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The History of Management |
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MANAGEMENT AS COOPERATIVE VALUES At the beginning of management there is a mixture of science and normative perspectives. Taylorism and the Hawthorne studies offered that Management ought to be science; and, Fayol (and much of Taylor) introduced belief in how management ought to be practiced (a "normative" or prescriptive view). We have seen that management is a creature of capitalism and the needs of the large modern enterprise. In the works of Mary Parker Follett management is married to the democratic values of the American capitalist system. Born in Boston in 1868, Follett graduated summa cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1898. As a political scientist her first book The Speaker of the House of Representatives (1896) was highly regarded. In her early life she also began work in community social programs, developing a socially conscious and democratic view expressed in The New State (1918) and Creative Experience (1924). To Follett the business is a cooperative undertaking in which both owners and laborers have an interest. This common interest that the firm be an on-going, successful venture is undermined when management and labor engage in conflict that advances narrow objectives. Conflict leads to domination or compromise in which one or both sides lose. Conflicts are best resolved through integration of interests. Because business engages both interests of owners and workers, it should be a collaborative enterprise. This did not mean worker ownership, but it did mean worker empowerment or responsibility. Integration in power relationships between worker and manager meant that employees would obey, not because they were told to do so, but because the situational facts required a particular action. People would be responsible to their work, not to someone. Management of business emerged in Follett's view from building a common understanding of what needed to be done and interleaving the interests of all responsible. The objective of a manager was, then, to build relationships in which workers would see themselves working with the manager, rather working for a manager. In a lecture on this she offered: "The manager cannot share his power with division superintendent or foreman or workmen, but he can give them opportunities for developing their power." Integration in conflict resolution and in empowerment is based on "circular behavior", by which Follett meant that people are interdependent. Managers cannot do their job without workers and workers depend upon managers. The interactive nature of relationships means that people up and down the hierarchy of organizations are influencing one another simultaneously. Historically attempting to control or exercise power on others without understanding this reciprocity has been a source of disastrous consequences. Although there has been recent interest in recognizing her contributions to management thinking Mary Parker Follett in most management texts is not acknowledged. She is, however, the source of much of our discourse on collaborative leadership, conflict resolution, worker empowerment, self-managed teams, the value of inclusivity and diversity, and corporate social responsibility.
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