Assess critically the contribution that scientific management makes to the experience and management of contemporary work
Assess critically the contribution that scientific management makes to the experience and management of contemporary work.
Scientific Management also known as Taylorism was developed by Frederick W. Taylor in the late nineteenth century.
Taylorism is a form of job design, which stresses short, repetitive work cycles; detailed, set task sequences; a separation of task conception from task execution; and motivation linked to pay.
Taylor argued that the principal objective of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee (1911).
Fredrick Taylor’s five principles of scientific management:
1. A clear division of tasks and responsibilities between management and workers.
2. Use of scientific methods to determine the best way of doing a job.
3. Scientific selection of the person to do the newly designed job.
4. The training of the selected worker to perform the job in the way specified.
5. Surveillance of workers through the use of hierarchies of authority and close supervision.
Taylor proposed this by measuring what workers did against the time taken, to develop ‘one best way of working’ (1911).
By using quantitative methods a workers output could be accurately measured.
At the time of its inception Taylor found that firms who introduced scientific management as he prescribed became the worlds most meticulously organised factories (Nelson, 1980).
Managers are responsible for identifying the best cost efficient work practices and training workers to become highly productive and affective in their specific work task. Taylor argued that it stands to reason that an employee becomes more productive when working at their speciality and concluded with stating that there are more benefits gained for both employees and employers from dividing workers.
With linking pay to each task performed, Managers can thus control the workforce and output and consistently
Scientific Management also known as Taylorism was developed by Frederick W. Taylor in the late nineteenth century.
Taylorism is a form of job design, which stresses short, repetitive work cycles; detailed, set task sequences; a separation of task conception from task execution; and motivation linked to pay.
Taylor argued that the principal objective of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee (1911).
Fredrick Taylor’s five principles of scientific management:
1. A clear division of tasks and responsibilities between management and workers.
2. Use of scientific methods to determine the best way of doing a job.
3. Scientific selection of the person to do the newly designed job.
4. The training of the selected worker to perform the job in the way specified.
5. Surveillance of workers through the use of hierarchies of authority and close supervision.
Taylor proposed this by measuring what workers did against the time taken, to develop ‘one best way of working’ (1911).
By using quantitative methods a workers output could be accurately measured.
At the time of its inception Taylor found that firms who introduced scientific management as he prescribed became the worlds most meticulously organised factories (Nelson, 1980).
Managers are responsible for identifying the best cost efficient work practices and training workers to become highly productive and affective in their specific work task. Taylor argued that it stands to reason that an employee becomes more productive when working at their speciality and concluded with stating that there are more benefits gained for both employees and employers from dividing workers.
With linking pay to each task performed, Managers can thus control the workforce and output and consistently
References: Hertzberg,F., B.Mausner and B.Snyderman: The motivation to work (New york: Wiley 1959). Taylor F.W (1997): The principles of scientific management. Mincola, NY (original work published 1911). Braverman, H (1974): Labour and Monoploy capital: The degradation of work in the twentieth century. New York Monthly review press. Kelly, John. (1982), Scientific Management, Job Redesign, & Work Performance. Academic Press Marcouse, I. et al. (1996), The Complete A-Z Business Studies Handbook, Hodder & Stoughton Ritzer, George. (2000) The McDonaldization Of Society. Sage Publications Inc. Taylor, Frederick W (1911) The Principles of Scientific Management, Harper Bros. Fincham, R & Rhodes, P (1999) Priniciples of Organisational Behaviours, Oxford Univeristy Press. Nelson, David (1980) Frederick W Taylor and the Rise of Scientific Management, The University of Wisconsin Press. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row.