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The Evolution of Management Theories: A Literature Review

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Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of management theories with an emphasis on human resource management (HRM). It examines the early philosophical viewpoints which laid the foundation for the development of management theories. It traces the evolution of management theories from the pre-industrial revolution through the two world wars to the era of rapid economic growth of the 1960s to the 1980s. In recent years, management theories had become more multi-faceted where emphasis has shifted from behavioural science to organisational structures and quality assurance. With rapid globalisation and increasing importance of cultural awareness, the paper concludes that more research will be needed in the area of cross-cultural and multi-national human resource management.
Nang Yan Business Journal (v.3 no. 1 - 2014) Page 28
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The Evolution of Management Theories:
A Literature Review
Angus C. F. Kwok
1
Hong Kong Institute of Technology, Hong Kong
Published online: 25 April 2014
© Nang Yan Business Journal 2014
ABSTRACT: This paper provides an overview of the evolution of management theories
with an emphasis on human resource management (HRM). It examines the early
philosophical viewpoints which laid the foundation for the development of management
theories. It traces the evolution of management theories from the pre-industrial revolution
through the two world wars to the era of rapid economic growth of the 1960s to the 1980s. In
recent years, management theories had become more multi-faceted where emphasis has
shifted from behavioural science to organisational structures and quality assurance. With
rapid globalisation and increasing importance of cultural awareness, the paper concludes that
more research will be needed in the area of cross-cultural and multi-national human resource
management.
Keywords: Evolution; Management theories; Literature review
JEL codes: M12, M54
1
Faculty of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Institute of Technology, Hong Kong. The paper was presented at
the 2012 Shanghai International Conference on Social Science (SICSS 2012). Email: anguscfkwok@gmail.com
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1. A historical perspective
In the simplest terms, HRM is no more than a concept of mobilising a group of people towards
planned goals, and has existed for as long as the first humans had populated the earth. From the
pre-historic society of the hunter-gatherer society, survival of the tribe depended on coordinating
their skills and efforts in hunting wild animals that were often many times their size and strength.
Consider also the management skills required for the Chinese in building the great wall, the
Egyptians in constructing the majestic pyramids, and the Romans in developing their
sophisticated cities equipped with roads and aqueducts. These are just a few examples of how
humans throughout our 7000 years of history have always relied on management skills to
achieve our goals and aspirations.
The Chinese philosopher Mencius (372-298 BC) advocated the conceptual models and systems
that are now classified under the term of production management techniques. He was also an
early proponent of the division of labour. Ancient Greeks, on the other hand, understood the
advantages of, and practised uniform work methods. Division of labour was also recognised by
Plato (427-347 BC) who wrote in The Republican, ‘A man whose work is confined to such
limited task must necessarily excel at it’. Other early writing on management included Sun Tzu’s
“The Art of War”, a military strategy book written in 6th century BC which recommends being
aware of and acting on the strengths and weaknesses of the manager’s as well as an enemy’s, and
in Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince”, leaders are recommended to use fear but not hatred to
maintain control. It can be concluded, therefore, that even though the term ‘human resource
management’ has only been coined fairly recently, the application of management principles has
been around a lot longer.
The field of HRM has undergone tremendous changes and growth over the past two hundred
years. Four major shifts can be identified to summarise the changes. The first shift occurred
when workers started to work in factories en masse which allowed organisations to increase
production through machinery and work techniques. With an emphasis on production where
workers were primarily regarded as a tool within a large machine, problems began to emerge due
to increasing staff dissatisfaction. More recently, it had become apparent that a balanced
approach between production requirements and employees’ needs was required. Finally, with the
predominance of the global economy, it is vital that HRM must give due regard and
consideration to cultural differences and practices that extend beyond the boundaries of the
individual countries.
