The Advantages Of Scientific Management Essay

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

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

Scientific Management, or Taylorism, is a theory of management by F. W. Taylor that analysed how the highest economic efficiency, especially labour productivity, can be achieved, hence the greatest prosperity for both employers and employees. The four principles that he brought forward are the replacement of the ‘rule of thumb’ work method with a scientific way to study work, matching and training the most suitable person to do each particular job scientifically instead of leaving the workers to choose their own work and teach themselves, the provision of detailed instructions and standard operating procedures by the managers to workers to ensure “all of the work being done in accordance with the principles of the science” and the division of work between workers and managers, which managers are responsible for planning and supervising while workers are to complete the tasks they are assigned to.

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.

What are the main features of Taylor’s approach to ‘Scientific Management” and what criticisms have been made of it? Do firms use scientific management today?

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

The central theme of this essay will deal with the role of Taylorism or scientific management in a specific organization. The primary focus will be to critically discuss how the various methods of scientific management are applicable to the chosen organization, which in this case will be Ford Motors. The essay will describe F.W. Taylor's early work life and techniques of scientific management and its success. It will then go on to discuss the production methods at Ford Motors prior and post the application of the management principles along with their benefits and criticisms.

The year 1911 saw Frederick Winslow Taylor publish a book titled ‘The principles of scientific management’ in which he aimed to prove that the scientific method could be used in producing profits for an organization through the improvement of an employee’s efficiency. During that decade, management practice was focused on initiative and incentives which gave autonomy to the workman. He thus argued that one half of the problem was up to management, and both the worker and manager needed to cooperate in order to produce the greatest prosperity.

Scientific management is an organizational theory that was discovered by Frederick Taylor. He was concerned with scientifically developing the worker to become more efficient. Taylor wrote a book called, The Principle of Scientific Management (Rimer, Waring, Wrege, & Greenwood, 1993). In this book he highlights four major principles to his theory. The first is that there is one best way to do every job. This is determined through time and motion studies to determine what’s the most effective way. The second point is proper scientific selection of workers. Thirdly, is properly training the workers in what is deemed as the best practice. The last point is defining the inherent differences and relationships between manager and worker. Managers should be in charge of administrative tasks, as well as being the thinkers, and planners of the organization. Workers on

The productivity under Taylor’s method dramatically increased and costs of the manufactured goods were reduced by 1/10 to 1/20 of the previous manufactured cost. These changes allowed more people to purchase the goods [6]. It looks like the scientific management theory was the perfect solutions to the problems in organizations in the 20th century. But is scientific management appropriate in a modern world? The next section will look at pros and cons of this theory and the use of scientific management in today’s organizations.

Scientific management or Taylorism refers to a school of thought on how organizations should be run, created in the early 20th century by Frederick Taylor. Taylor created Taylorism in an attempt to increase and improve efficiency in firms. There were five keys components in his theory:

The purpose of this essay is to show that Taylorism (Scientific Management) is still alive and well in the world today despite the many criticism and newer theories of management. The essay will be structured into four main headings. In the first section we will be looking and the definition if Taylorism and how Taylorism is implemented in the 21st century. In the second section we will look at the strengths and weaknesses Taylorism brings about when implemented to firms. When talking about Taylor we cannot miss out on mentioning his two cents in motivation, we would be

‘Taylorism’ or ‘Scientific Management’ has been a prevalent idea in business theory since Frederick Winslow Taylor produced his “Principles of Scientific Management’ in 1911. The book was written in response to then President Theodore Roosevelt’s challenge to the American people to introduce new methods to create greater efficiency in the American workplace. Taylor’s idea was to ‘secure maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with maximum prosperity for the employee’1. Meaning companies could not gain high levels of production without an initiative for the work force,

It could be said that Fredrick Winslow Taylor’s scientific management theory is still significantly relevant to management practices the 21st century. By analysing both critics and advocates of Taylor’s theory, we are able to gain a comprehensive insight into Taylor’s contribution to the improved productivity, higher efficiency and greater consistency in the current business world. In conjunction with this, suggestions have been made that scientific management exercises poor working conditions, dehumanizing effects and in this century is rather diminishing in importance. Considering both of these views allows for the development of understanding as to what extent scientific management has had a relevant impact on management practises

Frederick W. Taylor was recognized as the father of the "scientific management" theory. Taylor's Scientific Management Theory is not just a collection of purely technical principles and practices, but also the cooperation and harmonization of fundamental relationships between people and machines and techniques; between people in the production process, especially between the manager and the employee. Thanks to this theory applied in the industrial enterprises, the labor productivity has increased dramatically; The final result is high profitability, both employers and workers are high income. His scientific approach requires detailed observation and measurement of routine work, in order to find the best working way. Taylor’s approach is categorized as the bottom up approach.