The Advent of Scientific Management

Frederick Winslow Taylor

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 Started as a laborer

in 1878 and worked his way into management.

As a worker, then a first line supervisor, he observed numerous industrial practices that led him to his life’s work.

Frederick W. Taylor from his Midvale days, circa 1886Courtesy 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.

Even though many 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 Management

Taylor had the idea that knowledge was authority.

Supervisors could not know everything about the planning and performance of the work.

Functional specialists would provide assistance to workers.

In retrospect, Taylor had recognized the need for staff advice and assistance from people who had special abilities or knowledge.

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

Bethlehem Steel

Story of Henry Knolle andBethlehem 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 pounds. He came down through history as “Schmidt” in the embellished recollections of the pig iron experiments at Bethlehem Steel. He averaged between $1.35 and $1.70 per 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.”

Taylor’s Patents

Two-Handled Golf Club Tennis Racket with Curved Handle

Personal Information on Taylor

Taylor as a cross-dresser: during a theatrical 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 59th 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.

The Principles of Scientific Management was 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.

Summary 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.

Summary 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?