Managing for efficiency

and control Scientific

Management
Lecture 2
Learning Objectives
• At the conclusion of this topic, students
should be able to:
– Provide a detailed explanation of the
principles of Scientific Management;
– Describe the historical conditions which gave
rise to the Scientific Management movement;
– Illustrate the contributions of Fredrick
Taylor’s contemporaries to our
understanding of Scientific Management;
– Demonstrate a critical understanding of the
consequences of Scientific Management;
Why study management history iS important?

● Studying management history is

important because it helps us
understand today’s management
practices by seeing their origins

● History also helps us see what did

and did not work
Early Management

The Egyptian pyramids and the Great Wall of China

are proof that projects of tremendous scope,
employing tens thousands of people were completed
in ancient times
 Job Specialization

In 1776, Adam Smith

published “The Wealth of
Nations”
- division of labour (job
specialization) : the
breakdown of jobs into
narrow and repetitive
tasks
Industrial Revolution

Industrial revolution : a period during the late

eighteenth century when machine power was
substituted for human power, making it more
economical to manufacture goods in factories than
at home
THE CONTEXT

● Small factories grew to large plants;

● These large, efficient factories needed someone to
forecast demand, ensure that enough material was
on hand to make products, assign tasks to people,
direct daily activities, and so forth.
Management problems

•Organisational inefficiencies;
•Careless safety;
•Rising conflict and industrial unrest; and
•Specific example: Soldering (worker foot
dragging).
Scientific Management

• For the first time, the owners of these factories

had to consider how to organise and control a
large amount of labour to achieve organisational
goals;
• The two most important contributors to scientific
management theory were Frederick W. Taylor and
the husband-wife team of Frank and Lillian
Gilbreth.
Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915)
Enter Taylor

• Frederick Winslow Taylor;

• Industrial engineer - Midvale Steel Company
• industrial productivity and efficiency
• Problems :
- Worker control over production knowledge and know -
how
- Skilled workers and foremen rather than the owners
determined the organization and pace of production
- No independent and reliable means for determining
whether output was reaching an optimal level
 The relationship between owner and worker

employment

Worker Owner
production to
proceed

the knowledge of workers - potent source of power

Principles of Scientific Management (1)

- Remove the variability and uncertainty

characteristics of the previous method of
production
- Rule - of-thumb routines, lack of standardization
- “One best way” to complete any given task
Principles of Scientific Management (2)

The principles and stages

The central elements of Taylor’s system involved four basic steps :
1. Analysis of each element in the labor process including rules
of motion for each worker and standardization of working
conditions (Time and motion information)
2. Scientific selection, training and development of workers
3. Cooperation of managers and workers
4. Equal division of work and responsibility between
management and workers
Time and Motion Studies

Systematic observation, analysis and measurement of the

separate steps in the performance of a specific job for the
purpose of establishing a standard time for each performance,
improving procedures and increasing productivity .
 Pigs of IRON EXAMPLE

● Time studies: Taylor thought reducing the time to complete a task was the
primary way to increase labor productivity. He advocated for conducting time
studies wherein he would divide work into specific tasks, use a stopwatch to time
each element of the task, and then reorder the elements into an optimal
sequence. Taylor’s time studies emphasized maximizing profit.
● If workers were moving 12 ½ tons of pig iron per day and they could be incentives
to try to move 47 ½ tons per day, left to their own wits they probably would
become exhausted after a few hours and fail to reach their goal.
● However, by first conducting experiments to determine the amount of resting
that was necessary the worker's manager could determine the optimal timing of
lifting and resting so that the worker could move the 47 ½ tons per day without
tiring.
The Gilbreths also experimented with
the design and use of the proper tools
and equipment for optimizing work
performance.

bricklaying experiments:
invented a device called a
microchronometer that recorded a
worker’s hand-and-body motions and
the amount of time spent doing each
motion.
Scientific management principles
● Science, not rule of thumb;
Scientific investigation should be used for taking managerial
decisions instead of basing decisions on opinion, intuition or rule
of thumb.
● Harmony (agreement), not discord(conflict);
Harmonious relationship between employees and employers.
● Cooperation, not individualism;
Cooperation of employees that managers can ensure that work is
carried in accordance with standards.
● Maximum output, not restricted output
Maximum output will result in higher wages for the workers and
greater profit for the management.
● Development of each man to his greatest efficiency and prosperity
(Taylor, 1915:140)
All possible human efforts should be utilised maximally leading to
efficiency and prosperity for the workers and the business.
Work under Taylorism

● Way to organise labour;

● Not based on technical superiority;
● Focus on division of labour and integration
of tasks;
● Time and motion studies;
● Management as a ‘science’;
● Integration of methods, policies, planning
and people.
● Piece - Rate System
 The benefits of a ‘one best way’
• improve the amount and quality of each worker’s output.
• provide a reliable measure through which managers could assess
the quality and quantity of output.
• allowed managers to establish greater power over the workers.
• scientific analysis of the labour process had reduced all jobs to
simple and repetitive tasks, prompting further study by other
theorists including Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.
Taylor believed that applying these scientific principles resulted in:
1. the production of a very much larger output per man, as well as
an output of a better and higher quality,
2. enabling the company to pay much higher wages to their
workmen, and
3. Giving the company much larger profit (Taylor 1942).
Japan and Taylorism
•Japanese industry also adopted Taylor’s
techniques.
•One of the first disciples of scientific
management in Japan was a man named
Ueno Yoichi.
• In 1919, Ueno was hired by the Lion Tooth
powder Company, where he increased the
productivity of its packaging department by
20 percent while reducing the area of working
space by 30 percent and cutting work time by
one hour per day.
•Uneo became a leading proponent of
scientific management in Japan.
•In the years leading up to the Second World
War, many in Japanese industry embraced
Taylorism.
 negative consequences
● There is little or no room for either horizontal or
vertical labour mobility.
● Decline in skill
● Decreased job security
● Ignores intrinsic rewards
● Workers can become bored and uninterested in
their job
● Limited to labour intensive
Scientific management today

• Still embedded in mass production

(manufacturing);
• Pervasive in mass consumption industries (fast
food, mass entertainment):
– McDonalds; and
– Disney.
• Increasing in service organisations:
– Call centers.
Scientific Management today

• Division of labour forms the basis of the way in

which work is organised;
• Still a focus on individual productivity of workers,
via implementation of a ‘science of a job’;
• Human resource managers still concerned with
workplace harmony and fostering cooperation.
Major approaches to Management