The Principles of Scientific Management and Its Applications in Modern Day Organizations
The Principles of Scientific Management and its Applications in Modern Day Organizations
Introduction
Managers have been continuously trying to figure out the best way to manage the workplace since the start of the industrial revolution. The goal is to maximize production output and minimize cost therefore getting maximized profit while still keeping workers happy and motivated. Different methods have been introduced and tested. But perhaps one of the most influential and popular ideas in management is ‘scientific management’ or ‘taylorism’ as people know it. Taylorism, along with fordism, which follows after, are considered to be the classical work organization. The reason behind this is because; these ideas correspond to the first contributions to management theory, and also they can recognize ideas and issues within contemporary organizational behaviour and management literature (Ed. RMIT University 2012). This essay is going to discuss the key elements of ‘scientific management’ and Frederick taylor’s approach to it, and also talk about how can it be applied to management practice in modern-day organizations.
Taylorism
Frederick Winslow Taylor is the founder of scientific management. He was born on March 20, 1856 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (A+E networks, Frederick W Taylor Biography, 2012). “He was born in a wealthy family with a lot of connections to smooth out his way through life” as said in (Kanigel 1997). Taylorism is defined as ‘a way of shaping the division of work into its minimum possible skill elements, and how the process of carrying out each task can be uniformed to attain maximum efficiency’ (Ed. RMIT University 2012).
Taylor’s idea of scientific management came to him because of the condition of a lot of the workers, and also the state of management and work organizations at the time. He believed these workers are only motivated by money, which in turn makes them not do their best at their job, but just do as much as they think is
Introduction
Managers have been continuously trying to figure out the best way to manage the workplace since the start of the industrial revolution. The goal is to maximize production output and minimize cost therefore getting maximized profit while still keeping workers happy and motivated. Different methods have been introduced and tested. But perhaps one of the most influential and popular ideas in management is ‘scientific management’ or ‘taylorism’ as people know it. Taylorism, along with fordism, which follows after, are considered to be the classical work organization. The reason behind this is because; these ideas correspond to the first contributions to management theory, and also they can recognize ideas and issues within contemporary organizational behaviour and management literature (Ed. RMIT University 2012). This essay is going to discuss the key elements of ‘scientific management’ and Frederick taylor’s approach to it, and also talk about how can it be applied to management practice in modern-day organizations.
Taylorism
Frederick Winslow Taylor is the founder of scientific management. He was born on March 20, 1856 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (A+E networks, Frederick W Taylor Biography, 2012). “He was born in a wealthy family with a lot of connections to smooth out his way through life” as said in (Kanigel 1997). Taylorism is defined as ‘a way of shaping the division of work into its minimum possible skill elements, and how the process of carrying out each task can be uniformed to attain maximum efficiency’ (Ed. RMIT University 2012).
Taylor’s idea of scientific management came to him because of the condition of a lot of the workers, and also the state of management and work organizations at the time. He believed these workers are only motivated by money, which in turn makes them not do their best at their job, but just do as much as they think is
References: - Taylor, F. W. (1967). The principles of scientific management. New York, Norton. - Ritzer, G. (2004). The McDonaldization of society. Thousand Oaks, Calif, Pine Forge Press. - Kanigel, R. (1997). The one best way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the enigma of efficiency. New York, Viking. - RMIT University (Ed). 2012. Introduction to Management. Palgrave Macmillan, South Melbourne. - Moore, M. (2010, May 27). Inside Foxconn’s suicide factory. The Telegraph. Retrieved on the 23rd March, 2012 from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7773011/A-look-inside- the-Foxconn- suicide-factory.html - Richard K. Fleischman, 2000, “completing the triangle: Taylorism and the paradigms”, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 13 Iss: 5 pp. 597-624 - Steven Kreis, 1995, “Early experiments in British scientific management: the Health of Munitions Workers’ Committee, 1915-1920”, Journal of Management History (archive), Vol.1 Iss: 2 pp. 65-78. - A+E Networks, 2012, Frederick W Taylor Biography, A+E Networks, viewed on 10 October 2012, http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-w-taylor-9503065 - Locke, E. A. (1980). The Ideas of Frederick W. Taylor: An Evaluation. Ft. Belvoir, Defense Technical Information Center.