Scope of literature review
The literature review conducted for this paper covers the broad spectrum of western publications
that relate to the evolution of management theories, from the early ground breaking theory on the
nature and causes of wealth generation (Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Jeremy Bentham) to the
times of the industrial revolution that led to the development of traditional management theories
(Henry Towne, Max Weber, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Henry Gantt, Henri Fayol), which
evolved into the behavioural management theories that blossomed in the 1920s and 1930s and
further developed into the mid to late 20th century (Mary Parker Follet, Chester Barnard, Elton
Mayo, Abraham Maslow, Douglas McGregor, Rensis Likert, Frederick Herzberg, David
McGregor, Chris Argyris). Systems viewpoints supported by contingency theories gained
prominence in the 1990s when it was recognised that complex and rapidly changing business
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environments requires sophisticated systems to help managers make decisions. The late 20th
century saw a further shift to the quality management approach which focused on customer
satisfaction through the provision of high-quality goods and services. Rapid globalisation in the
late 20th century necessitates the development of new theories that address cross-cultural issues
in management.
2. Origins of HRM theories
The early thinkers and philosophers
The search to improve manufacturing methods in order to produce a superior product or increase
profits is as old as time. It can be argued that Adam Smith (1723 1790) pioneered the concept
of labour management by advocating making work efficient by means of specialisation. He
proposed breaking the work down into simple tasks and argued that division of labour will result
in development of skills, saving of time and possibility of using specialised tools. Smith’s “An
Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” (1776) advocated the following
viewpoints: (i) each individual strives to become wealthy; (ii) productivity will increase with
division of labour; (iii) the free market provides the best environment for wealth accumulation;
and (iv) property rights are vital to the concept of free market.
David Ricardo (1772 1823) in his “Letter to T. R. Malthus, October 9, 1820” (Collected Works,
Vol. VIII: p. 278-9) observed that Political Economy should be called an enquiry into the
laws which determine the division of produce of industry amongst the classes that concur in its
formation. No law can be laid down respecting quantity, but a tolerably correct one can be laid
down respecting proportions.”
Jeremy Bentham (1748 1832) wrote in his “Introduction to the Principles of Morals(1789)
that (i) a law is good or bad depending upon whether or not it increased general happiness of the
population; (ii) the wealthier a person is, the greater the happiness he can attain; (iii) actions are
to be judged strictly on the basis of how their outcomes affect general utility; (iv) individuals are
the best judges of their won happiness; and (v) whether the unhindered pursuit of individual
happiness could be reconciled with morality.
Unlike Smith and Bentham who had a strong belief in the capitalistic principle of the individual
pursuit of wealth and happiness, Karl Marx (1818 1883) argued that the economic breakdown
of capitalism was inevitable, which would be replaced by the doctrine of socialism where the
individual’s interests will give way to the state’s interests, and the free market system will yield
to the controlled market system for the benefit of the society as a whole.
In 1832, Charles Babbage, an engineer, philosopher and researcher, examined the division of
labour in his book “On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers” and raised important
questions about production, organisations and economics. He advocated breaking down jobs into
elements and costing each element individually. In this way, potential savings from investments
in training, process and methods could be quantified. Henry R. Towne (1844 1924), also an
engineer, proposed the concept of “shop management” and “shop accounting” to the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers. Both Babbage and Towne paved the way for the development
of scientific management theories that flourished during the industrial revolution.
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3. The traditional management theories
Introduction
The traditional management theories had their origin in the industrial revolution when
technological developments, expanding trade/markets, growing populations created opportunities
for mass production through a systematic and mechanised process. Traditional management
theorists were concerned with the formal relations among an organisation’s departments, tasks
and processes, and in the promotion of greater efficiency and productivity among the workers.
Traditional theories can be categorised into three main branches bureaucratic management,
administrative management and scientific management. All three management concepts emerged
around the same period around the late 1890s to early 1990s, and resulted largely from the work
of engineers who had particular interest in increasing productivity within the factories.
