Management Robert Owen and Richard Branson

Intoduction It is said that management principles send packing be traced back as remote as 5000 years, which has provided subscribe to up to(p) amount of clipping to refine and develop these principles into economic and successful ideologies. Throughout history, management practise has evolved thanks to a emergence of introduces who piddle veered away from the norm to revolutionise views on what it means to be a good and efficacious double-decker. Both Robert Owen and Ric demanding Branson can be seen as frontrunners of their time, performing feats in the realm of management that nobody before them would stand dargond to have even considered.Robert_Owen? Robert Owen was born in Newtown in Wales, United Kingdom. During his aliveness he managed to improve well-being, education and rights of the workings class. His driving ambition to shape a split up society made him a successful shaper and an measurable pioneer of Modern Management. ?The virtu everyy important experim ent for the enjoyment of the human race that has yet been instituted in some(prenominal) part of the b only1 Owen, 1801 derailed when Robert Owen bought the New Lanark Mills in 1801.Under his management the New Lanark became a model community which was driving towards prosperity and making progress done the new technology. He was considered a kind man, who treated his employees very well. Owen highlighted the impressiveness of education he believed that knowledge is a useful skill that could retail store working class children from hunger and poverty. Thus New Lanark was the first couch in the world that had an Infant School. This allowed parents to keep on working and created the opportunity for wider education provision, including evening classes for workers.He likewise introduced better working conditions for children children under decade were not allowed to work in the village and no children were allowed to work for eternal than 10 hours a solar day. Moreover he ra ised the minimum earnings for child advertise, raised wages for adults, reduced working hours and provided all the employees with unaffectionate medical care. Robert Owen always kept proper business records these included daily and weekly measurement of productivity, output and stocks. A novel technique was employ to control the employees multicolored pieces of woodwind instrument hung beside every worker.Each color indicated the previous days shade of work. Everyone around was able to see this measure of employees performance, this piece of wood whole kit and boodle as a good motivator towards quality performance, as stack did not take to be embarrassed by everyone being able to see that they had worked to a poor standard. ?Even though Robert Owen had no white-tie university education his progressive moral views and entrepreneurial skills made his contribution to the in advance(p) management theory inestimable. What ideas individuals whitethorn attach to the term Millenn ium I know not but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such(prenominal) a state of society from becoming universal. 2Owen, 1816 Sir Richard Branson Sir Richard Branson was born in Blackheath, capital of the United Kingdom in 1950.He studied at Stowe school and throughout his childhood struggled with dyslexia, and failed to do well at school, but by the age of 16, after falling out of school, and a few failed attempts at selling Christmas trees and budgerigars, he had already taken his first steps to becoming a successful pioneer when he launched a magazine called Student 3Ahmed, 2011, which ran articles about prominent politicians, celebrated rock stars and divers(prenominal) celebrities of the time.This turned out to just be the start of a successful entrepreneurial career, and he has now founded Virgin chemical group Ltd. which consists of more than 400 companies, ranging from airlines to mobile phone networks, employing over 50,000 people. Having started as a teenager, struggling to find his way into the business world, he is now cost about three levelion pounds sterling, and is one of the most outstanding innovators in the world. Despite being renowned for promoting an extremely tranquil working milieu, Richard Branson is a follower of F.W. Taylor, who proposed the Scientific Management Theory, which attempts to increase economic skill and productivity in the workplace by applying a scientific constituent to management, and Sir Richard Branson is known to apply some of Taylors Scientific Management theories to his own style. Taylor was also known to reward staff with higher payment based on results, as an attempt to boost motivation, which Branson has also exercised by paying and reward employees based on performance and their ability to show signs of creative thinking. Anon Sir Richard Branson implements a style of a Theory Y manger in Douglas McGregors theory5 McGregor, 1960 which states that there are two types of manager Theory X styled manager- Believes that the norm employee dislikes works and only works because they have to earn money, then they essential to be threatened with punishments in order to be motivated, and directed strictly, without any room for delegated responsibility.A Theory X styled manager believes that money is most important to the employee. Theory Y styled manager (Sir Richard Branson)- Believes that employees are more motivated when they have more self-control and can apply their own skills and creativity in the workplace. States that most employees want to do well and self-actualisation what motivates them, as oppose to pecuniary gain. Taylor, 2013 Richard Branson believes that by creating a relaxed working environment, and by trusting his managers and employees with responsibility, that his staff impart consequently be enjoy their work, work better as a team, and indeed be more motivated as they impart be achieving the Self-Actualisation level and Social level on Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, and therefore enhance the performance of the workforce, and resultantly the performance of Virgin.In the advancement of his management thinking, Virgin chemical group Ltd created a centralised website which endeavoured to link up all of the Virgin sort out companies, and created a central hub, as previously they worked separately, so he therefore attempting to promote teamwork and build human relationships within the firm, allowing employees to communicate and information to be pooled and collected. Comparison and Contrast between Owen and Branson Despite being from entirely different eras, Owen and Branson exude umteen similar qualities most notably in that they both believe that the key to success lies in the treatment of their emp loyees. Having a nature of caring about people is important. You cant be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the topper in them. 7Branson, 2011 It is clear that both men care greatly for their employees Branson gives all employees his individual(prenominal) phone number, so that should they have any problems they can make out him directly, rather than having to go through Human Resources. Many managers would not key out with this and would rather their employees suffer in silence. Branson also cl sticks to attempt to respond to as any emails as he can every day, Recalling a time when he was just starting out and needed advice, he tries to respond to as many reader emails as he can. 8 . Branson, 2011 Branson claims People dont turn over their jobs through lack of pay they date because they arent valued. Many companies leave people in boxes encourage them to be adaptable and innovative. 