Graduate Research Papers
Availability
Open Access Graduate Research Paper
Abstract
The principles and ideology of management have been around for thousands of years. "Before industrialization, organizations were primarily the household, the tribe, the church, the military, and government" (Wren, 1987, p. 13). It was very rare for people to gather and organize outside of these structures prior to the industrial revolution. As mankind and civilization have progressed, the power of organizations has shifted throughout time. In the time of Confucius, government positions were of the utmost respect, and Confucius taught that positions of power "should go to men of proven merit and ability" (Wren, 1987, p. 14). The ancient Egyptians showed limitations in how many men one could supervise, while the Roman army was led in legions which, were formed on the basis of groups of ten. When Marco Polo visited the Far East, he learned of the military structure, based on the Roman army philosophy, based on a rule of ten with one man commanding ten men, who lead one hundred men, who lead one thousand men (Wren, 1987, p. 20).
It is apparent that organizational structure is nothing new to mankind. Organizational structure has been in place since the early days of recorded history. Early leaders were chosen by physical abilities, age and experience, or divine right. From the Egyptian Pyramids to the Roman Empire, leaders have emerged and led men to accomplish great feats managing progress by monitoring the progress of the task at hand with different management theories and practices. "The practice of management is ancient, but formal study of the body of management knowledge is relatively new" (Wren, 1987, p. 4).
Knowing that ancient leaders were able to manage astounding engineering feats and lead thousands of men, it is perplexing that only in the late l 800's did scholars determine that work and the workplace was worthy of research. The purpose of this study is to look into the history of documented management studies, theories, management systems, and process improvement activities in order to better understand how to apply knowledge of industrial education and research to manufacturing operations.
This study is justified as management theory needs to be understood as the manufacturing industry evolves with the technology of the global market place. There is a need to understand management theory as "every company has to invest into manufacturing management programs, methods, and technologies in order to remain competitive" (Demeter & Matyusz, 2010, p. 1).
Year of Submission
12-2011
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Industrial Technology
Date Original
12-2011
Object Description
1 PDF file (46 pages)
Copyright
©2011 James Nathan Webster
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Webster, James Nathan, "Management Theories in Manufacturing" (2011). Graduate Research Papers. 3700.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp/3700
Comments
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