Public Organization Theory

Paradigm is a set of different concepts, theories and principles that are contributed by researchers or scholars by order to enlighten the businesses with the necessary options and methods in the changing environment. We need to study different theories in order to understand the psychology of the business around us. Studying different theories of different researchers we can compare and actually apply them in the real business world. The theories will assist us in facing the business world challenges.

The idea behind Adam Smith’s, division of labour is that Adam believes that economic growth is affected by the division of labour, dividing down large jobs into simpler work. Under this theory, each employee will become expert in his work, therefore increasing his skills and efficiency. If employees specialize in only one task, it will reduce the stress of switching task entire day, it will also reduce cost and will be time efficient. The technology of assembly line has made it easier for the employees to focus on their one task in the production process. Adam saw the problems that exited in this method, he stated that forcing employees to carry out and repeat one task would result in dissatisfied and ignorant work force. And due to this reason he said that government has the obligation to educate the workers of the nation. Division of labor is done by delegating employees the tasks they can perform best. (Dhamee, 2005)

The similarity between the scientific management principles of Weber, Tayler, Fayol and Gulick is that all four of them believed in division of labour, which is specialization in work for workers. They believed that an individual worker will that perform with efficient which he specializes in. Gulick and Fayol, both believed in unity of command, which is that all the workers should only be getting commands by one manager only in order to eliminate confusion and conflicts. Weber and Gulick believed that rules and procedures are necessary to ensure uniformity and it makes the workers aware of what is needed from them. All four scholars also stated that the impersonal relationship between workers is necessary to create work satisfaction and motivation. The last similarity is the unity of direction where all the employees are working for one particular goal to be achieved. (Groth, 2015)

Taylors four principles of scientific management included; instead of using the “rule of thumb," which is the use of common sense or habit to perform, use the scientific technique to study the work and regulate the most well-organized way to carry out the tasks. Secondly, he said that it is better to match the capabilities of the worker with the task and then assign him the job. Taylor’s third point was that the employees’ performance should be monitored worker and supervision and instructions should be given to ensure they are utilizing the most effective working methods. Lastly, He believed in allocating the task between the workers and managers, in order to give time to managers to plan and train. (Turan, 2015)

Fayol’s 14 principles of management can hold some criticism. Fayol’s point of authority and responsibility which states that management should have authority to order the workers. In criticism, not all employees like to be ordered. Employees will get frustrated with such authority and no empowerment in work. The second criticism can arise in Fayol’s point of degree of centralization, all the decisions are made by the upper management and lower level employees have no say, this will lead to low job satisfaction and reduce interest of workers. Fayol’s command and control belief does not work nowadays. In today’s world, businesses need to be more flexible and dynamic to adapt to the changing environment.

References of Public Organization Theory

Dhamee, Y. (2005, April 17). Adam Smith and the Division of Labor. Retrieved from Victorian Web: http://www.victorianweb.org/economics/division.html

Groth, L. (2015). Overview of theories on organization and management . Institutt of informatikk, 9-11.

Taylor, F. W. (2011). The Principles of Scientific Management. Retrieved from National Humanities Center: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/gilded/progress/text3/taylor.pdf

Turan, H. (2015). Taylor’s “Scientific Management Principles”: Contemporary Issues in Personnel Selection Period. Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 3, No. 11, 1103.