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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
Futuristic Management is still in the Past
Jennifer Styers
Queens University of Charlotte
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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
Abstract
This paper will touch on Chapter four in Daniels, Papa and Spikers text book
Organizational Communication: Perspectives and Trends (2008), and the theory of Organization
Theory in comparison to the Disney movie Wall-E. This research will examine Scientific,
Classical and Transitional theories of management along with Human Resource development.
This paper will show how Wall-Eprovides examples for these topics and how they are beneficial
in the work place.
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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
Robots carrying out everyday task that would eliminate jobs is very futuristic, but it is
shown in Disneys movie Wall-E. If robots ruled the world completing our everyday task the use
of Organizational theories such scientific and classical management theories, and Human
Resource Development would be obsolete. Until that day however the movie can be used in
comparison to the management theories that have been in place since the early twentieth century,
these Scientific and Classical management theories can be seen throughout Disneys movie, and
how they affect the organization.
Wall-E (2008) is a lonely robot that was left on planet Earth to clean up the mess that
human beings had made, with his only friend a cockroach (who are said would make it through
nuclear war) by his side. Earth has been abandon by human life because of the mass amounts of
pollution and trash that has been disposed improperly. One day to his surprise a ship lands in his
area dropping of another robot named Eve who is looking for sustainable resources and life still
on earth. Wall-E and Eve befriend one another creating a robot romance, until Wall-E shows
Eve a plant that he had found before her arrival (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008)
After giving Eve the plant she shuts down and waits until her ship has returned to take
her back to the main ship. After the return of the ship Wall-E follows Eve into space where the
audience seess how humans are living today. The human have become lazy having everyday
jobs and task now being performed by robots instead of themselves, even simple things as
putting on makeup and steering the ship that they are on are all electronically done. Those these
task are being completed by robots we can still see how classical and scientific management
theories affect their every day task. After a whirl wind drama of the plant being taken by robots,
so humans would not return to earth, the ship is finally taken back over by the humans who now
plan to return to earth to start cleaning up the mess that had been made (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008).
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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
Classical and Scientific management theories according to Daniels, Papa, and Spiker
(2008) who are Scholars in the Communication field and Authors ofOrganizational
Communication: Perspectives and Trends were put into place by three people. Fredrick Taylor,
Henri Fayol and Max Weber, these three theorists each had their own ideas on how an
organization should be managed sufficiently to create the most productivity though different,
they all have similarities on what they think is best (Daniels, Papa, & Spiker, 2008).
The Research that Daniels, Papa and Spiker (2008) found, states that Fredrick Taylor
theory was mainly scientific. He believed that there was a best way to do the job to achieve
highest efficiency and that people should be assigned to a job scientifically. In his theory he also
believed that management should plan the work and the workers should follow the plan. To him
management could be in many different levels, a worker could report to one person for a task or
have multiple people that the needs to report to. Taylor stressed that if everyone could work
together then the organization could achieve high proficiency and profit (Daniels et al., 2008).
Henri Fayol also has his own theory on basic principles of Organizational Structure in
management. Daniels, Papa and Spiker (2008) introduce that Fayol believed that each worker
should only have one job, and that only authority has the right to give orders. Unlike Taylor
Fayol believed that for the highest efficiency workers should only receive orders from on
superior, but they had the same thoughts with the groups working together as a whole. Fayol also
thought that the interest of the organization was the most important, and that authority should
have clear lines of command. For a productive workplace he stated that a person should be
treated with kindness but that did not exclude sternness and forcefulness(Daniels et al., 2008).
Brunsson and Karin authors ofSome Effects of Fayolism(2008) suggest that Henri Fayols main
goal is that an organization be efficient, effective, and prosperous(Brusson, Karrin, 2008).
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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
Max Weber was one of the last theorists in the Scientific and Classical Theories of
Management, Webers theory was one that was bureaucratic, like Taylor and Fayol precision
was key and he wanted the highest proficiency in speed, certainty and continuity. Also like the
other theorist before him he also said that there needed to be clear lines of authority, jobs should
be designated by specialization, duties should be told to the employees, and there would be high
expectations for work performance (Daniels et al., 2008). Berdayes and Vicente show in their
article Traditional Management theory as Panoptic Discourse (2002) that Weber differed
because he believed that organizations should be machine like, and he thought all control
should be in managements hands (Berdayes, Vicente, 2002).
In the film Wall-E(2008) there are visible examples of each theory. All of the robots in
the movie have one task; each robot has a specific job that they carry out and that only. This is
visible when Eve shuts down after receiving the plant from Wall-E or Wall-Es job of cleaning
up the trash that is left on planet Earth. In Taylors Scientific Management theory he states that
employees could listen to one foreman or multiple foremen, in the film the robots have a
hierarchy inside themselves, some robots govern over others, but the head of the organization is
the captain. There is a lack of compliance in the organization when the robots hide the fact that
they have found natural plant life like they were told to hundreds of years ago of the old
President of the United States. When the Capitan orders them help him go back to Earth they
disobey, until the Capitan states that it is an order, showing that the robot has to listen to his
authority (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008).
