Week 1 Discussion

Applying Theories to Practices

Management theory and practice traces back to the philosophies of Aristotle, who first spoke about topics such as departmentalization and centralization. However, it was during the Industrial Revolution, at the turn of the 20th century, that the concept of management was thrust into the limelight (Jenks, 1960). Managers of factories, mills, and mines sought new ways to increase productivity and efficiency among employees to ensure a healthy bottom line. As industries evolved and expanded, new leadership and management theories and practices emerged to address other pressing issues, such as organizational structure and employee motivation. Many theories developed early on continue to inform modern-day management practices in both public and nonprofit organizations.

In this Discussion, you consider various management and leadership theories, and explain how they might be applied to public and nonprofit organizations. For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources. Focus on the assumptions of each management or leadership theory, and consider the issues and/or problems each theory attempts to address. Then, identify a public or nonprofit organization with which you are familiar. This could be an organization for which you currently work, have worked, know about from others, or have learned about through academic resources and/or the media. Select one management or leadership theory, and consider how it might be applied to practices in the public or nonprofit organization you identified.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 3 a brief description of a public or nonprofit organization with which you are familiar and the management or leadership theory you selected. Explain how you might apply this theory to practices within the organization. Be sure to provide a description of the theory and specific examples of how you might apply it.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources and other current literature in the Walden Library.