The theories of management make it easier for extension administrators or managers to decide what to do to perform their duties most effectively. Extension administrators should be familiar with the major theories and try to apply them as appropriate to given situations.
There are three well-established schools of management thought: classical, behavioral, and quantitative. There are also two newer approaches, the systems approach and the contingency approach. It is possible to integrate all of these. Administrative matters are not rigid because circumstances are constantly changing.
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Management/Administrative Theories in Agricultural Extension
1. The Classical Management Theories Related to Agricultural Extension
The Classical School has two branches: scientific management and classical organization theory. Important proponents of the Classical School include Robert Owen (1771–1858), Frederick W. Taylor (1856–1915), both of the Scientific Management Thought, and Henri Fayol (1841–1925), who was of the Classical Organization Theory.
2. Scientific Management Theories Related to Agricultural Extension
Robert Owen believed that the manager should bring reforms into the organization by improving the workers’ conditions. He invested in his workers as “vital machines” and put specific work procedures in place to ensure increased productivity.
Frederick W. Taylor worked towards increasing the efficiency of workers. He constructed the principles of scientific management. Taylor determined how much time workers needed to perform certain tasks.
He broke down each job into its components and established the best methods of operation for each part. Taylor applied the “differential rate system” to workers’ earnings based on set performance standards. Taylor is often referred to as the father of scientific management. His principles of scientific management are as follows:
1. Development of a true science of management: The best method for performing a task should be determined. This scientific-method-of-work principle also states that the responsibility for workers’ methods of work should be that of management.
- Scientific selection of the worker: Each worker should be given responsibility for the task for which he is best suited.
- Scientific education and development of the worker.
- Intimate, friendly cooperation between management and labor.
5. Piece-rate principle: Wages should be proportional to output, and the rates should be based on the standards determined by time study.
The emphasis is on maximizing the use of available human and material resources in achieving the goals of the organization. Taylor emphasized economic rationality, hard work, and defined social roles and positions. He believed that workers should neither be overpaid nor underpaid.
Merits
One contribution of scientific management is the efficiency of the techniques advocated, such as time and motion studies. Another is that the work design suggested makes managers search for the “one best way” of doing a job, which leads to the professionalization of management. Finally, the emphasis on scientific selection of workers has shown that a worker cannot do his job properly without ability and training.
Demerits
The proponents laid too much emphasis on the economic and physical needs of workers but failed to recognize the importance of social needs as group members. Additionally, they overlooked workers’ desire for job satisfaction.
In brief, scientific management was concerned with how to increase the productivity of the organization and the individual worker.
Classical Organization Theory Related to Agricultural Extension
This is the second part of classical management, and it seeks guidelines for managing complex organizations. Henri Fayol is considered the founder of this school of thought because he was the first to systematize managerial behavior.
He produced a blueprint for a cohesive doctrine of management, stressing that management is a skill that can be taught. Fayol explained management in terms of five functions:
1. Planning: Devising a course of action that would enable the organization to meet its set goals.
2. Organizing: Mobilizing resources (human and material) to implement the plan.
3. Commanding: Motivating workers and getting them to perform their tasks.
4. Coordinating: Ensuring that resources and activities work harmoniously to attain the set goals.
5. Controlling Monitoring the plan to ensure proper execution.
Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management frequently applied in administration are:
1. Division of Labour: Specialization of work will ensure efficient performance by workers.
2. Authority: The ability to give orders to ensure compliance. Managers need formal authority to command and personal authority (e.g., intelligence) to compel obedience.
3. Discipline: Workers must respect and obey the rules and agreements of the organization.
4. Unity of Command: Each employee should answer to only one superior officer, ensuring clarity and avoiding conflict.
5. Unity of Direction: Similar operations in the organization should be directed by only one manager using one plan.
6. Subordination of Individual Interest to the Common Good: Organizational interests should take precedence over personal interests.
7. Centralization: Managers hold final responsibility but should give subordinates enough authority to perform their tasks properly.
8. The Hierarchy: The line of authority runs from top management to the lowest level in the organization, known as the scalar chain.
9. Remuneration: Fair wages for both employees and employers.
10. Order: People and materials must be in the right place at the right time, and workers should be placed in positions best suited to them.
11. Equity: Fairness and friendliness toward subordinates should be ensured.
12. Stability of Staff: Efforts should be made to retain workers for long periods, as high turnover creates inefficiency.
13. Initiative: Workers should be allowed to create and implement their own plans.
14. Espirit de Corps: Team spirit is important.
Behavioral and Systems Approaches in Agricultural Extension
The Behavioral Theory in Agricultural Extension
This theory focuses on the “human side” of organizations, considering the best possible worker with necessary skills, the best possible work conditions, and the most effective motivators. Elton Mayo (1880–1949) emphasized the need for managers to foster good human relations by understanding why workers act as they do and identifying social and psychological factors that motivate them.
The Hawthorne Experiment in Agricultural Extension
Mayo and his Harvard associates conducted a study of human behavior in work situations at the Hawthorne Plant. They placed two groups of six women in separate rooms, varying conditions in one and leaving the other unchanged.
Despite the differences in conditions, productivity increased in both rooms due to the special attention the groups received, a phenomenon known as the Hawthorne effect. Mayo concluded that social factors, such as group pride and sympathetic supervision, had a significant impact on workers’ motivation.
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Behavioral Science Approach in Agricultural Extension
Mayo and other theorists introduced the concept of the “social man” motivated by forming relationships. Later theorists, such as McGregor, Argyris, and Maslow, expanded this by introducing the “self-actualizing man.”
This concept states that people’s needs are arranged in a hierarchy, with higher-level needs (such as respect and personal growth) becoming important only after lower-level needs (such as physical safety) are met. An extension administrator can use this hierarchy to find ways to motivate workers, recognizing that not everyone progresses through the hierarchy in the same way.
Systems Approach in Agricultural Extension
A system is a group of interdependent parts forming a unified whole. The systems approach provides an integrated framework for solving administrative problems. It views organizations as unified systems made up of interrelated parts. The activity of one part of the organization affects all other parts.
Key concepts in the systems approach include:
1. Subsystems: Parts that make up the whole of a system, such as departments in an organization.
2. Synergy: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, meaning that cooperation between departments leads to higher productivity.
3. Open and Closed Systems: An open system interacts with its environment, while a closed system does not.
4. System Boundary: The boundary separating a system from its environment can be rigid or flexible.
5. Flow: Systems have flows of inputs (information, materials, energy) and outputs (goods, services).
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Frequently Asked Questions
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