Lecture The evolution of management thought (6th edition) - Chapter 8: Spreading the gospel of efficiency

Scientific Management reached maturity in the 1920s. The movement was assisted by Taylor’s disciples Carl Barth, Henry Gantt, and Morris Cooke. Other notable contributors to the evolution of Scientific Management were Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and Harrington Emerson.

THE EVOLUTION

OF MANAGEMENT

EDITION

Electronic Resource by:

Regina Greenwood and Julia Teahen

Spreading the Gospel of Efficiency

CHAPTER EIGHT

Others Involved in the Scientific Management Movement

Carl Georg Lange Barth 1939): The Most Orthodox

Carl Georg Lange Barth

Franklin Motor Car

Company which was

noteworthy because it

preceded Henry Ford’s

moving assembly line.

 Note: Scientific

Management lost its

importance to the auto

industry once the

assembly line was

implemented

 Work was placed on a

belt and individuals

were no longer able to

influence their output

and therefore their

reward.

Carl Georg Lange Barth

“slide rule” for every machine for scientific

Henry L Gantt (1861-1919) The Most Unorthodox

 Gantt’s early work

 Taylor and Gantt

admired each other’s

Henry L Gantt:

Task and Bonus System

stimulate performance.

little incentive beyond meeting the

standard, he modified the payment plan

He influenced Taylor because Taylor

believed Gantt’s plan was better.

came up to standard (rewarded

Earle’s work)

and development of employees.

Simplified Gantt Chart

The Gantt Chart

The Gantt Chart

 The Gantt Chart steadily evolved into a valuable tool for planning and

controlling work.

 Widely used during World War I.

 Became an international management technique.

 A forerunner of subsequent planning and controlling techniques such as

major milestones, PERT & CPM.

Other Gantt Ideas

 The New Machine – a

group headed by

idea that engineers

should be industrial

leaders

 Social responsibility –

Gantt’s concern that

business should not

lose sight of its

service role in the

economy

Frank & Lillian Gilbreth

Partners for Life

 Frank – Worked in the construction trades and called his job design “motion study.” Independent

of, but influenced by, Taylor

 Lillian – our “First Lady of

Management” and

“First Lady of Engineering” for her accomplishments with her husband as well as after Frank’s death

 He was able to lay

2700 bricks per day compared to others who were laying an average of 1000 per day.

 Motions to lay a brick reduced to 4 from 18.

 Today, union rules only allow workers to lay between 900 and 1100 bricks per day.

Frank Gilbreth

Typical building site in Boston before 

Gilbreth’s new methods are applied With Gilbreth’s new methods, bricks are arranged to be grabbed easily, right side up.

Gilbreth Patent Scaffold

 This invention eliminated a lot of stooping by keeping the bricklayer at the same distance from the top of the

growing wall

 The scaffolding was the first in Gilbreth’s attempts in reducing motion and fatigue in workers

Gilbreth Patent Scaffold

Frank’s Construction Business

and the need for

workers which was

uncommon at this

time

 Within six years from

the start of his

business, he was one

of the most important

men in construction

in Boston

Building constructed by Frank at MIT in record time

Frank’s Construction Business

Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972)

 Earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California-Berkley

 Enrolled in a Ph.D program at the University of California

 Studies were interrupted by her family who decided that Lillian should travel abroad – chaperoned by Frank Gilbreth’s cousin, Mimi

Lillian Gilbreth

The Partnership

 Soon after their marriage, Lillian realized that she would not fill the traditional role of

“wife.”

to work and began to learn the business.Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

The Gilbreth Children

 Frank decided that twelve children is the right number for a family – 6 girls and 6 boys.

 According to Frank, with proper planning, the children would not interfere with their work.

 Frank and Lillian achieved both goals.

 However, their daughter (Mary Elizabeth) died at the age of six from

diphtheria.

Part of the family vacation home on

Nantucket

The Gilbreth Family

The Gilbreth family at their summer home in Nantucket, 1923—Left to right, Frank (Sr.), Frank (Jr.), Bill, Fred, Dan, Jack, Bob, Jane, Lil, Martha, Ernestine, Anne, and Lillian Gilbreth (Not pictured is Mary Elizabeth, who died at the age of six.)

The Gilbreth Children at their summer home

in Nantucket

The Gilbreth Family

The Gilbreth children tell the story of growing up in this family in three books.

Gilbreth Children Books

California would not

lift the residency

requirement so she

could not graduate

 Her thesis was

eventually published

in book form by

Sturgis and Walton in

1914 under the name

L.M Gilbreth (so one

could not distinguish

that is was written by

a woman)

The book stands in management literature as one of the earliest contributions to the study of the human

element at work.

