Scientific Management and Taylorism
This article explains practically Scientific Management,
also called Taylorism by Frederick Taylor. These principles are the
underlying factors for successful production and quality management.
Introduction
Over 100 years ago, the American mechanical engineer Frederick Taylor published his ideas
about scientific management in 1911, to encourage industrial companies to
proceed to mass production. As one of the founders of the scientific management
movement called Taylorism or Taylor’s Principal, Frederick Taylor aimed at deploying
workers as efficiently as possible because at the time, people were looked at
as an extension of the machinery.
What is
Scientific Management?
As a mechanical engineer at a steel corporation in
Philadelphia, Frederick Taylor thought about how workers
could perform their tasks as efficiently as possible, he studied human labor
and analyzed the work of workers on the work floor. This resulted in activity
analyses, time studies and methodology studies, the start of Taylorism
Through the activity analyses, he was able to identify what
activities workers had to perform when carrying out their tasks. He also
conducted time measurements for all kinds of activities that were carried out
by workers during the production process. In the methodology studies, he
evaluated which working method could best be used to ensure maximum
productivity.
Elementary
division of labour
Frederick Taylor aimed at continuously
increasing the efficiency of the production process. He divided labour into an
elementary division of labour in which every worker was allocated their own
tasks that had to be repeated constantly. Everyone was assigned their own
programme that consisted of successive actions and this was aimed at worker’s
levels of knowledge and skills.
This brought about considerable time savings and because of this
routine, productivity increased rapidly. Frederick Taylor felt it was important to
select the right person for the right job and to leave the planning and
thinking to the specialists.
Eight
bosses system
As a result of his endeavours for specialization, Frederick Taylor divided the management
tasks into a number of subtasks. This meant that every worker had a different
manager for each of the managerial subtasks.
In this, Frederick Taylor distinguished between
preparatory and executive/control tasks. Within this two-way classification, he
added another allocation of jobs which resulted in the eight bosses system or
functional organization system. He immediately applied this eight bosses system
to the production unit of an engineering works.
Bethlehem
experiment
Frederick Taylor wanted to eliminate as
many inefficient working methods as possible. He therefore carried out the
famous Bethlehem experiment at the Bethlehem Steel Company. After having
observed the workers, he thought that the 12.5 tonnes of pig iron a worker had
to load onto a railway wagon per day could be increased to approximately 48
tonnes per worker per day.
To prove this theory, Frederick Taylor experimented with
working hours, rest periods, weight moved in a given period, working methods
and tools. He selected the so-called “Pennsylvania Dutchman” for this purpose,
a very strong, industrious man of Dutch origin, who had to carry out all of his
work directions accurately. In return, he was promised a higher wage per unit
performance, which resulted in the fact that the man was able to handle 47.5
tonnes a day. This was followed by many other worker who also wished to earn about
60% more pay.
However, Frederick Taylor was met with hostility.
Many workers were afraid that this increased productivity would lead to
unemployment and the labour unions called on them to carry out a systematic
production output and work at their own pace only.
Healthy
management
According to Frederick Taylor, a healthy management is
based on the scientific management approach to work in which objective
standards are set by means of time, method, motion and fatigue studies.
In addition, it was necessary to consider which work would best
suit a worker. A continuous and close cooperation between management and workers
would be of vital importance in this. A smooth production planning, cost
analysis and remuneration system would enhance productivity substantially.
Modern
scientific management
Even today, scientific management and Taylorism is still applied
to production processes and unnecessary movements and/or actions that threaten
to reduce productivity are examined carefully. Employees are cogs in the
organization and they jointly determine the level of productivity.
Critics believe that Taylorism undervalues the social needs of
people such as appreciation and recognition. Decisions are purely made on
rational grounds in which performance measurement is a central component.
Nevertheless, in commercial organizations, appreciation is linked to the extra
performance that is delivered.
In addition to basic pay, bonuses can be earned and targets and
premiums are used. This system is based on Scientific management called
Taylorism.
It’s
Your Turn
What do you think? Is Scientific
Management applicable in today’s modern economy and management? Do you
recognize the practical explanation of do you have more suggestions? What are
your success factors for practical scientific management?
·
Conti, R. F., & Warner, M. (1994). Taylorism, teams
and technology in reengineering’ work‐organization. New
Technology, Work and Employment, 9(2), 93-102.
·
Kanigel, R. (2005). The one best way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the enigma of
efficiency. MIT Press Books.
·
Littler, C. R. (1978). Understanding taylorism.
British Journal of Sociology, 185-202.
·
Spender, J. C., & Kijne, H. J. (1996). Scientific
management: Frederick Winslow Taylor’s gift to the world?. Kluwer Academic
Pub.
·
Taylor, F. W. (2014, 1911). The
Principles of Scientific Management. Harper and Brothers.
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Is this method suitable for team and groups?
ReplyDeleteYes. Can apply and suitable. As example garment industry.
ReplyDeleteScientific management is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity
ReplyDeleteIt was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management. Scientific management is sometimes known as Taylorism after its founder, Frederick Winslow Taylor.
ReplyDeleteTaylor began the theory's development in the United States during the 1880s and '90s within manufacturing industries, especially steel. Its peak of influence came in the 1910's.
ReplyDeleteAlthough scientific management as a distinct theory or school of thought was obsolete by the 1930s, most of its themes are still important parts of industrial engineering and management today. These include: analysis; synthesis; logic; rationality; empiricism; work ethic; efficiency and elimination of waste; standardization of best practice.
ReplyDeleteDisdain for tradition preserved merely for its own sake or to protect the social status of particular workers with particular skill sets; the transformation of craft production into mass production; and knowledge transfer between workers and from workers into tools, processes, and documentation.
ReplyDeleteOne of the earliest of these theorists was Frederick Winslow Taylor. He started the Scientific Management movement, and he and his associates were the first people to study the work process scientifically. They studied how work was performed, and they looked at how this affected worker productivity. Taylor's philosophy focused on the belief that making people work as hard as they could was not as efficient as optimizing the way the work was done.
ReplyDeleteFrederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) is is called the father of Scientific Management. ... 🌟
ReplyDeleteHe believed that the application of the scientific method, instead of customs and rule of thumb could yield this productivity without the expenditure of more human energy or effort.🌟🌟🌟
Scientific management is a concept of management that examines and integrates workflows which mainly concerned with improving economic performance, mainly labor productivity. This theory was named as Taylorism since the founder of same was Frederick Winslow Taylor.
ReplyDeleteAdvantages of Scientific Management towards the society: Scientific Management made it possible to sell good quality products at low prices. It also led to the proper complete utilization of resources without any unnecessary wastage and hence increased efficient productivity
ReplyDeleteAs you see what are the disadvantages of this?
ReplyDeleteNice article on Scientific Management Theory.
ReplyDelete