Consider the following statements per Smithburg's analysis of behavioralism:
It views administration as a social system, balancing formal and informal relationships, with emphasis on informal communication.
Behavioral approach replaces sovereignty theory with legitimacy, analyzing why individuals obey orders through leadership and motivation.
It prioritizes individual personality aspects over rational structures, but ignores cognitive processes in decision-making.
Consider the following statements on the features and premises of behavioral theory:
It is descriptive and empirical, focusing on actual organizational behavior through interdisciplinary methods from sociology and psychology.
David Easton's premises include regularities for prediction, verification via empirical testing, and value neutrality separating facts from ethics.
Behavioralism emphasizes provincial approaches, limiting explanations to specific organizational contexts unlike classical universalism.
Consider the following statements about the enduring impact of classical theory:
It transformed administration from an art to a science, fulfilling Woodrow Wilson's call for a "science of administration."
Classical principles influenced U.S. reforms like the Brownlow Committee (1937) and Hoover Commissions (1949, 1955).
Its limitations spurred behavioral inquiries, establishing it as the foundation of 20th-century administrative thought.
Consider the following statements regarding further critiques by Argyris, Barnard, and Subramaniam:
Classical theory neglects informal processes, treating organizations as closed systems static to external environments.
Argyris highlighted incongruence between mature personality needs and classical structures, fostering passivity at lower levels.
It displays a pro-management bias by focusing solely on operational issues beyond management problems.
Consider the following statements on criticisms of classical theory by scholars like Simon and Waldo:
The theory is deemed unscientific due to unverified principles under controlled conditions, leading to inconsistencies and tautologies.
Herbert Simon critiqued principles as "proverbs" with contradictory pairs, lacking universal validity for organizational design.
It overemphasizes human motivation through non-economic factors, aligning with Hawthorne experiments on social influences.
Consider the following statements about Mooney and Reiley's principles in The Principles of Organisation:
Coordination is the primary principle, encompassing all others as subordinate means for unified action toward common goals.
The scalar process involves hierarchy through leadership, delegation, and functional definition, ensuring supreme authority flow.
Functional differentiation equates scalar differences (e.g., generals vs. colonels) with functional ones (e.g., infantry vs. artillery officers).
Consider the following statements concerning Urwick's eight principles and synthesis in The Elements of Administration:
The principle of span of control limits direct supervision to no more than five or six interlocking subordinates.
Urwick's twenty-nine principles integrate Taylor's scientific management, Fayol's fourteen principles, and Mooney-Reiley's ideas on coordination.
The principle of objective requires an expressed purpose, while the scalar principle advocates a flat, non-pyramidal structure.