A historical perspective and the challenges ahead (Part II)

Last week, we began a discussion of organizational management because of its relevance to both the public and private sectors but more especially in the light of the myriad of problems facing a number of state institutions.  We looked at the concept of an organization and noted that it is a system of inter-related behaviour of a certain group of people whose collective action in pursuit of common objectives or goals is the distinguishing feature.

In addition, we discussed the historical development of organizations and considered that there were three waves of development. The first is the classical school of thought with its emphasis on the tasks to be performed and how productivity could be improved.

The major contributors were: (a) Frederic Taylor who, in his famous experiments at the Bethlehem Steel Works, was able to reduce the workforce from