Scientific management

No one has had more influence on managers in the 20^th century than Frederick W.Taylor, an American engineer. He set a pattern for industrial work which many others have followed, and although his approach to management has been criticized, his idea are still of practical importance.

Taylor founded the school of Scientific Management just before the 1914-18 war. He argued that work should be studied and analyzed systematically. The operations required to perform a particular job could be identified, then arranged in a logical sequence. After this was done, a worker’s productivity would increase, and so would his/her wages. The new method was scientific. The way of doing a job would no longer be determined by guesswork and rule-of-thumb practices. If the worker followed the prescribed approach, his/her output would increase.

Taylor’s solutions to the problems were based on his own experience. When he was with Bethlehem Steel, Taylor criticized management and workers. He conducted many experiments to find out how to improve their productivity. He felt that managers used not the right methods and the workers did not put much effort into their job. They were always ‘soldiering’ – taking it easy. He wanted both groups to adopt a new approach to their work. The new way was as follows:

1. Each operation of a job was studied and analyzed;

2. Using the information, management worked out the time and method for each job, and the type of equipment to be used;

3. Work was organized so that the worker’s only responsibility was to do the job in the prescribed manner;

4. Men with the right physical skills were selected and trained for the job.

The weakness of his approach was that it focused on the system of work rather than on the worker. With this system a worker becomes a tool in the hands of management. Another criticism is that it leads to de-skilling – reducing the skills of workers. And with educational standards rising among factory workers, dissatisfaction is likely to increase. Finally, some people think that it is wrong to separate doing from planning. A worker will be more productive is he/she is engaged in such activities as planning, decision-making, controlling and organizing.

Questions:

1. Give some information about F.W Taylor and his contribution to management.

2. Speak for and against his principles.

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