Trusted since 2008
LoginRegister
Study resources on Kenyaplex

Get ready-made curriculum aligned revision materials

Exam papers, notes, holiday assignments and topical questions – all aligned to the Kenyan curriculum.

Browse exam papers
Or go directly to:
Class notes Holiday assignments Topical questions Other resources

“Attempts to bring scientific methods into management merely show what an inexact art management really is.” Discuss.

“Attempts to bring scientific methods into management merely show what an inexact art management really is.” Discuss.

Answers

Kavungya
a) Management is a process of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling.

b) The use of scientific methods involves searching systematically for evidence to prove or disapprove some theoretical proposition.

c) Early examples of attempts to apply the methods of science to management were provided by F.W. Taylor and the Scientific Managers, who observed and measured work in order to establish more efficient ways of working.

d) Those such as Fayol, Urwick and Brech who attempted to define certain laws or principles of management also may be included amongst the users of scientific or rational methods.

e) In more recent times, the scientists are generally social scientists, interested in the study of human behaviour in organizations. Their methods are based on observation and analysis of people as individuals and in groups.

f) Management has also been described as “ getting things done through people”. The application of scientific methods has shown that it is easier to record, measure and evaluate information about things, and much more difficult to make consistent sense of human behaviour.

g) Scientific methods have made management more exact in terms of measuring and predicting things, but have done much less to prove that management is a science rather than an art.
Kavungya answered the question on April 30, 2021 at 07:49

Answer Attachments

Next: Explain what you understand by the term “pluralistic society”.

Previous: Discuss the evidence which suggests that in order to be effective, a manager can and should be flexible in the choice of his managerial style.

View more CPA Strategy, Governance and Ethics Questions and Answers  |  Return to Questions Index

Exams With Marking Schemes

Related Questions