Management Thoughts and Theories

Frederick Taylor (1917) developed scientific management theory (often called "Taylorism") at the beginning of this century. His theory had four basic principles: 1) find the one "best way" to perform each task, 2) carefully match each worker to each task, 3) closely supervise workers, and use reward and punishment as motivators, and 4) the task of management is planning and control.

Frederick Taylor’s fundamental thoughts on scientific management dated back to early 1880s when he was employed at Midvale Steel Company and observed his coworkers “soldiering” at work. In the following two decades, he moved around different companies while developing his management theory

After the end of the Industrial Revolution, large corporations were beginning to grow in size and power in order to satisfy what seemed the endless demands for new goods and services. As corporations and labor forces grew, there was a need to develop a more systematic study of organization and management, known as management theory, the significant being Frederick Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management which involved the development of training workers through special incentives and compensation (Boone p.33). In general, early management scientists tended to believe that there was a single way to organize companies and manage employees. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were initial attempts for launching a systematic and

Scientific management or "Taylorism" is an approach to job design, developed by Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) during the Second World War. With the industrial revolution came a fast growing pool of people, seeking jobs, that required a new approach of management. Scientific management was the first management theory, applied internationally. It believes in the rational use of resources for utmost output, hence motivating workers to earn more money. Taylor believed that the incompetence of managers was the major obstacle on the way of productivity increase of human labour. Consequently, this idea led to the need of change of management principles. On the base of research, involving analysing controlled experiments under various working

Over the years many articles have been written regarding scientific management and Frederick w. Taylor, 3 examples of these articles will be analysed and discussed in the further paragraphs of this essay. Wrege, C. D. and Stotka, A. M. wrote an article concerning the relationship between Taylor and his assistant Morris L. Cooke and the evidence that shows Taylor used much of Cooke’s own research and study for his publication of ‘Principles of Scientific Management’. Blake A. M. and Moseley J. L. undertook research which discovered that Taylor’s principles are still being used in business systems one hundred years after Taylor’s death. Darmody, Peter B. wrote his article regarding Henry L. Gantt and Frederick Taylor as the pioneers of scientific management, Darmody speaks highly of Taylor and Gantt, and agrees with many of their opinions.

Scientific management was introduced by Fredrick Winslow Taylor in 1898. The basic attributes of this perspective were giving incentives to employees, training them in a standard method and developing a standard procedure of performing a task. These procedures were established by numerous studies and observations (Samson et al., 2012).

Scientific Management is also known as Taylorism. Fredrick Winslow Taylor wanted to divide the work process into small, simple and separate steps (Division of Labor). Division of Labor meant every worker only had one or two steps, this was created to boost productivity. Taylor also believed in Hierarchy, he wanted a clear chain of command that separated the managers from workers. He did this so managers would design work process and enforced how the work was performed and employees would simply follow directions. Taylor wanted to select and train high performing workers or first-class employees and match them to a job that best suited them. Taylor believed the most productive workers should be paid more. Employees who could not meet the new higher standard were fired.

Theories gave organizations a framework for knowledge and a guide to achieving their goals. The Industrial Revolution prompted the need for better supervision of workers to boost productivity within the automobile, steel, and coal industries. It is because of this need that the various theories of management began to take shape.

Frederick Winslow Taylor, a mechanical engineer born in Philadelphia, was responsible for putting together the system called Scientific Management. Taylor’s introduction of new ideas and methods in industrial engineering, distinctly in time and motion study, proved to be fruitful in improving productivity. Taylor outlined the methods and techniques of Scientific management in his book which was published in 1911. Taylor was not an admirer of the ‘rule of thumb’ principle. The rule of thumb concept means that management would implement methods within the enterprise, based on their past experiences. Hence, Taylor found this to be flawed, as specific outcomes were not guaranteed. Taylor’s main objective was to ensure that wastage and inefficiency

Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915), who was a mechanical engineer, pioneered scientific management in the early 1900’s. Taylor believed that it was the management’s duty to designate jobs for workers and motivate them to achieve the task they’re assigned. He introduced five principles that make up the structure of scientific management, four are universal and one is contingent. “Taylor labeled the first principle, ‘A Large Daily Task.’ The idea was that each member of the organization, from top to bottom, should have a "clearly defined task" assigned each day.” The second principle “labeled ‘Standard Conditions,’ specified that: (a) each worker 's task should ‘call for a full day 's work,’ and (b) each worker should be given ‘such standardized conditions and appliances as will enable him to accomplish his task with certainty.’” Again, Taylor clearly believed in assigning accomplishable tasks to workers.

With those evocative words, Frederick W. Taylor had begun his highly influential book; “The Principles of Scientific Management” indicating his view regarding management practices. As one of the most influential management theorists, Taylor is widely acclaimed as the ‘father of scientific management’. Taylor had sought “the ‘one best way’ for a job to be done” (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2003, p.39). Northcraft and Neale (1990, p.41) state that “Scientific management took its

In a historical aspect the evolution of management consist of six approaches starting with America’s Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century to the present: Classical, Behavioral, Quantitative, Systems, Contingency and Quality. Before the creation of factories the need for managerial skills was not needed, since products and services were delivered on a small scale and by hand. But with the invention of engines that did not require rivers to make them run, companies started to create factories to produce products in mass quantities requiring a need for more knowledge in the field of management.

We can define the management theories as a group of policies, ideas, and procedures that help the management to manage the business. Also, management theories help the managers to know and clearly stating the overall organization’s goals and targets and define the ways to how to achieve these goals in the effective and professional way. Management theories help the managers to know to motive the staff to lead them to achieve the assigned goal.

Scientific management (also called Taylorism, the Taylor system, or the Classical Perspective) is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflow processes, improving labor productivity. The core ideas of the theory were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s, and were first published in his monographs, Shop Management (1905) and The Principles of Scientific Management (1911).[1] Taylor believed that decisions based upon tradition and rules of thumb should be replaced by precise procedures developed after careful study of an individual at work.

Modern day management plays an important role in business. The management of corporations and small businesses have been studied and researched to develop theories and techniques to better manage its people and processes. Many techniques and theories that have now been in place for many years. It is common to see similar management techniques throughout the business world. Companies often “benchmark” each other to improve their own way of doing business. Nevertheless, the most effective and common management theories in modern times were developed at the turn of the 18th century. This paper will show the history of those early management theories and how they are still being used in today’s world to manage modern companies.