Does the study of classical management theory have any value for Essay

Does the study of classical management theory have any value for managers in business today - Essay Example Industrialization brought people from different backgrounds to work in ‘factories’ as opposed to the handicraft system under which they had worked previously in small shops or in homes (Kim et al, 1995). It was felt, therefore at the time, a strong need for efficient planning, organizing and controlling of all work related activities, a need that was the main stimulant in the formation of the principals of â€Å"Scientific Management† and â€Å"Administrative Management†. Scientific management, in its essence was based upon the improvement of productivity, while Administrative management dealt, on the whole, with the organization as an entity and primarily focused on its overall effectiveness and improvement. The implications and results of the application of these two theories were immense and profound in their times, however, with the passage of time, the debate over the productivity of the classical theory of management became heated. As newer theories, principles and model’s emerged, the number of people who were un-sure of the effectiveness of this school of thought increased in number, and while it has not yet lost all credibility, there are a significant number of people who do not believe in the principles of scientific management and administrative management anymore. This paper deals with the applicability of the classical management theory in today’s age and discusses its usefulness for the management of the modern organization. The paper presents a review of the applications of the theory in the days of its infancy and follows that with a discussion about how relevant those applications are in today’s world. As mentioned before, a product of the Industrial Revolution, the classical management theory had two major components which were scientific management and administrative management. During that era, efficiency had become a

Brand audit assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Brand audit assignment - Essay Example During this time, Cosmopolitan started to become more of a literary magazine, with the introduction of serial fiction and book reviews being published in the magazine for the first time. During this time, Walker not only managed to triple the magazines subscriptions, he also provided the magazine with a general direction that was continued when in 1889 John Brisben Walker purchased the magazine. During this time, top writers such as Rudyard Kipling, Ambrose Bierce, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser began writing for the Cosmopolitan regularly and it became one of America’s leading literary magazines. From the early 20th century to the 1940’s, the magazine continued to grow in nationwide circulations and became a full-fledged self proclaimed â€Å"Four book magazine†, publishing a combination of a novella, six to eight short stories, serials, six to eight articles and assorted features. However, during the late 1950’s the magazine began to lose some of its l oyal readership when the paperback and television started to become household commodities and took the focus off magazines. The Birth of the â€Å"Cosmo Girl† It was only in the 60’s that drastic change ensued and the magazine started out on its journey to become what it is today: a leading magazine catering to the â€Å"fun, fearless woman† of today who seeks information and advice about sex, relationships, fashion and their well-being. The magazine as it is today was reshaped at a point when it had become a general interest magazine, with rapidly declining profits and mass market appeal. At the time this change happened, American society on the whole was going through a phase of tentative change, women all over the country were beginning to realize the power of their own femininity and were beginning to explore the limits of their own sexuality. The predominantly male oriented society was becoming more open to freedom of thought and speech and women were start ing to look at avenues of work that were previously dominated by males. During that time, Helen Gurley Brown, a newly married copywriter, wrote a fictional account of a single girl who was living the kind of new and exciting life that women of that age wanted to live, a life where they had the freedom to do whatever they pleased and be happy without a stable man or relationship in their life. This new book, â€Å"Sex and the Single Girl† encouraged women to enjoy their sexuality without guilt, a topic which interested the woman of the 60’s so much that the book became an instant best-seller (Benjamin, J., 2009). The success of the book, and the frenzy of thank you notes from women who wanted further advice on their personal issues gave Helen Gurley Brown the idea of creating her own magazine which would allow her to address these women directly and give them advice about their personal issues regarding sex, relationships and health. This idea lead her to the Hearst Cor poration’s aging â€Å"general interest† magazine for Men and Women, The Cosmopolitan. The owners of the magazine were already planning to close it down and gave her the reigns to try out her new format in the hopes that she could breathe new life into the magazines declining circulation. This decision proved to be a remarkably apt one as the magazine’