The Behavioural School Of Management Theory

Although most of the early theories ignored or neglected the human element in the workplace a few individuals dwelt on the basic framework of the classical school and came up with more people oriented theories. Notable among these were Mary Parker Follet and Chester Barnard, Hugo Munsterberg and Elton Mayo.

(a) Mary Parker Follet (1868-1933)

Follet recognised the potential importance of the individual but advocated that no one could become a whole person except as a member of a group. She believed that the artificial distinction between managers as order givers and subordinates as order takers obscured the natural relationship that should have existed between them as members of one group.
She strongly felt that for management and labour to become part of one group the traditional views on workers would have to be abandoned, for instance leadership should not come from the power of formal authority (as traditionally believed) but from the persons with greater knowledge and expertise.

(b) Chester L Bernard (1886-1961)

Bernard used his extensive knowledge in sociology and philosophy to develop certain theories on organizational behaviour. He for instance said that people come together in formal organizations to achieve things they cannot achieve working alone. As they pursue the goals of the organization they must also satisfy their individual needs. He strongly believed that for an organization to function effectively, a balance must be maintained between the organizational goal and the goals of the individuals in the organization.

(c) Hugo Munsterberg (1863-1916) and the birth of Industrial Psychology

He is remembered as the father of industrial psychology and published his book "Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913). He suggested that productivity could be increased through the following ways:

•    Finding the best possible person i.e. the worker whose mental ability is the   best for the job.
•    Finding the best possible work i.e. the ideal psychological conditions for maximising productivity and
•    Through use of psychological influence i.e. the best possible effect to motivate employees.

Like Taylor he advocated for more science in management but being a psychologist he argued that the proven techniques of psychology for measuring individual differences be applied to industrial problems. He developed psychological tests for fitting the right person to the right job thus implementing Taylor's idea to select workers scientifically. Generally Munsterberg sought to find the best person for a job and studied and designed the job itself to match it more closely with human characteristics and abilities. He suggested that this would reduce the almost limitless waste of human resources and would return large economic benefits to both the firm and the employees. Like Taylor he was also interested in the mutuality of interests between managers and employees and argued that his approach was even more strongly aimed at workers and through it he hoped to reduce the working time, increase their wages and raise their standard of living.

(d) Elton Mayo (1880-1949) and the human relations movement

Elton Mayo is referred to as the father of human relations movement. This trend that started in 1920 up to 1950 concerned itself with the treatment of psychological satisfaction as the primary management concern. Human relations is used to describe how managers interact with subordinates when the management of people leads to better performance then there is good human relations. When morale and efficiency deteriorate human relations in the organization is 'bad'.

Managers need to know why employees behave the way they do and what psychological factors motivate them if they are to create good human relations. The main catalyst of the human relations debate was the Hawthorne studies, conducted by Fayol and his friends.