Preview

Scientific Management: Taylor and the Gilbreths

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1263 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Scientific Management: Taylor and the Gilbreths
Scientific Management: Taylor and the Gilbreths
Scientific management focuses on improving efficiency and output through scientific studies of workers ' processes. 1. fig. 1
Frederick Winslow Taylor
Frederick Winslow Taylor is considered the creator of scientific management. * Scientific management, or Taylorism, is a management theory that analyzes work flows to improve economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. This management theory, developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, was dominant in manufacturing industries in the 1880s and 1890s. * Important components of scientific management include analysis, synthesis, logic, rationality, empiricism, work ethic, efficiency, and elimination of waste and standardized best practices. * Taylor and the Gilbreths introduced studies and methods of measuring worker productivity, including time studies and motion studies, which are still used today in operations and management. * Taylorism
Scientific management; a theory of management of the early 20th century that analyzed workflows in order to improve efficiency. * Time studies
Created by Frederick Winslow Taylor; time studies break down each job into component parts and timing each part to determine the most efficient method of working. * Motion Study
Created by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, motion studies analyzed work motions by filming workers and emphasized areas for efficiency improvement by reducing motion.
Rate This Content:
-------------------------------------------------
Top of Form
Good Needs Improvement Bad
Bottom of Form
Want help studying Scientific Management: Taylor and the Gilbreths?
Get the Flashcards Create a Study Guide Take a Quiz
Taylor 's Scientific Management
Scientific management, or Taylorism, is a management theory that analyzes work flows to improve economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. This management theory was popular in the 1880s and 1890s in manufacturing industries and
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Frederick Taylor's Impact On American Workers
    • 1422 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Frederick Taylor's Impact On American Workers

    Changes were brought through the ideas of men like Frederick Taylor and also through the development in production from the assembly line. Frederick Winslow Taylor embraced the new principals of “scientific management,” which is also known as “Taylorism”. Taylorism is a theory of management that analyzes and combine workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. “Taylor urged employers to reorganize the production process by subdividing tasks.…

    • 1422 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Scientific Management Is a ‘Good’ Idea in Management Thinking Even for Today Industrial System
    • 1489 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Scientific Management Is a ‘Good’ Idea in Management Thinking Even for Today Industrial System

    Scientific management is not an invention but a discovery (Thompson, 1993). Most of the idea in scientific management was already known, Taylor was the one who combine them into one. Taylor understands the essential aspects of the theory of industrial organization that he had experienced himself in his early years as a leader at Midvale. He understands that science could save time, and benefits the society. Scientific management key term is that each person has different ability to perform various jobs, so it would be better to specialize them according to their best specialty in performing those tasks to get the work done faster.…

    • 1489 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    An Evaluation on Frederick Taylor's influence in contemporary management- Essay Outline
    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An Evaluation on Frederick Taylor's influence in contemporary management- Essay Outline

    i. Taylor arrived at this technique facing challenges on efficiency in the manufacturing industries with the goal to increase profits (Kulesza et al., 2011).…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Taylorism
    • 1751 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Taylorism

    The first element is that the theory is on the basis of scientific experiment. Scientific management is a theory which is summarized through scientific experiment. Tailor (1911) mentioned that in the past, no systematic management exists to help the company manage their workers and as a result, many workers were reluctant to improve their working efficiency. In 1881, Taylor was a machine shop labor at Midvale Steel Works (Donnelly 1998) and he discovered that workers there were unwilling to make the best use of their time to achieve the mass production. Therefore, Taylor made a metal cutting experiment which cost 26 years and he made about 30 thousand trials to obtain the most efficient way of running the machine and reasonable workload for each workers.…

    • 1751 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Classical Management Theories in Healthcare
    • 2905 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Classical Management Theories in Healthcare

    Scientific management was developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 – 1915) at the end of the nineteenth century to improve labor productivity by scientifically analyzing and establishing optimal workflow processes. Taylor believed that in the same way that there is a best machine for each job, so there is a best working method by which people should undertake their jobs. He considered that all work processes could be analyzed into discrete tasks and that by scientific method it was possible to find the “One Best Way” to perform each task. Each job was broken down into component parts, each part timed and the parts rearranged into the most efficient method of working.…

    • 2905 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Taylorism and McDonaldization
    • 1605 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Taylorism and McDonaldization

    Scientific management or "Taylorism" is an approach to job design, developed by Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) during the Second World War. With the industrial revolution came a fast growing pool of people, seeking jobs, that required a new approach of management. Scientific management was the first management theory, applied internationally. It believes in the rational use of resources for utmost output, hence motivating workers to earn more money. Taylor believed that the incompetence of managers was the major obstacle on the way of productivity increase of human labour. Consequently, this idea led to the need of change of management principles. On the base of research, involving analysing controlled experiments under various working conditions, Taylor discovered basic principles that would influence workers' productivity. His ideas were further developed in post- Tayloristic movements like Fordism. Today, Taylorism is mostly applied in the rapidly growing service sector, especially in fast food and call centres. Taylorism and Scientific management are the precursors for McDonaldization, which are processes of the fast food industry that have become the major organizing principle for other aspects of societies. Its main dimensions are efficiency, calculability, predictability and control.…

    • 1605 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Prison Management Styles
    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Prison Management Styles

