Scientific Management

Taylor's 'deal'

"Do it my way, by my standards, at the speed I mandate and in doing so achieve a level of output I ordain, and I'll pay you handsomely for it..."

Systematic Soldiering

Conscious and deliberate restriction of output by operators. They did this because they thought if they increased output it would result in lay offs, there were poor management controls so they could work slowly, and they could choose how they work

Rationalism

theory that reason is the foundation of certainity in knowledge

Taylor

Principles of Scientific management 1911

Watertown Arsenal Strike 1991

Strike was more because of managerial ineptitude than worker resistance. Caused a congressional committee to investigate Taylor's methods. Taylorism banned in defense industries

5 principles of scientific management

1. Clear division of tasks and responsibilities between management and coworkers 2.Use of scientific methods to determine the best way of doing a job 3. Scientific selection of person to do a job 4. Training worker to do a job as specified 5. surveillance of workers through hierarchies of supervision

Criticisms of Taylorism

1. assume motivation of employee was purely financial 2. neglected the subjective and interactional aspects of performance 3. failed to appreciate the deeper meanings of work and there reaction to being closely monitored 4. inadequate understanding of the relation of individual incentives of working in groups 5. ignored psychological needs of workers 6. too simple approach 7. functional foremanship too complex

Scientifc Management

Form of job design theory and practice which stresses short repetitive work cycles; prescribed task sequences; a separation of task conception from task execution and motivation based on economic rewards