The movie shows Fayols General Management theory by the robots job, like stated
before each robot had a specific job and task that it was to do, whether this be putting make up
on a human being, or cleaning up foreign contaminate each had a specific task. In Fayols theory
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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
he has a step according to Daniels, Papa and Spiker (2008) called Esprit de Corps, this means
Management should strive to promote a sense of unity, harmony and cohesion (Daniels et al.,
2008). The robots had great cohesion, though they all had different task they worked together,
when one was done cleaning the next robot would move in to do the next step of the process of
whatever was suppose to be happening (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008).
Wall-E(2008) could be more than Weber bargained for, if he wanted machine like then
Wall-Es organization is it. Though futuristic the organization in the film is showing what it
would be to be machine, the robots complete the same task day in and day out at high
proficiency levels, they do these jobs better than humans could do. The captain dose not even
steer the ship, he has a robot that is in the shape of a ships steering wheel to do that for him.
Weber also states in his theory that he wants every worker to have a job title; the robots are given
names cleverly in the movie such as Eve who finds plant life on Earth, and Ship for the steering
wheel (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008).
The one thing that these theorists did not care about was the emotions and feelings of the
workers, their relationships with one another and management. Mary Parker Follett was a
theorist who was a part of Transitional Theories. Daniels, Papa and Spiker introduce that Follett
thought that Human interaction had to reciprocal and that differences create creativity (Daniels
et al., 2008). Author Nancy Smith tell in her bookThe Collected Paper of Mary Parker Follett
(1994) that Mary Parker Follett believed that conflict was inevitable, she didnt believe that
domination nor compromise was the answer to conflict, that creativity was the only way (Smith,
1994).
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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
Folletts Transitional Theory sparked events such as Human Relations Movement and
Human Resource Development. Daniels, Papa and Spiker (2008) Talk about Human Resource
Development in their Chapter of Organizational Theory, they say Work is meaningful, workers
are motivated by mutually set goals, and workers should be self directed and that this will
increase efficiency and that management needs to create a successful environment. Within
Human Resource Development Maslows Need Hierarchy is included. This hierarchy states the
five needs that and organization and people need. There is a Physiological need for basic
requirements to sustain life such as food and oxygen, safety is needed for security and protection
from danger, there is a social need of love and affection along with acceptance. Esteem is need
for recognition and status and self- actualization is needed to realize ones full potential (Daniels
et al., 2008).
Management soon realized that using these needs and the practices of Human Resource
Development made their work place, a better place and motivated their workers to work harder
and fulfill their full potential. In Wall-E(2008) we see that the Robots do have feelings though
machines. Wall-E has been left on Earth for hundreds of years not having a companion other
than a cricket; he creates a close bond with Eve because she is the first person that he meets.
Also the robots who have feelings because, the cleaning robot gets frustrated that there is so
much to clean when Wall-E comes on board. Also the group of misfit robots who have been
recalled, were angry at the authority because they were not able to perform a task, though they
were able to work together in a time of need (Stanton, Wall-E, 2008).
To think of an organization to be machine like seems to be outdated, and wrong, that
there couldnt be a way that these practices are still happening today. However they are, there are
still many organizations that use Scientific and Classical Management theories though outdated
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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
there are still parts of the theories that are beneficial in the work place. Having workers do one
task that they are good at can be efficient for the company, however if the worker does not get
variety in the work, work will become boring and dull for the employee. One profession that still
does base itself off of Scientific and Classical management theories is the field of accounting.
Authors Lee Parker and Neil Lewis Talk about the relevance of Classical management in the
realm of accounting in their article Classical Management Control in Contemporary
Management and Accounting (1995). They talk about how accounts run like machines in their
every day task having to repeat many of their steps in work and how Scientific control creates
the best efficiency (Lewis, Parker, 1995)
Most organizations use Human Resource Development to their advantage, and is required
in many offices having a Human Resource department. Today management has to be careful
with the conditions that the employees are working in and the way they have been treated. When
the theories of Classical and Scientific Management were put out, they relevant for that time
because of the mass amounts of factory jobs and industrial work, at that time the thought was the
quicker the better. Now organizations know that quality of the work and quality of the employee
is key and it is something that organizations strive for.
Wall-Eis a great example of we dont want the world to be or our organization, for
human beings cant be machine like; it cant happen because of feelings emotions and
communication that needs to happen. For a successful organization and work place, the needs of
the workers need to be met, and communication needs to be able to flow through the
organization. With the help of Transitional theories and Human Resource Development this has
been made possible.
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Futuristic Management is still in the Past
References
Berdayes & Vicente. (2002). Traditional Management Theory as Panoptic Discourse: Language
and the Constitution of Somatic Flows. Culture and Organization, 8, 35-49.
Brunsson & Karin. (2008) Some Effects of Fayolism. International Studies of Management and
Organization, 38, 30-47.
Daniels, T. D., Papa, M. J., Spiker, B. K. (2008) Organizational Communication: Perspectives
and Trends. United States of America: Sage Publications, Inc.
Lewis, N. & Parker, L. (1995) Classical Management control in contemporary management and
accounting: the persistence of Taylor and Fayols world.Accounting, Business and Financial
History, 5, 211-236.
Smith, N. J., (1994) Dynamic Administration: The Collected Paper of Mary Parker Follett.
Educational Studies, 25, 199.
Stanton, A. (Producer/ Director). (27 June 2008). Wall-E. United States: Pixar.