It is important to understand the different perspectives and techniques of management theory that has evolved throughout the history of organizations. Scientific management is the theory of organizational management that examines and systemizes workflows to increase labor productivity and economic efficiency defined by Frederick Taylor in 1917. However, because scientific management ignored the social context and workers' needs, it led to increased conflict and clashes among management and employees. Walonick (1993) states that scientific management (also called Taylorism) operates off four principles: 1) find the best way to do each task, 2) match each worker to a task, 3) closely supervise workers, using reward and punishment as motivators, and 4) management's task is to plan and control. Another major perspective is known as the administrative principles. Whereas scientific management focused on the production of the individual worker, the administrative principles focuses on the total organization. The administrative principles approach focused on the total organization rather than the individual worker, delineating the management functions of planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling (Daft, 2010). .
Managers thus need to understand that there is a room for scientific management as well as a room for administrative theory, but both should be tempered by the efforts of the human relations movement as well as systems and contingency theory. Of all the theories that have been developed over the many years, the human relations movement and systems theory would be of more significance to modern companies and managers today. The human relations views that truly effective control comes from within the individual worker rather than from harsh, authoritarian control. The human relations movement highlights satisfaction of employees' basic needs as the key to increased employee productivity.
