The term "management" has become a part of our everyday life over the past twenty years. However, few Russians know that it has a long and interesting history, within which several large schools have been formed, most of which are still active today. These directions symbolize different approaches to enterprise management, behind which there are differences in understanding the place of a person in management.
One of the first schools of scientific management appeared. Its origin and further development is largely associated with the names of such famous personalities as F. Taylor, G. Gantt, and the Gilberts. All of them in their works relied on the fact that with a scientific approach to production, using methods such as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, one can achieve high perfection. It was the division of all production processes into the simplest operations with their subsequent careful regulation that laid the foundations of what we today call the “school of scientific management.”
F. Taylor and his followers identified three main points that, in their opinion, should have significantly increased labor productivity and production efficiency. The first such component was rationalization, which, among other things, involved the search for the most optimal workplace for each participant in the process, while learning new, more rational methods of work.
The second link was the scientifically based formal structure of the enterprise. The School of Scientific Management laid the foundations for what is commonly called "personnel management" today. This is an activity that includes a competent approach to the selection of personnel, as well as the skillful use of the best qualities and abilities of employees to achieve the goal.
Finally, the third cornerstone on which the school of scientific management is based is the complete rejection of the combination of managerial and executive functions. According to Taylor, in any enterprise, a clear structure should be visible, from which it becomes clear what this or that manager or simple worker is responsible for. At the same time, if there is a combination of functions in one hand, then almost always it ends with a decrease in the main indicators of the enterprise.
Along with the Taylor school, the administrative school of management left a noticeable mark in the history of management, in which the works of such luminaries as G. Emerson, L. Urwick, A. Fayol, M. Weber can be noted. These scholars sought todevelop universal principles that can be applied to any organization, regardless of the scale and scope of activities. Among these basic principles, one can note the requirement to clearly formulate the main goal, to approach production, first of all, from the standpoint of common sense, the need for special knowledge and strict adherence to all internal labor regulations.
Among the more modern trends, one can distinguish a direction in management, which was called the "School of Management Science". Its main theorists are R. Ackoff, S. Beer, L. Klein. These scientists became famous for being the first to single out the so-called "social aspect" in management, as well as to widely use information technology.
