Cogs in a Well-Oiled Machine

Many of us have heard the metaphor that an organization runs like a well-oiled machine. Well, that was exactly what factory owners were striving for in the wake of the Industrial Revolution.

With the Industrial boom, business owners needed to increase efficiency and productivity to keep up with supply and demand. Frederick Taylor's Scientific Management theory, Max Weber’s Bureaucracy theory, and Henri Fayol’s Administrative theory tried to solve these issues.

These theories share some of the same principles such as “hierarchy, division of labor, standardized approach to work, centralization of authority, separation of personal and work life, and selecting the best employees for the job” (Lyon, 2017a). However, there are some major differences in approach and application. The differences are as follows:

1. Taylor looked at organizations at the micro-level (Lyon, 2016a). He focused on how long and how many movements it took to complete small jobs and used the average time and number of movements to establish a standard for all workers (Lyon, 2016b).
2. Weber studied organizations at a macro-level (Lyon, 2017a). He was all about formality and rules. He believed that formal leadership was needed, work rules and regulations should emulate societal ones, power should come from the position and not the person, jobs should be filled by qualified people, and tenure should be in place to protect employees from being fired without cause (Lyon, 2016a).  
3. Fayol studied organizations on an administrative level (Lyon, 2017a). He believed that all managers needed to able to plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control (Lyon, 2017b).

The classical management approaches increased efficiency and productivity; however, workers were dehumanized and treated as cogs in a machine with little to no regard for their emotional and physical well-being.

 In contrast to classical theory, Mary Parker Follet’s dismissed the cog in the machine mentality in favor of a more humanized approach to management. Her theory focused on integration, group collaboration, sharing control, and “using conflict to understand” and resolve issues (Mary Parker Follet, n.d.).

Both classical and human relations management approaches are still alive in today’s workforce. Taylor’s application of time and motion studies to work is present in fast-food restaurants and factories to improve efficiency and productivity (Lyon, 2016b). Bureaucracy is seen in governmental agencies, universities, and factories (Lyon, 2016b). Moreover, organizations such as Facebook and Google use Follet’s principles of management to foster an open, collaborative, and community environment in the workplace (Byrd, Perry, Waldon, Bhasin, & Davis, 2018).

Recommendations:

• Do not treat employees as simple cogs in the machine; it can be detrimental to their emotional and physical well-being.
• Invest in your employees by listening and providing continual training and benefits. Happy and healthy employees are more loyal and productive.
• Leaders need to integrate and collaborate with their employees. Integration and collaboration create a sense of community and makes employees feel understood and valued.
• Promote a group mentality. Leaders should put the best interest of the group before an individual’s interests.
• Do not show favoritism in the workplace. Hire and promote based on qualifications and do not discriminate based, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or disability.

References

    Byrd, B., Perry, V., Waldon, M., Bhasin, A., & Davis, S. (2018). Mary Parker Follett - managing communication USC (500) fall 2018. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYtEjn4v1Qs

    Lyon, A. (2016a). [Organizational Communication Channel]. Retrieved from Max Weber Bureaucracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp554tcdWO8&list=PLvkPI8QIE9MKnF4CH0XqvKgSaHUE0K9-4&index=4

   Lyon, A. (2016b). [Organizational Communication Channel]. Retrieved from Frederick Taylor scientific management: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNfy_AHG-MU

   Lyon, A. (2017a). [Organizational Communication Channel]. Retrieved from Classical management theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1jOwD-CTLI

   Lyon, A. (2017b). [Organizational Communication Channel]. Retrieved from Henri Fayol's principles of management: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90qpziPNRnY&list=PLvkPI8QIE9MKnF4CH0XqvKgSaHUE0K9-4&index=2

   Mary Parker Follet. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://moodle.drury.edu/pluginfile.php/912743/mod_resource/content/1/Classical%20approaches%20and%20org%20structure%20.pdf