Frederick Taylor

The Father of Scientific Management

The travel of a straight line is an absolute model of efficiency at its purest.

A B

The fastest way from point A to point B is a straight line.

Scientifically, it is a proven fact. Mathematically, it is the shortest distance, therefore takes the less time.

An Introduction
Frederick Winslow Taylor (20 March 185621 March 1915), widely known as F. W. Taylor, was an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficency. He is regarded as the father of scientific management.

Historical Background
Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was widespread replacement of manual labor by machines that began in Britain in the 18th century with the introduction of steam power and powered machinery (mainly in textile manufacturing). It created a specialized and interdependent economic life and made the urban worker more completely dependent on the will of the employer than the rural worker had ever been. It changed our societies from a mainly agricultural society to one that in which industry and manufacturing was in control.

Negative aspect of Industrial Revolution

Background of That Time

There were no clear concepts of responsibilities to workers and managers. No effective work standards existed. Management decisions were based on hunch and intuition. Workers were placed on jobs with little or no concern for matching their abilities and aptitudes with the tasks required. Managers and workers considered themselves to be in continual conflictany gain by one would be at the expense of the other.

Scientific Management
o The systematic study of the relationships between people and tasks for the purpose of redesigning the work process for higher efficiency. Defined by Frederick Taylor in the late 1800s to replace informal rule of thumb knowledge. Taylor sought to reduce the time a worker spent on each task by optimizing the way the task was done.

Taylors main focus:

Maximize workers capacity and profits

PROBLEM:
Get employees to work at their maximum capacity

PRIMARY FOCUS:
TASKS

Frederick Taylor
Efficiency Expert in U.S. Steel Industry Invented New Tool Designs and Handling Methods Designed Stop-Watch Task Timing Created Piece-Rate Payment Scheme Developed Industrial Departments

Time Studies and the Piece-Rate System

Studied most efficient worker Used stop-watch timing to measure each production step Eliminated any unnecessary movements Designed standardized instruction cards for employees Employees paid for meeting the established rate of production

 Working in the steel industry, Taylor had observed the phenomenon of workers purposely operating well below their capacity (soldiering) Reasons o Believe that if they become more productive job would be eliminated o Non-incentive wage systems o Rule-of-thumb training methods - inefficient

Soldiering

To improve efficiency Taylor began to conduct experiments to determine the best level of performance and what was necessary to achieve this performance.

 Experiments that were performed to determine the one best way to perform particular job. oPig Iron oThe science of shoveling oBricklaying

Time and motion studies

Pig Iron
if workers were moving 12 tons of pig iron per day and they could be incentives to try to move 47 tons per day, left to their own wits they probably would become exhausted after a few hours and fail to reach their goal. However, by first conducting experiments to determine the amount of resting that was necessary, the worker's manager could determine the optimal timing of lifting and resting so that the worker could move the 47 tons per day without tiring. Not all workers were physically capable of moving that, so workers should be selected according to how they are suited for a particular job.

Taylors Work? Contd.

introduced incentive pay plans (workers were assumed to be motivated only by money). Believed would lead to cooperation-management and worker Studied design of shovels and introduced a better design at Bethlehem Steel Works, reducing the number of people shoveling from 500 to 140

 determined that the optimal weight that a worker should lift in a shovel was 21 pounds. The shovel should be sized so that it can handle that. Prior to that workers used their own shovels.

The science of shoveling

 focused on specific motions, decreased the amount of motions required to lay bricks.

Bricklaying

Taylor's core values

The rule of reason improved quality lower costs higher wages increased output labor-management experimentation clear tasks and goals training stress reduction careful selection and development of people

 Published in 1911 Prior to scientific management work was performed by skilled craftsmen who had learned their jobs in lengthy apprenticeships. Scientific management took away much of this autonomy and converted skilled crafts into a series of simplified jobs that could be performed by unskilled worker who easily could be trained for the task.

"The Principles of Scientific Management"

Scientific management revolutionized industry:

it explained how to increase production by working smarter, not harder.