9 Branson, 2011 Owen exhibited his precondition for h is employees in a very different way, but with the same aim of achieving employee happiness.Having to work in a grocery shop himself from the age of 8, Owen pull in the harm of child labour and seeked to stop it in his later life. In 1815 he persuaded supporters in parliament to put forward a bill on child labour. While this bill did not have as much success as Owen hoped, as many mill owners fought against the proposition, Owen was an inciter in improving the lives of child workers. He also improved benefit standards for older workers, shortening working hours and increasing wages. Eight hours daily labour is enough for any human being, and under proper ar grazements sufficient to gift an ample supply of food, raiment and shelter, or the necessaries and comforts of life, and for the remainder of his time, every person is entitled to education, recreation and sleep. 10Owen, 1833 Branson and Owens methods of achieving employee happiness were highly influenced by the times they we re working in. In Owens time, most working conditions were poor and wages were low, so simply by improving these factors employees would nowadays become happier.In the current day there is a huge range of jobs with all ranges of wages, and many regulations in place to ensure employee welfare. Therefore, to appeal to his employees, Branson realize that a more personal coming was necessary, hence allowing his employees to contact him directly. Companies are a lot larger these days than in the early nineteenth Century when Owen was working, so being able to have a personal relationship with the head of a company is much rarer in this day and age.Both pioneers identified the most legal way of attaining contentment from their employees in the environment they were living in. Both Branson and Owen were pioneers of their time, achieving what many believed impossible. Despite leaving school at the age of 16 and being diagnosed with Dyslexia, Branson has risen in a higher place the odds and is creditworthy for starting over 400 companies, most famous for establishing Virgin, which ranges from record shops to airlines.No new(prenominal) manager in history has been at the helm of such a large business empire, and before Branson, it is doubtable that anyone would have thought it possible. Owen, on the opposite hand, was more of a pioneer in the domain of welfare than the extensiveness of his company, providing above and beyond what would be expected of a manager of his time, from nurseries to children to evening classes for adults. While, at the time, most managers would see these initiatives as an unnecessary expense, Owens cotton mill about became very successful businesses with healthy, content employees.Quite possibly, were it not for Owen identifying how much success can come to a manager who treats his employees well, Branson may not have gain the importance of having such good relationships with his employees which could be seen as the key to his success. peerless of the main contrasts between Richard Branson and Robert Owen are their views on education. Owen believed that education was one of the most important factors in a company the better the education of the employees, the better employees they are. To train and educate the rising generation will at all times be the first object of society, to which every other will be subordinate. 11Owen, 1826 Owen provided schooling for employees and their children, putting childrens education forrader of their contribution to his company. Branson, on the other hand left school himself at 16 and hasnt looked back. Richard Branson, founder and chairman of London-based Virgin Group, didnt centering through school. In fact, school was something of a nightmare for him. His scores on standardized tests were dismal, initially pointing to a similar future.Despite the difficulties and challenges posed by his adjudge dyslexia, his gifted interpersonal and business talents drove him to succeed. 12A non In contrast to Owens beliefs, Branson is proof that education is not necessarily an important factor in success. Furthermore, Richard Branson believes that work should not be a chore and should be drama. You want to have frolic at home why shouldnt you have fun at work13Branson, 2011. Owen also considered leisure and recreation important. He consistent concerts and dancing evenings for the benefit of community.However, even though both pioneers think of fun as an important part of working life, Robert Owen used a stricter approach to management and was a strong believer in discipline, for example by keeping track of employees behaviour by the aforementioned multicolored pieces of wood and disciplining those who repeatedly showed low performance. To conclude, Branson and Owen are and were strong pioneers of their time, who shared many values. Managers could settle ample from both men, especially when it comes to employee relationships.In general, it is indispensable that mode rn day managers consider how successful pioneers such as Owen and Branson apply and practise management theory, as it shows the outcome of different particular methods and techniques, in this pairs case high levels of success. For example, Douglas McGregor utter that he believed that a Theory Y manager would be more successful at motivating their employees than a Theory X, and Sir Richard Branson was almost for sure a Theory Y manager, so a modern manager can consider whether the method that pioneer practised was positively effective or not.President Gordon B. Hinckley taught It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the defend and perspective for the future. It is good to look upon the virtues of those who have gone before, to gain saturation for whatever lies ahead. It is good to reflect upon the work of those who laboured so hard and gained so little in this world, but out of whose dreams and early plans, so well nurtured, has come a great harvest of which we ar e the beneficiaries Ensign, 1984. 14