HMGT 320 Mini Assignment

4

Management Theories

Name

Institution

Part 1 – Identify and Summarize Three Management Types/Philosophies/Theories

First Management of Type/Philosophy/Theory with Summary:

Administrative theory

This theory was developed in the early 20th century by Henri Fayol. The main aim of this management theory was to improve organizations. In this theory, Fayol developed administrative principles that are still widely used today. These principles include division of work, authority, coordination, the span of control, and unity of command. The ideas from this theory help managers determine relationships in the organization, such as the relationship between supervisors and subordinates. It helps managers to design hierarchy levels in the organization and decide who should report to whom. Managers can also use this theory to group workers into units (Olden, 2019).

Second Type Management Type/Philosophy/Theory with Summary:

Bureaucratic theory

This theory was developed in the 1940s by Max Weber, a political scientist, sociologist, and economist. Weber argued that although bureaucracy can be viewed negatively, applying bureaucratic principles well can improve management effectiveness. He developed various principles of bureaucracy used in management. One of these principles is that employees work in a hierarchy, with the higher ones controlling the lower ones. This approach makes organizations less personal because rules are authority dominate and personal feelings are stifled. The application of this theory makes organizations more predictable and stable, but on the downside, it reduces the flexibility and innovativeness of organizations (Olden, 2019).

Third Type Management Type/Philosophy/Theory with Summary:

Organization development theory

This theory was developed in the 1950s by Kurt Lewin. In this theory, managers apply their knowledge and practices on behavioral science to help their organizations build their capacity to change and become more effective. Apart from education and training, this theory emphasizes using other measures such as culture change and employee participation to make organizations more effective. Other researchers like Cummings and Worley have continued to suggest additional steps managers can take to make the organization development theory more effective. These include developing leaders and teams that are emotionally intelligent and developing more collaborative cultures and systems (Olden, 2019).

Part 2 - Practical Application: The Best Fit for You as a Healthcare Leader

Provide a one to two-paragraph summary of which management type, philosophy, or theory you think is best and how this may help you as a healthcare leader.

I think the administrative theory is the best management theory. This theory contains a flexible principle used in any organization. Although they have been found to work in some organizations better than in others, managers can still borrow and apply individual principles that work in their organizations. This theory provides a guide for managers to perform tasks that make management challenging, thus enhancing the experience of managing organizations. This theory is also the best because apart from helping managers perform otherwise stressful tasks, it helps them coordinate activities in the organization, thus better efficiency effectively.

This theory will help me as a healthcare leader to coordinate and assign tasks in the organization. This way, I will ensure that functions have been given to the individuals with the best fit set of skills thus improving productivity. In addition, it will help me ensure that employees are assigned tasks according to their areas of specialization and that they are coordinated to work together to increase the efficiency and productivity of the organization. This theory will also help me as a manager to determine the line of authority in the organization so that I can determine how to effectively communicate with all members of the organization.

References

Olden, P. C. (2019). Management of healthcare organizations: An introduction. Health Administration Press.