Frederick Taylor's scientific management theory and ancient management practices

Management theory technically came into being in 1899, when Frederick Winslow Taylor, the author of the Principles of Scientific Management, came forth with a new management style by which he sought to increase the productivity of laborers off-loading steel (Stewart). There is no denying that since Taylor's advent of management theory that businessmen have been promulgating and setting forth doctrines pertaining to how best to get things accomplished. Since Taylor, the founder of management theory, emerged in 1899, does that mean that prior to 1899, management theory did not exist? Perhaps, the name did not exist; however, the process itself - of getting activities completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people -- existed in the philosophies, politics, economies, and basic organizational structures of societies as far back as Mesopotamia and beyond. Accordingly, the following Review of Literature provides a background into how societies from ancient Mesopotamia to the Industrial Revolution have utilized their resources and their knowledge to accomplish tasks within their given societies.

Mesopotamia

In Ancient Mesopotamia, men and women possessed the self-view that they were subservient to the gods and at the mercy of the gods' arbitrary decisions. In order to make up for the insecurity that this caused, the Mesopotamians developed the arts of divination in an effort to understand the gods' wishes. Moreover, in a further effort to counter their anxiety, the Mesopotamians developed codes that regulated their relationships and daily living.

The Hammurabi codes codified the underlying philosophies, organization, and expectations of the people of Mesopotamia in 18th Century B.C. And provide the basic structure by which society was managed (Kreis). These codes demonstrated their commitment to strict justice wherein criminal offenses were severe and varied based upon the wealth of the individual. Society itself was divided into three distinct classes: nobles (government officials, priests, and warriors), freeman (merchants, artisans, professionals, wealthy farmers), and a lower class of slaves. In this society, an offense against a person of a higher class was punished with more severity. Government officials were held to the code and should an official fail in his duty, the official was required to make amends to the aggrieved citizen. For instance, if a city official failed to catch a burglar, the public official was under a duty to replace the lost property. Even builders were held to be responsible for the buildings they constructed. If a house collapsed causing death of its owner, the builder of the house was executed. In addition to giving the wealthy a greater status in society, Mesopotamia granted women few privileges and little rights. A husband could divorce his wife for a variety of reasons: failure to fulfill her duties in the home, inability to bear children, trying to leave the house to conduct business. She could even be drowned if she was caught neglecting her house and humiliating her husband (Id).

As a result of their commitment to work and order, Mesopotamia boasts of a rich agricultural history despite the fact that the only way anything would grow would be with proper irrigation and good drainage. In addition to developing a strong agrarian foundation, Mesopotamia was rich in merchants and craftspeople and the civilization learned that commerce was critical for survival since they didn't have many natural resources. Mesopotamians also showed their ingenuity when creating the first wheeled vehicle as a result of an individual who tried to figure out how to more easily transport a heavy load of goods and when they established the first alphabet and written form of language (Buccellati).

Ancient Egypt

In Egypt, the Nile River basin became the foundation for their society which flourished for more than 3,000 years. This ancient society believed it was important to record and communicate information regarding the functioning of the government and religion. From this preference and practice, they invented written scripts with detailed hieroglyphics in order to record their stories (Introduction). Ancient Egypt relied upon an intricate system of Pharaohs wherein women actually had a legal status: "Not only was woman full mistress in the house, but all estates descended in the female line" (Love). By 4000 B.C., Egypt's fourth dynasty was in a golden age called the Old Kingdom wherein the country enjoyed trade, peace, prosperity. During the third through the sixth dynasties, Egyptian society was engaged in the massive task of building the pyramids. While Ancient Egypt is continually remembered for its pyramids, it should also be noted for its public conscience as well as for is public displays. Indeed, for a society to have accomplished such an arduous task, the values and the management had to have demonstrated order and a level of foresight. Specifically, Egypt is regarded as having the first centralized government and for having primary and secondary education along with writing and literature. With regard to Ancient Egypts approach to philosophy, Egypt provides examples within its scripts of significant cries for social justice, monotheism, monogamy, and/or morality (Id.)

Ancient Greece

Classical Greece flourished between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, and it is said that this culture had a profound impact upon the Roman Empire which eventually expanded into the Mediterranean and Europe. As a result of its values and philosophies, Classical Greece is considered by some to be the culture which provided the foundation of Western civilization. In fact, the Greek city-state Athens founded democracy and many other Greek city-states followed Athens' lead. Similar to Mesopotamia, Greece did not afford its women with equal rights under the law and only the privileged could afford to obtain an education. Likewise, the society relied upon slaves and society itself was greatly divided according to class (Ancient Greece). Greece has a further similarity with Mesopotamia in that Greece also set up a successful agrarian system; and Greece also learned the importance of trade and prospered as a result of doing so (Id.).

Greece is also credited with shaping much of Western thought. Indeed, philosophy or "the love of wisdom" is considered by some to be a Greek creation (Discovery). The Greeks understood the role of reason or inquiry and continually sought truth and reality in the world around them. Socrates believed that one's happiness was dependent upon leading a moral life and reiterated that concepts of justice should predominate in government (Id).

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire evolved into a culture of influences from Europe, Asia, and Islam. It began with a split in the Roman Empire in 364. During Rome's decline, the center of Byzantine, Constantinople, became more important. Christianity was officially declared the state religion and the worship of the mythical gods was outlawed officially. For the next thousand years, the Byzantine empire existed. In 529, Emperor Justin further limited thought and declared the study of ancient Greek philosophers as illegal; the only philosophy allowed: Christianity. In 726, after hundreds of years of attacks by Arabs, Emperor Leo and his advisors conclude that the attacks have occurred because they must have angered God. Leo adopts a policy of destroying religious images in order to appease God: Iconoclasm. This policy, with its lack of solidarity and with its evolution coming from a place of fear and appeasement, further divided an already suffering empire (Barrett). Indeed, throughout the Middle Ages, Byzantium fell into a gradual political decline and found itself more and more isolated from the rest of Europe. Eventually, when the rest of Europe became a solid, cultural entity at the end of the Middle Ages, it was no surprise that the Byzantine Empire did not survive since it had failed to hold true to its core values and, eventually, the Empire officially ended upon conquest by the Ottomans.

