Critically Evaluate the Influence of Classical and Human Relations Approaches in Management Today

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globally to use, he developed a single operating system based on the best practices that were existing in the organisation. He believed that this would eliminate duplicated efforts, enable shared learning on implementation, use one single best way of practices and encourage sustainability even in the event of change in management. Lopez also called for focus on consumers, safety and quality, this he emphasised would be attained through interacting with the workers and ensuring that they understood value, evaluating which activities added value and which ones needed to be eliminated and continually improving the creation of value. Even further, the NCE integrated three foundations for improved excellence, Büchel & Zintel (2013).

1 Management System (NIMS), was in place to ensure delivery of high quality products to consumers whilst adhering to health, safety and quality guidelines.

2 Leadership Development emphasised defining roles, developing the right people for the job and empowering people through leadership and coaching.

3 Goal Alignment focused on having a standardized routine and set of practices to ensure employee’s actions are aligned with business objectives and priorities.

Through the application of scientific management in the NCE, Nestlé has accelerated its efficiency and achieved annual savings of CHF 1.5 billion.

2 Principles of Administration

Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer who published his school of thought, Principles of Administration in 1916. Whereas Taylor focused on the administration process, Fayol concentrated on developing the principles of administration.

Fayol commenced with the integration of six key activities in defining management. He stated that financial, accounting, security, technical, commercial and managerial were key in industrialisation. These activities together encouraged vices like securing capital, provision of financial information, property being safe guarded, production, buying and selling of products and services, planning and organising. From the Managerial activity, functions of management were established and the term manage was then described as to ‘forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control’, Cole (2016).

Fayol devised 14 principles that in essence were devoted to achieving efficiency. These principles although not intended for management alone had a top-down organisational perspective. They can be adapted by administration according to their needs in enhancing productivity. The principles of administration include: Division of labour, Authority, Discipline, Unity of command, Unity of direction, Subordination of individual interests to the common good, Remuneration, Centralization, Scalar chain of Command, Order, Equity, Stability of tenure, Initiative and Morale (Gulick, Luther. and Urwick, L. eds. 1937; Norman Cuthbert,1970).

Despite criticism from Simon Herbert (1946) about the principles being unclear and ambiguous, application of the principles is still seen in industries like regulatory bodies. In Zambia, the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) is one of the most efficient bodies when it comes to performance because of the principles surrounding the administration. RTSA has different ranks of authority with the executive board being the top rank followed by senior managers, managers, analysts and traffic officers. These different levels hold different amounts of power. Naturally subordinates must accord their superiors due respect. RTSA as a regulatory body has within it various departments to clearly define the division of labour, order and unity of direction. The finance department deals with all monetary related issues and there is a Human Resource department for recruitment and retention of workers, the Marketing department advertises safety rules and has a Research & Development section responsible for statistical analysis. These and other departments adhere to the principles defined by Fayol and this intensifies the efficiency with which road transport and safety laws are enforced in the country without corruption, fraud or disorganisation. This approach has also seen a drop in road accidents and misconducts due to effectiveness of management.

3 Bureaucratic model

Max Weber was an academic and sociologist who focused on the authority structures of organisations. He founded his school of thought on rational legal authority which is a legitimate authority where acceptance comes from a person with a position of authority which is bound by rules, regulations and procedures of the company. It is from this type of legitimacy that Weber assigned the term Bureaucracy. Weber believed that bureaucratic organisations were best aligned to attain the highest level of efficiency. He added that expansion of bureaucracy is mainly due to complexity and sizes of organisations because growth of business through increment in staff, job roles and specialization requires equally increased coordination and control via authority. Thus bureaucracy has “the most rational known means of carrying out ‘imperative control over human beings’.” (Cole: 2016)

In a bureaucratic organisation, there is establishment of rules to bind continuous organisational functions and these rules are recorded for transparency. These are the same rules that constitute that all appointments will be based on technical competence to avoid incompetent staff being appointed through nepotism. All authority within the bureaucratic model is governed by rules and allocated adequately in a hierarchical manner such that lower offices are subject to higher offices and there is no abuse of power in office, Cole (2016).

To some extent whether small or great, bureaucracy exists in almost every organisation today. As seen by the rules and regulations that guide both management in dispense of their authority and employees in their action. There is clear distinction of authority in hierarchy in all organisations. The Army however is one of the institutions that is greatly influenced by bureaucracy without regret. There are defined rules that have been written and recorded to guide principles of the Army. All actions and decisions are governed by the rules, laws and regulations in the army. There is clear distinction in the army chain of command, the General holds the highest office of authority in the army and thus all superintendents or officers below him are subject to him. This creates order even in times of emergency because officers are disciplined enough to follow instructions from superiors thereby improving efficiency in functions.

Shortcomings of Classical Management

Many critics