A Wealthy Philadelphia Family

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Scientific management is a theory of management investigate the workflows, conduct the task sequence, motivate the workers with economic rewards to reduce the inefficiency of the organization (Buchanan,2010:423). Taylor believed that an excellent scientific management should built up with specific rules, laws and principles(Taylor,1911:7 cited in Wilson 2010) to replace uncertainty with predictability. Frederick Winslow Taylor defined scientific management into four principles, which are using scientific methods on every part of work, selecting and training the workers scientifically, a distinct division between management and workers, and collaboration between managers and workers (Grey,2009:37).

Taylor was working in the biggest of iron and steel plants; he observed that workers are lentitude, jobs given always not done at the certain time. This situation occurred either because of ‘natural soldiering’ which meant they were naturally lazy and not willing to do the works given or ‘systematic soldering’ which meant they would intentionally to protect themselves and their colleagues not being fired by the company so they decided to maintain quantity of output (Grey,2009:37). Based on this problem, Taylor has decided introduced Time and Motion system which is one of the scientific method to manage the every part of job. Time and Motion meant managers standing over a worker record down the time taken done on each tiny part of the job by using a stopwatch and investigate the exact sequence of the basic operations or actions, as well as the tools that are used by each worker. Taylor analyzing the record done by the workers and fixed a optimum time for the operation without wastage on useless movement (Grey,2009:37), workers only can concentrate on their own task while the managers can measure the efficiency of the daily production and maintaining the job performance. Next, pay rate could be set based on the worker’s performance with a bonus for those exceeding the stated output produce by the workers and a pay cut when workers are failed to hit the target stated (Grey,2009:38). This system are totally solved the soldiering problem and motivate the workers contribute more on their task to gain more money from their job.

The second principle is selecting and training the workers scientifically. Taylor believes that each assigned worker should be matched with the jobs. Employees are always different with each other; anyone of them owns different expert skills and different experience. If one of the workers expert in accountancy, she or he would not be works as an engineer in the company, she supposed to be an accountant staff in the company so that can be more easier to carry on the jobs. Therefore, jobs should be arrange to the suitable workers in term of necessary skills and intelligence required to create efficiency (Wilson,2010:91).

Scientific management implemented division between conception and execution, meaning the management take responsibilities on planning and decision-making , while workers carrying out orders and done the job given(Grey,2009:40). This was the division of labor set out in Taylor’s principle. Management acted as a role to summarize the accumulated experience and knowledge from the workers and then used this way in standardization, thus designed the job to workers then workers follow the instruction provided to ensure perform well in the tasks and increase the efficiency.

The final principle, collaboration between managers and workers, was a rather truncated one(Grey,2009:40).Co-operation between managers and workers are important because when both of them cooperate, they will concentrate on the ways to gain the most profit of organization and helping each other solve the problems. If managers always compete with workers, both of them only will focus on the profit gain from their group and just challenge the another group within the company, productivity stay at a certain amount, the overall profit of organization will not increase and it caused inefficiency of organization.

. Frank Bunker Gilbreth resembled with Taylor, practicing engineers and managers with scientific method. He mainly focus on investigate the technique for measuring work while his wife Lilian Gilbreth focus on psychology, both of them try to discover the motions to eliminate unnecessary and wasteful action by the worker and find the best way of working to maximize the productivity(Buchanan,2010:430). They focused on the company’s environment, and not just on selecting best workers as Taylor had done, they thought that individual work performance depended on attitude; workers need a physical environment as on correct methods, they shortened the working day and introduce rest periods and chairs, and instituted holidays with pay, suitable equipment and financial incentives to increase the efficiency of productivity(Buchanan,2010:430).

