Outstanding management thinkers

Lead-in

 

Answer the following questions before you read the text below.

 

A. Do you know or can you guess why Peter Drucker is considered to be “father of management thinking”?

B. What other management thinkers do you know? What was their contribution to the development of management science?

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Study the following list of vocabulary and do the tasks that follow.

1. influential adj	влиятельный
2. prolific adj	продуктивный, успешный
3. depict v	описывать
4. distinct adj	определенный, отдельный
5. responsibility n	ответственность
6. sympathy n	сочувствие, сопереживание
7. face v	сталкиваться
8. take off v	набирать обороты
9. popularize v	популяризировать
10. management by objectives (MBO)	целевое управление
11. founder n	основатель
12. scholarly adj	научный, грамотный
13. explore v	изучать
14.predict v	предсказывать
15. decisive adj	важнейший, определяющий
16. emergence n	возникновение
17. contributor n	тот, кто вносит вклад
18. lay foundations	положить начало
19. underlying factors	основополагающие факторы
20. comprehensively adv	всесторонне
21. synthesize v	обобщить, свести воедино
22. division of work	разделение труда
23. authority n	полномочие, власть, авторитет
24. unity n	единство, целостность
25. equity n	равенство
26. relate to v	касаться, относиться
27. subordination n	подчинение
28. staffing n	работа с персоналом

 

Pre-reading Activities

 

1. Use a dictionary to complete the following table. Use some of these words to speak about famous economists or managers you know.

 

Noun	Verb	Adjective
influence
		responsible
	popularize
	found
decision
		scientific
	unite
subordinate, subordination

 

2. Use your Key Vocabulary to complete the sentences. Each word can be used only once.

 

take off	comprehensively	distinct	prolific
emergence	lay foundations	sympathy	popularized

 

A. These training courses include six … but interrelated programmes.

B. The … of a dynamic service sector has been regarded as the feature of a post-industrial society.

C. The report of the Secretary-General to this Summit captures the challenges and the means to address them ….

D. According to this report, Mr. Schott is a pretty … inventor.

E. That tragedy has given rise to broad … and solidarity throughout the world.

F. Programmes designed during reconstruction can … for child protection and strengthen social infrastructures, particularly in relation to health and education.

G. They need to include more people if the scheme's going to really ….

H. Dream analysis was … by Sigmund Freud.

 

Reading

Read the text and be ready to discuss the role of P. Drucker and H. Fayol in the development of management theory and practice.

 

Peter Drucker (1909-2005) was one of the most widely-known and influential thinkers on management, whose work continues to be used by managers worldwide. He was a prolific author, and among the first people to depict management as a distinct function and being a manager as a distinct responsibility. His writing showed real understanding of and sympathy for the difficulties and demands faced by managers.

Drucker’s career as a business thinker took off in 1942, when his first writings on politics and society won him access to the internal workings of General Motors, one of the largest companies of the world. The resulting book “The Concept of Corporation”, popularized GM’s structure and led to numerous articles and additional books.

He was a leader in the development of management education, he invented the concept known as management by objectives and self-control, and he has been described as "the founder of modern management".

Drucker's 39 books have been translated into more than 36 languages. The books and scholarly and popular articles explored how humans are organized across the business, government, and nonprofit sectors of society. He is one of the best-known and most widely influential thinkers and writers on the subject of management theory and practice. His writings have predicted many of the major developments of the late twentieth century, including privatization and decentralization; the rise of Japan to economic world power; the decisive importance of marketing; and the emergence of the information society with its necessity of lifelong learning.

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) was a French mining engineer and director who developed a general theory of business administration. He was also one of the most influential contributors to modern concepts of management.

Thanks to scientists like H. Fayol the first foundations were laid for modern scientific management. These first concepts, also called ‘principles of management’ are the underlying factors for successful management. Mr. Fayol explored this comprehensively and, as a result, he synthesized the 14 principles of management: Division of work, Authority, Discipline, Unity of command, Unity of direction, Subordination of individual interests to the general interest, Remuneration, Centralization, Order, Equity, Initiative and others. These principles explain how managers should organize and relate to their employees in a productive manner.

Moreover, it was Fayol, who proposed that there were five primary functions of management: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling.

Fayol’s scientific management theory forms the base for business administration and business management. In the academic world, this is also known as Fayolism.

 

Comprehension Check

 

1. Browse the text through and match the two halves of the sentences to make them sound true and correct grammatically.

 

1) Peter Drucker was one of the most influential thinkers on management, whose work	a) developed a general theory of business administration.
2) Henri Fayol was one of the most influential contributors	b) was invented by Peter Drucker.
3) Mr Fayol	c) is still used by managers worldwide.
4) The books written by Mr Drucker	d) explain how managers should organize and relate to their employees in a productive manner.
5) The concept known as management by objectives and self-control	e) to modern concepts of management.
6) The 14 principles of management	f) explored how humans are organized across the business, government, and nonprofit sectors of society.

