MG315 ASSIGNMENT 1

Name: Gillian Tryphena Ariki

ID; S11087985
Campus: Honiara
SEM: 1, 2023
No. of words : 1239 words
Scientific Management theory is a theory formulated by Frederick Winslow Taylor. Its aim is
to improve productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in an organization by applying scientific
principles and techniques (Chauhan 2020).There are several main principles that is stressed
by Taylors scientific management theory. This paper discusses four of them; Science not rule
of thumb, scientific training and selection of employees, supervision and instructions of
employees and equal division of work between managers and workers. The theory has
garnered several criticisms, few of which are discussed in this paper.
The first principle is to replace the rule of thumb work methods with scientific methods
(Chand 2015). Rule of thumb, simply means a guess, method based on the manager’s
personal judgement, experience or trial and error. Taylor replaces it with scientific method of
doing things; by scientific method, he meant using science to work,by gathering of
objectives, performing experiments and standardisation of policies and procedures that are
based on experiments (A review and critical analysis 2013). An example of the application of
science to work is the system used in supermarkets nowadays, e.g. In the Solomons, the Bulk
shop company employees are tasked according to their capabilities and divisions where some
work at the cashier, others carry cargo, and others serve the customers and so on. But before
being allocated these tasks, they have to go through a screening process that determine their
capabilities, then were observed for a time before being promoted to their positions.
The second principle of Taylor’s is the idea of scientific selection, training and development
of employees, whereby employers identify then select employees to do a job and then train
them accordingly. Since each worker had different abilities and aptitudes, they are trained
with the work that best fits them (Oberoi n.d).This idea ensures that employees do not have to
struggle or train themselves on their work, but are trained by their employers. This is to avoid
employing Tom, Dick and Harry for a job they are not prepared for. By training the
employees, they would become well equipped for their positions, thus improving their work
performance, resulting in greater work output, in terms of productivity. McDonald’s fast food
restaurant is one of those companies that use scientific training of employees. They conduct
initial and ongoing training on their employees, whether they are working hourly, part time or
full time, even their managers undergo compulsory restaurant training (Nawaz 2011).
The third principle put forward by Taylor, is that of providing employee instruction and
supervision. The art of monitoring the performance of employees; identifying their strengths
and weaknesses, and if there are areas of need, then managers can step in and assist their
employees. Managers provide the necessary instructions, advices, motivations and direction.
Training is also included for workers lacking necessary working skills. This enables workers
to perform to their maximum level required of the company. From these the Managers can
have control over the day to day performance from the company, furthermore they will be
able to provide feedback to workers, and on areas they have and have not improved on. The
good thing about this is that employees can get to know their performance level and be able
to respond to those feedbacks. This is a crucial factor towards a company’s overall
performance, because a lack employee feedback mechanism can affect the productivity of the
company. Barclay is a company that adopts this, because recently it had come up with a
spyware program that monitors their workers internet activity and relate it to their work
performance (Aschoff n.d).
The fourth principle is to decide work equally between managers and workers. Here
managers use scientific management methods in providing planning and training for workers,
whilst the workers do the job. The phrase ‘Cooperation, not individualism’, clearly portray
this principle. The management is responsible to plan and organise work, by deciding the
type, method, duration and completion of work. As for the workers their responsibility is to
do the work required by the employer or the manager (Principles of Scientific management
n.d), an example of this occurs in Ford manufacturing company, where workers execute the
company’s aim of building automobiles. The management plan, arrange and organise work
for the workers, classifying them into their particular tasks, e.g. in the assembly line, some
workers assemble the automobile parts, while others do other processes; this is the reason
Ford produces cars more quickly and in such great numbers.
From the above discussions, we have seen several principles of scientific management being
adopted by companies and other setups, however there are also several criticisms against it,
and they are outlined below.
The first criticism is by the American author Harry Braverman, who argued that scientific
management in the work place results in deskilling (Devinatz 20140. Deskilling is when
worker skills are reduced and lost due to concentration on one particular task. Upon
deskilling, workers do not have other skills, except the skill for the job they specialise on,
since they only specialise in their specific tasks, and so are unable to acquire other skills. This
makes them easy to be bossed around and controlled by their employers. Routinization
wherein workers work according to their set routines also add to deskilling. Braverman also
argued that scientific management lacks true science and does nothing to clarify the science
surrounding the causes of the antagonist relationship between an employer and his employee.
Furthermore, Braverman argued that scientific management leads to dehumanization,
wherein workers are treated as mere machines, where there’s no flexibility for the workers.
As Huang (2013) has stated, “The individual worker had no chance to excel or think on
his/her own” The worker has no freedom to do what he/she thinks, as the manager has the
final say on work. This type of working environment discourages the worker to think outside
of the box and therefore become like a machine.
In addition to that, scientific management had caused a lot of stress and strain to its workers,
due to its rigid nature. The time frame set for workers to do their job has put a lot of pressure
on workers. The rush to finish work on time may result in negative health effects on
employees. A study by Asplund, Alin & Lindgren (2022) on highly stressed employees in
rural northern Sweden has found high job demands as one of the factors leading to negative
health of employees. Furthermore, it can lead to accidents. Workplace accidents and
occupational diseases has caused the death of 7600 people every day (ILO 2018).In addition
to that, the monotonous repetition of the same task over and over again, can lead to a loss of
interest in work, as workers become bored, thus affecting the work output of a company.
These are some effects that have come about due to scientific management, thus resulted in
the criticisms.
From the above discussions we have witnessed four main ideas of scientific management,
namely; science not rule of thumb, use of science to train and select workers, instructing and
supervising employees and lastly, the equal division of work between managers and workers.
These principles have garnered several criticisms; major one from Braverman who talked of
deskilling and dehumanization or workers. The other criticisms are on scientific
management’s effect on employees health and welfare, which too have proved that just like
any other scientific theory, there would be both positive and negative sides to it ;So does
Taylor’s Scientific Management theory.
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