Scientific Management, F W Taylor and the Fayolism

In the liberalised globalization the survival is as important as the growth be but the competition for survival depends upon the scientific management, the core idea of which was developed by US industrial engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) in his book 'Principles of Scientific Management' which laid down the fundamental principles of large-scale manufacturing through assembly-line factories but wondering how he idea suits in today’s liberalization and globalization scenario.

Scientific management's application was contingent on a high level of managerial control over employee work practices. This necessitated a higher ratio of managerial workers to laborers than previous management methods.

The idea of scientific Management is the production efficiency methodology which breaks every action, job or task into smaller and simpler segments, which can be easily analyzed and taught. This Taylorism came with maximum job fragmentation to minimize skill requirements and job learning time’ separates execution of work from work-planning, separates direct labor from indirect labor and introduction of time and motion study for optimum job performance and cost accounting.

After this, 1841 born Henri Fayol, a mining engineer in 1916 developed a general theory of business administration also known as Fayolism by which he mentioned 6 primary functions and 14 principles of management like forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, controlling as primary functions and Division of work, Authority, Discipline, Unity of command, Unity of direction, Subordination of individual interests to the general interest, Remuneration, Centralization, Scalar chain, Order of people and materials, Equity, Stability of tenure of personnel, Initiative, Esprit de corps as principles of management.

Almost both the theories were rightly criticized for alienating workers by treating them as mindless, emotionless, and easily replicable factors of production but was a critical factor in the unprecedented scale of US factory output that led to Allied victory in Second World War, and the subsequent US dominance of the industrial world.

Now this Scientific Management is treating workers as mindless and emotionless factors of production or eating our competencies by fragmenting the jobs to minimize skill requirements or contributing towards the industrial growth??

Yours comments please…….