Lillian’s Ph.D.

 Frank found Brown

University where Lillian

could complete her

Ph.D degree and still

care for the children

 Frank arranged that

Lillian could attend

courses in one specific

room from which she

could look out the

window and watch

Gilbreth’s Motion Study

 “Our duty is to study

the motions and to

 Frank developed a list of seventeen

basic movements to aid him in analyzing motion.

 Each movement was called a “therblig.”

 These fundamental movements, which could not be broken down into other

motions, gave Frank a way to accurately analyze elements of any movement a

worker may make.

 Can you determine the origin of the term 

“therblig?”

Fundamental Hand Motions - Gilbreth

Therbligs also had colors and symbols

easily analyze each motion.

 To save film, he changed the camera aperture to record 4 movies on one reel of film

Gilbreth Motion Study

Applied Motion Study

 The Gilbreths also used lights and time-lapsed photography in their motion study

 This use of light and photography was called the

“chronocyclegraph method of recording.”

 This device recorded a path of motion a worker used to complete a job

 The device consisted of a small electric light

which was attached to a finger or another moving part of the body

 The film was exposed during this time period and recorded each line of light

Cyclegraph

Chronocyclegraph method

Chronocyclegraph method

Gilbreths influence art

 Artist Mike Mandel

used the Gilbreths’

Applied Motion Study

conducted motion studies with typists, surgeons, nurses, and sports

 The photographs to the left were from an exhibit of the

Gilbreths’ work at the Smithsonian

Applied Motion Study – Typing for Remington Typewriter Co.

Applied Motion Study - Surgery

Applied Motion Study – Surgical Sewing

prepared for the next working day.

 Longer lunch periods, coffee or tea breaks

employees, the Gilbreths suggested that

organizations could provide proper reclining chairs, lunch rooms, rest rooms, or other

entertainment.

Home Reading Box Movement

 The Gilbreths also

worked to establish

libraries at each job

site to check out

material to read at

home or during

breaks

 Frank Gilbreth is often

called the “Father of

strain on the body

and reduce injuries Adjustable chair designed by F and L Gilbreth

The End of the Partnership

 Frank died in 1924

work even though it

was difficult for a

woman and to make

a name for herself

without Frank

 She spent the rest of

her life (into her

nineties) consulting

and speaking all over

the world

Lillian Gilbreth

Some Lillian Gilbreth Honors

the Gilbreth Medal

(named for Frank and

Lillian)

 Only woman awarded

the Gantt Gold Medal

 Only woman Awarded

the CIOS Gold Medal

Harrington Emerson (1853-1931):

Efficiency through Organization

the most part independently of Taylor but they corresponded and he was aware of Taylor’s ideas.

 His experience as a consultant on railroads provided his

qualifications at the Eastern Rate Case regarding the savings possible if scientific management methods were installed.

Consultants which exists today.

Harrington Emerson

Harrington Emerson’s Ideas

 Lack of organization was a major

problem.

 Emerson proposed the line-staff

organization as a way of bringing staff knowledge to assist the line managers.

 His line-staff idea was similar to Taylor’s desire to use the knowledge of

functional foreman, but an improvement since it did not split the chain of

command.

Harrington Emerson’s Ideas

 He took Taylor’s idea of setting performance

standards and applied this to cost accounting Standards should be established for what the

costs should be, rather than estimating costs from previous records

 Emerson provided 120% wages for 100%

performance (the standard) and that increased if the worker produced more

 He wrote Twelve Principles of Efficiency in 1913.

 Of Emerson’s numerous “principles,” clearly

defined ideals (objectives), participative decision making, and the proper use of staff stand out as the more unique of his ideas

individuals Taylor considered his disciples.

 Gantt, Barth, and Hathaway were the others

 Extended gospel of efficiency to

education and government

Morris L Cooke

Morris L Cooke

 Used a stenographic transcript of

Taylor’s talks at Boxly as the basis for

his proposed book, Industrial Management.

 His book became Taylor’s Principles of 

Scientific Management.

 Taylor assigned all royalties to Cooke

 Cooke would write other books,

particularly in the field of public

administration.

Morris L Cooke – Later Work

 Stated that Shop  Management was a

more important work

than the Origin of  Species.

Henri Le Chatelier

M Clarence Bertrand Thompson (1882-1969)

 Worked in France until 1948.

 Received the Legion of Honor for keeping

French factories alive during the War.

 Unlike Taylor, he believed Unions were important in instituting Scientific Management Principles.

 After he left France, he received a Ph.D

(around the age of 80)

in biochemistry and worked in cancer research until he died, close to the age of 90.

 Other notable contributors to the

evolution of Scientific Management were Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and Harrington Emerson.