---
title: "Behavioral and administrative approaches"
subject: "Organization and Management"
chapter: 3
key: "semester_7/organization_and_management:behavioral-administrative-approach"
source: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_7/organization_and_management/behavioral-administrative-approach
site: BCT Engineering
---

# Behavioral and administrative approaches

Organization and Management · Chapter 3: Theory of Management

- Asked in: 2071 Shrawan, 4+4 marks
- Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) on 2026-10-14
- Page: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_7/organization_and_management/behavioral-administrative-approach
- Whole chapter: https://www.bctengineer.com/md/semester_7/organization_and_management/chapter-3

## Question

What do you understand by behavioral management approach? Explain administrative management approach.

## Short answer

Behavioral management studies how people behave at work and motivates through social and psychological needs, informal groups, participation, and supportive leadership. Administrative management studies the whole organization from a manager's viewpoint, focusing on functions and Fayol's 14 principles and Weber's bureaucracy, but it is rigid and ignores human feelings.

## Answer

#### Behavioral management approach
The behavioral approach studies how people behave at work and how to motivate them to improve performance. It grew from the Hawthorne experiments (Elton Mayo) and was developed by Maslow, Herzberg, McGregor, Likert and others.

Key ideas:
1. Workers are motivated by social and psychological needs, not just money.
2. Informal groups and group norms affect productivity.
3. Good communication, participation and supportive leadership raise morale.
4. Job satisfaction improves output.
5. Managers must understand individual differences.

Contribution: better human relations, motivation theory and leadership understanding. Limitation: a happy worker is not always a productive worker, and it can ignore organizational structure.

#### Administrative management approach
The administrative approach studies the whole organization from a manager's viewpoint and identifies general management functions and principles. Major contributors: Henri Fayol, Max Weber (bureaucracy), Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick, Mary Parker Follett.

Key ideas:
1. **Functions of management:** planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling.
2. **14 principles of Fayol:** division of work, authority, discipline, unity of command, scalar chain, order, initiative, esprit de corps, etc.
3. **Weber's bureaucracy:** formal rules, hierarchy, specialization, impersonal relations and merit-based promotion.
4. Management is a universal activity that can be learned.

Contribution: a framework for structure and administration used in government and large firms (such as Nepal's civil service hierarchy). Limitation: rigid, ignores human feelings and the environment.

| Basis | Behavioral | Administrative |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | People | Organization and managers |
| Aim | Motivation, morale | Efficient structure and principles |

## Check yourself

The answer's key points as multiple-choice questions, with the correct option and why.

1. The behavioral approach grew from:
   A. Fayol's principles
   B. The Hawthorne experiments (Elton Mayo)
   C. Taylor's time study
   D. Weber's bureaucracy
   Answer: B. Mayo's Hawthorne work. (Key point: Origin)

2. A limitation of behavioral approach:
   A. It ignores people
   B. It is too rigid
   C. A happy worker is not always a productive worker
   D. It lacks motivation ideas
   Answer: C. Satisfaction does not guarantee productivity. (Key point: Limitation)

3. Weber's bureaucracy features:
   A. Personal favours
   B. No rules
   C. Informal leaders
   D. Formal rules, hierarchy, specialization, impersonal relations, merit-based promotion
   Answer: D. Weber's ideal bureaucracy. (Key point: Weber)

4. Administrative approach studies:
   A. The whole organization from a manager's viewpoint
   B. Individual worker motions
   C. Group feelings
   D. Only informal groups
   Answer: A. It identifies general functions and principles. (Key point: Administrative focus)

## Related in Organization and Management

- [Behavioral vs scientific management theory](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Forganization_and_management%3Abehavioral-vs-scientific) — Organization and Management, chapter 3
- [Administrative management theory, Fayol](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Forganization_and_management%3Aadmin-management-fayol) — Organization and Management, chapter 3, asked 3×
- [Organization vs management; scientific approach](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Forganization_and_management%3Aorg-vs-management-scientific) — Organization and Management, chapter 2
- [Contingency approach of leadership](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Forganization_and_management%3Acontingency-leadership) — Organization and Management, chapter 8

## Related in other subjects

- [Management vs administrative principles](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aprinciples-management-compare) — Construction Management, chapter 10
- [Natural resource management approaches and sustainability](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_6%2Fenergy_resources%3Aenvironment-development-society-resource-management) — Energy Resources, chapter 8
- [Techniques of administrative and market decentralization](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Adecentralization-techniques) — Construction Management, chapter 10
- [Graphical drawbacks; statistical approaches](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Fdata_mining%3Aanomaly-graphical-statistical) — Data Mining, chapter 6