Skill Building Exercise 2.1_Frederick Taylor Excert
Following are excerpts from a speech made by Frederick W. Taylor in 1911:
If any of you will get close to the average workman in this country—close enough to him so that he will talk to you as an intimate friend—he will tell you that in his particular trade if, we will say, each man were to turn out twice as much work as he is now doing, there could be but one result to follow: Namely, that one-half the men in his trade would be thrown out of work. This doctrine is preached by almost every labor leader in the country and is taught by every workman to his children as they are growing up; and I repeat, as I said in the beginning, that it is our fault more than theirs that this fallacy prevails. While the labor leaders and the workmen themselves in season and out of season are pointing out the necessity of restriction of output, not one step are we taking to counteract that fallacy; therefore, I say, the fault is ours and not theirs.
1. Do you think Taylor’s position is equally applicable today? Be prepared to justify your answer.
• I don’t believe Taylor’s position would be equally applicable in American business today, as it did in 1911. Since the end of World War II, it’s more apparent in American business culture for more short term employment. Some examples include contract maintenance where specific skills are required for a specified time or project completion. There are government agencies with Directors and Administrators who are filling a senior management position for as long as the current President serves. Businesses today are finding that through outsourcing some of their responsibilities to teams of highly skilled employees specializing in the needed field, this will alleviate some of the financial liabilities needed in if they were to maintain their own permanent team.
The founder and chairman of APQC (formerly known as the American Productivity and
Quality Center) in Houston, C. Jackson Grayson, warned several
If any of you will get close to the average workman in this country—close enough to him so that he will talk to you as an intimate friend—he will tell you that in his particular trade if, we will say, each man were to turn out twice as much work as he is now doing, there could be but one result to follow: Namely, that one-half the men in his trade would be thrown out of work. This doctrine is preached by almost every labor leader in the country and is taught by every workman to his children as they are growing up; and I repeat, as I said in the beginning, that it is our fault more than theirs that this fallacy prevails. While the labor leaders and the workmen themselves in season and out of season are pointing out the necessity of restriction of output, not one step are we taking to counteract that fallacy; therefore, I say, the fault is ours and not theirs.
1. Do you think Taylor’s position is equally applicable today? Be prepared to justify your answer.
• I don’t believe Taylor’s position would be equally applicable in American business today, as it did in 1911. Since the end of World War II, it’s more apparent in American business culture for more short term employment. Some examples include contract maintenance where specific skills are required for a specified time or project completion. There are government agencies with Directors and Administrators who are filling a senior management position for as long as the current President serves. Businesses today are finding that through outsourcing some of their responsibilities to teams of highly skilled employees specializing in the needed field, this will alleviate some of the financial liabilities needed in if they were to maintain their own permanent team.
The founder and chairman of APQC (formerly known as the American Productivity and
Quality Center) in Houston, C. Jackson Grayson, warned several
References: Huebsch, R. (2014). The Evolution of the Labor-Management Relationship. Houston Chronical. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/evolution-labormanagement-relationship-36056.html Leslie W. Rue, L. L. (2009). Management kills and Application. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. O 'Leary, J. (2010, September 8). Labor Pains: Repairing the Manager and Union Relationship. Governing. Retrieved from http://www.governing.com/blogs/bfc/repairing-management-union-relationship.html