Islamic Golden Age

The Islamic Golden Age is also called the Islamic Renaissance and its generally thought of as ranging from the 8th century to the 13th century (Kraemer). During this period, Muslim engineers, scholars, traders, philosophers, poets, artists, laborers, scientists, and princes created a culture that thrived and grew in many areas and would have an influence upon future societies around the globe (Turner). It is no wonder then that the people were greatly committed to the pursuit of knowledge. Additionally, Islamic scholars gathered information from all over the world and translated it. In fact, many Muslim philosophers sought humanistic, rational, and scientific discourses in their quest for knowledge; and, it is therefore not surprising that medieval Islam was open to humanistic notions of individualism, liberalism, religious freedom, and cross-cultural exchange. At the same time that knowledge expanded within the Empire so did agriculture. Moreover, the first market economy in the form of merchant capitalism was formed alongside with innovations which helped to enhance the innovation and growth of the time. For example, Muslim engineers demonstrated their innovation by coming up with industrial uses of hydropower as well as the first industrial uses of tidal power, wind power, steam power and fossil fuels (Hassan).

Despite the forward-thinking leadership and the innovative work that occurred during this age, the Islamic civilization eventually fell. While there is no consensus as to the precise reason for its fall, there are many individuals whom believe that it may have been one or more of the following disruptions in overall management and organization of the empire itself: (1) political mismanagement, (2) movement in thought toward imitation as opposed to continuing to demonstrate innovation, (3) reduction in tolerance of different ideas, (4) foreign invasion and attack, (4) inability to rebuild institutions destroyed in war, (5) increased illiteracy rates (Saliba).

Crusades

The Crusades marked a time in History during wherein a mandate by a religious leader turned into years of bitter violence. In 1095, Pope Urban II announced the First Crusade in order to regain control of the Holy Land. For years to come, many lives would be lost in the name of religion. In fact, there were seven major crusades between the eleventh century and the end of the thirteenth century. As a result of the Pope's initial declaration of war, over time, respect for the papacy declined and, unfortunately, the policy of attack against Muslims took hold around the world in areas such as Spain and Eastern Europe (History World).

12th Century Renaissance

The Twelfth Century Renaissance was an internationalist movement characterized by such things as wandering scholars travelling from country to country developing their own genre of poetry (Sommerville). This Renaissance included social, political and economic transformations as well as an intellectual revitalization of Western Europe. Some believe that this Renaissance was a precursor which paved the way for the later European Renaissance of the 15th Century. Indeed from this Renaissance, Europe benefitted in the form of new insititutions of higher education, providing innovative techniques of thought and speech, and coming up with fresh approached to ancient problems of philosophy and theology (Encylopedia Brit.).

European Gothic Period and Renaissance

The Gothic Period grew out from the Romanesque Period in the mid-12th century as the increasing wealth and prosperity of the period caused new commercial centers to spring up. During this time, mercantile interests sponsored the construction of beautiful cathedrals which influenced artistic innovation throughout Europe. The Gothic style is characterized by a pointed arch called a lancet.

The Fifteenth Century European Renaissance was a cultural movement from the fourteenth century to the seventeenth century that begun in Florence, Italy and then spread amongst Europe. On a cultural level, it signaled a rebirth of learning as well as gradual educational reform throughout Europe. During this time period, people turned toward their past and tried to understand classical works as well as Christianity itself. There was a rise in realism amongst artists who used light and perspective in a more natural vein; likewise, philosophers sought to portray political life as it really was and to actually understand it on a rational level. The change in mindset affected the political structure and management of the European people. For instance, Italy did not exist as one large entity; instead, it was broken into small city-states and its cities stood alongside ancient buildings. Italy seemed to have freed itself from Feudalism and had based its society upon merchants and commerce while others let go of monarchial orientation (Skinner).

17th Century Scientific Revolution

During the Scientific Revolution of the Seventeenth Century two fundamental ideas influenced how individuals viewed the world. First, they adhered to the notion that the universe and everything within the universe works according to the laws of nature which are set by the Divine Being. The Divine Being does not work at random, instead the Being holds to the "management theory" that it is his job to make things work in an orderly and regular fashion.

Furthermore, the law of nature may be discovered through reason. Thus, if we care to understand how the world actually works we must observe it with a lens of reason. As a result of the foregoing conclusion, in these regions, it was thought that everyone had the ability to make choices, obey laws, and adhere to moral standards (Scientific).

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th Centuries brought about change in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and power. In England, changes were being made to move from manual labor and draft-animal labor to machine-based manufacturing. Trade routes provided for expansion of exchange. In capitalist economies, the Industrial Revolution began an era where per-capital income rose. In analyzing why the revolution occurred, some believe that the British made advancements because there was an entrepreneurial class and this class believed in progress, technology and hard work; or, in other words, they possessed the Protestant work ethic. Information also was exchanged rather rapidly due to the network of informal philosophical societies. Furthermore, magazines and periodicals describing technology began in the early 1800's. Additionally, the middle class of industrialists and businessmen triumphed over the land owning nobles. While many effects were positive, it must be noted that there is a downside to this seemingly positive model of growth and organization: mainly substandard living and working conditions for factory workers (Hudson 138-144).