Lecture The evolution of management thought (6th edition) - Chapter 7: The advent of scientific management

Frederick W. Taylor was a central figure in the development of management thought. Taylor is considered the most influential contributor by management and business historians. His work was more reform than scientific. He willingly used others ideas that worked, like Gantt’s task and bonus incentive plan and the Hayes-Basley accounting system.

THE EVOLUTION

OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT, 6TH

EDITION

Electronic Resource by:

Regina Greenwood and Julia Teahen

The Scientific Management Era

Part Two

The Advent of Scientific Management

Chapter Seven

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915)

Taylor’s Early Years

 Frederick Taylor was born in Germantown,

PA in 1856

 Father – Prosperous Lawyer

 Mother – Puritan roots

to Colonial times

Taylor on far right, pictured with

mother, father, grandfather, younger

sister Mary and older brother Edward.

Taylor’s Early Years

Taylor, on the left, with brother Edward & sister Mary Frederick Taylor

Taylor’s Early Years

 Advantage of fine prep school – Philips Exeter Academy, NH

 Travels to Europe

 Membership in an exclusive social club

 Did not go to Harvard due to failing

eyesight

 Began as a factory apprentice pattern maker

 His early experiences

as a worker shaped his views of

management.

Taylor at Midvale Steel

practices that led him

to his life’s work.

Frederick W Taylor from his Midvale days, circa 1886

Courtesy Frederick Winslow Taylor Collection, Samuel C Williams Library, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken NJ

Taylor at Midvale Steel

 Taylor took a home study course to get his college degree in mechanical

engineering in

1883 from Stevens Institute

of Technology at Hoboken, New Jersey

Taylor’s “report card” from Phillips Exeter Academy

Natural Soldiering

 Natural soldiering – “the natural instinct and tendency of men to take it easy.”

 Taylor blamed management for not

designing jobs properly and not offering proper incentives

 Taylor initially thought that a supervisor may be able to inspire or force workers

to stop natural soldiering

Systematic Soldiering

 Systematic soldiering resulted from

group pressure on individuals to conform

to output norms set by the work group

 Taylor attributed this to a “lump of

labor” theory

 Taylor felt he could overcome soldiering and improve the situation if workers

knew that the production standards

were established by a study of the job, rather than by historical data, and if

incentives could be provided

Time Study

 Time study was a prescriptive in that Taylor sought to identify the time a job

should take.

 Time study was analytical, breaking the

job into its components and eliminating useless movements; and constructive,

building a file of movements that were common to other jobs

Taylor intended to use a scientific fact-finding method to determine a better way to work These are Taylor’s notes for shoveling.

Search for Science in Management

The Optimum Shovel for Loading

A Better Way

 In modern terms, Taylor’s concept of job design was to analyze the job, discard wasted movements, and reconstruct the job as

it should be done.

 He also sought to find the right tools, the right way to operate the machinery, and the right way to operate the

machinery to make the job more

efficient.

A Better Way

 At the time, Scientific Management was the latest management fad…it was bigger than reengineering and lean manufacturing is

today.

 The ad on the left demonstrates the popularity.

 However, the ad is misleading There is not one, all purpose

“scientific shovel” – the ideal shovel is based on the weight of material it moves.

Front Page News

 Taylor made front page news the Sunday after he spoke at the ASME conference in 1903.

 He basically read Shop  Management word for

word to the group.

thought his speech was boring…the story made it to the front page.

Frederick Taylor and

Incentives

 Taylor criticized systems of payment based on quantity and quality of

work.

 Taylor’s system consisted of:

(1) observation and analysis through time study to set the standard

(2) a differential rate system of piecework (3) “paying men and not positions.”

Frederick Taylor and

Incentives

 Taylor discouraged profit sharing

because it did not reward the individual and because it occurred long after the performance

 Taylor’s differential piece-rate paid those who did not reach the performance

standard an ordinary rate of pay (like

minimum wage); a higher rate of pay

was given for attaining the standard

 Taylor also recognized non-economic

incentives, like promotion and shorter hours

“First-Class” Worker

 Taylor believed that everyone was best

or “first class” at some type of work

 Taylor believed there should be a match between a person’s abilities and the

person’s job placement

Task Management

 Task Management consisted of time

study and developing performance

standards

 Selection of workers and the differential piece rate system was included

 Management was responsible for

designing the job properly

 Task Management depended on

planning, organizing, and guiding the work to completion

Figure 7-1 Functional Foreman

“Functional Foreman” and Task

 Functional specialists would provide

Taylor after Midvale

 He developed an accounting system

based on the Hayes-Basley system used

by RRs

 He became a consultant for various

firms, such as Simonds Rolling Company and Bethlehem Steel He implemented his ideas in these and other firms with varying degrees of success

 He also traveled and lectured to various groups to promote his ideas

Bethlehem Steel

Story of Henry Knolle and

Bethlehem Steel

 Taylor conducted his famous pig-iron

experiments at Bethlehem Steel.

 James Gillespie and Hartley Wolle, Taylor’s assistants, established

an incentive for loading pig iron at Bethlehem Steel.

