There are two primary reasons you should be concerned about the history of management: to better understand current developments and to avoid repeating mistakes. Early literature on management was written by management practitioners who described their experiences and attempted to extrapolate basic principles. More recent literature comes from researchers. There are different classifications of management approaches, or schools of management thought. There are five management theories: the classical, behavioral, management science, systems, and contingency theories.

The classical theorists focus on the job and management functions to determine the best way to manage in all organizations. Scientific management stressed job efficiency through the development of technical skills, while administrative theory stressed rules and the structure of the organization. Many companies still use classical management techniques successfully today. Large organizations are becoming more efficient using a classical management approach.