    Scientific management, which is said to of been made by Frederick Taylor who first did time and motion studies, is the first management style out of the three and was mostly used in the early 1900s. (Peak, 2012). The focus of scientific management laid down the fundamental principles of large-scale manufacturing through assembly-line factories. It emphasized standardization and rationalization of work through division of labor, time and motion studies, and measurement. This was also known as “Taylorism.” (Backer, 1998). In Frederick’s early days, he worked in the steel mills and was eventually hired as chief engineer. After years of working he became interested in coming up with different methods for greater productivity in workers, so he recommended giving hourly breaks among other methods. Taylor’s way soon proved to be a drastic change to the work force with the cut in manufactured goods, and wages getting increased. (Backer, 2012). Scientific management became more widely known after World War I when managers moved into more…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Nursing: Scientific Management and Frederick Taylor
    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Nursing: Scientific Management and Frederick Taylor

    The Scientific Management approach was initially described and theorized by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In his book “Principles of Scientific Management”, first published in 1911, Frederick Taylor formulated a view on management that was highly inspired by engineering principles. As such, the studies of Frederick Taylor can be seen as a culmination of a series of developments occurring in western industrialized countries, in which engineers took the lead in developing manufacturing productivity and in industrializing organizations. Frederick Taylor developed Scientific Management out of the belief that tasks could be optimized scientifically, and that Scientific Management could design the best rational way of performing any task, which would lead to enhanced productivity and profitability. Enhanced productivity would not only lead to greater profits for the employers, but also for the workers, who would be given the tools and training to perform at optimum performance.…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death Of Annabel Lee
    • 6869 Words
    • 28 Pages

    Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death Of Annabel Lee

    Walsh, John Evangelist, Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998. (Although it claims to “definitively untangle more than a century of speculation” about Poe’s death, this book is little more than a rehashing of the usual information. After rebuking others for speculation, Mr. Walsh proceeds to unleash a wild flurry of his own, boldly stating, in the near absence of any actual evidence, that Poe was attacked by two supposed brothers of Sarah Elmira Royster. Poe, as has been long accepted, had become engaged in Richmond to his childhood sweetheart, then a widow. It is also accepted that her family was not pleased with the proposed union. Mr. Walsh suggests that these brothers followed Poe to Baltimore and forced him to drink so that his pledge of temperance would appear to have been broken and the engagement called off. He further speculates that John R. Thompson invented the “clever” theory of cooping to protect these men. Overall, this book is an interesting and entertaining read, but rather dubious as…

    • 6869 Words
    • 28 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Personal Ethics
    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Personal Ethics

    Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) was the founder of the scientific management theory during the time of the Industrial Revolution. The management theory developed to organize and teach work process in a scientific manner increased productivity and profit. Taylor believed that using a scientific method for each element or task of an individual’s work would increase productivity. A worker’s job could be measured with scientific accuracy by using time and motion studies and the expertise of experienced workers (managers). A scientific system was established to hire, train, and promote workers based on their competence and abilities and match them to the most appropriate job. Productivity would be improved through scientific selection and progressive development of the worker. The relationship between the managers and workers needed to be cooperative and interdependent. The manager was to plan, prepare and supervise. The workers were to do the work. Financial incentives were used as a reward and workers were reimbursed according to their level of production (Marquis & Huston, 2009).…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Scientific Management
    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Scientific Management

    Frederick Winslow Talyor developed a theory called the Scientific Management. It is a theory of management that analyse and improve work process, aiming to increase labour productivity. Scientific management methods are used to optimize productivity and simplifying the jobs so that workers could be trained to perform their task in one “best” way.…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Edgar Allen Poe
    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Edgar Allen Poe

    There are a number of themes which Poe repeats from story to story (for example, the doppelganger, the premature burial, the death of a woman). With reference to at least two stories by Poe, identify such a motif and explicate its development in these texts;…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Application of Scientific Management in Today’s Organisations
    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Application of Scientific Management in Today’s Organisations

    With those evocative words, Frederick W. Taylor had begun his highly influential book; “The Principles of Scientific Management” indicating his view regarding management practices. As one of the most influential management theorists, Taylor is widely acclaimed as the ‘father of scientific management’. Taylor had sought “the ‘one best way’ for a job to be done” (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2003, p.39). Northcraft and Neale (1990, p.41) state that “Scientific management took its name from the careful and systematic observational techniques it used to design jobs and arrange work for the rank-and-file factory worker.” From this portrayal it can be deduced that scientific management, as the name indicates, indeed is ‘scientific’; i.e. based on proven facts rather than guesswork. Although many others have contributed to it, the work of Taylor is generally regarded as the key principles of scientific management theory.…

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    MIRPM 1Sem
    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages

    MIRPM 1Sem

    The Industrial Engineering Terminology Standard defines time study as "a work measurement technique consisting of careful time measurement of the task with a time measuring instrument, adjusted for any observed variance from normal effort or pace and to allow adequate time for such items as foreign elements, unavoidable or machine delays, rest to overcome fatigue, and personal needs.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Time and Motion Study
    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Time and Motion Study

    Time & Motion studies have their roots in the work of Frederick Winslow Taylor who in 1911 published his famous article The Principles of Scientific Management. Essentially this involved getting the best person for each job and training them to do it the best way possible. Although Taylor believed in cooperation between management and workers,…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics