SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT AND CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMY Scientific management is a theory of management that analysis and synthesizes workflows, with the objective of improving labour productivity. The core ideas of the theory were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the s and s, and were first published in his monographs, Shop Management () Jan 01, · In the closing pages of The Principles of Scientific Management, Taylor wrote: “The general adoption of scientific management would readily in the future double the productivity of the average man engaged in industrial work.” Whether Taylor’s projection ever came to pass is a matter of conjecture; however, what is evident from the research, especially The Theory Of Scientific Management. Words | 7 Pages. The purpose of this essay is to research, analyse and assess the theory of scientific management, which was revolutionised by Frederick Winslow Taylor in (blogger.comski, ) and to critically evaluate the benefits and pitfalls of his theory. This theory Taylor developed is known as Taylorism and has been used
The Impact of Scientific Management in the 21st Century - Words | Essay Example
As industrialization advanced rapidly across the world at the turn of the twentieth century, it transformed working practices and prompted theorists to consider how best to conduct business under such changed circumstances. The theory of scientific management has its roots in the studies conducted by F. Taylor during this formative period see Taylor, scientific management essay There is much debate in the secondary literature about the synonymy of Taylorism and scientific management, which this paper does not discuss for further details see, Caldari, ; Nelson, Rather, this paper positions Taylor as the defining early influence in a continum of scientific approaches to organizational management — all of which fall under the broader definition of scientific management and management science — that endures today.
Section 1 of this paper undertakes a critical evaluation of scientific management theory before going on in Section 2 to discuss scientific management essay and to what extent it is applied at the organisation, Microsoft. Want to get an original essay on this topic? Taylor was one of the first theorists to consider management and process improvement as a scientific problem and, as such, is widely considered the father of scientific management. Taylorism, as a philosophy, was the product of a series of experiments and observations, such as time-motion studies, designed to determine the most effective and efficient way to complete a task.
Its fundamental and inter-related principles can be summarised as follows:. Indeed, his new scientific system of organisation was met initially with widespread support in the USA and Great Britain amongst theorists, politicians and economists alike Nelson, By the s and 40s it had broadly fallen out of favour. The following section undertakes a critical evaluation of scientific management. One of the most popular criticisms levelled at Taylorism is its perceived lack of human appreciation Caldari, On the one hand, standardised work instructions have been shown to improve quality, facilitate training and reduce waste. Since these are drivers of increased cost, it can be argued that the strict doctrines of scientific management actually run the counterproductive risk of increasing costs and reducing productivity.
This, in turn, suppresses their initiative and the potential for discovering new and innovative ways of working. Feedback should be encouraged and decision-making shared between workers and management to engender a greater sense of participation and ownership, greater engagement, and a stronger sense of collaboration between workers and management. This not only caused significant additional mental and physical strain, but also increased the potential for accidents and work stoppage Nelson, Furthermore, workers believed down-skilling and eventual automation were responsible for growing unemployment — even if ultimately it might lead to lower prices and increased demand.
They also objected to the fact that the gains of higher productivity were not shared with the workers. Rather, the major proportion was taken away by the employer in the form of higher profits. Such an imbalance of power and resultant dissatisfaction has the potential to polarise industrial relations leading to increased risks of strike action and disruption. Although there is much to criticise about Taylorism and its early implementation, it should also be acknowledged that its advent paved the way for many of the management theories and methodologies that are followed today. Likewise, in scientific management essay organisations management and labour continue to co-exist in an uneven relationship which privileges intellectual work over manual skills, scientific management essay.
Likewise, the rationalization of processes into discrete, unambiguous units with defined work instructions has laid the foundations for knowledge transfer, automation and eventual offshoring Drucker, — strategies that continue to be implemented in many multinational corporations today as management theory, and management itself, evolves with changing times Witzel and Warner, Incentive schemes are still widely recognized as an effective means to encourage higher performance and are a standard component of most sales compensation packages.
By the same token, modern quality assurance, operations management and total quality management methodologies arguably have their roots in scientific management. In this way, scientific management transcends the narrower confines of Taylorism by means of its direct and indirect influence on those subsequent evidence-based methodologies that also attempt to treat management and process improvement systematically as a measurable, scientific management essay, scientific problem Witzel and Warner, As such, it would be easy to assume its principles would be largely irrelevant in an industry as complex, innovative and knowledge intensive as Information Technology. However, on closer examination it becomes evident that scientific management still exerts a significant influence within Microsoft and on how it conducts its business.
