The scientific school of management focused on the 'science' of creating specialized work processes

and workforce skills to complete production tasks efficiently. This lesson will discuss the
development of scientific management and how it is applied by management as illustrated by the
classic example of Henry Ford's Model T production line.

Scientific Management
The scientific school of management is one of the schools that make up classical management
theory. Still very much concerned with increasing productivity and efficiency in organizations by
finding the best way to do something, the scientific school of management is focused on the
'science' of creating specialized work processes and workforce skills to complete production tasks
efficiently.
Classical scientific theorists such as Frederick Taylor, Henry Gantt, and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
spent their time researching how a specific job was done, what steps were taken by an employee to
complete the work, the amount of time it took a worker to complete a task using different methods,
and then used this information to determine which way was most effective.
The result of this research led to the development of four principles of scientific management:

1. Management should provide workers with a precise, scientific approach for how to complete
individualized tasks.
2. Management should carefully choose and train each employee on one specific task.
3. Management should communicate with employees to ensure the method used to complete
the task is, in fact, the most productive and efficient.
4. Management should create the appropriate division of labor.

Application of Scientific Management

Application of these scientific management principles is quite simplistic once up and running, but it
requires a great deal of analysis up front. A manager must first consider the nature of the work that
needs to be completed and then decide the best possible way to go about it. A division of
labor allows the manager to take complex tasks and break them down into smaller, more precise
tasks that the individual workers can complete. Each employee is trained explicitly on how to best
perform their task. A manager will check with their worker to ensure that the suggested method for
completing the work is efficient and make adjustments when necessary. If all goes as planned, a
manager will watch as a product efficiently moves from worker to worker down the production line.
As the individual parts come together, the sum is essentially created. Think of an assembly line
where each individual employee completes one repetitive step in the product development process.
The product is finished and ready to be sold after each employee completes his or her respective
tasks in the product development process. To see classical scientific management, division of labor,
and the assembly line in action, we can turn to Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company.

Henry Ford's Model T Production Line

Turns out that right around the same time Taylor, Gantt, and the Gilbreths were developing the
principles of scientific management, Henry Ford was looking for an effective way to produce his
Model T. At that time, a car was really considered a luxury item that was handcrafted by one
individual on a factory floor, and Ford sought to change this. By combining the idea of scientific
management's best possible way to accomplish a task through the division of labor and Ford's
engineering background, the true assembly line was born.
Ford spent a good amount of time researching the best possible way to assemble the Model T. First,
he rationalized the most effective way to build the Model T based on the size of parts. From there,
he determined the best order to assemble similarly sized parts. Workers were then assigned and
trained on individualized tasks. Production began, but there were a few hiccups along the way.
 Henry Ford wanted an effective way to produce his Model T.

After much trial and error over a five year period, Ford resolved to first build the basic chassis, which
included the frame, axles, and wheels. From there, the vehicle would move down the production line
as individualized parts were added. Eventually raw materials and sub-assemblies were added, which
allowed for smaller parts to be assembled before they were brought to the main assembly line.
Once the process was defined it only took 93 minutes to build the Model T, allowing Ford to mass-
produce the car. In fact, from 1908 through 1927, approximately 15 million Model Ts were produced
using the assembly line that Ford designed. Ford's assembly line method quickly spread to
numerous manufacturing operations around the world and is still in use today. I am sure many of you
can think of several products you own that were produced using the assembly line.

Lesson Summary
Let's review. Classical scientific management theory is focused on the 'science' of creating
specialized work processes and workforce skills to complete production tasks efficiently.
Contributors of the scientific management theory were Frederick Taylor, Henry Gantt, and Frank and
Lillian Gilbreth. It was from these individuals' work that the four principles of scientific management
were developed, which included:

1. Management should provide workers with a precise, scientific approach for how to complete
individualized tasks.
2. Management should carefully choose and train each employee on one specific task.
3. Management should communicate with employees to ensure that the method used to
complete the task is, in fact, the most productive and efficient.
4. Management should create an appropriate division of labor.

Henry Ford provides a good example of classical scientific management with his development of the
assembly line used to produce his Model T. The assembly line and similar scientific management
principles are still in use today.

Lesson Objective
After the lesson you should be able to define the scientific school of management and describe how
the the four principles of scientific management are applied to improve the efficiency production.
The classical scientific branch arose because of the need to increase productivity and
efficiency. The emphasis was on trying to find the best way to get the most work done
by examining how the work process was actually accomplished and by scrutinizing the
skills of the workforce.

The classical scientific school owes its roots to several major contributors, including
Frederick Taylor, Henry Gantt, and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.

Frederick Taylor is often called the “father of scientific management.” Taylor believed
that organizations should study tasks and develop precise procedures. As an example,
in 1898, Taylor calculated how much iron from rail cars Bethlehem Steel plant workers
could be unloading if they were using the correct movements, tools, and steps. The
result was an amazing 47.5 tons per day instead of the mere 12.5 tons each worker had
been averaging. In addition, by redesigning the shovels the workers used, Taylor was
able to increase the length of work time and therefore decrease the number of people
shoveling from 500 to 140. Lastly, he developed an incentive system that paid workers
more money for meeting the new standard. Productivity at Bethlehem Steel shot up
overnight. As a result, many theorists followed Taylor's philosophy when developing
their own principles of management.

Henry Gantt, an associate of Taylor's, developed the Gantt chart, a bar graph that
measures planned and completed work along each stage of production. Based on time
instead of quantity, volume, or weight, this visual display chart has been a widely used
planning and control tool since its development in 1910.

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, a husband‐and‐wife team, studied job motions. In Frank's
early career as an apprentice bricklayer, he was interested in standardization and
method study. He watched bricklayers and saw that some workers were slow and
inefficient, while others were very productive. He discovered that each bricklayer used a
different set of motions to lay bricks. From his observations, Frank isolated the basic
movements necessary to do the job and eliminated unnecessary motions. Workers
using these movements raised their output from 1,000 to 2,700 bricks per day. This was
the first motion study designed to isolate the best possible method of performing a
given job. Later, Frank and his wife Lillian studied job motions using a motion‐picture
camera and a split‐second clock. When her husband died at the age of 56, Lillian
continued their work.

Thanks to these contributors and others, the basic ideas regarding scientific
management developed. They include the following:

 Developing new standard methods for doing each job

 Selecting, training, and developing workers instead of allowing them to choose
their own tasks and train themselves
 Developing a spirit of cooperation between workers and management to ensure
that work is carried out in accordance with devised procedures
 Dividing work between workers and management in almost equal shares, with
each group taking over the work for which it is best fitted

Whereas scientific management focused on the productivity of individuals, the classical

administrative approach concentrates on the total organization. The emphasis is on the
development of managerial principles rather than work methods.