Scientific

management
Scientific management is a theory of
management
that analyzes and synthesizes workflows,
with the objective of improving labor
productivity. The core ideas of the theory
were developed by Frederick Winslow
Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s, and were
first published in his monographs, He
began trying to discover a way for
workers to increase their efficiency when
he was the foreperson at the Midvale
Steele Company in 1875. Taylor believed
that decisions based upon tradition
and rules of thumb should be replaced
by precise procedures developed after
careful study of an individual at work. Its
application is contingent on a high. A
broad program for reorganizing the
workplace through the application of
“scientific” methods to the study of
management and the work process.
Fundamentals of Scientific
Management

Taylor argued that the principal object of

management should be to secure the maximum
prosperity for the employer, coupled with the
maximum prosperity for each employee. He also
showed that maximum prosperity can exist only
as the result of maximum productivity. He
argued that the most important object of both the
employee and the management should be the
training and development of each individual in
the establishment, so that he can do the highest
class of work for which his natural abilities fit
him.
Taylor was writing at a time when factories were
creating big problems for the management.
Workmen were quite inefficient. According to
Taylor, there were three reasons for the
inefficiency. They were the:
1. Deceptive belief that a material increase
in the output of each man or each machine
in the trade would throw people out of work
 2. Defective management systems, which
made it necessary for each workman to
soldier, or work slowly to protect his own
best interests
3. Inefficient rule of thumb methods, which
were almost universal in all trades, which
cost much wasted effort
The paper tried to show that enormous gains
would result from substituting scientific methods
for rule-of-thumb.
Taylor argued that the cheapening of any article
in common use almost immediately results in a
largely increased demand for that article. This
view contradicts the believe that a material
increase in the output of each man or each
machine in the trade would result in the end in
throwing a large number of men out of work. As
to the second cause for soldiering, Taylor
pointed to many quotes from 'Shop
Management' and hoped that it would explain
fully the cause for soldiering. Some quotes that
tried to illustrate his views are:
"This common tendency to 'take it easy' is
greatly increased by bringing a number of men
together on similar work and at a uniform
standard rate of pay by the day."
"To illustrate: The writer has timed a naturally
energetic workman who, while going and coming
from work, would walk at a speed of from three
to four miles per hour, and not infrequently trot
home after a day's work. On arriving at his work
he would immediately slow down to a speed of
about one mile an hour. When, for example,
wheeling a loaded wheelbarrow, he would go at
a good fast pace even up hill, to in order to be
as short a time as possible under load, and
immediately on the return walk slow down to a
mile an hour, improving every opportunity for
delay short of actually sitting down. In order to
be sure not to do more than his lazy neighbor,
he would actually tire himself in his effort to go
slow."
"The feeling of antagonism under the ordinary
piece-work system becomes in many cases so
marked on the part of the men that any
proposition made by their employers, however
reasonable, is looked upon with suspicion, and
soldiering becomes such a fixed habit that men
will frequently take pains to restrict the product
of machines which they are running when even
a large increase in output would involve no more
work on their part."
Taylor argued that the substitution of scientific
for rule of thumb methods would be benefiting
both employers and employees. SCIENTIFIC
MANAGEMENT is one of the names adopted
for a certain body of principles and methods
of management which have been
propounded as applicable to industrial
undertakings, other names being Efficiency
Engineering and Industrial Management.
Developed in the United States, mainly since
about 1905, and particularly in connation
with engineering work, the methods of
Scientific Management have exercised a
profound influence on methods of factory
management in England and on the
continent of Europe, as well as in America.
Though applicable to most of the problems
of industrial administration, they have in fact
been worked out mainly in connation with
the control of workshop processes.
The theory underlying Scientific
Management is briefly that there is one best
way ” of doing every act that has to be
performed in a workshop, and that it is the
duty of the management to discover that ”
one best way ” and to make such
arrangements as will ensure that it is always
carried out. The method of procedure may be
indicated by propounding the following three
questions: I. The factors which limit the
speed of a particular workshop process or
machine? 2.Why is it that the volume of
output from a particular process is always
less at the end of the week than the product
of the speed of the process or of the
machine, multiplied by the working hours in
the week, would lead one to expect?

