Term Paper

On

Development of Management Thought

Course name: Management and Leadership

Course code: PA-1207

Submitted To

Mohammad Nur Ullah

Lecturer

Department of Public Administration

Submitted By

Md Sakif Al Wasee

Roll: 2016941033

Department of Public Administration

Date of Submission:
Introduction:

Management is a process of planning, decision making, organizing, leading and controlling the
human resources, financial, physical, and information resources of an organization to reach its
goals efficiently and effectively. There are a lot of characteristics of management. Besides the
characteristics, it has four essential elements of its process. They are: 1. Planning 2. Organizing
3. Directing 4.Controlling. This four elements are essential to execute a plan in management. By
the time there a lot of thoughts or theories came to develop the management. The theories like: 1.
Henry Fayol's 14 management theory 2.Scientific Management Theory 3. Hawthorne experiment
Theory 4. Bureaucratic Management Theory etc. Among all of them I choose the scientific
management theory. I think scientific theory is that theory which consists of logical and efficient
planning on it. Frederick Winslow Taylor was born in 1855 at USA. He is known as the father of
scientific management. He wrote his book 'The Principles of Scientific Management' in 1909.
There are many logical things in scientific theory which needs to be studied. It implies the
scientific techniques in management. There are some principles and techniques of scientific
management. Scientific management was invented because there were some loop holes in
management. Management had no clear concept of worker-management responsibilities. There
were lacking of harmony between workers and management. Effected standard of work was very
rare then. Workers soldiering the job which restricting output. So basically for these kind of
problems Taylor came up with his scientific management theory.
According to Taylor, " Scientific Management is an art of knowing exactly what you want your
men to do and seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way" (Taylor, 1919, p. 11). Taylor
invented scientific management to overcome those inefficiencies of management. There are a lot
of important things in his book. He talked about: 1. A piece rate system 2. Shop management 3.
Art of cutting metals 4. Principles of scientific management. This paper aims to discuss about the
principles of scientific management. It also includes the techniques of scientific management.
There were also some criticisms about Taylor's scientific management theory. This paper also
determines the criticism of Taylor's scientific management theory. Scientific management
impacts a lot in the management process at that time. The effectiveness of workers and
supervisors brought harmony between the workers and managers. That's why Taylor's scientific
management is one of the greatest till now. Taylor's scientific management theory is also
considered as Taylorism.

Analysis:

Scientific management is made to bring efficiencies in the management process. So there are
some principles about the scientific management. So here are the principles of scientific
management.

Taylor's Principals of Scientific Management:

1. Replacement of Old Rule of Thumb: It is a method where, scientific investigation should be

used for taking managerial decisions instead of basing decisions on opinion. Basically it is a kind
of elimination of dictatorship. It is a process where a large task is scientifically investigated by
suitable workers under optimum conditions.

2. Scientific Selection and Training of Workers: In this system worker must be systematically
selected and trained by the management. In management a team needs a bunch of trained and
skilled workers. Without trained workers a work can't be completed perfectly. "The selected
workers are to be trained to avoid wrong methods of work Management is responsible for the
scientific education and training. The management has to provide opportunities for development
of workers having better capabilities." (Bhagyashree, 2015)

3. Co-operation between management and workers: Management should fully cooperate with the
workers to enable them to do their work in accordance with the scientific methods. Co-operation
between the management and workers brings the mutual understanding between them. They
work together for the benefits of company and they don't quarrel with each other.

4. Equal Division of work and responsibility: Division of work and responsibility is very
important. It creates a better understanding between them and mutual depends on each other,
which eliminates conflict. It also brings the efficiency in the work. Management should divide all
the work and responsibilities between the workers. Management should be responsible for the
division of the work. And the workers should be responsible for the proper execution of work.
Besides the principle of Scientific management. F.W Taylor also talked about the techniques of
scientific management. Technique of scientific management is all about the planning and
organizing of management.

Techniques of Scientific Management:

1. Functional Foremanship: A worker should have several supervisors, each being a specialist in
a given line of work. He divided the responsibility in two major areas: Planning and Production.
Where 4 bosses were responsible for planning and 4 bosses were responsible for production. He
divided the responsibility not only among the workers but also at the supervisory levels. This
technique was developed to improve the quality of work. A single supervisor may not be
efficient in all kind of workers. This technique removes pressure from one single supervisor also.
Division of work has always been successful.

2. Time and Motion Study: This is the best method of determining the standard time and
completes a particular task. By studying time study we can identify the types of workers, we can
identify that who are the average workers, who are the efficient workers and who are the
inefficient workers. By motion study we can identify the productive and unproductive works of
the workers. Motion study is a strategy which includes close perceptions of the development of
body and appendages of an individual needed to perform a job. It is the investigation of the
development of an administrator or a machine to kill pointless movements and discover the best
strategy for doing a particular job.

3. Mental Revolution: Mutual prosperity is possible only through mutual cooperation. Their
mutual interest is not antagonistic. Without mental revolution on both sides scientific
management does not exist. There is no inherent conflict in the interest of the employees and the
workers. Sometimes excessive work causes depression. Mental Revolution helps in reducing
fatigue among the workers. Mental Peace can bring efficiency in worker's work.

4. Differential piece-rate system: Under this plan, workers are paid a low piece rate up to a
standard, a large bonus at the standard and a higher price rate above the standard. In this plan,
"there are two piece work rates, one is lower and another is higher. The standard of efficiency is
determined in terms of number of units during a day or standard same. The worker who produces
more than standard output within the standard time. He will be given higher piece rate. On the
other hand, if a worker is below the standard, he shall be given lower rate of wages." (Chand,
2012)

Criticism:

There are some criticisms about Taylorism. He was criticized by many scholars. Basically he
was criticized the partial theory of organization due to its concentration on the shop floor and for
neglecting the organizational processes beyond that level. Many scholars said that social and
psychological factors were totally ignored by Taylor. Taylorism was considered as a threat to the
role of trade unions. And mainly the techniques were opposed by the managers because their
works and responsibilities increased under Taylorism. So this is why Taylor was criticized for
his scientific management theory.

Conclusion:

Frederick Winslow Taylor was one of the greatest scholars in the history of management. He has
contributed a lot in management. His scientific management theory brought the revolution in
management process. He always wanted to make work easy for both the workers and the
management. He wanted to prevent the dictatorship in management. That's why he wanted to
replace the old rule of thumb. For the efficiency of work he stated about the co-operation
between the management and workers. He talked about the importance of trained worker in the
management. He prioritizes the division of work. He thought about everything which can be
beneficiary for both workers and supervisors. But there were some loop holes in his theory, that's
why he was also criticized. Moreover we can't deny the huge contribution of Taylor in
management. His contribution still helps the society a lot.

Reference:

1. Bhagyashree, S, 2015, Principles of Scientific Management, available at:

https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/scientific-management/principles-of-scientific-
management/31953
2. Chand, S, 2012, 7 techniques of scientific management explained, available at: .
https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/scientific-management/7-techniques-of-scientific-management-
explained/27889

3. Taylor, F.W, 1919, The Principles of Scientific Management, p. 11, available at:
https://sites.suffolk.edu/govt521/files/2010/09/taylor.pdf