F W Taylor

Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management
“Taylorism”
How did current management theories develop?
People have been managing work for hundreds of years, and we can trace formal management ideas
to the 1700s. But the most significant developments in management theory emerged in the 20th
century. We owe much of our understanding of managerial practices to the many theorists of this
period, who tried to understand how best to conduct business.
Historical Perspective
One of the earliest of these theorists was Frederick Winslow Taylor. He started the Scientific
Management movement, and he and his associates were the first people to study the work process
scientifically. They studied how work was performed, and they looked at how this affected worker
productivity. Taylor's philosophy focused on the belief that making people work as hard as they
could was not as efficient as optimizing the way the work was done.
In 1909, Taylor published "The Principles of Scientific Management." In this, he proposed that by
optimizing and simplifying jobs, productivity would increase. He also advanced the idea that
workers and managers needed to cooperate with one another. This was very different from the way
work was typically done in businesses beforehand. A factory manager at that time had very little
contact with the workers, and he left them on their own to produce the necessary product. There was
no standardization, and a worker's main motivation was often continued employment, so there was
no incentive to work as quickly or as efficiently as possible.
Taylor believed that all workers were motivated by money, so he promoted the idea of "a fair day's
pay for a fair day's work." In other words, if a worker didn't achieve enough in a day, he didn't
deserve to be paid as much as another worker who was highly productive.
With a background in mechanical engineering, Taylor was very interested in efficiency. While
advancing his career at a U.S. steel manufacturer, he designed workplace experiments to determine
optimal performance levels. In one, he experimented with shovel design until he had a design that
would allow workers to shovel for several hours straight. With bricklayers, he experimented with
the various motions required and developed an efficient way to lay bricks. And he applied the
scientific method to study the optimal way to do any type of workplace task. As such, he found that
by calculating the time needed for the various elements of a task, he could develop the "best" way to
complete that task.
These "time and motion" studies also led Taylor to conclude that certain people could work more
efficiently than others. These were the people whom managers should seek to hire where possible.
Therefore, selecting the right people for the job was another important part of workplace efficiency.
Taking what he learned from these workplace experiments, Taylor developed four principles of
scientific management. These principles are also known simply as "Taylorism".
Four Principles of Scientific Management
Taylor's four principles are as follows:

1. Replace working by "rule of thumb," or simple habit and common sense, and instead use the
scientific method to study work and determine the most efficient way to perform specific tasks.
2. Rather than simply assign workers to just any job, match workers to their jobs based on
capability and motivation, and train them to work at maximum efficiency.
3. Monitor worker performance, and provide instructions and supervision to ensure that they're
using the most efficient ways of working.
4. Allocate the work between managers and workers so that the managers spend their time planning
and training, allowing the workers to perform their tasks efficiently.
Advantages of Scientific Management for an Organization

Scientific management provides the following advantages:
(1) Reduction in the Cost of Production:
It increases production with the help of mechanisation and latest technology used in producing the
goods. On account of large scale production, per unit cost of production is considerably reduced.
(2) Better Quality Products:

By resorting to the measures of standardisation and effective supervision, better quality products are
ensured.
(3) Benefits of Division of Labour:

The principle of specialisation adopted under scientific management ensures the benefits derived
from the division of labour. The work is simplified and is carried out in most economical and
efficient manner.
(4) Avoidance of Disputes between Labour and Management:

Scientific management is instrumental in developing healthy cooperation between the management
and the labour thereby encouraging cordial and harmonious relations between the two. This leads to
reduction in industrial disputes and provides of industrial peace. The concept of ‘Mental
Revolution’ has been evolved by F.W. Taylor for developing close understanding, mutual trust and
confidence between the labour and management.
(5) Increased Wages:

Scientific management aims at higher productivity and the workers get increased wages. Taylor
suggested a differential incentive plan for increased wages to efficient workers. The higher wages
are helpful in increasing the standard of living of the workers.
(6) Gains to Owners/Investors:

