Scientific Managemen

According to Jones and George (2006), management as what is used in organisations today, has been present since two centuries ago. In late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, after the industrial revolution, organisations began to encounter difficulties due to the advancement of equipment and machinery, which then changed the production process from previously was a small-scale crafts production to a large-scale productions using machines. Managers in this era were unfamiliar with managing workers in a large number where many social problems could arise. Furthermore, managers back then were mostly had only technical capability and had only little knowledge of managing people. Daft and Marcic (2011) states that managers afterward began to seek solutions to manage the larger scale of business while also increasing production efficiency. Organisations then started to transform the management process according to the classical perspective. As stated by Williams and McWilliams (2010), Frederick Winslow Taylor, also known as the father of scientific management, was sure that workers can produce more of what they were doing. He believed the importance of specialisation and division of labour to achieve ‘one best way’ of doing a job in order to increase production efficiency. His study called scientific management emphasises on four principles. His study is very well-used everywhere in the world ever since the beginning of 19th century. The purpose of this essay is to describe and critique the four principles of Frederick Taylor’s approach to scientific management and its applicability in contemporary organisations. Examples organisations that use the principles of scientific management will be discussed.

As stated by Burnes and Papesh (cited in Lewis et al. 2011), when Taylor worked for Midvale Steel Company, his career was rapidly rising in six years. As his career was rising, his job was to assist the organisation to reach higher output and efficiency to...