Interrelationship Between Management Functions

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT: F.W. TAYLOR

It was F.W. Taylor who recognized for the first time the need of a scientific approach to the task of managing an enterprise. He is called the father of the Scientific Management Movement. Taylor was an industrial engineer. He realized that the organization of industry on a large scale created new and complex problems for entrepreneurs. He studied the cause of low efficiency of workers and concluded that the main cause was the lack of the knowledge on the part of the management as to how much work should be done by a worker in a day. He was convinced that the management did not really manage. He decided to work out some system of management whereby the interests of the management and of the workers could become the same.

On the basis of his observations and experiments, Taylor suggested that the management should follow a scientific approach in their work and apply scientific method in tackling all problems relating to efficiency. The scientific method comprises (a). observation, (b). measurement, (c). experimentation and (d) inference. He emphasized on condensing the knowledge and experience by classifying, tabulating and reducing the knowledge to rules, laws and formulae. His book “The Principles of Scientific Management” published in 1911 is perhaps the single most important book on the subject. Based on the first-hand studies of manufacturing practices at the shop level, he formulated a series of principles which he incorporated in his book. He recommended making management a science, resting on “well recognized, clearly defined and fixed principles, instead of depending on more or less lazy ideas”. He ensured that with the help of scientific management, not only the productive efficiency of each worker will be maximized, but there will be enlargement of profits and earnings both for the employer and the workers. The natural consequence of this would be perfect understanding and cooperation between the management and the workers.

Principles and Techniques of Scientific Management

Taylor summed up his approach in the following principles:

• Science, not rule of thumb.
• Harmony, not discord.
• Cooperation, not individualism.
• Maximum output in place of restricted output.
• Equitable division of work and responsibility between management and labour.

Taylor and his associates perfected efficiency techniques through which these principles could be implemented. The main elements of scientific management are:

1. Determination of workload- on the basis of method study, motion study, time study, fatigue study, etc.
2. Planning of industrial operations- viz., what work shall be done, how the work shall be done, where the work shall be done and when the work shall be done.
3. Proper selection, placement and training of workers by a centralized personnel department.
4. Improvement in methods of work viz. : (a) standardization of tools and equipment. (b) regulation of speed of machines. (c) improvement of the work environment. 
5. Introduction of functional organization (separating the functions of planning and implementation between two sets of foremen).
6. Mental revolution, i.e., a change in the mental outlook of the employees and the employers.

The significance of Taylor’s work lies in the emphasis on the use of the scientific methods and the scientific approach for the solution of problems of management. However, Taylor’s approach had mixed reaction. It was not appreciated by the workers and their unions for obvious reasons. It prescribed ‘one best way’ for doing each job and the workers were compelled to follow it. The industrial psychologists challenged the assumption of ‘one best way’ and criticized treating workmen as cogs in a machine without giving them an opportunity to think about their jobs and methods of work. They asked for replacing the mechanical approach by humanistic approach. 

Though, Taylor gave a lucid explanation of the management as a separate and identifiable discipline, his stress on time and motion study and on efficiency at the shop level had the effect of overlooking some other vital aspects of management.