The Principles of Scientific

Management
In this section, Taylor explained his principles of
scientific management. Taylor's scientific
management consisted of four principles:
1. Replace rule of thumb work methods with
methods based on a scientific study of the tasks.
2. Scientifically select and then train, teach, and
develop the workman, whereas in the past the
employee (or workmen) chose his own work and
trained himself as best he could.
3. Provide "Detailed instruction and supervision
of each worker in the performance of that
worker's discrete task" (Montgomery 1997: 250).
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.
According to F. W. Taylor, the above
combination of the initiative of the employee,
coupled with the new types of work done by the
management that makes scientific management
so much more efficient than the old plans.
Under the management of "initiative and
incentive", the first three elements exist in many
cases, but their importance is minor. However,
under the scientific management, they form the
very essence of the whole system.
According to Taylor, the summary of the fourth
element is: Under the management of "initiative
and incentive" practically the whole problem is
"up to the workman," while under scientific
management fully one-half of the problem is "up
to the management."
Economic efficiency
it to the use of resources so as to maximize the
production of goods and services.[1] An
economic system is said to be more
efficient than another (in relative terms) if it can
provide more goods and
services for society without using more
resources. In absolute terms, a situation can be
called economically efficient
Efficiency is but one of many vying goals in an
economic system, and different notions of
efficiency may be complementary or may be at
odds. Most commonly, efficiency is contrasted or
paired with morality,
particularly liberty and justice. Some economic
policies may be seen as increasing efficiency,
but at the cost to liberty or justice, while others
may be argued to both increase efficiency and
be more free or just. There is debate on what
effects specific policies have, which goals
should be pursued, the relative weights that
should be placed on different goals, and which
trade-offs should be made.
For example, some advocates of laissez faire
(such as classical liberalism in the 19th century
and Objectivism in the 20th century) argue that
such economies protect property rights and are
thus both free and just, regardless of whether or
not they are more efficient, though advocates
also generally believe that laissez faire
economies are more efficient.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social
science—a term with which it is sometimes
synonymous—that uses various methods of
empirical investigation and critical analysis to
develop and refine a body of knowledge about
human social activity, often with the goal of
applying such knowledge to the pursuit of social
welfare. Subject matter ranges from
the micro level of agency and interaction to
the macro level of systems and social structures
Sociology is both topically and methodologically
a very broad discipline. Its traditional focuses
have included social stratification, social
mobility, religion, secularization, law,
and deviance, while approaches have included
both qualitative and quantitative research
techniques. As all spheres of human activity are
sculpted by social structure and individual
agency, sociology has gradually expanded its
focus to further subjects, such
as medical, military and penal institutions, the
Internet, and even the role of social activity in
the development of scientific knowledge. The
range of social scientific methods has also
broadly expanded. The linguistic and cultural
turns of the mid-twentieth century led to
increasingly interpretative, hermeneutic,
and philosophic approaches to the analysis of
society. Conversely, recent decades have seen
the rise of
new mathematically and computationally rigorou
s techniques, such as agent-based
modeling and social network analysis.

Practical Application of the

Scientific Method
Problem Solving and Decision
Making Skills
In the course of research and problem
solving, you make hundreds of decisions
and other problem solutions every day,
usually based on your intuition. These are
called by such names as intuitive decisions,
instantaneous decisions, gut feelings, leaps
of understanding, hunches, arbitrary
guesses, jumping to conclusions, hasty
decisions, sixth sense, quick guesses, snap
judgments, and other terms.

Many of these problems and decisions are

simple, unimportant, and in the habit-type
class. Others are of varied importance that
you make instantly because of time urgency,
a good enough answer will suffice, or you
correctly or incorrectly have confidence in
your intuition. Often you have no control.
The solution or decision just pops up.
Intuitions may also develop from
observations or unconsciously over a period
of time.

