Abstract

MARIN IDARRAGA, Diego Armando. Human beings in administration: a critical look. Cuad. Adm. [online]. 2006, vol.19, n.32, pp.135-156. ISSN 0120-3592.

Administration, a modern-age invention, was created towards the end of the 19th century as an expression of instrumental reasoning at the service of industrial capitalism. Afterwards, the first attempts at creating formal theories for administrative practices were consolidated, based on contributions by Taylor, Fayol, Mayo, and Weber. Their ideas, aimed at seeking how to achieve industrial efficiency, did not include the ontological understanding of the human beings in the organization. This paper takes a critical look at how human beings are conceived in the ambit of the administration theories that those authors espoused, for the purpose of establishing a window of reflection regarding human beings in organizations, to contribute to contemporary discussions that encourage a makeover for administration.

Keywords : Human beings in administration; administration theories; human beings in organizations; critiques on Taylorism and Fayolism; human relations; bureaucracy.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )