Frederick Winslow Taylor also known as F.W.Taylor and George Elton Mayo have given some important definitions to the management work in the past. F.W.Taylor the Father of Scientific Management opposed the rule of thumb and said that there is only ‘one best way of doing work’ where as Elton Mayo proposed that the importance of groups affects the behaviour of individuals at work.
As the topic suggests, there are many contrasts between Taylor and Mayo but the only similarity between these is that they both wanted to that more production can be possible only through more efficiency by the workers but Taylor explained it through the superior – subordinate relationship and Mayo by the informal organization. Before writing about the contrasts let’s look in detail about Taylor and Mayo and then define their contrasts.
Frederick Winslow Taylor (20th March 1856 – 21st March 1915)
Also known as F.W.Taylor, wan an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. Taylor is regarded as the father of scientific management, and was one of the first management consultants. He was one of the intellectual leaders of the Efficiency Movement and his ideas, broadly conceived, were highly influential in the Progressive Era.
Taylor was born in 1856 to a wealthy Quaker family in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Taylor became an industrial apprentice patternmaker, gaining shop-floor experience at a pump-manufacturing company Enterprise Hydraulic Works, Philadelphia. Taylor's career progressed in 1878 when he became a machine shop laborer at Midvale Steel Works. Taylor was promoted to chief engineer at Midvale. Taylor took night study at Stevens Institute of Technology and in 1883 obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering. 1898, Taylor joined Bethlehem Steel. Taylor
References: “Agarwal, R.D., 1982. Organisation and Management. Published by Tata McGraw – Hi Publishing Company Ltd. p – 23 en.wikipedia.org