Taylor’s scientific management

The essentials

Frederick Winslow Taylor, an American engineer, is called the father of scientific management. He believed that there is one best way to do every job and that it can be found through scientific study rather than guesswork. His approach focused on improving productivity at the shop-floor level.

Key points

• Principles: science, not rule of thumb; harmony, not discord (a 'mental revolution' in the attitudes of workers and management); cooperation, not individualism; development of each and every person to his or her greatest efficiency and prosperity.
• Functional foremanship: separating planning from doing. Under the factory manager, there are a planning in-charge and a production in-charge. The planning side has the instruction card clerk, route clerk, time and cost clerk and disciplinarian. The production side has the speed boss, gang boss, repair boss and inspector. This gives eight specialists.
• Standardisation and simplification of work: setting standards for every activity and removing unnecessary varieties of products, sizes and grades.
• Method study: finding the best way of doing a job.
• Motion study: studying movements to remove unnecessary ones.
• Time study: fixing the standard time for a well-defined job.
• Fatigue study: deciding the frequency and length of rest breaks.
• Differential piece wage system: higher rate per piece for efficient workers who meet the standard, lower rate for those who do not.

Exam tips

• Remember that functional foremanship violates Fayol's unity of command, since a worker gets orders from eight specialists.
• Link 'mental revolution' with the principle of harmony, not discord.

Common mistakes

• Confusing method study (best method for the whole job) with motion study (movements in a job).
• Thinking simplification means fewer workers. It means eliminating unnecessary product varieties.