Managing Change

Bernerd Burnes (1996). Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics, 2nd edn. London: Pitman Publishing.

In the era of the Industrial Revolution, entrepreneurs regarded labourers as follows:

1. Labourers try to maximise rewards with minimum labour;

2. Minimisation of labour costs is key to maximise profits, thus, either minimising wage level or maximising productivity should be aimed at.

At that time, managers' concerns were how they could legitimise themselves to exert controlling capacities towards employees.

Until the 1970s, scientific rational approach to management was proliferated because the advocates of this approach regarded this as value neutral, thus, by referring science, managers could make their ability to control employers legitimate.