The Organization As A Rational System

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viewpoints of the people in the organization do not contribute to the roles and role relations.
Interestingly, there are four important schools of thought, which have attempted to capture the essential elements of the rational system perspective. These essential elements do not make up a unifying, centralized theory, but instead help us to determine a set of important, and underlying principles. The four main approaches are: Taylor's scientific management; Fayol (and others) administrative theory, Weber's theory of bureaucracy, and Simon's discussion of administrative behaviour.
Taylor's scientific management theory was highly influential in the early part of this century. Basically Taylor felt that it was possible to scientifically analyze tasks performed by workers, in order to maximize efficiencies. Further, he felt that scientific principles could also be applied to the "entire structure of work arrangements" (Scott, Chapter Two), and not just individual tasks. ...

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of the organization based on authority and discipline that was rationally and methodically prepared.
Interestingly, Simon's theory of administrative behaviour focused a bit more on the self-interest of the individual. Simon felt that the organization simplified individual's decisions by restricting their goals and ends. Ultimate goals like making a profit, achieving growth, or prolonging the life of the organization are somewhat imprecise, and Simon felt that those goals could be seen as ends in and of themselves.
Basically, the authors noted below have a few similar comments about the rational system approach. First, the traditional rational system approach is often ...

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