Frederick Taylor (1856 - 1915)
Scientific School of Management
An American engineer who is known for defining the techniques of scientific management
which is the study of relationships between people and tasks for the purpose of
redesigning the work process to increase efficiency.
He was writing at a time when factories were creating big problems for management who
needed new methods for dealing with the management challenges. Taylor was one of the
first to attempt to systematically analyse behaviour at work. His model was the machine
therefore his ideas are often
characterised as the machine
model of organisations. Each
task was broken down to its
smallest unit to identify the best
way to do each job. Then the
supervisor would teach it to the
worker and make sure the worker
did only those actions essential to
the task. This is why is it referred to
as scientific management as
Taylor attempted to make a science
for each element of work and
restrict alternatives to remove
human variability or errors. Taylor
was not really concerned with other
organisational or management
issues, his focus was on efficiency.
Taylor believed that by increasing specialisation and the division of labour, the production
process would become more efficient.
This process of could best be determined using scientific management techniques rather
than informal "rule of thumb" knowledge:
Study the way workers perform their tasks, gather all the informal job
knowledge possessed by workers, and experiment with ways of improving the way
tasks are performed to increase efficiency.
Codify the new methods of performing tasks into written work rules and
standard operating procedures.
Carefully select workers so that they possess the skills and abilities that match
the needs of the task and train them to perform the tasks according to the rules
and procedures established in step 2.
Establish a fair or acceptable level of performance for a task and then develop
a pay system that provides a higher reward for performance above the acceptable
level.
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Productivity under Taylor's methods dramatically increased - it seemed to work. New
departments appeared like personnel and quality control. More and more middle managers
appeared, as planning was separated from operations. Formality was increased and the
supervisor with stopwatch and clipboard was appeared in all work settings while groups of
workers would find all kinds of ways to resist.
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Wage systems should be carefully designed to induce each worker to follow the detailed
instructions. Taylor preferred a piece-rate system of compensation. Frequently, piece-rate
systems are associated with bonuses for extra efforts. Characteristically, these systems
tend to evolve upward. Continuously and consistently, what used to be an extra effort
worthy of a bonus, becomes the new performance norm. And vying to gain or regain
competitive advantage, managers are driven to establish a higher norm for their
employees.
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An important aspect of Taylor's scientific management is the "rabble hypothesis:"
Natural society consists of a horde of unorganised individuals;
Every individual acts in a manner calculated to secure his self-interest (especially in
times of economic scarcity). In itself this may not be detrimental to an
organisation. However, when viewed in the context Taylor portrayed of crafty
workers who tried to squeeze more money for less effort, it is clear why selfinterested workers are a menace.
Every individual thinks logically, to the best of his ability, in the service of this aim.
This is why the best incentive to induce workers to work harder is money.
His ideas had a major effect on organisation of work and the way people were managed.
Unfortunately although things became more productive they also became repetitive and
monotonous and a many employees were very unhappy at work.
Much of the core of scientific management remains with us today. It has only been
modified, updated and given a human face.