Taylorism Concept
Taylorism is an expression created to designate a group of ideas and management principles created in the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century by the North American engineer Frederick Taylor. Taylorism, that was also known as Scientific Management Theory or Work Scientific Organization, has as great goal to increase productivity through a system of differentiated rates and through the application of scientific methods, placing the emphasis in the use of science and the creation of group harmony. The application of science to management had as basic instrument the exhaustive study of times and movements which allowed the work methods rationalization and the setting of standard-times for the tasks performance.
Were still defined, either by Taylor either by his followers, several management principles that, according to its authors, should be followed by the managers as a way to increase productivity and, consequently, the efficiency, from which stand out:
- Each task should be decomposed in elementary operations, whose should after be redefined, changed or suppressed in order that the work be made in the less time possible – this is the basic principle of the Work Scientific Organization.
- For each type of tasks, each worker should be correctly selected and trained in order that his work is made to “the best rhythm possible”.
- The salary should be calculated based on a differentiated rates system and according to the obtained performance; should grow to the “optimum rhythm”, decreasing from there as a way to avoid the occurrence of quality breaks.
- Supervisors and their subordinates should perform in the most perfect coordination for the benefit of all.
- Each worker and each organization manager should be placed in the task in which obtains better results.
Main limitation: The fact of basing in the assumption that people are motivated only by the satisfaction of basic needs (economic and physical needs), when in reality exist many other needs such as the satisfaction at work and the social and personal well being, is appointed as the main deficiency of “Taylorism” and the main reason for its current discredit. One of the more visible consequences of this limitation was the emerging of violent strike movements and workers riots especially in United States. However, and despite this limitation, it should be noted its significant contribution for the amazing entrepreneurial development in the beginning of the 20th century, mainly through the implementation of methods of serial production and consequently the productivity increase; still today the tasks “atomistic” division is applied in many productive processes, although more and more limited to automated processes and performed by sophisticated equipments.
Followers: Some of the most significant Taylor’s followers and who gave continuation to the development of the scientific management theory were Henry L. Gantt, Harrington Emerson, Frank B. Gilbreth and Lillian M. Gilbreth and still the famous industrial of the automotive industry, Henry Ford.
- Henry L. Gantt, mechanical engineer like Taylor, placed emphasis in the work planning and work control. Was known for the creation of the famous Gantt graphic, which shows the relations between the several phases of a production program and originated PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) a more sophisticated technique still used today in the projects planning and control and productive programs which include multiple phases and inter-related and interdependent activities.
- Harrington Emerson, also engineer, was one of Taylor’s assistants and responsible for the popularization of the Scientific Administration Theory. His main works were the simplification of study methods developed by Taylor and the development of the first jobs about employees’ selection and recruitment.
- Frank B. Gilbreth and Lillian M. Gilbreth, performed several statistic studies about the effects of fatigue in the workers’ productivity, through which concluded that fatigue predisposes the workers for the decrease of productivity and work quality. To avoid productivity losses were listed several economy principles of movements’ referent to the use of human body, referent to the storage of materials in the workplace and referent to the tools and equipment performance. Another conclusion of the Gilbreths was that all hand work can be reduced to elementary movements (or fundamental work unit). Knowing those elementary movements could decompose and analyze any task and chose the most efficient way of performing it.
- Henry Ford was known for the idealization of the assembly line and application of the serial production method in his Ford automobile factories. The success obtained at the productivity and efficiency level with the application of these methods was so expressive that Ford Motors Co. became, in few years, one of the giants of the North American industry, thus becoming, a more suggestive example of the practical application of the Scientific Management Theory.
