Harrington Emerson

Harrington Emerson
See also
Management styles Management by objectives Principles of organization Phases of team creation Job analysis Merit rating External motivation Negative motivation Reddin's basic management styles

Harrington Emerson is one of the representatives of the universalist trend. The basis of his concept is the concept of efficiency, which he presented in his greatest work entitled "Twelve principles of performance". It defines effectiveness there as a "ratio to a certain percentage".

Principles of performance

In addition, it presents twelve principles of performance:

1. A clearly defined goal. This is by far the most important principle. It is fundamental in managing people, but also in achieving high efficiency by the company. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly define the basic objective of the activity and at the same time beware of the general phenomenon which is obstructing the main objective by a number of apparent goals.
2. Common sense. It allows you to accept everything that is necessary and useful, and at the same time eliminate what hinders our attainment of the goal.
3. Professional advice. Each governing body should have special experts, so that it does not get stuck in knowledge from the past week, month, year, decade or past century.
4. Discipline. It can be considered in three senses: adapting to the requirements of the environment, adapting to the order of life, adapting to the penalty for inappropriate behavior. In order to teach discipline to the employees, the management itself should work conscientiously, diligently and with enthusiasm, and fulfill its duties towards subordinates.
5. Square deal. Follow the "act with people as you want it to be done with you" principle.
6. Reliable, fast, accurate and parametric reports.
7. Time schedule of the course of action. The course of action should be precisely determined.
8. Patterns and standards. Requirements must be tailored to the individual and vice versa. Emerson, unlike Taylor, matches patterns to existing, average conditions.
9. Adaptation of conditions. To make the most of your opportunities, you must "adapt yourself so that you can dispose of external factors or adapt external conditions so that the person becomes the axis around which everything revolves."
10. Model work methods. Determining them is necessary if we want to achieve satisfactory results.
11. Written instructions. These are work regulations containing mainly requests and warnings. Without them, no undertaking is possible.
12. Performance award. It is necessary to introduce an appropriate system of remuneration for work. Emerson offers promising bonuses for 68% of the standard's performance. The range from 68% to 100% divides the thresholds, which each allocates an adequate remuneration.

It is important that the company implements all these principles. Only then will it function efficiently.

Emerson's views have gained a lot of publicity and recognition. Today, he is considered a precursor of the method of management by objectives.

References

• McKenna, C. D. (1995). The origins of modern management consulting. Business and Economic History, 51-58.
• Harrington Emerson - Wikipedia