 

2. Answer the questions. Use the text to support your viewpoint.

 

A. What were the main ideas of Mr Drucker’s theories?

B. Who laid the first foundations for modern scientific management? What were they?

C. Does Drucker’s scientific management theory form the base for business administration and business management?

D. Whose books and articles explored how humans are organized across the business, government, and nonprofit sectors of society?

E. How many primary functions of management did H. Fayol propose?

 

3. Reproduce the context in which the following word-combinations are used.

 

a prolific author

an influential thinker

an influential contributor to

to predict major developments in

to develop a theory of

to synthesize principles of

to form the base for

to lay foundations for

 

Vocabulary Focus

 

1. Look through the text and find the words that mean the following.

 

a) the process of coming into existence or prominence

b) the quality of being fair and impartial

c) an underlying basis or principle

d) the right to act in a specified way, delegated from one person to another

e) of chief importance, main

f) great in number, many

g) the action of separating something into parts or the process of being separated

2. Fill in the gaps with prepositions, if necessary.

 

1. Academic writings … the development of national action plans were a valuable resource for my project.

a) on

b) in

c) for

2. Center publications should be translated … languages other than English.

a) in

b) into

c) to

3. Indicators relate … budgets, taxation, monetary growth and interest rates.

a) on

b) to

c) -

4. Principle 10 combines public participation with public access … information.

a) on

b) -

c) to

5. These recommendations must lead … practical and measurable outcomes.

a) -

b) in

c) to

 

3. Give the English equivalents to the following expressions. Use them in the sentences of your own.

 

влиятельный мыслитель и автор многих научных трудов

описать менеджмент как отдельную функцию

ввести понятие

предсказать основные этапы развития

возникновение информационного общества

непрерывное обучение

разработать теорию

основополагающие факторы

разделение труда

подчинение личных интересов общим интересам

 

Listening

 

1. Study the picture below. Add a caption or give an explanation of it with reference to the process of management in a company.

2. What was P. Drucker’s contribution to the development of management science? You are going to listen to a short lecture about one of the concepts he introduced. Can you guess which one?

 

A. Pre-listening

1.Look through the list of the following words, memorize them. These words will help you understand the lecture you are going to listen to.

 

1. essence – the basic or most important idea or quality of something

2. participative – based on the idea that things can be achieved more easily if everyone works together and is involved in  making decisions

3. performance – an execution of an action; something accomplished

4. to fulfill – to achieve or realize something

 

2. Choose the words from the box to complete the sentences.

agree / essence / measurement / defining / fulfill

 

A. The process of … objectives is rather complicated.

B. Everybody should … to the objectives and understand what to do within an organization.

C. What is the … of Management by Objectives (MBO)?

D. … of the employees’ performance is extremely important in MBO.

E. As the head of the department he didn’t … his responsibilities.

 

B. First Listening

1. Follow the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NDU-FlnA3M (or find a video explanation of MBO on YouTube) and listen to the lecture. Choose the right variant to complete the sentences.

 

1. MBO is the process of … objectives.

a) setting         b) understanding c) defining

2. The term MBO was first popularized in ….

a) 1964           b) 1954           c) 1854

3. MBO is participative …, choosing course of actions and decision-making between managers and employees.

a) goal-setting b) acting          c) management

2. Answer the following questions.

 

A. Does the lecturer give the definition of MBO? What is it?

B. What is an important part of MBO, according to the lecture?

C. When does MBO work best?

C. Second Listening

Listen to the lecturer once again and discuss the following question in pairs, then report to the group.

 

Why are set standards important in MBO?

 

D. Follow-up Activity

 

Imagine you are a teacher who is about to explain the essence of MBO and Peter Drucker’s role in general to first-year students. What would you say? Role-play the situation, be ready to answer students’ questions.

 

Talking Points

1. Here are some Peter Drucker’s quotations. In what way do they characterize him? Use the text to prove your opinion.

 

· “If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.”

·  “Results are obtained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.”

·  “Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.”

·  “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

 

2. Comment on one of the most prominent quotes by  Henri Fayol.

 

“To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control. To foresee and plan means examining the future and drawing up the plan of action.”

 

3. Pretend to be a lecturer. Ask questions on the text for your groupmates to answer. Ask them:

- if prominent management scholars and thinkers should be studied by students and why;

- what kind of person Peter Drucker was;

- if Peter Drucker contributed to the development of management as a science;

- what they know about Drucker’s career as a business thinker;

- what they know about H. Fayol and his role in modern scientific management.

 

Summary Points

Read the text and make a summary. Be ready to answer the questions after the text.