3.In what ways did Fordism mark a significant advance on Taylorism?

How far is it
justifiable to say that Fordism transformed society, not merely production?

“In what ways did Fordism mark a significant advance on Taylorism?”

• Introduction of assembly line- originated from Taylor’s principles of job

fragmentation, labour intensification and job specialization.
• Collection of information on the performance of each single task-Taylor’s time
and motion study
• “Five dollars per day”-Taylor’s belief in economic incentives and differential
piece rate
• Standardization of product, which requires standardization of process, tools and
machinery to take advantage of economic of scale- Taylor’s principle of “all
human and non-human factors of production must be standardized.

On “how far is it justifiable to say that Fordism transformed society, not merely
production?”

• Craft production to mass production, accompanied by mass consumption to

achieve material advancement and sustainable economic growth. Previously
expensive commodities become affordable to everyone.
• Political influence- the rise of labour unions with strong political power not only
responsible for labour related issue (job security, workers benefit) but also on
wider economic policy (protective stand to ensure domestic employment and
domestic demand for goods which in turn helps to sustain domestic mass
consumption culture). Both have lasting effect on political and economical
policymaking even until today.
• Introduction of assembly line-speedy and efficient production which gives rise to
giant organization built upon financial specialization and minute division of
labour. Secondly, the idea has lasting impact in process engineering in continuous
operations. (E.g. Petroleum refining)
• Shift from agricultural based society to manufacturing based and integration of
machinery into production processes, provide a blueprint of success especially for
today’s third world country.