Critique of the Principles of Scientific Management free essay sample

Biography Written by Frederick Winslow Taylor, who was called The Father of Scientific Management† (Wrege Greenwood, 1991). Taylor was the most influential person of the time and he has had an impact on management until this day. His innovation in engineering helped improving productivity, which called The Taylor System of Scientific Management (Copley, 1969), which is depends on scientific methods to manage any factory (Wikipedia). Taylor came from wealthy family. He was born on March 20, 1856 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And died in 1915(Copley, 1969). In 1872, he was sent to Exeter Academy in Philips to be prepared for Harvard University. However, Taylor passed the Harvard University examination with honors. His eyes affected, as a result of his hard study at night. This required him to have a rest from reading. So he worked in Philadelphia for four years in a small machine shop (Copley, 1969; Greenwood, 1991). In 1878, he stared working as a laborer for a big company called Midvale Steel Works (Copley, 1969). Taylor quickly progressed from laborer to foreman for the company, then chief engineer (Wrege Greenwood, 1991). In 1881, He developed studies about time-motion (net). In 1883, Taylor graduate from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, with Mechanical Engineering degree (Wrege Greenwood, 1991). Critique The author begins this article with major fact that faces the civilize world. With almost all workmen believed that it is better to turn out little outputs for the salary they get. The reason of their believed is that if they increase their efficiency â€Å"double their output†, half of the worker will be without job by the end of the year. Taylor argued the effect of any labor-saving device at any work. The universal result for this phenomenon was that provide more work for people in this trade. He gave an example for that the cotton industry. Around 1780, when the power loom invented, the weaver of Manchester, England, know it is coming. Since the power loom turn out three times what those weaver turn in a day, all Manchester weaver decided to destroy all these machine. Now day, there are 265,000 weavers in Manchester after the labor-saving device come, comparing with 5,000 in 1840. This shows how this invention provided more jobs (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001). Taylor gives another example; a pen manufactory, who has one workman. And this worker turns out ten pens every day for $2. 50 a day. One day the foreman come and asked the worker to double his output for $5 a day, the workman accepted his offer. Everyone was happy with that. However, one day one of the directors saw the payroll, but he didn’t like what he sees. The director asked the foreman to cut the price down to the standard rate of wages which is $2. 50 a day. From that day, the workman decided that he will never makes enough pens in the future to get his salary cut again. In this example you can’t blame ether one the directors, nor the workman. It is just a bad luck in industry (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001). The author mention that there is no one in the world invented scientific management. It is not a new theories, it is an evolution. In reality, we see how the practice comes before the theory not after it. Now days, we can see how scientific management is in use in almost every industry in the U. S. there are many benefits for the workmen who work under scientific management; an increase from 33 to 100 per cent in their salary; more important the good relationship with their employers. On the other hand, the management will get what they want, the large profit (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001). However, scientific management exists when complete mental revolutions accrue in the work place on both management and workmen. The manager should give his workmen a special motivation, if he wants them to do their best for the good of his firm. In the book, Classics of Organization Behavior, Frederick Herzberg mention some ways to motivate workmen; 1) Cutting Time they spent at work. 2) Rising wages. 3) Provide some benefits. 4) Provide job participation. But, his change doesn’t come overnight; we need time to change people’s principles in life. Managements in any industries are responsible of this change. They are the primary key that makes scientific management successful (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001). Taylor divided scientific management into four principles:- 1. Replaces the old rule-of-thumb method to a new method that based on people motion. And the time a person needs to do a specific job. And the good way of doing it. 2. In any industry, the scientific managements select their workmen, train them to do their duties, and then pay them a high salary for their work. Whereas in the past the individual chose his own job, and then train himself as best as he could. 3. Bring together the two first principles. This is one of the management responsibilities to choose his workmen, train them, and have a good relationship with them. They have to cooperate with their worker, explain to them the new method that they will use in work. So, they can insure that the work will be done in accordance (Wrege Greenwood, 1991). 4. Divided the work into two sections, one of them is the management duties, and the other handed over the workmen. It is in this real cooperation, this genuine division of the work between the two sides, more than any other element, which accounts for the fact that there never will be strikes under scientific management (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001, p. 10) Over the years there have been serious criticisms leveled against Taylors Scientific Management. One of these critics has charged Taylors system for viewed man as a machine -a cog in a wheel - and programmed every important motion a workman had to execute to complete an assigned task (Halpern, Osofsky, Peskin, 1989). Those critics believed that would leave workers with no discretion at all and it is tedious for all, but the most apathetic workers. Another critic added that scientific management mandates an extremely high division of labor which requires minimum skills. This left workers with no incentive to grow and develop on the job. Also, Taylors system was criticized for ignoring the human element of the job, because it is programming the workers movements without caring about employees’ interests and emotional lives on the jobs. Moreover, Taylorism system failed to identify the social and psychological needs of the worker, and the displeasure that comes when these need doesn’t meet (Halpern, Osofsky, Peskin, 1989). Another failure in Taylor’s system was that it ties the reward structure to the individual work. But by making a little change in his system, it can succeed today. That can be by making the group the principle work unit instead the individual. So that if the group achieves its goal all members of this group should be awarded (Halpern, Osofsky, Peskin, 1989). Today’s workplace: In todays live the scientific management name is gone, but we can see it basic principles everywhere. However, the principles of scientific management have been discussed frequency in different current management literature (Freeman, 1996). †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Develop a science for each element of a mans work† (Freeman, 1995): by using A computer program called OPSIM (Operator Simulation for Time Study Teaching and Research) to study the time and the motion for workers. †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Research, investigate and experiment (with their processes of analysis, measurement, comparison, Etc) (Freeman, 1996). Besides increasing the worker productivity and quality. The new innovative form of Taylor’s System on Time and motion studies is to increase workers incentive and pleasure. †¢Using scientific to select, train, teach and develop the workers. Human resource publications have many articles that talked about the best method to select an employee. In many universities, the researchers have been trying to determine the validity of employee selection system (Freeman, 1996). †¢Heartily cooperate with the Men. Environment of intellectual inquiry can be created by management in which the seeking of knowledge becomes the norm by; 1) demanding and rewarding individual initiative and improvement(Freeman, 1996). 2) Bring to light those who outdo. 3) Designing the systems and organization structures that cause individuals to feel they can control their own destinies in a way that promotes acceptance of responsibility (Freeman, 1996). †¢The inspection job is to maintain, or to interpret the cause of varying from set up standards: (SPC) statistical process control is the prevalent method to observe the variations from standards. This method totally works with scientific management. And it is helping the management to make its decisions based on scientific facts, rather than the rule-of-thumb estimates (Freeman, 1996). †¢Special motivation. Most of incentive systems are tied to worker productivity. There are many studies that tried to find conclusive answers for the merit pay system. Beside, many business owners found that using the incentive system (by linking the pay to performance) is the best way