Management Gurus – The Quick and Easy Guide

If you need to know who’s who in management but haven’t got time to wade through stacks of books, relax because in a cup of coffee’s time you’ll be an expert on management gurus through the ages. Read on…

Management Gurus

Frederick W Taylor – Scientific Management– Frederick W Taylor, an American inventor and engineer, is considered the father of scientific management.

Elton Mayo – Human Relations Theory – Elton Mayo formed Human Relations theory after the surprising results of the Western Electrical Company Study.

Abraham Maslow – Hierarchy of Needs – Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist best known for his theory of the hierarchy of needs.

Frederick Herzberg – Hygiene and Motivation Factors – Frederick Herzberg proposed that satisfaction and dis-satisfaction at work resulted from Hygiene and Motivation factors.

Peter F Drucker – Peter F Drucker is an internationally acclaimed management writer, consultant and lecturer.

Douglas McGregor – Douglas McGregor was an American social psychologist best known for Theory X and Theory Y; opposing assumptions about human behaviour behind every management decision or action.

Quality Management Gurus

W Edwards Deming – Total Quality Management & Deming’s 14 points – W Edwards Deming was an American statistician, founder of total quality management, Deming’s 14 points and statistical process control (SPC)

Joseph Juran – The Quality Trilogy – Joseph Juran’s belief that quality does not happen by accident gave rise to the quality trilogy.

Philip Crosby – Zero Defects & Right First Time – Philip Crosby is an American who promoted the phrases ‘zero defects’ and ‘right first time’ in quality management.

Tom Peters – Tom Peters’ book “In Search of Excellence”, co-authored with Robert Waterman, presents 8 common themes of successful corporations.

Dr Kaoru Ishikawa – Quality Circles – Dr Kaoru Ishikawa gave his name to the Ishikawa diagram, also known as the fishbone diagram or cause and effect diagram.

Genichi Taguchi – Quality Loss Function – Genichi Taguchi is a Japanese quality expert, known for the Quality Loss Function and ‘Robust Design’.

Shigeo Shingo – Poka yoke, source inspection, mistake proofing and SMED – Shingo quality teachings were successful as they were practical and action oriented, and contributed to Just in Time (JIT) production

Management Specialists

Ken Blanchard – The Situational Leadership Model – Ken Blanchard is internationally renowned for his situational leadership model developed with Paul Hersey and his One Minute Manager series co-authored with Spencer Johnson.

Dr Meredith Belbin – Team Roles – Dr Meredith Belbin, founder of team roles theory, is a widely respected expert and adviser on organisations and teams.

Honey & Mumford – Learning Style Questionnaire – The Honey & Mumford self-administered learning style questionnaire determines your preferred learning style.