Organizational Theoretical Contributions

Written Assignment Unit 1

Organizational Theory and

Behavior Term 4 2021 - 2022

BUS 5113

University of the People

April 2022
Analysis of the Four Theoretical Concepts

To understand an organization, it is necessary to examine its behavior and its impact

on operations, workplaces and employees. There are 4 distinct theoretical contributions

identified as central to understanding organization (Laegaard & Bindslev, 2006):

1. Taylor – Scientific Management

2. Fayol – Administrative Theory

3. Weber – Bureaucracy and Organizational Structure

4. Simon – Administrative Behavior

Scientific Management

In 1911, Taylor used a scientific experimental model to measure the effectiveness of

job performance through the procedures followed and the specialization of everyone in the

team to achieve maximum performance with fewer resources (MasterClass, 2020). He uses

the same chain of command as he would give instructions to a machine, to a human worker,

hoping to maximize and utilize each individual's abilities. Taylor believes that by focusing on

everyone's workflow in a scientifically calculated way, productivity increases and managers'

effort to coordinate their teams decreases. He also arranges to appoint an HR specialist for

each specific area. The specialist must have sufficient qualifications and experience to

determine the level of time and resources required to effectively achieve optimal results.

While this approach is popular in the U.S. manufacturing and service industries for its well-

established technical protocols, it has also been strongly condemned by employees and

managers who claim that scientific management is too rigid and undermines their individual

creativity and critique sexual thinking. (Laegaard & Bindslev, 2006).

Henri Fayol initiated the administrative procedure in 1925 and further articulated it

using the principles of coordination and specialization, both of which have rational views

formalized in organizational frameworks (Ward, 2022). He clarified that the coordination

mechanism is a structure that provides a hierarchical structure, where both superiors and

subordinates understand the chain of command, all subordinate employees report to their

immediate superiors, and superiors only report to a certain number of subordinates, which

can effectively manage coordination. The same goes for the principle of specialization, which

Fayol says is a process of assigning tasks to each work unit or department based on

education, purpose, process, customer or geographic location (Laegaard & Bindslev, 2006).

Bureaucracy Model

Max Weber in 1922 originated the assimilation of the terminology “Bureaucracy”

within organizations by his ways of reviewing the past history and social norms of every

employee. He went ahead to describe bureaucracy as the administrative governance

procedure that is legally binding and rule oriented (Ward, 2022). Weber was in concurrence

that formalized systems can achieve various goals if they have the right strategy, structure

and clear cut out activities for implementation. He went ahead to describe the various models

of organizational structures that might exist and facilitate the connection between the strategy

and activity implementation as simple, hierarchical, functional, product, and matrix

organizations with which all have their respective pros and cons (Laegaard & Bindslev,

2006).
Theory of Administrative Behavior

In 1958, Herbert Simon criticized Taylor and Fayol's earlier research, arguing that

they prioritized process, principles, and structure without recognizing the fact that people

build organizations rather than the opposite. Simon also took the time to explain the rational

performance attributable to an organization through “administrators” of goal setting and

formal processes (Mintrom, 2016). Simon lays out the differences in decisions an individual

or organization makes in different situations and compares them to "value premises -

assumptions and factual premises about which solutions are preferable - dealing with the

observable world and how it works. way" to connect with specific goals (Laegaard &

Bindslev, 2006). The upper and lower decision-making layers are the premise of value and

fact. The final decision must then be reached by voting, mutual consent or experience. Simon

emphasized that there are two types of decisions that need to be made, routine decisions

based on facts and major decisions based on values and facts. In conclusion, Simon Theory

provides an understanding of how to effectively use decisions made by individuals within an

organization to best achieve and achieve the greatest goals. From a historical and business

standpoint, I think this is the most influential.

The impact of concepts on the development of 4 different organizational theories

There are some lessons learned from each theoretical concept. One of them is the

similarity in thinking about the formal environment. There are savvy and dynamic types of

organizations that can adopt different models that work best for them. Teamwork and

collaboration have recently become very popular as more and more organizations see the

improvements that synchronous teamwork brings. Ideally, each member of the team should

perform a specific task that contributes to the near-term and broader goals of the
organization. Those who are left behind to use their initiative to meet the challenge at hand,

or if they fight back in a way that makes them feel dignified, have the support of their

superiors. Routine decisions can help establish balance and use tracking tools to check

progress toward setting goals. This not only contributes to the efficiency of managers, but

also to the efficiency of everyone. This is why most companies also embrace digital to avoid

wasting time and optimize results.

References

Laegaard, J., & Bindslev, M. (2006). Organizational theory (1st ed.). Ventus Publishing &

Bookboon.com.

MasterClass. (2020, November 8). Understanding Taylorism: The History of Scientific

Management Theory. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/understanding-taylorism-

the-history-of-scientific-management-theory

Mintrom, M. (2016, January 1). Herbert A. Simon, Administrative Behavior: A Study of

Decision-Making Processes in Administrative. . . ResearchGate.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341371173_Herbert_A_Simon_Administrat

ive_Behavior_A_Study_of_Decision-

Making_Processes_in_Administrative_Organization

Ward, P. (2022a, January 13). Management Theory of Max Weber: Principles of

bureaucracy. NanoGlobals. https://nanoglobals.com/glossary/management-theory-

max-weber-bureaucracy/

Ward, P. (2022b, January 21). Management Theory of Henri Fayol: Summary, Examples.

NanoGlobals. https://nanoglobals.com/glossary/henri-fayol-management-theory/