Scientific management

FREDRIC WINSLOW
TAYLOR
FRANK GILBRETH
LILLIAN GILBRETH
Scientific management approach
Scientific management become popular
in the early 1900s. It is a classical
management approach that emphasize
the scientific study of work methods to
improve the efficiency of the workers.
Some of the earliest advocates of
scientific management were
§ Frederick w. Taylor
§ Frank Gilbreth
§ Lillian Gilbreth
§ Henry Gantt
Frederick winslow taylor(1856-1915):
o Taylor is known as the “Father of scientific
management”
o He was an engineer and a pioneer management
scientist and practitioner in USA.
o He wrote The principles of scientific
management in the year 1911.
o He worked as an chief engineer in Midvale steel
company where he found that workers were
performing much below their capacity-
soldering.
o He found that there was rampant wastage and
inefficiency.
According to Taylor, workers indulge in soldering
for three main reasons:
Ø Workers feared that if they increased
their productivity, other workers would
lose their job.
Ø Faulty wage systems employed by the
organisation encouraged them to work
at a slow pace.
Ø Outdated methods of working handed
down from generation to generation led
to a great deal of wasted efforts.
 Taylor felt that the soldiering problem
could be eliminated by developing a
science of management .
Taylor’s
 principles of scientific
management:
üDevelop a science for each element of
the job to replace old rule of thumb
method.
üScientific selection , training and
development of workers for every job.
üSupervise employees to make sure they
follow the prescribed methods for
performing their job.
üContinue to plan the work but use
workers to actually get the job done.
Frank and lillian gillbreth:
vFrank Gilbreth(1868-1924) is considered
the “father of motion study”.
vLillian Gilbreth(1878-1972) was associated
with research pertaining to motion.
vFrank Gilbreth devised a system of dividing
work into 17 elementary movements called
therbligs.
vFrank developed micromotion study.
vHe is best known for his experiments in
reducing the number of motions in
bricklaying.
vHe reduced it from 18.5 to 4
vUsing this approach workers increased the
§ Lillians had great interest in the human
implications of scientific management.
§ She focused her attention on designing
methods for improving the efficiency of
workers.
§ She was the first women to gain
eminence as a major contributor to the
development of management as a
science.
§ In recognition of her contributions to
Henry laurence gantt(1861-1919)
§ Henry L Gantt was a close associate of Taylor at
Midvale and Bethlehem steel.
§ He became an independent consultant and made
several contributions to the field of management.
§ Under Gantt’s plan if a worker take less time than
the standard time , he receives a bonus.
§ His most significant contribution was the Gantt
chart which is used for scheduling and control of
work.
§ He introduced an incentive plan for foremen , who
would be paid for every worker who reached the
daily standard.
§ If all the workers under a foremen reached the daily
standard ,he would receive an extra bonus.
§ Gantt chart compares actual and planned
performance.
Limitation of scientific managemant

 These principals focus on operational

level and do not focus on the
management of an organisation from a
managers point of view.
 The proponents of scientific
management were of the opinion that
people were “rational” and were
motivated primarily by the desire for
material again.
 Scientific management theories ignored
the human desire for job satisfaction.