Bureaucratic management theory
Bureaucratic management, as depicted by its name, focuses on a rigid system which has a set
hierarchy, a clear division of labour, and detailed rules and procedures. It provides a blueprint of
how an organisation should operate in the most efficient manner. Max Weber (1864 1920)
identified seven characteristics of bureaucratic management: (i) rules (formal guidelines for the
behaviour of employees while they are on the job); (ii) impersonality (all employees are
evaluated according to rules and objective data); (iii) division of labour (the process of dividing
duties into simpler, more specialised tasks); (iv) hierarchical structure (helps control the
behaviour of employees by making clear to each exactly where he or she stands in relation to
everyone else in the organisation); (v) authority structure (determines who has the right to make
decisions of varying importance at different levels within the organisation); (vi) life-long career
commitment (job security is guaranteed as long as the employees is technically qualified and
performs satisfactorily; (vii) rationality (managers operate logically and scientifically with all
decisions leading directly to achieving the organisation’s goals). The bureaucratic approach is
most effective when the organisation is required to handle large quantities of standard
information, the needs of the customer are known and not likely to change, the technology is
routine and stable, and the organisation has to coordinate the activities of numerous employees in
order to deliver a standardised service or product to the customer.
Administrative Management Theory
Administrative management, in contrast with bureaucratic management, is more concerned with
how the organisation is run and the distinction of basic managerial functions. Henri Fayol
(1841 1925), a French industrialist, was the first person to group management functions that
today are summarised as planning, organising, leading, coordinating, controlling and staffing.
He identified fourteen management principles that included: (i) division of labour (specialisation
leads to greater efficiency); (ii) authority (managers have the authority to get things done); (iii)
discipline (members of the organisation need to respect the rules and regulations that govern it);
(iv) unity of command (avoid conflicting and/or confusing instructions); (v) unity of direction
(only one manager should be responsible for an employee’s behaviour; (vi) subordination of
individual interest to the common good (the interests of individual employees should not take
precedence over the interests of the entire organisation); (vii) remuneration (pay for work done
should be fair to both the employee and the employer); (viii) centralisation (managers should
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retain the final responsibility); (ix) scalar chair (a single uninterrupted line of authority should
run rank to rank from top management to the lowest level position in the company); (x) order
(materials and people need to be in the right place at the right time); (xi) equity (managers should
be both friendly and fair to their subordinates); (xii) stability and tenure of staff (stability and
tenure should be enhanced and high staff turnover should be avoided); (xiii) initiative
(subordinates should be given the freedom to formulate and carry out their own plans; (xiv)
esprit de corps (promoting team spirit gives the organisation a sense of unity. Fayol’s
management principles are still widely practised by many companies today.
Scientific management theory
Scientific management is probably the most well-known among the traditional theories, and
comprises four basic objectives, as follows:
The development of a science for each element of a man’s work to replace the old rule-of-
thumb methods.
The scientific selection, training and development of workers instead of allowing them to
choose their own tasks and train themselves as best they could.
The development of a spirit of hearty cooperation between workers and management to
ensure that work could be carried out in accordance with scientifically devised procedures.
The division of work between workers and the management in almost equal shares, each
group taking over the work for which it is best fitted instead of the former condition in
which responsibility largely rested with the workers (Accel Team (2004), Motivation in the
workplace theory and practice).
Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) is considered to be one of the most influential persons in
terms of impact on management service practice as well as on management thought up to the
present day. In his 1909 publication, “Principles of Scientific Management”, Taylor spearheaded
the scientific management movement, a management approach that emphasised improving work
methods through observation and analysis. He also popularised using financial incentives
financial rewards paid to workers whose production exceeds some predetermined standard. His
framework for a successful organisation included: (i) clear delineation of authority; (ii)
responsibility; (iii) separation of planning from operations; (iv) incentive schemes for workers;
(v) management by exception; and (vi) task specialisation.
Taylor extensively studied the individual worker-machine relationships in manufacturing plants
and put great emphasis on specialisation. Through a time-and-motion study, he was successful in
identifying and measuring a worker’s physical movements when performing a task which
allowed him to analyze how these movements impact a worker’s productivity. Taylor also
championed division of labour through functional foremanship where a set number of foremen
are assigned to each work area, with each one being responsible for the workers in his line of
expertise.
The following are the underlying assumptions to Taylor’s scientific management approach:
The presence of a capitalist system and a money economy, where companies in a free
market have as their main objective the improvement of efficiency and the maximisation of
profit.
