Classical management theory is the first stage of the development of Western management theory. This stage consists of three theories: the early management theory and the theory of early management. The theory was born in the second half of the eighteenth Century. Its main representative was Adam Simy. He put forward the theory of labor value, the theory of division of labor and David Ricardo. He studied capital, wages, profits and land rent on the basis of labor theory of value, and revealed the central issues of capitalist economic management and the nature of exploitation.

His representative figures are: Babbag, he developed Adam Simy's theory of division of labor, put forward the twelve principles of management efficiency, Maus put forward the six principles of management, and advocated the three principles of management.

The prominent feature of this theory is that science and technology are the main basis for establishing management theory, which includes different theoretical schools.

　其中較突出的代表人物有：泰勒(美國(guó))，他提出了賣買標(biāo)準(zhǔn)操作、工作定額原理和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化原理；法約爾(法國(guó))，他提出了管理不同于經(jīng)營(yíng)，而是經(jīng)營(yíng)的六種職能活動(dòng)之一，即技術(shù)活動(dòng)、商業(yè)活動(dòng)、財(cái)務(wù)活動(dòng)、安全活動(dòng)、會(huì)計(jì)活動(dòng)和管理活動(dòng)；韋伯(德國(guó))提出了理想的行政組織體系理論，強(qiáng)調(diào)必須建立不受個(gè)人情感影響而在任何情況下都適用的規(guī)則和紀(jì)律，組織中人員之間的關(guān)系完全以理性準(zhǔn)則為指導(dǎo)；厄威克(英國(guó))，他提出了自認(rèn)為適用于一切組織的八項(xiàng)原則，即目標(biāo)原則、相符原則、職責(zé)原則、組織級(jí)層原則、控制廣度原則、專業(yè)化原則、協(xié)調(diào)原則和明確性原則；吉利克(美國(guó))，他把各家有關(guān)管理職能的理論加以系統(tǒng)化，提出了著名的管理七職能論，即計(jì)劃、組織、人事、指揮、協(xié)調(diào)、報(bào)告和預(yù)算。