SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

“Practitioners Read and are Influenced by the Literature, Just as the Literature is Influenced by the Practice”



CONTENTS

Introduction2

Discussion3

Principles of Scientific Management5

Impact of Scientific Management in the Contemporary world9

Criticism of the Taylors Idea11

Findings and Analysis11

Learning for KFC from the principles of Scientific Management13

Conclusion13

References15



“Practitioners read and are influenced by the literature, just as the literature is Influenced by the practice”.

Introduction

Scientific management writing is part of non-fiction literature in which the central focus is on the management of workflow through rationality. This theory was introduced in the late nineteenth century by Fredrick Taylor and rapidly got a reputation all over the world (Taylor, 2013). In its initial years, it gained momentum and many companies applied it particularly in industrial, scientific and labour intensive firms.

Discussion

Origins of Scientific Management

The term scientific control is usually used to describe the set of applications and knowledge which applied scientifically for the development of management in the formal organization (Taylor, 2013). The purpose of the set was to manage and review the internal variables of the companies. The scientific method of managing workflow is the extensive work of Frederick Taylor and Henri Fayol. Fayol was a mining engineer and had years of administrative experience. In 1916, he published his work “"Administration Industrielle et Générale". In this book, he wrote the functions and principles of management which later became famous by the name of Fayolism (Savall, 2010). In 1949, this book had translated into English but did not get popularity.

Taylor was an American mechanical engineer. He had large experience of management consultancy and had conducted systematic observation to understand the nature of control. In 1911, he published his book with the title “The Principles of Scientific Management”. Taylor's theory became recognized in all over the world and was applied most companies. Taylor's theory primarily focuses on issues of organizational productivity at the operational level, with particular emphasis on the subject and division of labour. It gave rise to a particular body of work or specialization in the company designated as the Scientific Organization of Labour.

Furthermore, it described methods of work, the movements required to perform duties and execution times in order to get a rational organization of labour. He applied this theory through specialization and the reunification of duties and functions of operation movement. Resistance to the principles of Taylor's approach manifests itself often in a “hidden things" within companies. These hidden things take the form of absenteeism, turnover rates of labour, manufacturing defects and waste. On the other hand, differences and diversity of contexts in which companies operate does not allow us to think a single control model is suitable for all conditions. The principles of Taylor brought revolution in the organizational management and produced greater efficiency in business operations. The wages increased, business became more effective, attractive and focused.

With the passage of time, research in management science continued, and many researchers developed new ideas, thoughts and logic. In this way, this theory had criticised and weakened. The philosophy of scientific management became recognized in ...