Increased productivity and large scale production leads to more turnovers and enhanced profits for
the investor. The higher profits can be ploughed back for self-financing in order to provide sound
financial base to the concern.
(7) Proper Methods of Selection and Training of Workers:

One of the main principles of scientific management is that it undertakes scientific selection,
placement and training of industrial workers. In this manner, right type of man is selected for the
right type of job.
(8) Provision of Better Working Conditions:

Scientific management provides a proper atmosphere of work to the workers. Proper working hours
followed by rest pauses, adequate lighting, ventilation, ensuring proper safety, provision of many
other amenities etc., are ensured to workers.
(9) Instructions to Workers:

Under scientific management work is carried out systematically in accordance with predetermined
plans. Detailed instructions and guidance is provided to workers in order to carry out the work in
accordance with the plans prepared in advance.
(10) Lesser Production Time:

Scientific management leads to the accomplishment of the work in lesser time. Production
operations are pre-established and this results in lesser production delays.
(11) Better Utilisation of Resources:

Scientific management techniques ensure optimum utilisation of available resources viz., materials,
machines, equipment, money and workers etc. It removes the wastage and inefficiency of every
kind.
(12) Gains to Consumers:

Scientific management extends triple benefit to the consumer’s viz.;
(a) Consumers get better quality products,
(b) Paying lesser prices and
(c) Attaining higher living standards.
(13) Beneficial to the Nation:

Scientific management provides many advantages to a nation in the form industrial peace and
harmony, increased production and lesser cost of production, higher standard of living for every
section of society, higher national income, rapid industrial development etc. It can be said that
scientific management plays an important role in building a strong nation.
Critiques of Taylorism
Taylor's Scientific Management Theory promotes the idea that there is "one right way" to do
something. As such, it is at odds with current approaches such as MBO (Management By
Objectives), Continuous Improvement initiatives, BPR (Business Process Reengineering), and
other tools like them. These promote individual responsibility, and seek to push decision making
through all levels of the organization.
The idea here is that workers are given as much autonomy as practically possible, so that they can
use the most appropriate approaches for the situation at hand. (Reflect here on your own experience
– are you happier and more motivated when you're following tightly controlled procedures, or when
you're working using your own judgment?) What's more, front line workers need to show this sort
of flexibility in a rapidly-changing environment. Rigid, rules-driven organizations really struggle to
adapt in these situations.
Teamwork is another area where pure Taylorism is in opposition to current practice. Essentially,
Taylorism breaks tasks down into tiny steps, and focuses on how each person can do his or her
specific series of steps best. Modern methodologies prefer to examine work systems more
holistically in order to evaluate efficiency and maximize productivity. The extreme specialization
that Taylorism promotes is contrary to modern ideals of how to provide a motivating and satisfying
workplace.
Where Taylorism separates manual from mental work, modern productivity enhancement practices
seek to incorporate worker's ideas, experience and knowledge into best practice. Scientific
management in its pure form focuses too much on the mechanics, and fails to value the people side
of work, whereby motivation and workplace satisfaction are key elements in an efficient and
productive organization.

F W Taylor

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Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management

How did current management theories develop?

Four Principles of Scientific Management

Taylor's four principles are as follows:

Advantages of Scientific Management for an Organization

(2) Better Quality Products:

(3) Benefits of Division of Labour:

(4) Avoidance of Disputes between Labour and Management:

(5) Increased Wages:

(6) Gains to Owners/Investors:

(7) Proper Methods of Selection and Training of Workers:

(8) Provision of Better Working Conditions:

(9) Instructions to Workers:

(10) Lesser Production Time:

(11) Better Utilisation of Resources:

(12) Gains to Consumers:

(a) Consumers get better quality products,

(b) Paying lesser prices and

(c) Attaining higher living standards.

(13) Beneficial to the Nation:

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