Scientific Management Essay Example

Scientific Management Essay Example Scientific Management Essay Scientific Management Essay The chosen article that will be explored through this essay, by Locke, Edwin A. (1982) The Ideas of Frederick W. Taylor: An Evaluation. Academy of Management Review, 7(1). This main source believes that Taylor was the Founding father of Scientific Management, being his key principle, featuring the one best way. However in order to understand the reasoning and logic behind Taylors principles, one must understand the context of the time to make informed decision of the validity of the principles.Fifty percent of the sources believe that Taylor’s principles have transcended through time, forming the basis for modern day contemporary organizations, such as IBM. However the other half of the sources believe that Taylor’s principles have been a detriment to society, which have dehumanized the workforce, creating men as machines, believing that this has established the elements of today’s bureaucratic society. In The Ideas of Frederick. W.Taylor: An evaluation, there ar e various key themes and principles evident which have provided the foundations for some contemporary styles of management. The author suggests that Taylors concept of scientific management can be likened to the works of Thomas Edison. Scientific Management is Taylors most widely recognized principle. Taylor believed in a scientific approach toward managerial decisions making. That managerial decisions should be based upon proven fact rather than on tradition This principle proved to be most effective when selecting workmen and the time taken to complete a task, through scientific selection and time and motion studies, the man most suited to a particular type of work will be chosen, who is able to complete the work within a specific time frame through the one best way. Taylor believed in the standardization of tools and procedures becoming cohesive, allowing for effective and efficient work time, with adequate rest and pause breaks and shorter working hours.To motivate the worker Ta ylor assigned a realistic, quality amount of a job, on the basis of time study, which he deemed a task, which is the long term equivalent to the word goal. He believed that if management was to provide monetary incentives (the money bonus) and the worker achieved their goal, then there would be efficient productivity. However the key to efficiency was for management to provide feedback on the work being done. Along with this, a main objective of Taylors was to have positive working relations etween management and workers by understanding social factors, to achieve this, management would take responsibility for their new employees by training them properly which would eliminate confusion of standards and process and supporting the elimination of systematic soldiering. It is evident that Taylors main objective was to forge a mental revolution of knowledge and communication between manager and employee. In order to see the viewpoint of the sources, one must understand the context of th e time, where the working class man became of importance due to the boom of the industrial age, which created a middle class of society.Also the impending First World War would create need for consistency and efficiency. Due to the progression of the development of the machines, man needed to find a solution to compete in the global market, to increase workers efficiency so revenue would not become obsolete. Taylor’s principles, in theory, created the solution at the time. This is clear, as the ‘wage earner in the railroads car repair shops was only $163 compared to $283 in the shops of commercial car builders such as Pullman’ (Aldrich, 2010, p. 504 ) stressing a need to be competitive in the financial market.The implementations of Taylor’s principles of the incentive system and time study, costs in the shops were reduced 13-15%, with the worker earning a bonus if he was ‘at least 80% efficient’ (Aldrich, 2010, p. 507). A critique of this, it caused hostility in the worker, which resulted from the incentive system and as the ‘Taylorites viewed unions as interference’ (Aldrich, 2010, p. 507). This disagrees with the main source as Taylor did not oppose unions; he felt them unnecessary, as the proper implementation of his principles should result in effective manager-worker relations.Fifty percent of the sources accept that the concepts of Scientific Management, which Taylor wrote of, formulated the management style in the early 1900’s and subsequently elements of some contemporary organizations, such as IBM. All agree that Taylor was the ‘Founding Father’ of scientific management and produced some of the most influential principles, featuring the ‘One best way’, where the most efficient method of work would be adopted to all employees. Some of Taylors Scientific Management principles can be seen in IBM, first and foremost IBM believes in making informed decisions hrough knowle dge, in order to generate growth – scientific management. In the past IBM has spent twenty-five