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Scientific Management and the Classical Theory of Motivation

Classical Motivation Theory

This is a theory of human motivation and management. It views man as a “rational economic animal” that will work if either threatened by “punishment” or encouraged by incentives, such as better pay. This theory has three parts: (1) Classical organization theory; (2) A theory of bureaucracy; (3) A theory of scientific management.

Classical organization theory

This developed from the work of Henri Fayol (1841 — 1925) and his book Administration Industrielle et Générale. He advocates the following principles of business organization

•		Division of work
•		Clear allocation of authority
•		Discipline stemming from close supervision of work
•		Unity of command — that is, everyone should know who his supervisor is.

Other principles are introduced to develop in detail these ideas, which in essence compare business organization to a military organization.

Span of Control

A modern theorist whose work is in the spirit of Fayol's is Lyndall Urwick. His main contribution to this theory is to introduce the idea of span of control. Span of control means the number of direct subordinates for which a manager is responsible. Urwick argues that this should not exceed six.

Such a span of control requires that a business of any size should have a “tall” organizational structure, with many managers arranged in a formal hierarchy.

Henri Fayol

Henri Fayol defined managerial authority as: to plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control. He claimed there were fourteen principles of management: (1) Division of work with specilialisation; (2) Authority; (3) Discipline; (4) Unity of command; (5) Unity of direction; (6) Subordination of the individual to the general interest; (7) Fair remuneration for effort; (8) Centralisation or decentralization as a choice; (9) The right to depart from the line of authority if necessary; (10) Material and social order; (11) Equity in treatment of employees; (12) Stability of tenure; (13) Initiative; (14) Esprit de corps.

Bureaucracy

Weber in his Theory of Social and Economic Organisations advanced the view that the most rational and efficient form of business organization would be a bureaucracy. This builds on the classical theory or organization of Fayol and adds the following:

•		A clear hierarchy.
•		Impersonal management with leadership not based on personality — that is, authority based on hierarchical position and not based on character or charisma.
•		Promotion based on qualifications and merit.
•		Discipline based on formal rules.

Max Weber

Max Weber distinguished between three types of legitimate authority, as opposed to power, which merely forces people to obey: the rational, the traditional and the charismatic. He saw the rational, or rational-legal, authority, as the dominant form of modern institution, which rests on a system of rationally thought-out goals and functions designed to maximize the performance of an organization and implemented by rules and procedures. He held that bureaucracy is the most efficient form of administration because it worked on a commonly accepted hierarchical principle without personal whim and with a judicious reliance on the appointment of experts.

Scientific management

The idea of scientific management was advocated by Frederick Taylor in his Principles of Scientific Management (1911). This work advocates the application of logic to every aspect of production. This requires division of labour, the breaking down of tasks into efficient units, and the logical reconstruction of those units in the most productive way. Scientific management results in management's total control of production, and hence cannot exist without the classical organization advocated by Fayol. Taylor also advanced a theory of motivation which is just the same as incentive theory — that is, the theory that workers are motivated by money. Hence, he advocated that productivity improvements should result in improved pay. Time and Motion Studies: Taylor's theory was given practical application by Frank Gilbreth who invented time and motion studies when he devised a method of working that cut the number of motions when laying a brick from 18 to 5. In a method study there is accurate observation and recording of existing work methods, from which a new method might emerge. Work measurement is the use of accurate observation and recording to determine the time it would take for a qualified worker to complete a specific job to a required level of performance. These are also time studies. Times can be measured by (a) synthetic timing — the time for each component of a job is measured; (b) pre-determined motion time study — the times for different human motions required for the job are added up to arrive at an overall time; (c) analytical estimating — used when there are non-repetitive one-off jobs, the time is calculated from a knowledge of the operations and skills required.

Alienation

There are problems associated with the classical management theory and bureaucracy. The army model is based on a notion of complete obedience to authority; it works because soldiers do accept that military success depends on discipline. Soldiers are loyal to their leaders because they accept some concept of service, and that their work is essential to the survival of the state and the community as a whole. However, when this model is translated into a business context, the objective of the business is to maximize profits for the owners of the business. The worker is being asked to accept a military style of discipline in order to make profits for the business. This creates alienation. In other words, the employees do not feel that they own the products of their labour, and are demotivated as a consequence. Thus, rather than increase motivation, classical management theory may lead to demotivation.

The problems of Bureaucracy

The bureaucratic ideal encompasses a strong notion of fairness: promotion is based on merit. However, in practice there is self-interest among managers, who seek to defend their own “territory” and position at the expense of the careers of subordinates and the interests of the company. The theory of bureaucracy is based on an unsupportable idealization of the motives of middle managers, who, like the workers, are expected to act always in the interests of the company, and never consider private interests.

Chris Argyris

Chris Argyris analysed the defence mechanisms that managers often unwittingly use to resist change. Managers may develop defensive mechanisms to protect their control over others. Executive behaviour often creates an atmosphere of distrust and inflexibility, despite the fact that the executives involved genuinely believe trust and innovation to be crucial to good decision-making. Defensive routines pollute the system.

Job design

The problem of alienation has led to various attempts to make work less alienating, in the sense of more interesting and satisfying.

Job design is the concept of designing jobs to be challenging, varied, worthwhile, use the skills of the employee to their full potential and also provide some degree of autonomy. They should also provide some opportunities for team working.

In designing, or redesigning jobs, one or more of the following strategies should be adopted:

•		Job rotation: Job rotation means to move employees in some planned and systematic way from one job to another. The idea is to provide employees with greater variety and stimulation.
•		Job enlargement: Job enlargement means to add to existing job specifications new and more challenging tasks so as to increase the scope of the job and create more job satisfaction
•		Job enrichment: The aim of job enrichment is to include within a job those factors identified by Herzberg as motivators, such as achievement, recognition and participation.
•		Autonomous group working: Autonomy means self-determination or independence. Autonomous group working is when a group of experienced employees is given greater control of the planning and decision making that relates to their tasks.
•		Changing work schedules: This might mean compression of the working week, or introduction of flexitime. By giving people greater control over their lives it is hoped that motivation will be increased.

Process theories of motivation

Process theories are concerned with the thought processes that influence behaviour. Two such theories are Expectancy theory and Equity theory.

Expectancy theory is associated with Vroom, Porter and Lawler. In expectancy theory effort is linked not just to the desire for a particular outcome, but moderated by an evaluation of the likelihood of success. The conclusions that can be drawn from this theory are:

•		Individuals will only act when they have a reasonable expectation that their behaviour will lead to the desired outcome.
•		Effort alone is not sufficient. It has to be accompanied by ability and skill
•		Job satisfaction results from effective job performance rather than the other way round
•		Job design is therefore of crucial importance

Equity theory states that in return for an input (skills, effort, training) the employee receives an outcome (pay, status, fringe benefits). This creates a ratio of input to outcome and equity is achieved when the ratios are the same for everyone in an organisation. To take an example, a junior executive in a finance company knows that he makes over $100,000 pounds in revenue for the company each year, and his salary is $20,000. An older executive, who performs the same job, and also brings in a revenue of $100,000 by receives a higher salary. Awareness of this lack of fairness (equity) creates demotivation among the junior employees, who feel exploited as a result.