Business management theories help to determine the right course. In the history of human civilization, theories and different ideologies have transformed and changed the world in different eras. The advancement in scientific discoveries have contributed in advancement of business processes in 19th century. During this time period, many theorists, scientists and behavioral psychologists have devised business management theories in business sector.
Business management theories helped in business growth and processes
The main focus of these theories is to enhance the growth of the business as well as making business processes easy to manage and help employees to accomplish tasks in less time with more efficiency.
Many theories have come to surface in the era of industrial, and scientific development. The most widely known theory of management in business is known as Classical theory that pioneered the concept of doing the tasks in a better and effective way.
Later on, many other new business management theories surged. Among them are scientific theory of management and human relation theory of management. These theories have their benefits as well as some setbacks.
As the name implies, scientific theory of management is all about studying, and implementing the scientific ways of doing things in an organization. Scientific theory is systematic, and well-designed to understand the internal workings within an organization and how to make them more effective.
Scientific management is also referred to as Taylorism after its founder, Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor was the theorist who first founded the scientific theory of management in 19th century.
Scientific management is a theory that emphases on analyzing and synthesizing workflows of a business or an organization. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency as well as labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply scientific processes to management.
Scientific theory is one of the core business management theories that perceives human beings as machines with no individual differences or emotional needs. It focuses on taking more work from humans and no focus on their own needs. Scientific theory is not considered ideal in today’s business environment due to the emergence of human relations theory in management.
Human relations theory is opposite of scientific theory because its main focus is on catering the needs of employees and views them as human beings and not just machines or employees with no individual thinking.
Elton Mayo, an Australian-born psychologist and organizational theorist, began his research on the behavior of people in groups and how it affects individuals in the workplace, known as the Hawthorne studies. In 1920s, he started viewing employees as individuals with different capabilities, needs and expectations working in an organization.
Unlike the philosophy of Taylorism, or the application of science in the workplace to improve productivity which viewed individuals as machines that could work in unethical or unrealistic environments. Mayo advocated the idea of the "social person’’. It means that organizations should treat people as individuals – not machines – with individual needs.
Similarly, Merriam-Webster defines and views "human relations" as the "study of human problems arising from and within an organizational and interpersonal relations or setting."
This definition has referred to business approach focused on supporting and empowering employees in their career development as well as helping an organization to grow in addition to running a profitable company.
A human relations or human-centric approach to management and business involves a unique skill set on the part of employers and managers. To effectively carry out a human relations-focused workplace environment.
The human relations theory of management is an integral part of every business in today’s business structure and environment. Understanding about the skills involved guarantees employee success in the future.
Many companies are now investing in humans
In 20th century, companies are now investing in their employees, focusing on giving them benefits, appraisals, trainings and boost in their career growth. Companies have changed their way of doing business. They are now more flexible and adaptable to changes and using a management system that is comprised of or combination of both scientific as well as human relations theory along with some chunks of classical theory of management.
Interestingly, in 2020 the world has seen a drastic change in the world of business and jobs market. Due to the pandemic of covid-19 many companies have opened positions for highly skilled individuals to work from home. It happened due to the advancement in technology. People can now do official meetings on Zoom, Skype or Whatsapp. The trend of remote jobs is here to stay for future.
Robots can replace human in the future
One of the newly discussed notions among intellectuals and business experts that robots might overtake many manual jobs from humans in the coming future. Many developed countries are conducting experiments in the field of artificial intelligence. Let’s see how future unfolds business and job opportunities for us.
Business management theories are an evolving science. It never stops. With passage of time, more studies may come and more theories in the future.