Frederick Taylor

The Father of Scientific Management

(1856-1915)
You might think that a century-old theory wouldn’t have any
application in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world.
You’d be wrong, though! In fact, much of what you’ve
already learned in this course is based on Taylor’s work, and
plenty of what you’ll experience in the workplace will be
indebted to him, too. If you recognize any of the following,
you have already seen his principles of scientific management
in action: organizational charts, performance evaluations,
quality measurements and metrics, and sales and/or production
goals.

Taylor was a mechanical engineer who was primarily

interested in the type of work done in factories and mechanical shops. He observed that the
owners and managers of the factories knew little about what actually took place in the
workshops. Taylor believed that the system could be improved, and he looked around for an
incentive.
Taylor also believed that management and labor should cooperate and work together to meet
goals. He was the first to suggest that the primary functions of managers should be planning
and training.

THE LIFE OF
THE FATHER OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
Born March 20, 1856, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died March 21, 1915, Philadelphia)
He was born on upper-class liberal Philadelphia family. He is American inventor and engineer
who is known as the father of scientific management. His system of industrial management,
known as Taylorism, greatly influenced the development of industrial engineering and production
management throughout the world.
Taylor was the son of a lawyer. He entered Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire in 1872,
where he led his class scholastically. After passing the entrance examination for Harvard
University, he was forced to abandon plans for matriculation, as his eyesight had deteriorated from
night study. With sight restored in 1875, he was apprenticed to learn the trades of patternmaker
and machinist at the Enterprise Hydraulic Works in Philadelphia.
Three years later he went to the Midvale Steel Company, where, starting as a machine shop
labourer, he became successively shop clerk, machinist, gang boss, foreman, maintenance
foreman, head of the drawing office, and chief engineer.
In 1881, at age 25, he introduced time study at the Midvale plant. The profession of time study
was founded on the success of this project, which also formed the basis of Taylor’s subsequent
theories of management science. Essentially, Taylor suggested that production efficiency in a shop
or factory could be greatly enhanced by close observation of individual workers and elimination of
waste time and motion in their operation. Though the Taylor system provoked resentment and
opposition from labour when carried to extremes, its value in rationalizing production was
indisputable and its impact on the development of mass production techniques immense.
Taylor earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1883.
The following year he became chief engineer at Midvale and completed the design and
construction of a novel machine shop. Taylor might have enjoyed a brilliant full-time career as an
inventor—he had more than 40 patents to his credit—but his interest in what was soon called
scientific management led him to resign his post at Midvale and to become general manager of the
Manufacturing Investment Company (1890–1893), which in turn led him to become a consulting
engineer in management,” a profession that Taylor himself developed. He served a long list of
prominent firms ending with the Bethlehem Steel Corporation; while at Bethlehem he
developed high-speed steel and performed notable experiments in shoveling and pig-iron
handling.

Taylor retired at age 45 but continued to devote time and money to promote the principles of
scientific management through lectures at universities and professional societies. From 1904 to
1914, with his wife and three adopted children named Kempton, Robert, and Elizabeth.
Taylor lived in Philadelphia. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers elected him
president in 1906, the same year that he was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree by
the University of Pennsylvania.
Many of his influential publications first appeared in the Transactions of that society—namely,
“Notes on Belting” (1894), “A Piece-Rate System” (1895), “Shop Management” (1903), and “On
the Art of Cutting Metals” (1906). The Principles of Scientific Management was published
commercially in 1911.
Late winter of 1915, Taylor got a pneumonia and one day after his 59th birthday on March 21st,
1950, he died. He was buried in West Hill Cemetery in Vale a Cunard Pennsylvania.

Taylor’s Contribution
Scientific Management - Taylor develop a science for each element of a man’s work---
meaning he evaluated how an individual performed each piece of job for example he spent
hours evaluating how cool shovels shoveled coal he then worked to replace the old methods
performing a job with a more effective and efficient way of performing the task. Taylor truly
believed in the idea of one best way to complete a task is what we called business redesign
today. A common practice in both public and private sectors it holds individual employees
accountable for what they do and invite them to be more effective with shareholders or
taxpayer’s money.

Human Resources - He also developed the scientific selection of employees; this was the
beginning of training development workers instead of allowing them to choose their own task
and train themselves as best they could. This training development was the beginning of
Human Resources in the private sector which has now translated to the public sector where
employees are now being hired for their ability to learn and perform rather than for what they
know already.

Incentives - Taylor advocated paying the person and not the job and believed the unions
would be unnecessary if workers were paid their individual work. Tailor double productivity
at Midvale by following this philosophy. This philosophy is based on underlying assumptions
which are still used and somewhat believed especially within the public sector.

Capitalist System + Money Economy - First, if there is the presence of a capitalist system
and a money economy where a company in a free-market system have their main objective.
The improvement of efficiency and the maximization of profit, then there is a higher incentive
for better performance.

In layman’s terms, this means that companies exist to make money or so it is in their best
interest to be efficient and make more money. In public sector it is the government in the
government best interest to use taxpayer’s money efficiently and maximize the gain to
society.

“Benchmarking” (Be More Efficient by Using Techniques) -

The idea becoming more efficient by using other techniques is known as benchmarking. All
of the term was introduced to the 1950’s. Taylor have been using the idea since the late
1800s.
The Idea of Contracting and Consulting (A New Profession) -
Taylor began Management Consulting. He introduced the idea of contracting and consulting.
He truly believed that if someone could do something more effective or efficient. It is either
copy their system or let him do it for you. This idea would give him trouble with many at the
time because the public felt Skinner was cutting out useful jobs but he was actually making
jobs more useful.