Scientific management
Scientific management is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes in management. Scientific management is sometimes known as Taylorism after its pioneer, Frederick Winslow Taylor.
Taylor began the theory's development in the United States during the 1880s and 1890s within manufacturing industries, especially steel. Its peak of influence came in the 1910s. Although Taylor died in 1915, by the 1920s scientific management was still influential but had entered into competition and syncretism with opposing or complementary ideas.
Although scientific management as a distinct theory or school of thought was obsolete by the 1930s, most of its themes are still important parts of industrial engineering and management today. These include: analysis; synthesis; logic; rationality; empiricism; work ethic; efficiency through elimination of wasteful activities ; standardization of best practices; disdain for tradition preserved merely for its own sake or to protect the social status of particular workers with particular skill sets; the transformation of craft production into mass production; and knowledge transfer between workers and from workers into tools, processes, and documentation.
Scientific management has been criticized for having its roots in slavery practices.
Name
Taylor's own names for his approach initially included "shop management" and "process management". However, "scientific management" came to national attention in 1910 when attorney Louis Brandeis popularized the term. Brandeis had sought a consensus term for the approach with the help of practitioners like Henry L. Gantt and Frank B. Gilbreth. Brandeis then used the consensus of "SCIENTIFIC management" when he argued before the Interstate Commerce Commission that a proposed increase in railroad rates was unnecessary despite an increase in labor costs; he alleged scientific management would overcome railroad inefficiencies Taylor recognized the nationally known term "scientific management" as another good name for the concept, and adopted it in the title of his influential 1911 monograph.History
The Midvale Steel Company, "one of America's great armor plate making plants," was the birthplace of scientific management. In 1877, Frederick W. Taylor started as a clerk in Midvale, but advanced to foreman in 1880. As foreman, Taylor was "constantly impressed by the failure of his to produce more than about one-third of a good day's work". Taylor determined to discover, by scientific methods, how long it should take men to perform each given piece of work; and it was in the fall of 1882 that he started to put the first features of scientific management into operation.Horace Bookwalter Drury, in his 1918 work, Scientific management: A History and Criticism, identified seven other leaders in the movement, most of whom learned of and extended scientific management from Taylor's efforts:
- Henry L. Gantt
- Carl G. Barth
- Horace K. Hathaway
- Morris L. Cooke
- Sanford E. Thompson
- Frank B. Gilbreth. Gilbreth's independent work on "motion study" is on record as early as 1885; after meeting Taylor in 1906 and being introduced to scientific management, Gilbreth devoted his efforts to introducing scientific management into factories. Gilbreth and his wife Lillian Moller Gilbreth performed micro-motion studies using stop-motion cameras as well as developing the profession of industrial/organizational psychology.
- Harrington Emerson began determining what industrial plants' products and costs were compared to what they ought to be in 1895. Emerson did not meet Taylor until December 1900, and the two never worked together.
When steps were taken to introduce scientific management at the government-owned Rock Island Arsenal in early 1911, it was opposed by Samuel Gompers, founder and President of the American Federation of Labor. When a subsequent attempt was made to introduce the bonus system into the government's Watertown Arsenal foundry during the summer of 1911, the entire force walked out for a few days. Congressional investigations followed, resulting in a ban on the use of time studies and pay premiums in Government service.
Taylor's death in 1915 at age 59 left the movement without its original leader. In management literature today, the term "scientific management" mostly refers to the work of Taylor and his disciples in contrast to newer, improved iterations of efficiency-seeking methods. Today, task-oriented optimization of work tasks is nearly ubiquitous in industry.
Scientific Management Principles
Frederick Taylor tackled the challenge of making a business productive and profitable in his years of service and research in a steel company. He believed in a scientific solution. In his "Shop Management" article, Taylor explained that there were two facts that appeared "most noteworthy" in the field of management: "Great unevenness": the lack of uniformity in what is called "the management", The lack of relation between good management and the pay. He added,"The art of management has been defined, "as knowing exactly what you want men to do, and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way"."
In this regard, he highlighted that although there is "no concise definition" for this art, "the relations between employers and men form without question the most important part of this art". He then continued that a good management must in long run give satisfaction to both managers and workers. Taylor emphasized that he was advocating "high wages" and "low labor cost" as "the foundation of the best management". Discussing the pays for different classes of workers and what he called a "first-class" workman, he compared different scenarios of workmanship and their pros and cons. For best management, he asserted with ample reasons that managers in an organization should follow the following guidelines:
Each worker should be given the highest grade of work they are capable of.While Taylor stated that sharing "the equitable division of the profits" is required in an organization, he believed that management could unite high wages with a low labor cost by application of the following principles:
Each worker should be demanded the work that a first-grade worker can do and thrive.
When each worker works at the pace of a first-grade worker, they should be paid 30% to 100% beyond the average of their class.
A large daily task: Each worker in the organization, should have a clearly defined task.In Scientific Management, the responsibility of the success or failure of an organization is not solely on the shoulder of the workers, as it is in the old management systems. According to Scientific Management, the managers are taking half of the burden by being responsible for securing the proper work conditions for workers' prosperity.
Standard Conditions: Each worker should be given standard conditions and appliances that will enable him to perform his tasks.
High pay for success: Each worker should be rewarded when he accomplishes their task.
Loss in case of failure: When a worker fails, he should know that he would share the loss.
In his book "Principles of Scientific Management", Taylor formally introduced his methodically investigated theory of Scientific Management. Although he explained the details of Scientific Management in his works, he did not provide its concise definition. Shortly before his death, Taylor approved the following summary and definition of Scientific Management that Hoxie prepared:
"Scientific management is a system devised by industrial engineers for the purpose of serving the common interests of employers, workmen and society at large through the elimination of avoidable wastes, the general improvement of the processes and methods of production, and the just and scientific distribution of the product."Taylor indicated that Scientific Management consisted of four underlying principles:
The development of a true science: We must scientifically analyze all parts of a job. This consists of examining the elements and steps that required to carry out the work, as well as measuring the optimum time for each task. We also need to know the working time per day for a qualified worker.There are various tools that would enable businesses to serve these principles, such as time and motion study, functional foremanship, standardization of tools and movements of workers for each type of work, clear instructions for workers, and cost accounting.
The scientific selection of the workers: The most suitable person for the job is selected.
The scientific education and training of the workers: There is a clear division of work and responsibility between managers and workers. While workers are carrying out the job with quality and workmanship, managers are responsible for planning, supervision, and proper training of the workers.
Cooperation between managers and workers: Managers and workers scientific cooperation is required to ensure the proper and high-quality execution of the jobs.
There are many other features, tools, and methods that Taylor developed and recommended during his job at the steel plant and research, which have footprints in other fields, such as accounting and Engineering. Some of his concepts, studies, and findings has led to intellectual revolution in organization management. Taylor made contributions to various fields such as work measurement, production planning and control, process design, quality control, ergonomics, and human engineering.