six broad categories. 1. ... His main contributions included among others to define a body of principles that would empower a manager to formulate a formal structure of the organization for its effective administration. Being a staunch advocate of the universality of management concepts and principles, Fayol introduced management as a separate discipline is his original contribution to management thought. Fayol opined that the five functions of managers were to plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control. His fourteen principles of management included division of work, authority and responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interests to general interests, remuneration of personnel, centralization, scalar chain, order, equity, stability of tenure of personnel, initiative, and esprit de corps (union is strength).Though he been often associated with his Frederick W. Taylor, the two had opposite viewpoints. Whereas Fayol advocated productivity improvements fro m the "top down", the Scientific Approach of Taylor advocated "bottom up". 2. The Empirical School: The empirical school seems to be based on the premises of 'learning by doing/following'. In other words, it advocates learning from the experiences of successful managers or mistakes made in the management policies in the past for successful implementation of management policies in the future. More specifically it views management as a study of experience. However, it must be argued that though past experiences are priceless but it may not always be the case that what seemed right in the past would also be applicable in the future. Hence it is advisable to not only learn from the past but consider the present and if possible the future while formulating a management decision. 3. The Human