THE EVOLUTION
OF MANAGEMENT
THOUGHT, 6TH
EDITION
Electronic Resource by:
Regina Greenwood and Julia Teahen
CHAPTER TWELVE
Scientific Management in Retrospect
Scientific Management in
Retrospect
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The Economic Environment
Technology
The Social Environment
The Political Environment
The Economic Environment
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The United States was in transition from an agrarian to an
industrial nation. In this period of growth, scientific
management provided a means whereby a better utilization of
resources could occur.
The U.S. worker prospered, both in real wages and reduced
hours of work.
More employees were in management with the addition of
staff specialists. This growth in managerial hierarchy made it
more critical to plan, organize, etc.
The Economic Environment
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Alfred D. Chandler
Courtesy of Harvard Business School
Alfred Chandler’s
rationalization of resource
utilization describes the
needs of industry during
this era. The ideas of the
scientific management
pioneers fit these needs.
Industrial efficiency was
increasing, partially due to
scientific management.
The Economic Environment
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America was uniquely diverse
1890-1920:
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Immigrants were 80% of New
York’s population.
More Irish lived in the US than in
Ireland.
71% of Ford’s labor force was
foreign born.
Developing systems and
procedures and standardization
was more important with the
heterogeneous workforce.
Productivity increased due to:
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Methods of mass production.
Taylorism (Scientific
Management)
Cheaper sources of power
The 1909 Model T.
Technology: Opening New Horizons
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Enterprises developed
and grew – 247 of the
Fortune 500 were
founded from 18801929.
New technologies
developed:
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Bessemer process in steel
Oil refining
Internal combustion engine
Synthetic material
Telephony
Electric energy
Bessemer process in steel
Technology: Opening New Horizons
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The automobile changed
people’s lives and created
a new industry.
Henry Ford, Charles
Sorenson and their
associates at Ford created
the moving assembly line
for mass production.
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1910 – 2,773 workers
produced 18,664 cars
1914 – 12,880 workers
produced 248,307 cars
Henry Ford
The Social Environment
The Social Environment
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Horatio Alger, Jr. characterized
the “success” ethic of U.S.
enterprise.
Scientific management ideas
were consonant with the social
values of self-directing, high
need for achievement, individuals
Change came as the Western
frontier closed; William G. Scott
called this the Collision Effect,
which would lead to a transition
period of individualism being
replaced by a social ethic.
Taylor’s “cooperation, not
individualism” bridged the gap
between the social and
individualistic ethics.
The Social Environment
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The Social Gospel shaped personnel management acting as a
counterpoint to social Darwinism and precursor to
progressivism.
Followers of the Social Gospel, like Robert G. Valentine,
thought unions were instruments of social and economic reform.
A reciprocal work-welfare equation linked the progressives
and scientific management.
Efficiency was also advocated by conservationists, feminists,
and religious leaders.
The Political Environment
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The political articulation of
the Social Gospel was the
Populist-Progressive
Movement.
Scientific management
appealed to the
Progressives, especially
Morris Cooke.
Scientific management
offered leadership by
expertise and knowledge,
not class, so it appealed to
moderate Progressives like
Louis Brandeis, Herbert
Croly, and Walter Lippman.
Lewis Hine (1915)
The Political Environment
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Theodore Roosevelt,
courtesy of the Constitution Society
An increasing regulation of
business under Theodore
Roosevelt after 1901
overcame the inadequacies of
the earlier Sherman Act.
Tax rate comparison –
Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act
of 1913.
 1% on personal incomes
over $3,000
 Surtax added progressively
on incomes up to $20,000
 Maximum tax rate of 7%
on incomes in excess of
$500,000 (compared to
35% today)
Summary of Part Two
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Taylor was the focus for a deeper philosophy of
managing human and physical resources in a more
technologically advanced world.
Taylor’s disciples improved productivity and service to
society.
Fayol and Weber, Taylor’s contemporaries, also
reflected a rational approach to enterprise.
Taylor and his followers were affected by and did
affect the times.
Part Two Internet Resources
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Academy of Management – Management History Division Website
http://www.aomhistory.baker.edu/departments/leadership/mgthistory/links.html
List of Internet Resources compiled by Charles Booth
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/files/MANAGEMENT-HISTORY/links.htm
Western Libraries Business Library – Biographies of Gurus
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/gurus.html
Frederick Winslow Taylor
http://www.accel-team.com/scientific/scientific_02.html
Fascinating Facts about Frederick Winslow Taylor
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/taylor.htm
Who Made America – Frederick Winslow Taylor
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/taylor_lo.html
Films of Westinghouse Works – 1904
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/papr/west/westhome.html
END OF PART TWO