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The Protestant work ethic that assumes people will work hard and behave rationally to
maximise their own income, putting the perceived requirements of their organisation before
their own personal objectives and goals.
An increased in size is desirable in order to obtain the advantages of the division of labour
and specialisation of tasks.
Other more well-known scientific management theorists included Frank Gilbreths (1868 1924)
and Lillian Gilbreths (1878 1972), Henry Gantt (1861 1919) and Charles Bedaux (1887
1944). The Gilbreths developed from their various studies the laws of human motion from which
evolved the principles of motion economy. They coined the term ‘motion study’ to cover their
field of research and as a way of distinguishing it from those involved in ‘time study’. It is a
technique that they believed should always precede method study. They also championed the
idea that workers should have standard days, scheduled rest breaks and normal lunch periods.
Their work had significant impact on child labour laws and rules for protecting workers from
unsafe working conditions.
The third well-known pioneer in the early days of scientific management was Henry Gantt. Gantt
worked for Taylor and is to be remembered for his humanizing influence on management,
emphasizing the conditions that have favourable psychological effects on the worker. Gantt was
also credited for establishing the quota systems and bonuses for workers who exceeded their
quotas. In addition, he was also remembered for creating the Gantt Chart a visual plan and
progress report that identifies various stages of work which must be carried out to complete a
project, sets deadlines for each stage, and documents accomplishments. It is used for scheduling
of jobs which is based on time, rather than quantity, volume or weight.
Charles Bedaux was another pioneering contributor to the field of scientific management. He
introduced the concept of rating assessment in timing work which led to great improvements in
employee productivity. He adhered to Gilbreth’s introduction of a rest allowance to allow
recovery from fatigue. Although crude and poorly received at first, his system has been of great
consequence to the subsequent development of work study. He is also known for extending the
range of techniques employed in work study which included value analysis.
4. The behavioural theories
Introduction
The scientific management movement focused primarily on production, management,
organisation, technology and science, but little attention was paid to how people might be
impacted, the way in which they react and are likely to react to future. As long ago as the 1920s
there was opposition to the scientific principles as discretion was removed from individuals as a
way of centralising control and authority into specialised functions. The focus of attention had
been almost exclusively on the jobs which individuals performed and how they could be
improved. Benefits went disproportionately to the company and the individual’s work experience
was dehumanizing as they were treated as extensions to the machines.
During the radical social and cultural changes that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, the
behavioural theories emerged that stresses the importance of group dynamics, complex human
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motivations and the manager’s leadership style. It also emphasizes the employee’s social and
economic needs and the influence of the organisation’s social setting on the quantity and quality
of work produced, and its focuses on two competencies communication and teamwork. This
increase in attention to the human factors has become known as the ‘human relations school of
management’. Some of the more prominent theorists in this field included Elton Mayo (1880
1949), Mary Parker Follett (1868 1933), Chester Barnard (1886 1961), Abraham Maslow
(1908 1970), Douglas McGregor (1906 1964), Rensis Likert (1903 1981), Frederick
Herzberg (1923 2000), David McClelland (1917 1998) and Chris Argyris (1923 present).
Elton Mayo
One of the most prominent behavioural theorists is Elton Mayo and his ground breaking study of
Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne Plant in Chicago which he conducted with Fritz
Roethlisberger and William Dickson between 1924 and 1933. During the course of Mayo’s
studies, he managed to switch the focus of attention away from the individual and physical
considerations to the importance of groups at work requiring sociological and psychological
consideration. Some of his major findings included: (i) workers thought and acted not as
individuals but as a group; (ii) workers should sacrifice their self-interest in the face of group
pressure; (iii) money is not the sole motivator; (iv) supervisors have significant influence on
output; (v) the social world of the adult is patterned around work activity; (vi) the need for
recognition, security and sense of belonging is more important in determining workers’ morale
and productivity than the physical conditions under which he works; (vii) a complaint is not
necessarily an objective recital of facts; it is commonly a symptom manifesting disturbance of an
individual’s status position; (viii) the worker is a person whose attitudes and effectiveness are
conditioned by social demands from both inside and outside the work plant; (ix) informal groups
within the work plant exercise strong social controls over the work habits and attitudes of the
individual worker; and (x) group collaboration does not occur by accident; it must be planned
and developed.