Up until that time, increasing output meant: o more hours, o more employees, o more raw materials, and more costs. Scientific management uses basic logic to show how: o standardization, o productivity, and o division of labor increase efficiency.

1) Science not the rule of thumb: scientific investigation should be used for taking managerial decisions instead of basing on opinion, institution or thumb rule. Study the way workers perform their tasks, gather all the informal job knowledge that workers possess and experiment with ways of improving how tasks are performed Time-and-motion study
2-21

Four Principles of Scientific Management

2.Harmony not discard/ cooperation between employers and employees:

Promote COOPERATION among managers and subordinates, this will result in harmonious working together Harmonious relationship between employees and employers. Cooperation of employees that managers can ensure that work is carried in accordance with standards.

3.Scientific Selection and training of workers

Carefully select workers who possess skills and abilities that match the needs of the task, and train them to perform the task according to the established rules and procedures Rather than leaving them to train themselves
2-23

4.Division Of Labour
o Apply Division Of Work i.e. Clearly defined duties and responsibilities of each person o Specialization will result in mastery and expertise o Thus greater efficiency and productivity o Divide work equally between managers and workers o Managers apply scientific management principle to work o Workers actually perform the task

Mental revolution:
Acc. To Taylor, the workers and managers should have a complete new outlook; a mental revolution in respect to their mutual relations. Workers should be considered as a part of Organization. Employers shouldnt treat workers as mere wage earners.

Underlying Themes
Managers are intelligent; workers are and should be ignorant Provide opportunities for workers to achieve greater financial rewards Workers are motivated almost solely by wages Maximum effort = Higher wages Manager is responsible for planning, training, and evaluating

Theory X versus Theory Y

Success of scientific management and its pros

 Revolutionized industry because it explained how to increase production by working smarter, not harder. Beneficial organizational model because created standards. Laid the foundations of how businesses should be run from an organizational standpoint.

Increased a workers output, allowing them to take home a greater pay than ever before
The worker would concentrate on the day-to-day tasks asked of them, and not have to worry about the decision making. Decisions were left to management who were able to take the best course of action after careful study, planning, and implementation of pre-defined standards

Failings of scientific management and the development of alternatives

Criticism for scientific management

The main argument against Taylor is this reductionist approach to work dehumanizes the worker. Specialized jobs became very boring, dull. The allocation of work "specifying not only what is to be done but how it is to done and the exact time allowed for doing it" is seen as leaving no scope for the individual worker to excel or think. o Workers ended up distrusting the Scientific Management method.

Problems with Scientific Management

Managers frequently implemented only the increased output side of Taylors plan. o Workers did not share in the increased output. Inefficiencies within the management control system such as poorly designed incentive schemes and hourly pay rates not linked to productivity. Workers could purposely under-perform. o Management responded with increased use of machines. The core jobs dimensions of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback are all missing.

Progressive reformers
As scientific management became more popular in industry during the early part of the twentieth century, it began to influence other segments of society and culture, particularly in the progressive movement. Gilford Pinchot the famous conservationist , who was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to head what is now known as the Department of the interior, saw his work as, efficient management of natural resources. Progressive reformers, interested in reducing public corruption carefully, began to study things like the amount of money spent on constructing things like sewer lines verses the amount of people living in each square block. Home economists, did time and motion studies of house work, in the hopes that it would give women more time to educate themselves. A certain type of technical utopianism emerged.

Thus Taylors Four Principles of

Management are
Develop a scientific way for each element of an individuals work, which replaces the old rule-ofthumb method. Scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the worker. Heartily cooperate with the workers so as to ensure that all work is done in accordance with the scientific way that has been developed. Divide work and responsibility almost equally between managers and workers. Managers take over all work for which it is better fitted than the workers.

Scientific Managements Effect on Schools

Teaching Objectives Vocational Curriculum Design Division of Labor Subjects Departmentalized Improvements by Analysis
o Data-driven decisions

Outcomes for Instruction

o Standardized assessments

Teacher Merit-pay Staff Development Programs