Classical Theory of Administration (schools, approaches and importance)

The classic administration is the act of managing based on focus or classical theory, which considers administration as a science that must proceed under a system of experimentation to reaffirm its doctrine and importance for any economic entity.

The classical management theory It is distinguished from others by emphasizing the structure of the organization and its functions to achieve efficient performance.

Its greatest exponent was Henry fayol who started from a global and systematic approach to the company, which conceives it as an anatomical, ordered and structural unit.

Origin of classical management theory

At the birth of the 20th century, two engineers Frederick W. Taylor and Henri Fayol Without having communicated and starting from very different points of view, they developed postulates that formed the bases of the classic approach to administration.

Considered pioneers of the classic approach to administration, their contributions were based on:

• Taylor: I was looking to increase the productivity through the major efficiency operational, emphasizing the division of labour from the bottom up, from the different parts to a whole, in the specialization of the operators and the regrouping of tasks, operations, positions, etc. This current of ideas conceived the scientific administration and based on this the school of scientific administration was created.

The scientific administration tries to apply methods used by science (observation and measurement) to administrative problems, in order to achieve high industrial efficiency.

• Fayol: I sought to increase efficiency through the arrangement of the parts that made up the organization and the interrelation between them. In this sense, this approach is the reverse of the previous one since it goes from top to bottom and completely towards the parts. Prevailing emphasis on organizational structure and the application of certain general principles with scientific bases.

It constitutes the true classical theory, that arises from the need to find the guidelines for managing complex companies.

Fayol considers that the aspects of this theory are developed in the division of tasks, application of authority and assignment of responsibility.

Classical management theory

It is based on the importance of the formal structure of organizations, such as management science, must be supported by flexible laws or principles that adapt to different circumstances of time or place.

This theory was developed by Henry Fayol who starts from the proposal to divide the company into groups according to their functions, resulting in the following:

• Functions concerning production.
• Functions concerning the purchase, sale and exchange.
• Functions concerning the search for capital.
• Functions concerning the protection of assets and human resources.
• Functions concerning costs, statistics, inventories, records and balances.
• Functions concerning the integration of the other five functions. Known as administrative functions that coordinate the other functions of the company.

Following the idea of ​​administrative functions, Fayol defines administration as the act of planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling to encompass the elements of administration.

At the same time these elements constitute a administrative process applicable to any area of ​​the company, that is, each area can perform the planning, organization, direction, coordination and control of for its due performance.

• Planning: It consists of the visualization of the future to draw the lines of action.
• Organization: Builds the material and social organism of the company, providing useful elements for its operation.
• Address: It conducts the operation in search of the maximum performance of all the areas in the general interest of the company.
• Coordination: Links, unites and harmonizes activities and efforts, facilitating work.
• Control: It consists of verifying everything that happened in order to corroborate if they have occurred in accordance with the plan and the established rules.

Fayol also postulated 14 administrative principles by which any company can be governed. In addition, he defended the need to offer a methodical and organized teaching of the administration, to contribute to the training of better administrators, who had not only personal skills and qualities, but also learned from the experiences of other scholars in the theme.

Criticisms of the classical management theory

• He conceives the organization in rigid and formal terms, without taking into account the importance of its social aspect.
• It is based on observation and common sense, the absence of experimental work is evident
• The extreme use of rationalism sometimes sacrifices the clarity of your ideas.
• Modernists call this theory, as the theory of the machine, which states that certain actions will occur certain consequences.

Importance of classical administration

The administration is as old as humanity itself, from the existence of bosses and subordinates the action of administering is necessary.

With the classical management theory a precedent is set in the achievement of goals proposed effectively, so the application of its methods, techniques and principles has been observed in many companies even today to achieve their objectives and purpose economical.