SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT (TAYLOR AND THE MOVEMENT)

Rise and Growth

Scientific Management, propounded by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the first decade of the 20th century, is considered the first coherent theory of administration. However, Taylor was not the originator of this theory. Before him, Charles Babbage, Henry R. Towne, Frederick Halsey, and Henry Metcalf developed and used certain scientific management methods and techniques. The term “scientific management” was first coined by Louis Brandeis (1910), but it was Taylor who provided a complete and systematic explanation of scientific methods to promote organisational efficiency and economy, earning him the title “Father of Scientific Management”.

Scientific management is also known as “Taylorism”. Taylor’s contributions are documented in his books:

1. A Piece Rate System (1895)

2. Shop Management (1903)

3. Art of Cutting Metals (1906)

4. Principles of Scientific Management (1911)

After Taylor, other management thinkers contributed to the growth of scientific management, notably H.L. Gantt, H. Emerson, F.B. Gilbreth, L.M. Gilbreth, C.G. Barth, S.E. Thompson, M.L. Cooke, and H.K. Hathaway.

The scientific management movement had a significant impact on administrative thought and practice in both industrial and governmental organisations. From the USA, it spread to other countries, including the former USSR, where it inspired the Stakhanovite Movement (1920–1940).

Basic Theme

According to Taylor, management is a true science, based on fixed laws, rules, and principles with universal applicability in all organisations. In his words, “the same principles can be applied with equal force to all social activities: homes, farms, trades, churches, philanthropic institutions, universities, and governmental departments.”

Scientific management focuses on the application of scientific methods to managerial practices and production processes, primarily at the lowest organisational level (shop floor). It studies the relationship between the physical nature of work and the physiological nature of workmen, emphasizing specialisation, predictability, technical competence, and rationality to improve efficiency and economy.

Taylor identified a phenomenon called “soldiering”, where workers deliberately restrict output. He classified it into:

• Natural soldiering – due to personal factors like habit and reluctance to overexert.

• Systematic soldiering – due to organisational and social factors; workers deliberately lower output to manage supervisor expectations.

Taylor argued that reducing soldiering through scientific techniques is key to increasing organisational efficiency.

Taylor’s theory of scientific management rests on three assumptions:

1. Organisational functioning can be improved by applying scientific methods.

2. A good worker follows management orders and does not initiate action independently.

3. Every worker is an “economic man”, motivated primarily by monetary factors.

Principles

Taylor proposed four principles of scientific management:

1. Develop a science for each element of a man’s work, replacing the rule-of-thumb method, to determine the one best way and standard output.

2. Scientifically select, train, teach, and develop workers, instead of allowing them to train themselves.

3. Management should cooperate fully with workers, ensuring work aligns with scientific principles.

4. Equal division of work and responsibility between management and workers; management should assume tasks for which it is better suited.

Characteristics of Scientific Management:

• Science, not rule of thumb

• Harmony, not discord

• Cooperation, not individualism

• Maximum output, not restricted output

• Development of each worker to greatest efficiency and prosperity

Scientific management requires a mental revolution among both workers and managers, fostering the understanding that mutual interests align and prosperity comes through cooperation, not conflict.

The principal object of management is to secure maximum prosperity for the employer, along with maximum prosperity for each employee. Reinhard Bendix observed that maximizing productive efficiency of each worker also maximizes earnings for both workers and employers, resolving capital-labour conflicts.

Techniques

The techniques of scientific management facilitate the application of its principles:

Functional Foremanship – Taylor proposed eight functional foremen supervising each worker, separating planning and execution. Four planning foremen:

1. Order-of-work-and-route clerk

2. Instruction-card clerk

3. Time-and-cost clerk

4. Shop disciplinarian

Four execution foremen:

1. Gang boss

2. Speed boss

3. Inspector

4. Repair boss

Motion Study – Standardizes work methods by observing all motions in a job to determine the best set of motions, considering tools, equipment, and body movements.

Time Study – Determines standard time for completing work, facilitating planning of tasks. Uses stopwatch measurement.

Differential Piece Rate Plan – Pay based on standards set by motion and time studies. Workers earn low rate below standard, bonus at standard, and higher rate above standard. Workers unable or unwilling to meet standards are removed.

Exception Principle – Management focuses on exceptional items deviating from standard performance, rather than routine tasks.

Other Techniques:

1. Standardisation of tools and worker movements.

2. Mnemonic systems for product and tool classification.

3. Separate planning cell or department.

4. Time-saving implements, e.g., slide rules.

5. Modern cost system.

6. Routing system.

7. Instruction cards for workers.

Taylor’s Followers

H.L. Gantt – Contributed to scientific management by:

1. Improving task and bonus incentive systems.

2. Emphasizing Habits of Industry to establish good organisational practices.

3. Designing the Gantt Chart for planning and controlling work progress.

Gilbreths (Frank and Lillian) – Contributions:

1. Invented Flow Process Chart to eliminate unnecessary steps (speed work).

2. Advanced motion and time study techniques, introducing Therbligs as elemental units of work.

H. Emerson – Advocated Efficiency System, emphasizing productivity through correct organisation. His 12 principles of efficiency include:

1. Clearly defined objectives

2. Common sense

3. Competent consultation

4. Discipline

5. Fair deal

6. Reliable, immediate, and adequate records

7. Despatching

8. Standard and schedules

9. Standard conditions

10. Standard operations

11. Written standard practice instructions

12. Efficiency rewards

M.L. Cooke – Applied scientific management to government and education, demonstrating universal applicability. He advocated worker participation in determining the one best way, unlike Taylor.

Criticism and Opposition

Scientific management faced criticism and opposition:

1. Criticized as a partial theory, focusing only on shop floor activity, neglecting higher organisational processes.

2. Viewed as a mechanistic theory, ignoring the human side and treating workers like machines, leading to worker opposition.

3. Criticized for oversimplifying human motivation, emphasizing economic factors while neglecting social and psychological factors (monistic theory of motivation). The Hawthorne Studies revealed the importance of social and psychological factors, supported by M.P. Follet, Peter Drucker, Oliver Sheldon, Chester Barnard, and Chris Argyris.

4. Called physiological organisation theory by March and Simon, as it focused only on production-related behaviour.

5. Opposed by labour leaders and trade unions, as Taylorism threatened collective bargaining and union roles. Prof. Robert Hoxie concluded scientific management and labour unionism were incompatible.

6. Managers opposed it due to loss of discretion and increased responsibilities under Taylorism.