Mintzberg, H. (1973). The Nature of Managerial Work. New York: Harper & Row.

Management Library: HD 31.M457

8 Schools of Thought on A Manager’s Job

1) The Classic School 2) The Great Man School

3) The Entrepreneurship School 4) The Decision Theory School

5) The Leader Effectiveness School 6) The Leader Power School

7) The Leader Behavior School 8) The Work Activity School

The Classic School

The classic school of what a manager does is POSCORB, which is an acronym developed by Luther Gulick, which stands for:

P – planning; O – organizing; S – staffing; D – directing; C – coordinating; R – reporting; B – budgeting.

The father of this school of thought was Henri Fayo, who introduced these 5 basic managerial functions: planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding, and controlling.

Carnegie theorists (Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie-Mellon University) describe the manager as an un-programmed decision maker who programs the work of others.

Charles Lindblom (1968) view of managers contrasts with the economist view of managers, in that he views managers moving away from ills rather than towards goals. Goals are flexible and are

adjusted to fit the means available. Managers make stepwise and incremental change. However, according to the economists, the

manager acts rationally to maximize profits. Decision making begins with problems and goals and then the courses of actions and

consequences are laid out before the manager.

The Leader Effectiveness School The study of leadership is the study of interpersonal behavior between the leader and the led. “Leadership is a relational concept implying