FW Taylor Principles of Scientific Management

FW Taylor Principles of Scientific Management - Principles of Scientific Management by Taylor:
F.W. Taylor or Fredrick Winslow Taylor is also known as the ‘father of scientific management’ proved with his practical theories that a scientific method can be implemented to management. Taylor gave much concentration on the supervisory level of management and performance of managers and workers at an operational level. Let’s discuss in detail the five(5) principles of management by F.W Taylor.

1. Principles & Practice of Management By: Smt.UMA MINAJIGI REUR HEAD, DEPT. OF COMMERCE & Management Smt. V G Degree College for Women, Kalaburagi Part 8 Evolution of Management Frederick Winslow Taylor & Scientific Management

2. FW Taylor Principles of Scientific Management Principles of Scientific Management by Taylor: F.W. Taylor or Fredrick Winslow Taylor is also known as the ‘father of scientific management’ proved with his practical theories that a scientific method can be implemented to management. Taylor gave much concentration on the supervisory level of management and performance of managers and workers at an operational level.  Taylor defined scientific management as, “Scientific management is concerned with knowing exactly what you want men to do and then see in that they do it in the best and cheapest way.”

3. FW Taylor Elements and Tools of Scientific Management Taylor conducted many experiments at his work places to find out how human beings could be made more efficient by standardising the work and better method of doing the work. These experiments have provided the following features of scientific management: Separation of planning and doing Functional foremanship Job analysis Standardisation Scientific selection and Training of workers Financial Incentives Economy Mental Revolution

4. Separation of planning and doing Talylor emphsised the separation of planning aspect from actual doing of work. Earlier, a worker used to plan about his work and equipment's required for his work. He was put under a supervisor known as Gang Boss. The supervisor job was to check the performance of his workers. Taylor emphasised that planning should be done by the supervisor and the worker should emphasise only operational work.

5. Functional Foremanship Functional foremanship is an administration of the factory system that supports for possessing numerous foremen in separate and variant functional roles. In earlier days, factories had just one total manager who would manage the entire operations. This manager or the foreman was the only point of contact for factory employees. Frederick Winslow Taylor, the distinguished engineer who transformed scientific management in the late 19th century, discovered a significant fault in this practice. When he noted all of the features would require a successful supervisor of that particular task or for that particular kind of work. He discerned that no one person would probably have every single one. Hence, the idea of working foremanship started.

6. Taylor’s Observation According to his observation, it is impossible for a single worker to be master in each and every aspect of production. Therefore he insisted that eight persons should be performing the duties of a foreman and this kind of work came to be known as functional foremanship. The following roles were included in this kind of job: 1. Instruction Card Clerk:  This instructor gives instructions to workers regarding their work. 2. Route Clerk:  His role was to mention the route of production 3. Time and Cost Clerk:  His role was to arrange the time and costs sheet 4. Disciplinarian:  His role was to maintain discipline in the production facility and in the factory These four role comes under the planning supervisor The other four persons who work under the production supervisor are: 1. Speed Boss:  Maintains the time record for the job assigned to the worker. Checks if the job is completed timely. 2. Gang Boss:  The main responsibility of this person is to keep machines in a ready state for work. 3. Repair boss:  He takes the responsibility to keep machines and tools in proper working condition. 4. Inspector:  The responsibility of quality of work is taken care by this inspector.

7. Job Analysis Job analysis is undertaken to find out the best way of doing the things. The best way of doing a job is one which requires the least movements, consequently less time and cost. Time study involves the determination of time a movement takes to complete the job. Motion Study involves the study of movements involved in doing a job. Eliminating unnecessary movements in doing work reduces time taken in performing the job and also the fatigue of workers. Fatigue study involves the amount and frequency of rest required in completing the work. Sufficient rest makes the workers further work with full capacity. Thus, Job analysis by Taylor suggests the fair amount of a day’s work for the workers.

8. Standardisation Standardisation refers to the process of setting standards for every business activity, it can be raw material, product, time etc … Standardisation should be maintained in respect of instruments and tools, period of work, amount of work, working conditions, cost of production etc. These things should be fixed in advance on the basis of job nalysis and various elements of costs that go in performing a work.

9. Scientific selection and training of workers Taylor suggested that workers should be selected on scientific basis taking into account their education, work experience, aptitude, physical strength etc. Apart from selection, proper training should be given to the workers which makes them more efficient and effective.

10. Financial Incentives Financial Incentives can motivate workers to put in their maximum efforts. If provisions exists to earn higher wages by putting in extra effort, workers will be motivated to earn more. Taylor applied the concept of differential piece rate system, where he suggested that wages should be based on individual performance and not on the position which he occupies. Further, the wage rate should be fixed on accurate knowledge and not on estimates.

11. Economy Talyor suggested that along with scientific and technical aspects, adequate consideration should be given to economy and profit. The economy and profit can be achieved by making the resources more productive as well as by eliminating the wastages.

12. Mental revolution This technique involves a shift of attitude of management and workers towards each other. Both should understand the value of each other and work with full participation and cooperation. The aim of both should be to improve and boost the profits of the organisation . Mental Revolution demands a complete change in the outlook of both the workers and management; both should have a sense of togetherness.

13. FW Taylor Principles of Scientific Management Principles of Scientific Management by Taylor: F.W. Taylor or Fredrick Winslow Taylor is also known as the ‘father of scientific management’ proved with his practical theories that a scientific method can be implemented to management. Taylor gave much concentration on the supervisory level of management and performance of managers and workers at an operational level. Let’s discuss in detail the five(5) principles of management by F.W Taylor.

