The history of the development of management science includes several main schools: scientific management, classical (or administrative), quantitative methods of management, as well as the school of behavioral sciences and human relations.
The classical school of management basically continues the first independent school in the science of leadership, scientific, the main idea of which is to develop scientific principles and methods that can best organize work and maximize labor productivity. In other words, the school of scientific management in management considered the improvement of the work process to be its primary task.
The classical (administrative) school of management we are considering, which in general developed the ideas of the previous direction, was more focused on developing the principles of direct management, therefore, not production workers, but managers are its brightest representatives. The founder of the school, Henri Fayol, was the head of a large Frenchcompany, the work of his main followers was also relevant to the highest levels of administrative management. Their ideas were based largely not on scientific methodology but on personal experience.
Basic principles of the classical school of management
The classical school of management created a system of universal principles related to two aspects. One of them was a rational management system that combined various business functions: production, finance and marketing. The second aspect relates to building the structure of the organization and management.
Henri Fayol formulated 14 principles of management that are applicable to guide all types of organizations and ensure an efficient workflow:
• The principle of the division of labor implies that by reducing the number of goals, it is possible to do more work while improving its quality, provided that the forces aimed at doing this work remain the same. A large number of goals, according to Fayol, prevents the employee from concentrating on the main task, scatters his attention and wastes his efforts.
• Authority and responsibility: the first gives the right to give an order, the second - to execute it.
• Discipline means respecting the agreement between the workers and the organization on both sides equally.
• One-man management: a specific employee reports strictly to one direct supervisor.
• Unity of direction: each group is united by one goal, shouldhave a common plan and one leader.
• The principle of subordination of personal interests to the general implies that the interests of any one employee are subordinated to the interests of the group.
• Ensuring fair staff compensation supports responsible workers.
• Centralization: The right balance between decentralization and centralization must meet certain conditions.
• The classical school of management ambiguously defined its attitude to the scalar chain of the hierarchical system of leadership positions (from top to bottom). On the one hand, the scalar chain justifies itself in most cases, on the other hand, you need to be able to refuse it if it harms the enterprise.
• Order.
• The principle of justice combines kindness and justice.
• Workplace stability for workers is always good for the organization.
• The initiative involves the development of a plan and its implementation.
• The corporate spirit enhances work efficiency.
The classical school of management has made a great contribution to the theoretical development of management.
But such aspects as psychology, behavioral and other factors were not taken into account when building the concept, which makes it difficult to consider the management system created by the school as unconditionally effective.
