Katz And Taylor’s Management Skills Essay

The Relevance of Katz and Taylor’s Management Theories in Modern Day Practice

Management is creating and maintaining a superstructure while shaping the behavior of others within and around it (Chapman, 2001; 55). This essay is an evaluation of a manager’s duty at a large private sector organization in relation to Robert L. Katz’s human skills and Frederick W. Taylor’s four principles of management. Robbins et al. defines management as people who ‘coordinate and oversee the work of other people so that organizational goals can be accomplished’ (2009; 10). Condensed from Henri Fayol’s five management functions of ‘planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling’ (Lamond, 1998; 4) managers today work from four functions, ‘planning, organizing, leading and controlling (Robbins et al., 2009; 12). However, the size of an organization will determine the skills and functions used by managers. Katz’s theory on management looks at the skills managers require in order to effectively and efficiently perform the functions of management, while Taylor’s four scientific principles of management determine what a manager should do on a philosophical level.   This essay will show that a manager cannot succeed without Katz’s human skills or Taylor’s four principles of scientific management, as they are both critical in maintaining a successful organization.

The interviewed manager that will be referred to in this essay is a top-level store manager at Prouds, an organization, which has been operating for 108 years and has 195 stores nationwide. The manager, who for privacy reasons shall be referred to as Sarah Smith, has worked at this organization for eleven years. Sarah coordinates staff and manages other duties relating to the management of the department, such as interviewing potential staff, allocating set tasks and organizing rosters. This essay will use the interview results to apply the above management skills and principles to a current managerial...