Classical, Neoclassical, and Modern Organizational Theories

The Classical Organization

Modern Times: Charlie Chaplin and Early Management

• Planning of work to achieve efficiency, standardization, specialization, and simplification.

• Time and motion studies that resulted in organizational efficiency.

• Time and motion refer to a method for calculating production efficiency by recording outcomes and time to produce those outcomes.

Application in the Modern Workplace: Bureaucracy

• The “ideal type” features of the organizational form known as bureaucracy.

• Closed system driven by rational-legal authority.

• Strict reliance on rules, division of labor, and a clearly established hierarchy in which power is centralized.

• Highly impersonal organization in which rationality is the guiding force and individuality is discouraged.

• Three types of Legitimate Authority:

  • Traditional Authority: past customs, personal loyalty.
  • Charismatic Authority: personal trust in character and skills.
  • Rational-Legal Authority: rational application of rules or laws.

Henri Fayol's Five Elements of Management (1841-1925)

An effective organization is highly structured, and each individual knows where he or she fits.

1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Command
4. Coordination
5. Control

The Neoclassical Theory of Management

Overview of Neoclassical Concepts

• Human Relations: Focus on individuals in a workplace.

• Human Resources: Employees have the ability to be creative and take risks in order to maximize outcomes.

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: What motivates people in organizations.

• McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y: Assumptions that managers have about their employees.

Core Principles of Neoclassical Theory

• Concerned with the employee.

• Focuses on the best way to motivate, structure, and support employees within the organization.

Human Relations Theories

• Focuses on the individuals in a workplace rather than the rules, procedures, and processes.

• Implications for communication scholars: two-way communication was encouraged; communication between worker and manager was a dialogue instead of unidirectional communication from the manager targeted at the worker.

Elton Mayo's Hawthorne Studies

• The factors most influencing productivity are relationships.

• Productivity increases due to relationships.

• Being part of a supportive group.

Human Resources Theories

Raymond Miles' Contributions

• Each worker comes into an organization with a variety of resources.

• Managers should be focused on the creation of a working environment that fosters employee creativity.

• Implications for communication scholars: communication must be constant and bidirectional, and participation in decision-making must include both management and workers.

Motivation Theories: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Decision-Making Theories: McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y

The Modern Perspective

Systems Theory

• Provides a general analytical framework for viewing an organization.

• Sees an organization as an organism: “A set of elements standing in interrelations.”

• Role of Communication: Communication mechanisms must be in place for the organizational system to exchange relevant information with its environment.

Contingency Theory

• There is no one best way to structure and manage organizations.

• Structure and management are contingent on the nature of the environment in which the organization is situated.

• Argues for “finding the best communication structure under a given set of environmental circumstances.”

• Management of Innovation.

Key Contingency Theorists

• Burns and Stalker (1968) Management of Innovation: Organizational systems should vary based on the level of stability in the environment.

• Lawrence and Lorsch: Key issue is environmental uncertainty and information flow.