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The contributions of Fredrick Taylor to Management Science, including the

criticism of his views as they affect the worker. Looking at the "Principles of
Scientific Management" and...

Preprint · October 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25965.61921

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The contributions of Fredrick Taylor to Management Science, including the
criticism of his views as they affect the worker. Looking at the "Principles of
Scientific Management" and its impact on management practices today

Mashudu Nethavhani, 23, October 2020

Background

Frederick Winslow Taylor made an outstanding contribution to the field of management.

Tylor was regarded as father of scientific management and a pioneer who founded
principles of scientific management (Rahman, 2012). Taylor was a Mechanical Engineer,
efficiency expert, and management consultant (Rahman, 2012). According to Rahman
(2012), Taylor worked in different capacities in steel industry and after he received
promotion, he became involved in overseeing the work of other employees. By watching
men who worked for him, Taylor became interested in the process of work itself. Taylor
noticed the tendency of ‘soldiering’ or slowing down of work to an easy pace (Blake &
Mosely, 2011). He then pushed workers to fasten the pace as a way of maximizing output,
the response however, was continuous slowing down of pace and he realized that
threatening workers could not help to speed up the process of maximizing the output.
That was the beginning of experiments which also made discoveries about time-and-
motion studies as an attempt to find solution to his personnel problems.

Frederick Taylor’s contribution to Management

Taylor’s greatest question was grounded around why there was so much antagonism and
inefficiency. Taylor believed that the use of engineering principles could help reduce the
waste and increase production and efficiency (Taylor, 1947). Taylor (1947) identified
three causes of antagonism and inefficiency: a) Fallacious belief of workers that increased
output would lead to unemployment inevitably b) defective system of management which
makes workers to restrict output to protect their interest c) rule of thumb which is inefficient
and efforts wasting. Taylor (1947) emphasized that elimination of these causes would
lead to prosperity of not only the employer but the employees as well. Taylor (1947)
proposed four principles to achieve greater prosperity of both the employer and
employees.

1. Science, not a rule of thumb

Taylor advocated that employers ought to examine each element of a job scientifically.
He maintained that scientific investigation should be employed to back up management
decisions. This principle ensures that minimum human effort is exerted while maximum
output is produced.

2. Harmony or cooperation between employer and workers

The employer and workers’ relationship should be maintained, and works should be
carried in accordance to standards. This would ensure that the job is done in a best
possible way. The cooperation between employers and workers eliminates conflict and
ensures harmony.

3. Scientific selection, and training and development of workers

Workers should have qualities and skills required for the job; therefore, capable workers
should be hired, and incapable workers should be taken out of work. This is done is a
systematic way to ensure that workers who are capable and suited for the job will thrive
and become more prosperous. Workers with physical and intellectual abilities (qualities)
speed up the pace to increase productivity and are paid piece rate system to reinforce
their behavior.

4. Division of work

The responsibility of employers and workers are divided and communicated. Tasks are
also broken down into smaller components to find an optimal method of performing a
task. Division of work provides clarity for employers on how the job should be done and
in turn giving workers responsibility to do a job.

Criticism of Frederick Taylor’s work

Taylor’s work was criticized for not acknowledging human aspects and social context
(Rahman, 2012), his work focused on the tasks rather than individuals who are performing
the tasks. This work led to reductionism approach which dehumanizes workers. Task
allocation and time allowed to do the tasks leave no room for individual worker to think, it
assembles workers to operate like machines. Taylor also did not acknowledge variance
among individuals and tend to regard workers as uninformed and ignore their ideas and
suggestions. Taylor’s work hypothesized that workers’ motive is solitarily income without
an acknowledgement of other factors that influence performance.

Impact of Frederick Winslow Taylor in the organizational activities today

Although Taylor’s work was prominent in the 20s century, it is still relevant today and it is
reflected in the organizational activities in varying advanced techniques. The way work
is organized today resembles Taylor scientific principles to a certain extent. These
principles shall be discussed in relation to the impact they have in management practices
today.

Tools of Scientific Management

1. Division of work or responsibility

Organizations of today have segregated departments with distinct individuals who occupy
different functional areas within the organization. The segregation ranges from interns,
employees, management, and employers performing distinct functions that leads to
overall organizational performance. Separation of planning and doing is a core principle
of Scientific Management. For example, McDonald’s as a food industry provides
specialized tasks with movement of workers. Specialized management serves the
purpose of effective planning to achieve the desired organizational goals while
subordinates perform the tasks.

2. Harmony/ cooperation between employers and workers

Organizations of today have Human Resources departments that ensures cooperation

between employers and workers. Both management and employees understand each
other to improve productivity and profits. For instance, the use of teams with tasks that
are delegated by management. However, this principle has evolved to an extent that it
includes autonomy and discretion of employees which was not the case in Taylor’s initial
establishment of this principle. Example of this include the involvement of trade unions,
establishment of collective bargaining and workplace forums.

3. Scientific selection and training of workers

This principle maintains that highly qualified person should occupy the top positions in the
organization. Management practices within rewards system include performance-based
pay, bonus pay, and payment based on commission to increase output and productivity.
Human resource department recruit employees in a systematic and scientific way. The
use of job analysis to ensure congruent between the requirement of the job and skills,
knowledge, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) and experience of a candidate is
prominent in today’s organizations. In addition, organizations invest in training. According
to Eduardo, Scott, Kurt & Kimberly (2012), organizations in the United States invest
billions on training each year.

4. Replacing rule of thumb with science

Management decisions are backed by facts and figures which reflect scientific
investigation. Organizational activities and human resources practices are thoroughly
planned with an application of science. For instance, marketing personnel relies on
market surveys prior and during the release of a product or services, it is important to
gather information about customers interests and expectations to avoid failure in this
hyper competitive business ecosystem.

Taylor’s work sets the base for present knowledge and its effect is being felt today. Most
changes in management practices today are grounded in Frederick Winslow Taylor’s
Scientific Management.
 References

Black, A.M., & Moseley, J.L. (2011). Frederick Winslow Taylor: One hundred years of
managerial insight. International Journal of Management, 28(4), 346-353.

Eduardo, S., Scott, I. T., Kurt, K., & Kimberly. A. S. (2012). The Science of training and
development in organizations: what matters in practice. Psychological Science in the
Public Interest, 13(2), 74-101.

Rahman, M. H. (2012). Hendry Fayol and Frederick Winslow Taylor’s contribution to

management thought: an overview. Journal of Advanced Research, 1(2), 2304-2621.

Taylor, F.W. (1947). Scientific Management. Harper and Brothers: New York.

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