Taylor Perspective On Work Management Research Assignment (Research Paper Sample)

Scientific management theory
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Introduction
For hundreds of years, there have been the concepts of managing work such that the formal management ideas can be traced back to the 16th century. However, the essential developments as far as management theories are concerned emerged in the twenty century. For this reason, much of what we understand today in management studies is attributed the work of theorist of that time (Taylor,TotalBoox, & TBX,.2016).Fredric Taylor was one of the greatest theorists who contributed greatly to concepts of work management theories. He had his philosophy in which he had believed that the idea of making people work very hard was not the efficient way of attaining desired productivity level. Instead, optimizing the manner in which work is done is the right way in achieving the same. In his theory, Scientific Management, Taylor tries to give descriptions on how scientific methods can be applied in the management of workers to improve productivity (American Management Association, 1959). According to his theory, Taylor points out that there are scientific methods that can be used to optimize the manner in which people perform tasks. Also, the same can be used to simplify the jobs in a way that will allow the workers to be trained to perform specific sequences of motions in the best way possible. Scientific management is considered to be one of the strongest and economic theories by an entrepreneur in the 20TH century. It consists of studies in time and motion, management of assignments as well as the theory of organization. Taylor put into perspective the study nature, character and performance of a worker. Also, this theory emphasizes on training, helping and teaching the worker on how best to perform tasks at hand (Edenborough, 2007).
Taylor perspective on work management
According to Taylor, optimization and simplification of jobs will see an increase in productivity. Also, he is of the idea that workers and their respective managers should always consider corporate with each other (Armstrong, & Armstrong, 2012). To support his augment, Taylor points out that in cases where there is no standardization, the worker only motivation is continued employment and that in such cases there are no incentives to work efficiently or as quick as possible. From the observations, most workers motivation was mainly money. Thus Taylor is for the idea of “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. “This means that that worker who achieves enough deserves a better pay than the one who didn’t achieve much (Couto, Plansky, & Caglar,2017)
Taylor was a mechanical engineer and that he took efficiency to be a very important aspect as far as work management is concerned. He performed experiments at the workplace so that he could be able to determine the optimal performance levels. His findings were that by finding out how much time is required time for the various task elements, the way to complete such a task could be devised. His studies on time and motion led to a conclusion that some people are more efficient than others. Therefore, managers should seek to hire such people if possible. That simply implies that workplace efficiency is affected by what kind of people is selected for the job (Alexander, 2008). Taking into perspective his findings, he comes up with principles of scientific management.
Principles of Scientific Management
Taylor disregards the “initiative and incentive” as the system that was used to motivate workers. He points out that the initiative and incentive system then provided incentives that saw an increase in productivity. But in this same system, the responsibility of how to do it is placed on the worker. The form of payment is just but the whole system. This is contrary to Taylor’s scientific management of which four principles guide it( Metzger, B. L., & Profit-Sharing Research Foundation 1969)
Taylor put down four principles that lay the foundation of his theory after he had conducted a workplace study. The first principles demand to find alternative methods that can replace the –rule –of –thumbs methods of management. Such alternatives are scientific and that they provide managers with a chance analyze the problems facing the management in the organization (Taylor, F. W., American Council of Learned Societies, 2017). The scientific approaches were supposed to use experiments to try and come up with the solutions to the problem that exists within the organization. The second principle is that which involves scientific selection, training and also the provision of work development to workers. This was unlike the initiative and incentive system whereby the management was disorganized, and the workers have left the train and rule themselves on most duties. Application of this principle means that most qualified workers should occupy top ranks in any organization and that way they will assist other workers efficient and systematic manner. The application of systematic management meant that a payment system that takes into consideration the work efficiency and work output (Taylor, F. W. (2010). This principle increases efficiency as well as the management system in the workplace. The third principle requires that the management come up with formal working relations by embracing teamwork. This goes a long way in ensuring that methods that are scientifically developed are fully adhered to. The final principle requires that there is equal sharing of work between the managers and the other employees. In so doing, the manager will have a chance that enables them to utilize these principles of scientific management when it comes to strategizing on duties. Also, it will enable other employees to perform their tasks in a manner deemed timely.
According to this theory, the success of these principles needs a mental revolution in management and labor. Instead of quarreling about profits, management and labor should strive to increase production. Therefore, profits will increase to a large extent that neither the employees nor management will fight over them. This simply means that both labor and the management have a sole interest to increase productivity.
Criticism of the scientific management
It’s worth noting that the scientific management theory increases the productivity. But despite of this fact, it has got its own setbacks. It was found to have an effect of leading to monotony at workplace due to the fact that workers get bored in many instances. This concept also, turned the worker to be like a machine which would be motivated to achieve maximum so as to get a monetary reward. It ideas can be misused by cruel managers who will take advantage and mistreat the employees under them. There was an uprising against its implementation that resulted in strikes (Waugh, 2006)
Scientific management and modern-day business practice
In this century, many of activities that are taking place at the workplace are in one way or another influenced by Taylor’s scientific management theory. The cars people drive, food eateries people visit as well as hospitals in which people get treatment are influenced by scientific management principles. It has revolutionized management systems with time such that they accommodate new ideas as well as the changing variables in the workplaces. It has turned workplaces into areas of specialization whereby it’s only those that pose particular skills or experience is employed to perform certain duties. Owing to this fact, division of labor is a common phenomenon and that it has contributed greatly to innovation as well as production. Also, it has brought about the rise in competition given that there are a limited number of job opportunities that are available. This is unlike before when labor force was in a high demand (Howell, & Dipboye, 1996).
Due to this fact, most of the employees in different organizations seek to acquire more to retain their position or even get promoted. The most organization has resulted in the application of scientific methods of solving problems as opposed to the application of the rule of thumb methods (Bradt, & Vonnegut, 2009). This has gone a long way in increasing efficiency whose results is an increase in profits. It’s because of Scientific ...