Henry Laurence Gantt supported Taylor’s approach, but humanized scientific management to make it more acceptable(Gantt, 1919 cited in Buchanan,2010:430). Gantt point out, scientific management across human psychology, and use the stressed method over measurement of work. Taylor should not use a punitive way to control the workers and ignore the psychological needs of the workers. Therefore, Gantt replaced the Taylor’s differential piece-rate wage system with his own task-and bonus scheme. Every worker was set a task with a certain pay rate and receives another 20 to 50 per cent bonus based on their performance(Buchanan,2010:430). Compare to Taylor’s piece-rate wage system with the concept do more gain more, do less pay cut, Gantt’s task-and bonus scheme will be more comfortable to the workers, at least there was a protection to them and reduce the stressful working life.

Fordism is adopted Taylorism that applies scientific management principles to workers’ job on introduction of the mechanized assembly line (Buchanan,2010:431). The moving assembly line which is a mechanically driven conveyor belt with installation of single purpose machine tools to manufacture standardized parts and added a crucial innovation. Worker just need to stand at a fixed work station, the conveyor belt brings the work to the worker, worker complete a small operation upon the car before it moves down to do the next operative until the finished product complete (Buchanan,2010:431). Workers were even more than before rendered as parts within the organizational machine. Moving assembly line doesn’t have to be skilled, they just need to be trained how to use the machine. Therefore, manager wants to increase the rate of work just go through easily with speeding up the conveyor belt.

Scientific management implemented division between conception and execution which means separates the job into several small tasks to each worker and they have to finish the task individually. In this case, less ‘people oriented’ approaches and at last resulted deskilling (Buchanan,2010 :436). Management wants to control the knowledge on each step of the procedure; workers only follow the instruction and they do not have to think how to do the job. Since 1950s, information technology signaled the increasing importance of knowledge-based job. Workers having a well-educated and trained workforce can get a good job and enriched their working life. For those being deskilling, they will get a degraded job (Buchanan,2010:437).

"Taylor believed that his system embodied an impersonal fairness: the fairness ‘of a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work." (Grey,2009:39) On the other hand, Harry Braverman(1974) feels that "fair days wage for a fair day’s work" meant initiative and incentive system use the minimum amount pay to the workers to urge them pay the maximum effort into work do physically without collapsing(Grey,2009:39). From Braverman’s view, a fair day’s work supposed to be the amount of work which produces an output and pay by a equivalent value to workers (Grey,2009:39). But, if that were so, the company would not gain any profit. Company will only cares about the profit gain rather than the satisfaction of others. Therefore, they will assume that I paying wages to you, so you must finish the jobs as much as possible to gain the most profit. Workers try to exceed goal to gain a bonus and prevent fail to get a fine. But because of this situation, their aims are just try to gain the bonus as much as possible, satisfaction and creation are totally disappear from the work.

In my opinion, Taylor assumed that everyone was motivated solely by money. Scientific management controlled the workers with monetary allure. Workers working in a stressful environment, everyday keep rushing for the target, but at last the result is they would not be satisfied to the job. Scientific management by Taylor is a dehumanized strategy, he only focus on the result whether can gain the most profit or not. Workers just feel like a machine, do their own task, and being monitoring by managers, no socialization, without extra movement. From my working experience, I worked as a cashier before in a hypermarket. Before I started the work, I have to participate the training of the company. Each person have to make sure themselves can serve the customer within 5 minutes, the procedures include scanning the price tag of each item, learn the manner to serve the customer like always smile on the face, receive the payment from customer, pack the item according the condition of each items like food cannot pack with detergent, those glass bottle have to pack with extra plastic bag. All these procedures have to finished as soon as possible and without any mistakes to make sure will not causing long queue at the counter. Everyday just doing the same things like a machine. Any mistakes happen will get the penalties from the management team. The working life is totally bored and without any motivation. At last, I saw a view, when the management team standing beside the cashiers, their efficiency increase. But they doing the works themselves, the efficiency decrease and many mistakes occur.

Scientific management seems like creating an efficiency organization but from the process, it shows that it does not work successfully in creating the efficiency as Taylor predicts.