14. 1. Science, not the Rule of Thumb- This rule focuses on increasing the efficiency of an organisation through scientific analysis of work and not with the ‘Rule of Thumb’ method. Taylor believed that even a small activity like loading paper sheets into boxcars can be planned scientifically. This will save time and also human energy. This decision should be based on scientific analysis and cause and effect relationships rather than ‘Rule of Thumb’ where the decision is taken according to the manager’s personal judgement. 2. Harmony, Not Discord- Taylor indicated and believed that the relationship between the workers and management should be cordial and complete harmony. Difference between the two will never be beneficial to either side. Management and workers should acknowledge and understand each other’s importance. Taylor also suggested the mental revolution for both management and workers to achieve total harmony.

15. 3. Cooperation, not Individualism- It is similar to ‘Harmony, not discord’ and believes in mutual collaboration between workers and the management. Managers and workers should have mutual cooperation & confidence and a sense of goodwill. The main purpose is to substitute internal competition with cooperation.

16. 4. Maximum Output: Production maximization is the basic objective of each and every organisation which serves the purpose of its survival, growth and development. Through this principle Taylor has emphasized on the need of maximizing productivity / output.  According to this principle the workers as well as the management should try to maximize the productivity of the organization. For this purpose, scientific techniques have been indicated by Taylor which should be followed in the organization. Scientific techniques assure better and improved quality output with minimum or less wastage. Maximization of output as compared to limited output or fixed output is very beneficial in all facets. Workers, management, consumers and society as a whole will be benefited from this. Maximum output increases the profits of the management and on the other hand workers enjoy an incremented wages. With increased productivity consumers get quality products at just and fair prices as well as the interest of the society at large is also served properly.

17. 5. Development of Every Person to his Greatest Efficiency- The effectiveness of a company also relies on the abilities and skills of its employees. Thus, implementing training, learning best practices and technology, is the scientific approach to brush up the employee skill. To assure that the training is given to the right employee, the right steps should be taken at the time of selection and recruiting candidates based on a scientific selection.

18. Scientific Management: Benefits, Followers and Critical Analysis! To Employers: Scientific management leads to the following benefits to the employers: 1. Use of scientific techniques leading to efficient management of resources. 2. Proper selection and training of the workers leading to better workforce. : 3. Establishment of harmonious relationship between the workers and the management. 4. Achievement of equal division of responsibilities between the workers and the management. 5. Scientific determination of fair work a worker can do each day. This a leads to establishment of good relations between the employers and the workers. 6. Standardisation of tools, equipment’s, materials and work methods for increasing efficiency. 7. Better utilisation of various resources.

19. To Workers: The advantages of scientific management to the workers are listed below: 1. Detailed instructions and guidance for the workers. 2. Opportunity for training and development to increase skills. 3. Better working conditions and tools of work for good health of the workers. 4. Incentive wages to the workers for higher productivity. 5. Less fatigue in work because of application of scientific methods and better working environment.

20. To Society: Scientific management is expected to bring the following benefits to the society in general: 1. Increased productivity in the country. 2. Better quality products at lower costs to the people. 3. Higher standard of living of people through better products. 4. Technological developments due to scientific investigations.

21. Followers of Scientific Management: Other persons who worked to develop scientific management were Carl George Berth, Henry Gantt, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and Edward Felene to mention a few important. Berth worked with Taylor and later developed many mathematical techniques and formulae that made it possible to put Taylor’s ideas into practice. Gantt developed graphic methods of depicting plans and making possible better managerial control. He emphasised the importance of time as well as cost in planning and controlling work. This eventually led to the development of famous Gantt Chart which is in wide use today and was the forerunner of such modern technique as Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Frank and Lillian Gibreth , team of husband and wife, also tried to find out one best way of doing under the given set of realities. They also tried to look at the problems of workers from social and psychological point of view. Felene invited Gilbreth to apply scientific management to manage his departmental store. The major areas of concern were employee training and evaluation and human element in business. Later, he created Twentieth Century Fund, a famous research organisation still in existence.

22. Scientific management created awareness about increasing operational efficiency at the shop- floor level by adopting systematic methods as against the rule of thumb which was prevalent at that time. However, from the point of view of the development of theoretical framework, the principles of scientific management were more concerned with problems at the operating levels and did not emphasis management of an organisation from the manager’s point of view. Therefore, it was more relevant from engineering point of view rather than management point of view. In fact, one author has later suggested that Taylor can be regarded as the ‘father of industrial engineering’ rather than the ‘father of scientific management’. Critical Analysis of Scientific Management:

23. Similarly, persons advocating scientific management have emphasised physiological variables affecting human behaviour at workplace, both in terms of work efficiency and methods of motivating the workers. As such, the scientific management is more relevant to mechanisation and automation—technical aspect of efficiency—than the broader aspects of management of an organisation . Apart from the theoretical considerations, Taylor’s scientific management was opposed by Gade unions, industrialists, and general public. The opposition was so grave that Taylor to defend his scientific management before a special US Congressional Committee in 1912. The introduction of scientific management led to the agitation by trade unions in different production units.

24. The major reasons for the opposition of scientific management ware as follows: 1. There were many of the followers of Taylor who took aggressive mechanical view of production and sidelined human aspect at the workplace. This created aggressive attitudes among workers. 2. The work used to be performed under close and strict supervision based on authoritarian approach. Workers were not allowed to raise their voice even for genuine grievances. 3. There was lack of scientific standardization of work and whatever standards used to be set by the management, the workers had to follow strictly. Such standards often used to raise production norm without taking into consideration the factors affecting such a norm. 4. The most crucial element which was under contention was the differential piece rate system. The workers, even the efficient ones, and their unions, opposed this system on the plea that it was a new method of exploiting workers by the industrialists. It may be mentioned that trade unions were quite popular at that time.

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