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CONTRIBUTION OF FREDERICK TAYLOR

Frederick Taylor, well-known management expert and as father of scientific


management too, before worked as an apprentice, machinist, foreman and ultimately as the
chief engineer of a steel company in U.S.A. Taylor suggested a new approach to management
early in the twentieth century. This is known as Scientific Management. He contribute so
much in scientific management world, such experiments laid the groundwork for the
principles of scientific management which were first published in 1911. These included time
studies, standardization of tools and implements, standardization of work methods and the
use of slide-rules and similar time-saving devices. Taylor called these elements merely the
elements or details of the mechanisms of management and
The four basic principles developed by Taylor as principles of scientific management
were:
1) Development of a true science of management replacing the old rule of thumb method,
which would enable managers among other things, to determine the best method of
performing each task;
2) Scientific selection of workers so that each worker could be assigned the task for which he
is best suited;
3) Scientific training and development of workers so as to achieve the highest level of
efficiency;
4) Close cooperation between management and labour to ensure that work is carried out in
accordance with the scientific principles which are developed.







In 1911, Frederick Winslow Taylor published his work, The Principles of Scientific
Management, in which he described how the application of the scientific method to the
management of workers greatly could improve productivity. Scientific management methods
called for optimizing the way that tasks were performed and simplifying the jobs enough so
that workers could be trained to perform their specialized sequence of motions in the one
"best" way.
Prior to scientific management, work was performed by skilled craftsmen who had learned
their jobs in lengthy apprenticeships. They made their own decisions about how their job was
to be performed. Scientific management took away much of this autonomy and converted
skilled crafts into a series of simplified jobs that could be performed by unskilled workers
who easily could be trained for the tasks. Taylor became interested in improving worker
productivity early in his career when he observed gross inefficiencies during his contact with
steel workers.
Under scientific management the initiative of the workmen (that is, their hard work,
their good-will, and their ingenuity) is obtained with absolute uniformity and to a greater
extent than is possible under the old system; and in addition to this improvement on the part
of the men, the managers assume new burdens, new duties, and responsibilities never
dreamed of in the past.
The managers assume, for instance, the burden of gathering together all of the traditional
knowledge which in the past has been possessed by the workmen and then of classifying,
tabulating, and reducing this knowledge to rules, laws, and formula which are immensely
helpful to the workmen in doing their daily work. In addition to developing a science in this
way, the management take on three other types of duties which involve new and heavy
burdens for themselves.





The Principles of Scientific Management excerpts
These new duties are grouped under four heads:
1. They develop a science for each element of a mans work, which replaces the old rule- of-
thumb method.
2. They scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the workman, whereas in the
past he chose his own work and trained himself as best he could.
3. They heartily cooperate with the men so as to insure all of the work being done in
accordance with the principles of the science which has been developed.
4. There is an almost equal division of the work and the responsibility between the
management and the workmen. The management take over all work for which they are better
fitted than the workmen, while in the past almost all of the work and the greater part of the
responsibility were thrown upon the men.
It is this combination of the initiative of the workmen, coupled with the new types of
work done by the management that makes scientific management so much more efficient
than the old plan. Perhaps the most prominent single element in modern scientific
management is the task idea. The work of every workman is fully planned out by the
management at least one day in advance, and each man receives in most cases complete
written instructions, describing in detail the task which he is to accomplish, as well as the
means to be used in doing the work. And the work planned in advance in this way constitutes
a task which is to be solved, as explained above, not by the workman alone, but in almost all
cases by the joint effort of the workman and the management.






This task specifies not only what is to be done but how it is to be done and the exact
time allowed for doing it. And whenever the workman succeeds in doing his task right, and
within the time limit specified, he receives an addition of from 30 per cent. to 100 per cent. to
his ordinary wages. These tasks are carefully planned, so that both good and careful work are
called for in their performance, but it should be distinctly understood that in no case is the
workman called upon to work at a pace which would be injurious to his health.
Taylors ideas were especially successful because it was easy for captains of industry to see
what a difference they were making to costs and productivity. For example, the introduction
of his ideas at the Watertown Arsenal reduced the labour cost of making certain moulds for
the pommel of a packsaddle from $1.17 to 54 cents and the labour cost of building a six-inch
gun carriage fell from $10,229 to $6,950. The logic was simple. Measurement ensured that
everyone knew what he or she had to do and this increased production. Furthermore,
increased production was achieved with lower costs and this led to bigger profits.
The rights of the people are therefore greater than those of either employer or
employee. And this third great party should be given its proper share of any gain. In fact, a
glance at industrial history shows that in the end the whole people receive the greater part of
the benefit coming from industrial improvements. In the past hundred years, for example, the
greatest factor tending toward increasing the output, and thereby the prosperity of the
civilized world has been the introduction of machinery to replace hand labor. And without
doubt the greatest gain through this change has come to the whole people, the consumer.
Taylor contribution makes a bigger change to scientific management and does help improve
the production and efficiency of works.

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