What is Management? - The Perspective of Weber and Handy

Through the 1900s a lot of work on management has been presented to the world. The work of writers in management can be categorised in four main approaches: classical, human relations, systems and contingency. Typical classical writers from the early 1900s, such as Fayol, Brech, Urwick and Mooney and Reiley, main emphases were on the formal organisation and structure. The classical approach can be divided into two subgroups: the bureaucracy and the scientific management. Max …

…today. Weber's work is historical, but it is still applicable in some organisations. As we continue into the 21st century, it is claimed that the challenges of our times need more lively and intelligent organisations, such as Handy's Athena or Dionysis culture. Handy also argues that management theories not should suggest which way of structure and manage organisation that is the best way. This applies to the approach our time belongs to: the contingency approach.