[Solution] The Theory and History of Management
Created at:
Author: Sarah Bennett
Managers can improve their performance by studying what other managers did in the past. Managers recognize that their success hinges on learning from the successes and failures of the past and understanding how different management theories have helped workers and organizations succeed.
Theory: Why It's Important
The word theory may conjure up images of professors giving lectures on abstract ideas with no relevance to daily life. However, management theory has many practical applications.
- A theory is a framework for organizing facts and knowledge and how they might function in the world.
- Managers use theories to develop ways of doing things better, so their employees and companies can succeed.
For example, if your company divides up work between employees and trains them to do their jobs in a certain way, then it is drawing on scientific management theory, which holds that companies can do better by improving how workers do their jobs.
Select the word or words that best complete the sentence.
A book designed to help employees work more efficiently is a book about .
View Explanation
A theory is a framework that helps people organize facts, understand how things work, and develop ways of doing things better. A book designed to help employees work more efficiently is therefore a book about management theory.
Select the correct response to the following question.
Why is it important for managers to study theory?
- To appear more educated and therefore have a better chance of getting promoted
- To learn how and why managers and organizations have succeeded, failed, or changed what they did over time
- To discover different ways to improve their company's performance and worker satisfaction
View Explanation
Studying theory gives managers new information and ideas on how they, their employees, and their organization can improve performance. Studying theory is a primary way for managers to "think outside the box" by gaining a new perspective on how to do their job—one that isn't limited by notions of how things have always been done at their workplace.
Select the correct response to the following question.
Who among the following were the earliest people to study management?
- Nineteenth-century industrialists and mathematicians
- Ancient Chinese
- Ancient Greeks and Romans
- Ancient Egyptians and Sumerians
View Explanation
While management has been in use since ancient times, the study of management did not begin until the early nineteenth century. This is when industrialists sought the help of people such as mathematician Charles Babbage to improve efficiency in their factories.
