Frederick Taylor

Frederick W. Taylor

Frederick Winslow Taylor was an employee at a steel company who worked his way up to chief engineer. Taylor was extremely dissatisfied with the daily struggle to get his employees to do their fair share of a day’s work. Taylor tried vigorously for years to get the men to work harder and increase productivity, he would even do the work himself to show that it was possible but he failed at every attempt. The work place soon became not so desirable and Taylor decided that he would either leave or attempt at finding a resolution.

Taylor began time management studies in an attempt to resolve issues between management and employees, this brought about his most known work the principles of scientific management. Taylor believed that management should be more about prosperity for all rather than a constant battle between management and employees. Taylor once stated that It would seem to be so self-evident that maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with maximum prosperity for the employee, ought to be the two leading objects of management, that even to state this fact should be unnecessary. Frederick Winslow Taylor. The Principles of Scientific Management (Kindle Locations 10-11). Kindle Edition.

Taylor went on to put in place a four part system to help produce efficient work. First, develop a science for each element of a man’s work, which replaces the old rule of thumb method. Second, scientifically select, train, and develop workman, whereas in the past, he chose his own work and trained himself as best he could. Third, heartily cooperate with the men so as to ensure all of the work being done s in accordance with the principles of the science that has been developed. Fourth, there is an important equal division of the work between the management and the workmen. The management take over all the 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...