As with all large multi-national corporations, specialisation and division of labour is very much scientific management essay evidence at Microsoft. There is a clear division between functional specialists such as software developers, project managers, marketing, sales, HR, finance and legal. As Taylorism advocates, their roles have written job descriptions with clearly defined skills and competencies to ensure employees capabilities and motivations are carefully matched to their position. There are a number of colourful stories that depict the results-orientated culture that Microsoft has relied on historically in its drive for success see, for example, Shaw, Whilst those at the top received bonuses and promotions, those at the bottom were shown the door for further details see B.
Although this was intended to motivate performance, employees found it oppressive. Developers sought to avoid working with top performers, who threatened scientific management essay own ranking, and as a result free thinking, innovation and collaboration stagnated. Microsoft has, historically, sought to empower employees at all levels. This, in scientific management essay, lays the foundations scientific management essay continuous improvement based on scientific management essay, feedback and the identification of more effective and efficient work methods. Microsoft seeks to encourage scientific management essay performance not only by financial scientific management essay, but also by considering more progressive drivers of employee motivation, participation and satisfaction.
Thus, software programmers at Microsoft work long hours, scientific management essay, but extra discretionary effort is encouraged by free food, relaxed dress code, comfortable offices, and playing games for further details see Birkinshaw and Cramer, So, whereas Taylorism is criticised for its de-humanising tendencies, scientific management essay, Microsoft arguably seeks to balance and blend the drive for enhanced productivity with a complementary appeal to the broader hierarchy of needs in its workforce. This paper has offered a critique of Taylorism as the first and most influential theory that scientific management essay a spectrum of subsequent management practices that fall under the wider umbrella philosophy of scientific management. The example of Microsoft shows how the principles of scientific management inform many practices that are still in use today.
For example, the process of iterative product development owes a debt to scientific management as does project management and evaluation. Management the Microsoft Scientific management essay, The Economist, 21 August Birkinshaw, Julian and Crainer, Stuart, Theory Y meets Generation Y, Management 2. Towards the Next Economics and Other Essays. London: Heinemann Head, Simon, The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age. New York: Oxford University Press Kanigel, Robert, A Mental Revolution: Scientific Management since Taylor, scientific management essay. Ohio: Ohio State University Press Ralston, Shane, Changing the goal-setting process at Microsoft, Academy of Management Executive.
C, and Kinje Hugo, Norwell: Kluwer Stoney, Christopher, Strategic Management or strategic Taylorism? A case study into change within a UK local authority, International Journal of Public Sector Management, scientific management essay, 14 1 Taylor, F, scientific management essay. Principles of Scientific Management, New York: Harper Witzel, M. and Warner, M. Witzel and M. Warner eds. Oxford Handbook of Management Theorists, Oxford and New York, scientific management essay, NY: Oxford University Press Witzel, M. Scientific Management Example For Free. com, Jun 26, Accessed April 18, comJun Scientific Management Example for Free.
Order paper like this. Did you like this example? Type your requirements and get professional help. Deadline: 10 days left. Number of pages. Email Invalid email. A professional writer will make a clear, mistake-free paper for you! Stuck on ideas? Struggling with a concept? Get help with your assigment. Leave your email and we will send a sample to you. Email Send me the sample. Please check your inbox. Interested in this topic? Professional experts can help. Ask expert for help. Please indicate where to send you the sample.
Didn't find the paper that you were looking for? Any subject. Pay if satisfied.
Taylor’s Scientific Management
, time: 16:56
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT AND CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMY Scientific management is a theory of management that analysis and synthesizes workflows, with the objective of improving labour productivity. The core ideas of the theory were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the s and s, and were first published in his monographs, Shop Management () Jan 01, · In the closing pages of The Principles of Scientific Management, Taylor wrote: “The general adoption of scientific management would readily in the future double the productivity of the average man engaged in industrial work.” Whether Taylor’s projection ever came to pass is a matter of conjecture; however, what is evident from the research, especially The Theory Of Scientific Management. Words | 7 Pages. The purpose of this essay is to research, analyse and assess the theory of scientific management, which was revolutionised by Frederick Winslow Taylor in (blogger.comski, ) and to critically evaluate the benefits and pitfalls of his theory. This theory Taylor developed is known as Taylorism and has been used
No comments:
Post a Comment