The Scientific Management And The Bureaucracy Theory 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

Revans, R. (1958). On "Management and the Scientific method" The Journal of the British Institute of Management. Retrieved May 12, 2015.

People working together in compatible ways by defining everyone’s roles within a hierarchy organizations is a definition of bureaucracy. In examination of bureaucracy the author will find the definition, the advantages and disadvantages and will use the Police Departments in America as an example of bureaucracy and will display its characteristics of bureaucracy. It can be argued that there’s more disadvantages then advantage to using bureaucracy. Research indicates that bureaucracy can lead to powerless, unsatisfied and unhappy employees.

Scientific management is defined by (Robbins et al., 2012) as ‘an approach that involves using scientific methods to define the “one best way” for a job to be done’. Frederick W. Taylor is said to be the forefather of scientific management, during his time many people criticised Taylor and his work, however it is easy to see that many of his approaches are used in contemporary management systems. This essay will provide a review of the article ‘The Ideas of Frederick W. Taylor’, Academy of Management Review (Locke, E., 1982) which discusses the positives and negatives of Taylor’s theory. A further 3 articles will be analysed on the critiquing or support of scientific management and Taylor.

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.

A bureaucracy is defined as the complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, and principles of organization that are employed by all large-scale institutions to coordinate effectively the work of their personnel. The classic conception of a bureaucracy was advanced by Max Weber, a German sociologist, who argued that the bureaucracy was a “rational” way for a modern society to conduct business. As Americans, we rely heavily on the structure and function of bureaucracies. From the most mundane to ornate tasks, the function of a bureaucratic society impacts each of our lives on a daily basis. It is the very detailed and structured departments that provide the essential foundation for which all of Americans rely on.

Scientific management is directly associated with organisational theory and is linked with improving labor productivity and the economic efficiency of businesses. Scientific management focuses on how to improve work procedures and practices. The principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee (Taylor 2003, p.123). The purpose of this essay is to explain the main conclusions that can be drawn from Taylor’s theory of

King and Lawley (2013, p.601) stated that rationalisation can be defined as increasing the efficiency and reducing costs within a business, this idea incorporates the aspects of a bureaucracy and the scientific design of work). Within a rational organisation, bureaucracies are created through the implementation of policies and procedures which makes the organisation standardised, predictable and efficient. Organisations such as Junction hotel might consider adopting the key features of rationalisation, for example within a bureaucracy a hierarchy is created, this shows clear lines of communication within departments. King and Lawley (2013) show that within Junction hotel the organisational structure lacks span of control as Linda Wilkinson is in charge of 34 employees This was improved by making the span of control more manageable by delegating control through management, different departments can be created, within each department there is a head employee who was in charge of more staff. As an organisation grows, the number of employee’s increases, therefore Fayols’ five functions of management are implemented through impersonal control rather than direct face to face control. In contrast to rationalisation, King and Lawley (2013) describe the social organisation as a belief that the key factors in shaping an individual within the workplace are the social interactions between people. King and Lawley (2013) state that the findings from Hawthorne studies have been credited

Classical and contemporary criticisms have approached bureaucracy as a vehicle for social commentary. Classical theories emphasise the early ages of management, which heavily rely on the structure of the organisation. In contrast, neoclassical theories argue that bureaucracy is ‘dead’ and has no place in the modern workplace, criticizing that is it demoralizing and complex. Organizations chose to adopt either a bureaucratic or a post-bureaucratic structure in their practices to achieve their ultimate goal. However, in management terms, both styles have their strengths and challenges. Underpinning these advantages and disadvantages is essential to build a deeper understanding of why bureaucracy is a debatable subject, and why rules must exist in order to have a well-organized work environment.

Bureaucracy is all about the rules and regulations to manage a particular activity in the organization. This paper is about how bureaucracy used in old organizations and how it affected the processes of new organizations. It explains how bureaucracy is not applicable in today’s business environment because of many facts. As years went through there was a drastic change in the operations of the organisation. The concern moved from organization to customer service, so the bureaucratic organizations changed their strategy from bureaucracy to customer service, this include government organizations also. Different authors thought about issue the issue different and this is explained in a very lucid language in this paper.

Abstract: The theory of bureaucracy was proposed and published by Marx Weber (1947). Although there are some studies on this perspective were discussed before him, those theories did not form as systematic theory. After Weber, the issue of bureaucracy becomes a hot topic in the field of social organization. Almost all well-known scholars such as Martin and Henri have published their views on it. Bureaucracy adapted as the traditional organizational model during industrial society, essentially, bureaucracy could exist rational. This essay firstly will review the principle of bureaucracy in organization based on organizational design perspective. Secondly, it will analyze the strengths and weakness of

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

select some members to train and teach for improving their work skills. So by this they can able

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.

The scientific approach to management is one of the earliest methods used by organizations. Taylor’s systematic processes initially defined in 1910 gathered a multitude of support as his techniques develop a general understanding of the organization's workflow. While Taylor' idea propagated by the