The Three Foundational Theories and How it is Used in Organizations

Foundational Theorists
Student’s Name
Institution
Course
Date
Foundational Theories
Henry Fayol and The Administrative Theory
Born in 1841 in France, Henry Fayol grew to become many things, starting his career as a coal mining engineer and later transforming into an economist and an entrepreneur. During his era, Fayol authored several pieces touching on industrial administration, and through his 1916 publication, “General and Industrial Administration”, he presented arguments on the theory of management, the administrative theory, otherwise termed as Fayolism that has been regarded by many as the theory of modern management (Edwards, 2018). Fayol alongside other proponents of the administrative theory argued that an organization that adopts the theory has to have a structure that is split into six distinct internal organs: technical, commercial, finance, security, accounting, and managerial. The management organ, headed by managers is further split into five different roles: planning, controlling, coordinating, commanding, and organizing, and the managers have some guiding principles to aid in the adoption of the theory. The administrative theory can be viewed as a top-down management model. The contribution of Fayol within the management spectrum can be attributed to his long-term tenure as a manager.
Administrative management is commonly applied in government institutions where the division of work, authority, responsibility, respect of chain of command are highly valued. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which is the body from the intelligence service in the federal government of the United States tasked with gathering, analyzing, and processing intelligence information linked to national security is a perfect example to describe the administrative theory (CIA, n.d.). The body depicts a top-down model of management, with the Director of the CIA at the helm. In this case, the division of work, authority, and responsibility trickle down from the director, through the station chiefs on to the assets on the ground, often directed to undertake certain operations as per the directive from above. The formulation of government administrations and strategic management of public affairs follow Fayol’s administrative theory.
Human Relation Theory by Elton Mayo
George Elton Mayo was born in 1880 in Queensland Australia and grew up to be a renowned psychologist and a researcher in industrial management. Mayo conducted a series of experiments while trying to find out some of the core components that influence management. Mayo conducted an experiment in Hawthorne that led to the emergence of the human relations theory of management to explore some of the human aspects that impacts the effectiveness and efficiency of management practice. In conclusion of the Hawthorne experiment, Mayo found out that organizations thrive where there is a positive relationship between the individuals or the different groups of individuals that make up the organization (Hussain et al., 2019). The human relation theory focuses on the social aspects of the organization. The evidence-based approach with Mayo’s theory has led to his utmost regard by the social scientists, managers, and even trade unionists as...