Learning How to Manage

The important thing to remember is that no one is born with management knowledge. People who wish to have a career as a manager must study the discipline of management as a means toward practicing the process of management. On the other hand, many individuals whose interest in management was or is strictly scientific have contributed knowledge to the field. Many psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists consider management to be very important social phenomenon and managers to be an important social resource. Their interest then, is strictly scientific; they want to understand and to explain the process of management. Numerous other professions such as mathematics, accounting, economics, law, political science, engineering, and philosophy also have contributed to the discipline of management.

Contemporary management knowledge is the product of three basic approaches: the classical approach, the behavioural approach, and the management science approach. We believe that the ideas of each approach contribute positively to the total body of knowledge of the discipline of management. Through these three approaches, you can see an evolution of what is known and what should be known about management.

Theories are important as organizers of knowledge and as road maps for action. Understanding the historical context and precursors of management and organizations provides a sense of heritage and can also help managers avoid repeating the mistakes of others.

Isolated pieces of evidence date interest in management back thousand of years, but a scientific approach to management has emerged only in the last hundred years. Over the course of the development management thought, three primary perspectives on management emerged. The earliest of these was classical management perspective. The other two schools of thought are referred to as the behavioural management perspective and the quantitative management perspective.