FREDERICK WINSLOW TAYLOR

Frederick Taylor
Frederick Winslow Taylor (20 March 1856 21 March 1915), widely known as F. W. Taylor, was an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. He is regarded as the father of scientific management, and was one of the first management consultants.

Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management

In 1911, Frederick Winslow Taylor published his work, The Principles of Scientific Management. Scientific management methods called for optimizing the way that tasks were performed and simplifying the jobs enough so that workers could be trained to perform their specialized sequence of motions in the one "best" way. Taylor became interested in improving worker productivity early in his career when he observed gross inefficiencies during his contact with steel workers.

Taylor's 4 Principles of Scientific Management

1. Replace rule-of-thumb work methods with methods based on a scientific

study of the tasks. 2. Scientifically select, train, and develop each worker rather than passively leaving them to train themselves. 3. Cooperate with the workers to ensure that the scientifically developed methods are being followed. 4. Divide work nearly equally between managers and workers, so that the managers apply scientific management principles to planning the work and the workers actually perform the tasks.

Publications

Taylor published many articles and short monographs. A selection: 1894. Notes on Belting 1895. A Piece-rate System 1896. The adjustment of wages to efficiency; three papers .... New York, For the American economic association by the Macmillan company; London, S. Sonnenschein & co.. 1903. Shop management; a paper read before the American society of mechanical engineers. New York. 1906. On the art of cutting metals, by Mr. F. W. Taylor; an address made at the opening of the annual meeting in New York, December 1906. New York, The American society of mechanical engineers. 1911. Principles of Scientific Management. New York and London, Harper & brothers. 1911. Shop management, by Frederick Winslow Taylor ... with an introduction by Henry R. Towne .... New York, London, Harper & Brothers. 1911. A treatise on concrete, plain and reinforced: materials, construction, and design of concrete and reinforced concrete. (2d ed). New York, J. Wiley & sons. 1912. Concrete costs. New York, J. Wiley & sons.