He therefore recommended that: (i) managers must not ignore the informal organisation but
ensure that its norms are in harmony with organisational goals; (ii) man is basically motivated by
social needs, not economic ones; (iii) work is rationalised by employees and meanings are sought
in social relationships at work; (iv) managers must focus on the work group rather than
individuals, but workers should be considered in a personal context in order to understand each
employee’s unique needs and sources satisfaction; and (v) effective supervisors are those who
satisfy subordinate’s social needs. Mayo’s work is now part of the management folklore which
has led to the movement to reject the views of the traditionalists to the school of ‘human
relations’ management.
Mary Parker Follett
Mary Parker Follett was touted as one of the first management theorists to give recognition to the
importance of involving workers in solving problems and that management is a dynamic, not
static, process. She defined management as “getting things done through people” and noted that:
(i) people closest to the action make the best decisions; (ii) subordinates should be involved in
the decision-making process; (iii) coordination is vital to effective management; (iv)
communication between managers and employers improves decisions; and (v) managers should
find ways to resolve the interdepartmental conflict.
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Chester Barnard
Chester Barnard was an early organisational theorist who authored “Functions of the Executive”,
an influential twentieth century management book which presents a theory of organisation and
the functions of executives in organisations. Barnard remarked that social systems require
employee cooperation if they are to be effective, and introduced the idea of examining the
organisation’s external environment and adjusting its internal structure to balance the two. He
observed that the manager’s main roles are: (i) to communicate with employees; (ii) to motivate
them to work hard to help achieve the organisation’s goals; and (iii) successful management
depends on maintaining good relations with people outside the organisation with whom
managers deal regularly.
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow’s pioneering work on human behaviour laid the foundations for the later
development of behaviour management theories. He suggested that there are five sets of human
goals which may be called basic needs. These are: (i) physiological; (ii) safety; (iii) love/sense of
belonging; (iv) self-esteem; and (v) self-actualisation or self-fulfilment, and they are arranged in
order of importance. Man’s basic needs are physiological, for example, hunger, thirst, sleep, etc.
When these are satisfied they are replaced by safety needs reflecting his desire for protection
against danger or deprivation. These in turn, when satisfied, are replaced by the need for love or
belonging to, which are functions of man’s gregariousness and his desire to belong to a group
and to associate with people. When these needs have been satisfied, there are the esteem needs,
i.e. the desire for self-esteem and self-respect, which are affected by a person’s standing
reputation, and his need for recognition and appreciation. Finally, individuals have a need for
self-actualisation or a desire for self-fulfilment, which is an urge by individuals for self-
development, creativity and job satisfaction.
Clayton Alderfer
Clayton Alderfer further expended Maslow’s hierarchy of needs by categorising the hierarchy
into the ERG theory (Existence, Relatedness and Growth) (ERG, Human Needs in
Organisational Settings, New York, Free Press, 1972). Alderfer further proposed a regression
theory to go with the ERG theory. He hypothesised that if needs in a higher category are not met
then individuals redouble the efforts invested in a lower category instead. Both Maslow and
Alderfer’s theory can be labelled as the ‘push’ theory which concludes that an individual is
pushed or motivated by some inner condition or drive or need.
Victor Vroom
Victor Vroom on the other hand proposed the ‘Expectancy Theory’ (1964) which is about the
processes that an individual undergoes to make choices. Expectancy theory predicts that
employees in an organisation will become motivated when they believe that (i) putting in more
effort will yield better job performance; (ii) better job performance will lead to organisational
rewards, such as an increase in salary or benefits; and (iii) these organisational rewards are
valued by the employees in question. Vroom’s theory assumes that behaviour results in
conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose is to maximise pleasure and minimise pain.
