Management is a special kind of labour that makes business decisions. Managers decide such matters as what and how much to produce, which markets to serve, how much to advertise, and what prices to charge. (Encyclopaedia, p. 258). It is difficult to know where to begin. Claude George traces management back over 5,000 years. (Schoderbek, 1998, p. 39). Management, important element in Slovak economy, went through theories and styles in history, was explained with scientists of management, and was developing in Slovak economy, and is still in progress as whole Slovak economy.
The developement of management theory has created four schools of managerial thought. Each of these perspectives is based on differing assumptions about the nature of management. The Management Process School reflects classical management theory, in which principles of management were developed to aid in the practice of managerial functions. By contrast, instead of thinking of functions performed, the Behavioral School views management as influnced by human behavior. According to this behavioral approach, effective management results from an understanding of human needs and recognizes the importance of the informal aspects of organization. Clearly, psychology and sociology are important in the behavioral approach to management. A third school of management thought employs a quantitative approach. The Quantitative School views management as a system of processes. Underlying this approach is the belief that if decision making is a rational process, then models can be constructed to duplicate this process. Finally, Systems School is a contingency approach to management, which suggests that the application of certain managerial concepts depends on the situation – the environment, the technology, the people in the organization, and the task to be accomplished. (Schoderbek, 1998, p. 38). The development of management is not connected only with theories of management but there are also some well-known names of people who have dedicated their time and energy to science of management.
A. Smith, F.W. Taylor, H. Fayol, and M. Weber, the most famous management scientists, explained the main things and ideas of management. In The Wealth of Nations (1776), Adam Smith applied the principle of specialization to manufacturing workers. Smith specially discussed the benefits of a “division of labour” in organization.