The Scientific Management Era was by the likes of Frederick W. Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management. Management science, during the 1900s, not as wide spread a it is in history bookmarked today. Management science does in fact, trace back to the early 1900s. For this reason, management science has developed throughout history and has created a foundation for the 21st century (Wren/Bendein, 2009).
Management history states that management science is the reason for how we currently function as a cultural, society and economy. Management science is more than policies and regulations, it’s about the understanding of humans and how they relate (Wren/Bendein, 2009). Although the practice of management is ancient, the formal study of the body of management knowledge is relatively new.” (Wren/Bendein, 2009), p3.) The reason why management knowledge is relatively new is that it is always changing. Management science has changed the how businesses compete in the 21st century. Competitiveness is the fuel that runs management thought. Management science is ever changing because it is ever growing in the competitive markets. The “Father of Scientific Management,”(Taylor, 2002) Fredrick W. Taylor was a management science revolutionist who’s controversy over management thought paved the way for the 21st century.
Fredrick W. Taylor changed management thought by creating the “Principles of Scientific Management.” (Wren/Bendein, 2009, chapter 11). The Principles of Scientific Management state: “The principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee.” (Terziovski) Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management were not only for large corporations, but for small businesses as well. Development of each and every branch is vital to the overall success of any organization, according to the Principles of Scientific Management. The prosperity of the company rests on the employee, and the employee’s prosperity rests on the company, this is one of the many principles(Starr, 1964). This with a multitude of other functions, assist in the formulation of the Principles of Scientific Management, such as “the greatest permanent prosperity for the workman, coupled with the greatest prosperity for the employer, can be brought about only when the work of the establishment is done with the smallest combined expenditure of human effort, plus nature’s resources, plus the cost for the use of capital in the shape of machines, buildings, etc.”(Terziovski, page 5).
Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management were principles that he proposed were work methods designed to increase working productivity, becoming a mental resolution for management thought history. It is evident that when a company increases its productivity the usually increase their competitive edge as well. The scientific management began in the United States and spread abroad” (1, Chapter 11). Taylor began to spread the principles to Europe, although some countries were less than positive about the principles (Wren/Bendein, 2009). These principles changed the competitive edge of businesses and how they functioned.
Scientific management is a method of competitive advantage for those businesses that wish to engage in the science of management thought. Along with management science, marketing science implements much of the same agendas that are both contributors toward the development of a more evolved 21st century (Starr, 1964).
Management science gives insight and understanding to problems of the 21st century, which are fostering undifferentiating obstacles, and debilitating circumstances which business thrive to find solutions to. Marketing science, like its counterpart, management sciences looks to solve real world problems with real world solutions which have been constantly changing throughout history. Scientific management and marketing looks to assist it the ever changing management and marketing of the business world (Starr, 1964).
The Principles of Scientific Management (Terziovski), these principles seek out to prove that management science is needed in all aspects of human activities in order to be fully functional and scientific management is the understanding of past thought actively affecting the 21st century. It is truly amazing how Frederick W. Taylor enabled these principles to be the foundation of scientific management and how the 21st century would view scientific management.
Management science has an equal impact on society as it does on the business world. After all, the business world is a society all its own. The social facet of management science refers to the relationship of people to other people in a given culture.” (Wren/Bendein, 2009, page 7). Management science in relation to society is all about humans achieving a satisfaction of social acceptance and survival. Without human interaction and creating a type of society, management thought is lost and will not seem to develop any further. This entails that interpersonal relations are pertinent in the development of scientific management (Rajeswararao/Hugh, 1988). Taylor figured that there was a way to balance out completing a job efficiently with a way to establish performance standards. Socially, this was not a welcomed thought. Taylor received significant negative feedback and was thought to be a trouble maker, when in fact the only objective of Taylor was of “a fairs day for, for a fair days pay” (Wren/Bendein, 2009), page 125.
The response Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management compared to traditional management during the scientific management era determined the knowledge of how Western management is perceived. Some traditional management forums of the Western world would remain the same, while other managerial thought forms dispersed to exist. The motivation behind this new thinking was the “Appreciation of the System” (Nelson, 1999) page 389. Scientific management has “the principles of planning, organizing, controlling, and specialization” at the core of its application (Nelson, 1999), page 390. This is a concept that has sculpted the livelihood of how a employee performs and directly affects the workplace. Therefore, individuals working performance is a direct reflection of how they are being managed(JMTM, 2004).
The thoughts of Fredrick W. Taylor and others with his vision for the future proved to be a positive effect on how management thought is viewed. The Principles of Scientific Management were birthed from Taylor’s perceived view of making a better way of managing in order to make it a “win win situation” for both the employee and the company the employee works for. The scientific management era was a quest for improved managerial and employee relationships (Wren/Bendein, 2009). Job satisfaction is a small facet of the management scientific era, yet it is one of the most important aspects of the era. Without job satisfaction, employees will not be loyal to a company and a company will not have any growth. Matching people to the right job position, is both finically appreciated to a company as well as a employee. “Almost without fail, companies will wait until they experience a crisis that forces them to overcome inertia and initiate a reorientation.” (Starr, 1964)
Scientific management is fundamentally necessary and constant, and with each evolution of thought comes a new form of scientific management. Each era will create their own scientific management based on the ancestors that passed down the knowledge of what worked for their era. Some theories will be relative to their period, and some will not. Taylor was sure to state the importance of the role of the employee and the employee is genuinely affected by scientific management. The role of the employee was a great part of Taylor’s research and how scientific management was restructured (Taylor, 2001).
The role of the employee through the scientific era is determined to be viewed as the most important roles in management thought history. Scientific management proved to be for the betterment of the employee and the employee understanding the working environment which they work. The Role of the employee through the eras is significant to the changes in management thought and the development of new performance standards companies implement to improve working conditions, and job satisfaction of the employee. Employees are the fuel for how any company functions, with this understand companies realize how employees can “make or break” a company. Companies are constantly relying on the employee for support, labor, and feedback. The Role of the employee is the historical ambition for Fredrick W. Taylor’s Principles of Management Science. Without “the employee” management science is non-existent (Taylor, 2002). Scientific management is always planning, developing a better way of doing things, and “finding how work can be more at a more economically pleasing way” (Taylor, 2002, page 13). The role of the employee during the scientific era is combining new ways of working as well as new ways of managing employees.
The employee’s role is that of all companies and businesses. Without employee input on how to better a working environment scientific management is gone. This is why; scientific management is a humanistic science that affects societies, cultures, economies and the ethics of the entire world (Starr, 1964).
References
1. Wren, D. A., & Bendein, A. G. (2009). The evolution of management thought (6th ed). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
2. Starr, M. K. (1964). Management Science, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Apr., 1964), pp. 557-57 . Published by: Informs. table URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2627431
3. Chaganti, Rajeswararao, Sherman, Hugh,(1988). Corporate Governance and the Timeliness of Change: Reorientation in 100 American Firms . Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group, LC. Organizational change
4. Taylor, Fredrick. (2004). The Principles of Scientific Management. Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6435]. Edition: 10
5. Nelson, D.(2004) Scientific Management in Retrospect. 7Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management . Ohio State Press, Vol. 15, number 5, pages 387 – 398