He introduced three variables in his theory Valance (V), Expectancy (E) and Instrumentality (I)
which are important behind choosing one element over another. The Expectancy Theory is
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sometimes known as the ‘pull theory’ since it predicts that behaviour will tend to respond to the
relative attractiveness (valence) of different outcomes of behaviour. In fact, behaviour might
reflect the individual’s ‘considered response’ to stimuli located in the environment, rather than
his or her blind reaction to internal drives, wants or needs choice making attributes of humans
rather than animal instinct.
Douglas McGregor
Douglas McGregor was noted for his Theory X and Theory Y assumptions concerning two
different types of workers which he described in his book “The Human Side of Enterprise”,
published in 1960. Theory X depicts the average human being as having an inherent dislike of
work and will avoid it if he can. Therefore, most people must be controlled and threatened before
they will work hard enough, and that they prefer to be directed, dislikes responsibility and
desires security above everything. This is the so-called ‘stick and carrot philosophy of
management. Theory Y on the other hand postulates that the expenditure of physical and mental
effort in work is as natural as play or rest, and that control and punishment are not the only ways
to make people work because man will direct himself if he is committed to the aims of the
organisation. Furthermore, the average worker learns, under proper conditions, and they see their
reward not so much in cash payments as in the freedom to do difficult and challenging work by
themselves. McGregor sees these two theories as two quite separate attitudes which are pertinent
to different organisations or circumstances, but he also observed that ‘staff will contribute more
to the organisation if they are treated as responsible and valued employees’.
Rensis Likert
Rensis Likert has conducted much research on human behaviour within organisations,
particularly in the industrial situation. He has examined different types of organisations and
leadership styles, and he asserts that, to achieve maximum profitability, good labour relations
and high productivity, every organisation must have optimum use of their human assets. He
contends that “highly effective work groups linked together in an overlapping pattern by other
similarly effective groups” will make greatest use of the human capacity. Likert also identified
four main management styles: (i) the exploitive-authoritative system; (ii) the benevolent
authoritative system; (iii) the consultative system; and (iv) the participative group system which
is considered to be the optimum solution where leadership is by superiors who have complete
confidence in their subordinates, where motivation is by economic rewards based on goals which
have been set in participation, where personnel at all levels feel real responsibility for the
organisational goals, where there is much communication, and a substantial amount of
cooperative work.
Frederick Herzberg
Frederick Herzberg was responsible for the two-factor Hygiene and Motivation Theory. Hygiene
factors are related to the work and organisational environment and include the organisation, its
policies and its administration, the kind of supervision (leadership and management, including
perceptions) which people receive while on the job, working conditions, interpersonal relations,
salary, status and job security. These factors do not lead to higher levels of motivation but
without them there is dissatisfaction. The second component to Herzberg’s motivation theory
involves what people actually do on the job and should be engineered into the jobs of the
employees in order to develop intrinsic motivation with the workforce. The motivators are
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achievement, recognition, growth/advancement and interests in the job.
David McClelland
David McClelland was noted for his work on achievement motivation and the consciousness.
His research led him to believe that the need for achievement is a distinct human motive that can
be distinguished from other needs. More important, the achievement motive can be isolated and
assessed in any group. People with a high need for achievement tend to set moderately difficult
but potentially achievable goals. In biology, this is known as the overload principle. Another
characteristic of achievement-motivated people is that they seem to be more concerned with
personal achievement than with the rewards of success. They do not reject rewards, but the
rewards are not as essential as the accomplishment itself.
Chris Argyris
Chris Argyris compared bureaucratic/pyramidal values (the organisational counterpart to Theory
X assumptions) with a more humanistic/democratic value system (the organisational counterpart
to Theory Y assumptions) and concluded that the former leads to poor, shallow and mistrustful
relationships and is a “`breeding ground for mistrust, inter-group conflict, rigidity and so on
which in turn lead to a decrease in organisational success in problem solving”. On the other hand,
if humanistic or democratic values are adhered to in an organisation, trusting, authentic
relationships will develop among people and will result in increased interpersonal competence,
inter-group cooperation, flexibility and the like and should result in increases in organisational
effectiveness.
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