What Is Intuition? – An Important Feature in

Learning the Scientific Method
There are disagreements as to what it really
is. It is often difficult to distinguish between
illumination and intuition. Intuitive thinking
enables you to unconsciously utilize
hundreds and thousands of bits and pieces
of knowledge you possess in memory. Your
mind functions fast, without any realization
of a detailed review of a process of analytical
reasoning. In seconds you can have a leap of
understanding or it can warn you, encourage
you, provide an answer or inkling, a
criticism, a prediction, an idea, or a solution.

Many intuitive thoughts may be important, so

too many errors of intuition can hurt your
success, relationships, or reputation for
research, problem solving, and decision
making skills. Therefore, it is important and
up to you to develop your intuitive base.

#Your Intuitive Base or Brain Skill – Stress in

Teaching the Scientific Method
This is very important to everyone and
especially for those in research and
managerial positions. A good intuitive base
depends on a great number of things, such
as:
Curiosity A good Creative
memory Freedom ability Emotional
from biases stability An extensive
body of knowledge
A variety of experience memories and
accurate interpretation of them Memory of
other peoples’ experiences and accurate
interpretation of them Ability to distinguish
between relevant and irrelevant
concepts Good reasoning and analytical
ability
ATTRIBUTES & THINKING SKILLS
The quality of human activity applied to the
various steps or stages and action methods
involved in the scientific method determines
the quality of results achieved. The fame of
the scientific method results from the high
degree of development of personal attributes
and thinking skills that scientists have used
in the scientific method.

There is some overlap between attributes

and thinking skills. Scientists are human and
therefore not perfect, but their overall
accomplishments have achieved
phenomenal benefits for society. The use of
their method spread to all domains.

Importance of the Scientific Method

The above are all problems and involve a
huge number of decisions.

The scientific method is also:

 The Complete Method of Creative Problem
Solving and Decision Making for All
Fields
It is of great national importance that the
scientific method, which is not just for
scientists but is really a general problem
solving method for everyone, be applied to
the above problems by all concerned.
Why Use the Scientific Method?
Centuries of study, debate, and
experimentation has established that the
best of all methods of obtaining and
originating reliable knowledge in all fields is
the scientific method. Therefore, for all of the
above problems of competitiveness in all
areas, the scientific method is the guide to
the mental activities and systems needed to
solve the complex competitiveness
problems.

The alternatives of using chance, partial or

inferior methods, or haphazardness in
attempting to solve these complex problems
risks the danger of mediocrity. The threat to
our competitiveness is well recognized.
However, the harm from our inadequate
education in and use of the scientific method
is not recognized.

Here are some of the things that are

happening in recognizing the dangers to
America’s competitiveness:
Competitiveness Bill to Aid Math, Science Is
Signed by President - Reported in the August
15, 2007 issue of Education Week. This is an
educational effort.

ATTRIBUTES & THINKING SKILLS

The quality of human activity applied to the
various steps or stages and action methods
involved in the scientific method determines
the quality of results achieved. The fame of
the scientific method results from the high
degree of development of personal attributes
and thinking skills that scientists have used
in the scientific method.

There is some overlap between attributes

and thinking skills. Scientists are human and
therefore not perfect, but their overall
accomplishments have achieved
phenomenal benefits for society. The use of
their method spread to all domains.

CONCLUSION

Begin by reviewing the starting guides listed

at the beginning of Step or Stage #6. You
have challenged your working
hypothesis. Now comes the conclusion
when using the Scientific Method.

If your scientific method hypothesis is

partially wrong, you backtrack, modify,
and then challenge again. If completely
wrong, you backtrack and take another
path.

We learn from our failures. Do not

become discouraged! Even great men
and women are frequently wrong. If your
hypothesis passes the important tests,
including attempts to falsify.