Scientific Management

Question 1

Frederic Taylor

Answer 1

Born in upper-class Philadelphia family, lived during the industrial revolution, became an engineer by 25 and after 6 years upgraded to chief engineer. Founder of scientific management, one of the first to study behaviour and performance of people at work, he believed that by increasing specialization and division of labour, the production process would be more efficient.

Question 2

Core Values of Taylor

Answer 2

Core values: Clear division of tasks and goals, careful selection of labour, higher wedges, improved quality, increased output, labour management, lower costs, rule of reason, stress reduction and training

Question 3

Arguments against Taylor:

Answer 3

The reductionist approach to work, Dehumanize the worker -leaving no space to think, Inefficiency of the control management system, the belief that increased output would lead to less workforce, Hourly paid wages not link to productivity, poor design of work performance by the rule of thumb.

Question 4

Tayloristic method today:

Answer 4

Job analysis in HR, Departmentalization, Goal setting, Training, testing, Use of academic credit, Management by objective, Functional management form

Question 5

Scientific Management

Answer 5

The systematic study of relationship between people and tasks for the purpose of redesigning the work processes for higher efficiency.

Question 6

Failings/problems with the Scientific Management

Answer 6

1. Implementation problems: rather the increasing the performance through bonuses and rewards, only increased the amount of work, each worked is expected to do.
2. Unhappy workers: more work same pay, dissatisfied workers with monotonous and repetitive jobs
3. Managers did not care for workers well being
4. workers would held their knowledge to keep the job
5. Workers developed informal rules to discourage high performance.