million on employee benefits, allowing security- incentive system. IBM expects ‘a return on investment from IBM families’ (Mason, 1991, p. 10). Through this they are able to measure ‘employee productivity’, which can be seen as a very modern and skewed notion of the time and motion studies, which Taylor would have measured the output of his employees. However at IBM ‘after 3 three years benefits are cut up to 75% and employees are no longer guaranteed full employment’ (Mason, 1991, p. 2). The first few concepts of IBM agree with the main article, however the last concept disagrees as Taylors incentive scheme would reduce the wage of a worker if they were not efficient, not dependant on the number of years an employee worked. Another critique of Taylor’s Scientific Management Principles was the mechanization of humans into machines, crea ting a lack of creativity within the employee, separating ‘brain from muscle’ (Maqbool, Zakariya, Paracha, 2011, p. 46). Taylor’s intention with Scientific management was to improve the working relations between manager and employee, believing that systematic soldiering could be stopped by good management, however Maqbool, Zakariya, Paracha believe that Taylor was naive in his understanding of employees, that the worker craved more than money and personal interrelations within the workforce, to be treated as individuals, not as machinery – this especially became evident after the war.This is clear in the study done by French and Coch in a pajama factory, where management had supposedly implemented the Scientific Management principles, money incentive and feedback system though the employees had little motivation and very low self esteem, due to the changing nature of their jobs. They found that employees felt satisfied when they were included in the decis ion making process and when management explained the changes, leading to job security. This both agrees and disagrees with the main source. It agrees, as that Taylor knew if his principles were not fully implemented, than it would not work.Though it could be said that Taylor was naive in the sense that he did not account that as the pie got bigger, so too would people’s ambitions. This disagrees, believing that Taylor did not dehumanize the workforce, just increased the efficiency of the worker through positive working relations. In conclusion it is clear that there is a distinct difference of opinion on Taylor’s principles. Fifty percent of the sources believe that scientific management became the fundamental concept of the early 1900’s due to the changing social and financial context of the time.That he was able to increase productivity efficiency with a reduction of costs, alongside positive working relations between manager and worker. Through this point of view it is clear that these principles transcend through time into a contemporary organisation, such as IBM However the remainder of the sources believes that Taylor dehumanized the workforce, focusing on efficiency and neglecting the basic needs of the worker, believing that the elements of Taylor’s principles have created a negative impact on society, bureaucracy.This view point accepts that Taylor ultimately created men as machines, ‘separating brain from muscle’ (Maqbool, Zakariya, Paracha, 2011, p. 846). References Aldrich, Mark. (2010). On the Track of Efficiency: Scientific Management Comes to Railroad Shops, 1900-1930. Business History Review, 84(3), 504-507. Bartlem, Carleton S. , Locke, Edwin A. (1981). The Coch and French Study: A critique and Reinterpretation. Business Source Complete, 34(7). Blake, Anne M. Moseley, James L. (2010). One Hundred Years After The Principles Of Scientific Management: Frederick Taylors Life And Impact On The Field Of Hum an Performance Technology. Performance Improvement, 49(4). Kidwell Jr, Ronald E. , Scherer, Philip M. (2001). Layoffs and Their Ethical Implications under Scientific Management, Quality Management and Open-Book Management. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(1/2). Locke, Edwin A. (19820. The Ideas of Frederick W. Taylor: An Evaluation.Academy of Management Review, 7(1). Latham, Gary P. , Timothy, P, Steele. The Motivational Effects of Participation Versus Goal Setting on Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 26(3). Maqbool, Mugheera. , Zakariya, Ahmad. , Paracha Naveed, Ahmer. (2011). A critique on Scientific Management. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(4), 846. Mason Cohen, Julie. (1991). IBM at the Crossroads. Management review, 80(9), 10-12. Myers, A. Lewis, Jr. (2011).One Hundred Years Later: What Would Frederick W. Taylor Say?. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(20) Ratnayake, Chandima R. M. (2009). Evolution of Scientif ic Management Towards Performance Measurement and Managing Systems for Sustainable Performance in Industrial Assets: Philosophical Point of View. Journal of Technology Management Innovation, 4(1). Zimmerman, Kent D. (1978). Participative Management: A Reexamination of the Classics. Academy of Management Review, 3(4).