 Workers refused to work by the piece and were discharged.

 Taylor’s story of the experiments centered

on Henry Knolle although three men participated.

Henry Knolle (also Noll)

 Stood 5 feet 7 inches

tall and weighed 135

day (average rate

was $1.15 per day).

 In the story, he was

the only worker to

persevere throughout

the pig-iron loading –

he was a “First Class

Man.”

Henry Knolle’s Motivation

to build a house so he could get married.

 He would work on the house before work.

 He would load, on average, 47 ½ tons of pig-iron.

 He would return to work on the house until dark.

Knolle’s House

Henry Knolle and his Wife

Pig Iron Experiments

 Results of experiments were less than ideal even though Taylor labeled them as successful.

 James Gillespie and Hartley Wolle were not careful in their time study.

 Taylor did not use his differential piece

Pig Iron Experiments

 Results:

 Yard labor costs fell from $.072 per ton under day wages to $.033 per ton under piece rates

 Workers averaged 60 percent more in wages than they had before

Who prepared the tale?”

Wrege and Amadeo G

Perroni, state that Taylor

embellished the report.

 Later, Wrege and R

Greenwood wrote that

the “Pig-Tale” was

“prepared by Taylor’s

assistant, Morris L

Cooke.”

 The mystery remains:

the penmanship was

Cooke’s, but were the

words Cooke’s or

Taylor’s?

Morris L Cooke

Eastern Rate Case - 1910

 In this case before the U.S Interstate Commerce Commission, Louis Brandeis, attorney for the shippers, used

individuals to testify that the railroads did not need to increase rates if they

would adopt known management

Watertown - 1911

 Taylor’s ideas were to be implemented at the federal arsenals at Watertown

(Massachusetts) and Rock Island (Illinois).

 Representatives of the machinists’ union told the workers to resist and a strike

occurred at Watertown.

 Strike lasted one week.

Congressional Hearings

Oct 1911 - Feb 1912

 However, congressional representatives

from the two districts asked for an

investigation of the Taylor and “other

efficiency systems.”

 No evidence was found that there were

abuses under scientific management and no need for remedial legislation.

 Despite findings, time-measuring devices and incentive pay were prohibited in any

military agency and in army and navy

appropriation bills.

Mental Revolution

 Taylor described his

philosophy that labor

and management had

Workers, and Owners

must work together

to share to make the

pie bigger – not get a

bigger piece to the

detriment of each

other.

Mental Revolution

 This “revolution”

emphasized the need

of both labor and management to change their attitudes and work together, otherwise scientific

management could not exist.

 Notice that unions were not a part of his theory.

Other Ideas of Taylor

 Human factor – “systems” were not

enough…there must be a good relationship between workers and managers.

 Resistance to change – this is to be

expected, but with time and explanations, people would see the benefits.

 “Scientific management at every step of the way has been an evolution, not a theory.” (Taylor 1915)

Taylor’s wealth was increased from his various patents

Taylor’s Patents

Drawing of “Steam Hammer”

Actual Press…notice the man standing next to the machine to depict the size

of the press

Taylor’s Patents

Taylor’s Patents

Two­Handled Golf Club Tennis Racket with Curved Handle

Personal Information on

Taylor

 Taylor as a dresser: during a theatrical

cross-performance by an all-male club of which

he was a member, he took the role of “Miss Lillian.”

 Taylor said that there were only two places

so sacred that no one should “swear”…the home and the golf course.

Taylor’s love of golf led to soil and grass studies

Boxly - Taylor’s Home

Recreated room with actual furnishings from Taylor’s home located at Steven’s

Institute

Taylor’s Wife Louise

Taylor’s Family

 The Taylor’s did not have any children of their own

 They adopted their friends’

three younger children after the parents’ sudden death

Taylor’s Death

 Taylor died the day after his 59 th birthday from pneumonia in 1915.

 His wife died in 1949.

 By that time the Taylor family plot was full but Louise wanted

to be buried by Fred.

 Her remains were cremated and the urn was placed in Fred’s grave.

 This was not a last effort at efficiency but necessitated by the space available.

Taylor’s grave site at the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in

Philadelphia

Taylor’s Books

Taylor’s Books

 Shop Management was published in 1903

It was based on a speech delivered

earlier to the ASME

published in 1911 by Harper and Row

 Speculation exists over the true

authorship of the book; although

published under Taylor's name, Harper and Row paid all royalties to Morris L Cooke

 Frederick W Taylor was a central figure

in the development of management

 He willingly used others ideas that

worked, like Gantt’s task and bonus

incentive plan and the Hayes-Basley

accounting system

 Frederick W Taylor came into the

industrial scene at a time when better management was needed;

 He gave credibility to the idea of

managing more efficiently while paying workers higher wages;

 He foresaw the need for planning

through setting standards;

 Others would extend his idea of

first-class workers into better personnel

management;

 He made advances in improving jobs, tools, and methods

What contributions did Taylor make that would be considered important to management theory and practice today?