The Principles of Scientific Management

by Frederick Winslow Taylor

Book Overview

For more than 80 years, this influential work by Frederick Winslow Taylor -- the pioneer of scientific management studies -- has inspired administrators and students of managerial techniques to adopt productivity-increasing procedures. Indeed, this book laid the groundwork for modern organization and decision theory. As an engineer for a steel company, Taylor made careful experiments to determine the best way of performing each operation and the amount...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486299880
• ISBN13: 9780486299884
• Release Date: July 1997
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

The Roots of Modern Management

Taylor's ideas are commonly viewed as being antiquated because of the time and circumstances under which he worked. Not so! If you think TQM (including Deming, Juran, Shewart, and Taguchi) and Collaborative Management are the answer, you'll find the roots of of these and more in Taylor. It is true that Taylor applied his efforts mainly to work consisting of brute force - but that was the workplace world which existed then.Before reading Taylor, you should first get up to speed on modern management/leadership concepts. Then, travel back to a time before machines replaced human labor. (If you are my age it should be easy!) Now read Taylor and use just a bit of imagination to visualize what he would be doing today. Then, and only then, can you begin to understand and appreciate what this man and a few other pioneers like him did.Would his mindset change the way you do business? Then you'd better change because TQM and Collaborative Management are just Taylor on steroids. You can't understand management/leadership unless you understand Taylor. And you can't compete unless you understand both of these.

A seminal work

F.W. Taylor is where the serious student of scientific management begins. I believe that it's one of the best books on the subject that I've ever read - and it was an academic paper presented by Taylor almost 100 years ago. It's funny at times (and probably not meant to be), written in the academic style of the early 20th century. His movements back and forth between the theory and real life examples prove that he was one of the better economists of his day.Taylor had humble beginnings (he was a shop laborer early in his career), and later he switched to consulting for various types of manufacturers. Peter F. Drucker and other scientific management gurus owe Taylor a debt of gratitude, which I'm sure they would readily acknowledge. All of us owe a debt to him as well. How can a firm reach greater efficiencies? Taylor suggested that firms do it in ways that even today are resisted and misunderstood by management. Increase workers' pay. Give them mandatory breaks throughout the day. Timing rest breaks between heavy lifting optimizes productivity. Please don't ignore these examples in the information age - Taylor was ahead of his time and perhaps even ahead of ours. Today's intelligent manager can still discover many useful ideas in this book.It's not a terribly long work, and it's fun to read. I'm surprised that I was able to earn a BSBA without being required to read it, or parts of it. It's invaluable for firms and workers in any country, developed or undeveloped, and the firms that dare to utilize the ideas will be quite happy with the result: increased productivity, and therefore, increased profits. econ

A classic that must be read in context

Taylor is viewed as the grand father of business process re-engineering and the intellectual foundation for much of the work on business process change. Unfortunately few people who invoke Talyor's name have ever read his origional work on sought to understand his ideas. Most authors latch on to the essense of his ideas -- to look at the work, organize it as best as possible, measure it and improve it.While these are important aspects of modern management, most people fail to understand the issues Taylor is trying to address. He must be read in the context of his times -- the late 19th and early 20th century when work was moving out of being a craft and into scientific-mass produced factory labor. When you consider the context-Taylors work is really about removing "slack" from work practices and standardization more than anything else.Given that people are now talking about "knowlege work and empowerment" references to Taylor fall somewhat flat. The economy is moving back from factory to craft work based on knowledge. The pamphlet is a good read for someone who wants to understand the intellecutal underpinnings of a process/workflow approach to management. In that regard it is higly recommended even it it takes some time to get through and you have to remember that this is a man of the 1870's and 1900's else you will get hung up on his ethinically insensitive comments -- particularly if you are Irish and other ideas.

The Basis of Using Measurement to Improve Performance

Let me caution you before commenting on this book. Most people who refer to Taylor and Scientific Management have not read Taylor, but about Taylor in secondary sources. So, forget what you have heard about Taylor. Keep an open mind.Prior to Taylor, management tried to create output by providing incentives to workers. But pressure from peers kept workers from doing more work. Everyone agreed that this would lead to fewer jobs. The virtuous cycle of higher performance, lower prices, more sales, and higher pay for workers and shareholders was not yet uncovered. Taylor sees the results of the higher productivity mostly being of help to consumers, with the remainder of the benefit split between shareholders and workers. In that he was prescient. Advanced thinkers today are rediscovering this old truth, first elaborated by Taylor.What I found to be delightful in the book was the emphasis on trying to approach the ideal practice, rather than being satisfied with the best of today.Here are the key principles for your reference:(1) develop a science for each element of a task to determine the most productive way to do that task (quality and quantity considered in terms of total costs) (2) scientifically select and train those who can do the task the most effectively in what needs to be done, and provide all of the help they need (3) create an environment where the person doing the task can be productive (this often involves systems limitations, like input from others)(4) management has a role in designing the work, selecting workers who are ideal for the work, and helping the work be learned properly. There is an equal division between the worker and management in creating the right result.In reading this list, I am reminded of Bill Jensen's new book, Simplicity, in which he calls for something rather similar to the broad concepts of Scientific Management. So although many people consider almost all existing management Taylorian, a closer examination would say that management is not doing its job. The basic problem with Scientific Management was not that it was flawed, but that it took slow long to do that it was impractical to try too many experiments. The time and measurement experiments took forever. The calculations of multivariate problems were hard to solve in precomputer days. The change process was slow (usually 3-5 years).The experiments that we all know about and applaud now (team-based learning and self-directed work teams, TQM, reengineering, and so forth) could have been addressed by the Scientific Management method as soon as the limitations described above could be lifted.As a result, I think it is incorrect to be pro TQM or reengineering and anti Scientific Management. I believe that the basic principles are more compatible than not.At some point, all of this becomes merely philosophical. I think you will find the case studies in the book revealing about what the potential for i

The Best Management Book Ever Written

Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management is unsurpassed by any other in its' understanding of the job of management and the worker. Taylor's book shows what good quality critical thinking applied to industry can accomplish. Taylor placed the burden of management totally on management and not the worker unlike so much of the worker incentive and innovation crap that we hear today. Taylor's manager really knew what he was doing and was not just a slave-driver as was common in his day and our day. Taylor had been a worker as well as manager and understood what motivated the first-class worker so as to get top performance out of him. Hint: It's not goofy awards or kudos or gain sharing or profit sharing. This book should be required reading for all managers and workers.