Principles of Management

Nowadays management could be defined as “the acts of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives efficiently and effectively”. However this notion is constantly evolving making it harder to define. Hence all along this synthesis the concept of management will be qualified.

The origins of management match the evolution of the religious institutions. As a matter of fact, it first started with the model of bureaucracy that expanded to all the sectors. As Max Weber underlines, bureaucracy breads management because it gives power to the executive body like in the military sector. This power is justified by one of the three legitimate authorities: the legal one which is based on impersonal order.

Then new rulers arrived at the time of the industrial capitalism, replacing modern management and this lead to two opposed schools of thought.

Power is the basis of management as it allows a manager to do his job without being constantly contested. In any case, manager can use surveillance to keep up productivity.

Max Weber created three ideal types of legitimate authority which are bounded with charisma, tradition and legality. Nowadays, the structure of organizations is bureaucratic as it was in the army for instance. In this system, obedience is based on a hierarchy constructed with rationality. Thus, the administrators must not be the owners of the capital, they have to be hired for their qualifications and diplomas. They are obeyed because of their official position and not because of their personality.

Therefore, management can be defined here as a way of organizing rationally the structure in a clear hierarchy recognized by all the members.

Today, because of the increasing size of all types of organizations, bureaucracy is essential to the capitalism system to work properly. In fact, capitalism and bureaucracy are tightly linked, the first providing financial means to the second such as infrastructures of communication. In addition...