The Principles of Scientific Management

"The Principles of Scientific Management," a business efficiency classic by Frederick Winslow Taylor, is an influential essay that has motivated administrators and students of managerial technique for more than 80 years. Though Taylor's ideas are commonly viewed as antiquated because of the time and circumstances under which he worked, business thought leaders such as Deming, Juran, Shewart, and Taguchi all find their roots in Taylor. In the words of one reviewer, TQM and Collaborative Management are just Taylor on steroids. While it is true that Taylor applied his efforts mainly to work consisting of brute force, that was the workplace world which existed in his day. Taylorism and his task management ideas are actually more human than most people think. In the very first page of his first chapter, Taylor explains the principal of object of management, which "should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee. The four elements of "The Principles of Scientific Management" are (1) the development of standardization of methods, (2) the careful selection and training of personnel, (3) extensive supervision by management and payment of bonuses, and (4) an equal division of the work and responsibility between the workman and the management. Advanced thinkers today are rediscovering the truths first elaborated by Taylor. As a result, "The Principles of Scientific Management" remains a ground-breaking, and still-inspiring, work.