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The Theory Of Scientific Management Essay

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Frederik Winslow Taylor, one of the most famous pioneers of management gave the theory of Scientific management or what is now referred to as Taylorism. Scientific management or Taylorism refers to “a form of job design which stresses short, repetitive work cycles; detailed, prescribed task sequences; a separation of task conception from task execution; and motivation based on economic rewards.” (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2013). The applicability of Scientific management to this day is a controversial topic as there is still debate whether scientific management is beneficial to apply to organizations for smooth functioning or not. This paper discusses his theory of scientific management. While it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of this theory, it mainly expands on the criticisms of this theory and the reasons as to why the theory is not highly relevant now. This paper does this by using theorists like Abraham Maslow, Elton Mayo & Douglas Mcgregor and by stating modern day examples of companies with different principles of management as compared to Taylorism.

Under Taylorism, there were clear divisions of task, that is every employee was given a particular piece of work to do with simple and clear instructions. Simple and clear instructions meant that each employee was explained the work to be done, the process to do it and the time period allotted for its completion. Taylor replaced the traditional “rule of thumb” with a method of a more scientific base. (Priestley,

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