Scientific Management Theory Paper

Workers waste much of their effort by relying on rule-of-thumb methods rather than on optimal work methods that can be determined by scientific study of the task.” (NetMBA, Business Knowledge Center)

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.

If Scientific Management is as outdated and inhuman as many organizational theorists believe, why is it so prevalent in contemporary organizations?

The early study of management as we know today began with what is now called the classical perspective. Scientific management that is the focus of this essay is branched from classical perspective. This essay will argue the annexation of scientific management concept to the context of knowledge-based economy and its effectiveness in the modern learning organisations. The essay will begin by explaining the background of scientific management followed by highlighting its core principles and the reason for its effectiveness that time. It will then explain the

Management is an integrated process that persons belonging to organizations involved to plan, organize, execute and control activities, all of which are directed towards the objectives and continuous in time. Order management process runs smoothly, the system is required, and a solid organizational structure. In these organizations, all activities must be directed towards achieving this objective. The organization serves as a container for pouring concepts, management ideas. So it can be said that management is a set of responsibilities that are closely interlinked.

Managing has become one of the most important human activities today. As society continues to rely on team effort, and many organisations have expanded into different departments, the work managers perform has gained some importance and complexity; thus managerial theories has become essential.

In today’s ever changing economy, society’s idea of management is becoming increasingly more difficult to sustain with the continuous demands of the position. A successful manager must have a certain level of expertise and problem solving techniques to carry out the daily tasks required. Over the years, there have been various ideas on what management is, such as planning, organizing, leading and controlling.

Taylor Scientific Management according to which workers would be more productive if they had been paid higher wages in return of their labor.

Good management can be defined as the optimal use of available resources to increase an organisation 's efficiency and effectiveness in meeting its objectives (Garg, 2013). Scientific management has been the dominant model for many years, but its usefulness for meeting modern organisational challenges may be limited. This paper examines the principles of scientific management, the degree to which it is applied in contemporary organisations, its utility for addressing modern challenges, and alternative perspectives on management.

The concept of scientific management was first introduced in the book The Principles of Scientific Management, by F.W. Taylor (1911), eventually forming the concept of the frequently used management technique referred to as Taylorism. This concept revolved around three prime objectives. Taylorism focuses on the achievement of efficiency – by maximizing output per worker through training in scientific methods to establish the “one best way of executing each motion” (Katia Caldari, 2007); to create direct control of the manufacturing process, by clearly implementing a hierarchical authority; and lastly predictability, through the standardization of tasks by the notion of division of labour (Huczynski, A., & Buchanan, D., 2013). Taylor strongly believed in rationalism, the theory that reason forms the basis of knowledge – and his studies, such as the the Time and Motion Studies conducted at Bethlehem Steel (Taylor, 1991), led him to believe that the most rational approach to achieving the maximization of productivity in a business, would be through the incorporation of these three concepts (Huczynski, A., & Buchanan, D., 2013). However, even though these concepts are arguably advantageous for secondary sector businesses, Taylorism largely ignores the importance certain psychological factors, for instance those emphasized by Frederick Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory or the Them vs. Us mentality. Such psychological factors, according to the Iceberg model (Figure 1), form the

The third key element of Taylor’s management system involved both the management and the workers. Taylor believed that his system could only be implemented correctly if the two groups got along and worked to better the company and not themselves. He felt that, “In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first.” He didn’t side with the leaders of business but he also wasn’t biased to the labor. He believed in a balance between the two. “It (the public) will no longer tolerate the type of employer who has his eyes only on dividends alone, who refuses to do his share of the work and who merely cracks the whip over the heads of his workmen and

In the classical viewpoint of management, great time and effort is put into the scientific method and scientific management. The scientific method is used in order to determine the best way to accomplishing each assigned task. The classic viewpoint also uses the theory that persons need to be scientifically selected and then trained to conduct duties. Encompassed in this viewpoint is the implication that management develop and assign all tasks, and employees are responsible for the completion of those tasks. The classical view point is often used in industry and refined the pay for performance incentives. The chain of command which so many of us are familiar with from the military is clearly depicted and used in the classical management

The practice of management is very ancient, however the formal study of management is comparatively new. Management as a proper discipline developed after the tip of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless it should be admitted that management has been in existence since humankind became systematized into formal groups. It is very difficult to come up with a definition of management which could totally satisfy all professionals or skilled people or all management theorists. For a broad operating definition consider management as an activity that performs certain functions to obtain the effective acquisition, allocation, and utilization of human efforts and physical resources to accomplish some goal (Wren 2005, p. 3). Modern management has grown with the growth of social-economics and scientific institution. Nowadays workers do not work only for money. They work for satisfaction and happiness with sensible living style. These are the most vital issues now. Modern management explanation (of why something works or happens the way it does) refers to highlighting the use of well-thought-out mathematical ways of doing things within the system with analyzing and understanding the inter-relationship of management and staff. Organizational efficiency and service quality can be increased through the implication of management theories. Today managers simply do not use a singular theory, infect they use a series of theories depending on the workplace, purpose and workforce. Still, few

Management is defined as the process of coordinating people, and other resources to achieve the goals of an organization. Management consists of a variety of things and very active job and duty. Management includes knowing basic management function, what types of managers there are, skill-sets required to be a manager, leadership quality, and decision making. Altogether these different sections are taken in a much broader perspective diving into the four main resources of management which consists of material resource, human resource, financial resource, and informational resources. Through these different parts of the management system, each different part will be looked at in depth and detail. Starting with what the basic

Taylor was writing at a time when factories were creating big problems for the management. Workmen were quite inefficient. According to Taylor, there were three reasons for the inefficiency. They were the: